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The scripture for today, April 22 (4/22), is Proverbs 4:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“…for they [my words] are life to those who find them and health to a man’s whole body.”
God poured out his heart and soul in the Bible. He revealed his most inner feelings ~ all his desires and disappointments, all his moments of highest joy and deepest sorrow, all his dreams and plans and hopes for us.
Have you ever done that? Have you ever bared your heart and soul to someone else? Would you do it for just anyone? Would you do it if you did not trust the person, especially if the person did not even like you?
That’s what God did. The thought escapes my mind and soars to galaxies unknown. They begin in a mist and burst forth in reality. To know the inner-most thoughts of my God and my Creator!
With that thought in mind, why not read the entire Bible, beginning to end? Perhaps you can read a chapter a day. Or, if you want to read it through in a year, you can count the total number of pages in your Bible, divide by 365, and read that number of pages each day. Or, if you have time, why not go all out and read it in just a few sittings? They will take on new meaning for your life. No matter how many times you read it, there are always new meanings waiting for your mind to grasp it, cling to it, and grace your life.
So much comfort. So much information. So much of answering our questions of how and why. So much of reading God pouring his heart out and filling an empty soul.
365 PEARLS OF WISDOM: GOD’S SOUL TO YOURS covers daily readings from the wisdom books of the Bible. Each day is one proverb and one passage from Job, Ecclesiastes or the Psalms. This is book 3 in the TOUCHING GOD gift-book series. Only $6 for paperback. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2UOHcJx
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The scripture for today, April 21 (4/21), is Mark 4:21 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed? Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?”
Jesus said something similar in Matthew 5:14f, “You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead, they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”
Light? I have a light? Oh, I forgot. I get so caught up in my day-to-day life. Besides, it’s just one little flame.
Little? Little? In a world of darkness, one little flame is all they need to give them hope and lead them toward a larger light. Do you spend your time and energy on yourself and family? That is good. Your family needs your light. But try going farther. Look around. Your neighborhood, your school, your job, your club, your community.
Someone is in darkness right now and needs your light. Always keep looking around. Keep searching for little nooks and crannies in the lives of others where you can bring the light of a good deed to someone’s world.
Dare to spread light over them so they can know where they are going. They need Jesus’ precious light shining through you, even if it is just one little flame. Your light may be the only one some people will ever see.
Where is your light? Is it hidden? Can you find it? Do you know where you left it? Oh, there it is!
APPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS shows you 500 ways to shine your light. Most are for individuals, though groups can do them together also. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2Grh0dT
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The scripture for today, April 20 (4/20), is 1st John 4:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.”
Jealousy and hatred are very much akin. Are there people you are jealous of? Do they have a position you want, and so you say and do things to undermine their character or work, so you can get their position? Do you have a position you love, and there is a new person who could perform better, so you undermine that person’s ability in order to protect your position?
God eliminates jealousy this way: Do what you do best in private. What you accomplish that everyone knows about isn’t as important to him as what you accomplish when no one is around to praise you. Jesus said those who receive acclamation by people already have their reward.(Matthew 6:1-5, 16-18).
Is divine reward from Almighty God for eternity so inferior in your mind that you would sacrifice it all to be number one?
Ah, my Lord God, forgive me. Pride stands between you and me. Take hold of my awful pride and dissolve it in a sea of tranquility graced by a ray of humility.
JOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER had to give up his dream for a while of being a father to Someone Else’s child. Pride did not get in his way. He put himself in danger to keep God’s child alive in a violent world. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2GpgCN2
The scripture for today, April 18 (4/18), is 2nd Corinthians 4:18 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
In a sense, what is unseen is the true reality. We cannot see love, but we see its influence, and it is stronger than anything in the world that we can see. We cannot see God, but we can see his influence, and he is more real than anything in the world that we can see.
Sometimes we all say we wish we could see God and touch God. But if that were the case, he wouldn’t be God, for he couldn’t be everywhere at once. He would only be able to hear the prayer of one person at a time, and only able to answer the prayer of one person at a time. By being unseen by human eyes, God can be everywhere.
It’s a hidden blessing! Every one of us among the billions of people on earth can feel we are God’s special ones. Every one of us can feel his presence, his soul, his love.
Writing WAS JESUS GOD? (WHY EVIL?) impacted me more than anything else I have ever written. The urgency of God materialized spilling his blood so Satan couldn’t punish me touched me indescribably. Today, heaven is more real to me than ever it was. How I long to be there right now. But God still has work for me to do. When that work is done, I will leave all of you behind. But I’ll be waiting for you to catch up with me so we can be together forever. Katheryn. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2ULeFUS
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To brighten your day.
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The scripture for today, April 14 (4/14), is Esther 4:14b as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“And who knows but that you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”
Today’s scripture is about a reluctant young lady who won a beauty contest and was chosen to be the queen of Persia. Time has passed, and now a command has just gone out to kill all Jews. Queen Esther was a Jewess but had not told anyone at the royal court. She could continue to hide her nationality and let all her people die, or she could try to intervene with the king. She was the only Jew the king would have listened to. So, realizing she could be killed too, she spoke on behalf of her people. They were saved.
There are always situations in life in which you are the only one who can accomplish something very needed. Perhaps you are the only adult standing near a strange child about to run out into a busy street. Perhaps you are tall and a short person needs to reach something at the store. Perhaps you know a particular language and others around you need you to explain something to them. Perhaps someone called a wrong number on the telephone and reached you instead.
As you go through life, there are situations in which you are the only one who can handle them. Do you? Do you watch for those situations, or do you walk around in your own little world?
Listen! It’s the silent cries of people only you can help. Do you hear them?
STEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR was difficult for me to write. He was a young deacon with a wife and children, a sought-after speaker, a miracle worker. What motivated him to be the one to go into the Sanhedrin’s chamber that day and speak so powerfully, they would kill him to shut him up? I walked the floor for two days and cried before I could write those final scenes where he struggled alone to make the big decision, then carry it out. Come along with me as we try to walk in young Stephen’s shoes. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2Bowxf8
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The scripture for today, April 13 (4/13), is Philippians 4:13 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“I can do everything through him who gives me strength.”
Life is not easy. Plans are scattered, dreams are shattered, and even predictable every-day things sometimes give way to the unknown and unforeseeable. Maybe you have made bad decisions, or you weren’t prepared for emergencies, or you are an innocent victim of someone else’s problems.
There is Someone who knows everything that is happening to you and who will walk beside you down whatever path you find yourself. And, as amazing as it sounds, even if you lose faith in Him, He will not lose faith in you.
When you don’t feel like it, reach out to God. Pray, even if all you can think of talking about is how terrible things are right now. At least you’re talking. And read the Bible, for that is God talking to you. Keep the two-way communication going. Amidst your weeping when you fall, God will give you strength. And someday once again you will rise and smile again.
LAZARUS: THE SAMARITAN becomes a slave in a copper mine who eventually owns his own lucrative mine, raises a family and loses everything. The surprise ending will knock your socks off. Has something to do with a pearl. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2G9A3cj
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(Sorry for some of my messages being delayed. I must be doing something wrong. I’ll double check from now on.)
The scripture for today, April 12 (4/12), is Colossians 4:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“He is always wrestling in prayer for you.”
Do you have fast-food prayers? Drive in, ask for something for yourself, and drive out two minutes later?
How about trying gourmet prayers ~ where you gather many ingredients, not just one? They take longer but are very special and rewarding.
Your menu is your prayer list. People on your list don’t even have to be people you know personally. They can be from the newspaper, teachers at a local school, government officials, your neighbors, your congregation. List people by name. Pray for them by name.
Then tell these people you are praying for them. You may think you’ll get some strange looks, but mostly, even from the unreligious, you will get a smile and a whispered thank you. Some will actually reply, “No one has ever told me they were praying for me.” After a while, you will begin receiving word from people you are paying for, “Guess what? Your prayer worked.”
Prayer is powerful and wonderful. God loves to answer prayer. It is most wonderful when it centers, not on what you want for yourself, but on struggling in prayer for other people.
One by one you will begin seeing amazing answers in the lives of those you pray for. Don’t believe it? Give it a try. You will be astounded.
365 SILVER-WINGED PRAYERS: YOUR SPIRIT TO GOD’S is one prayer per day which includes praise, forgiveness, and thanksgiving. Prayers of request not included so you can personalize yours. Beautiful gift set of three in the TOUCHING GOD series. To BUY NOW, click a picture or paste this: https://amzn.to/2GcvQVi
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The scripture for today, April 11 (4/11), is Exodus 4:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“Who gave man his mouth? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
This is a dynamic verse, for it helps answer the question: “If God is so good, why did he allow me/my relative to become deaf/blind?”
Here is the answer. Satan is the prince of this world. So, God takes countermeasures to defeat him. Everything Satan does God can undo. But he does it in his own way. He does it through us.
God gives each of us an assignment. We all have something God wants us to overcome. Why? Because it makes us spiritually stronger. It is intended to turn us into spiritual giants. Perhaps he has something special in mind for us in our eternal world.
His assignment may be the family we were born in to, the country we were born in, an earthquake, a flood, an unfair professor, a mean boss. Amidst our tears, as we face sometimes unbearable assignments, the challenge is for us to carry on with the smile of faith on our lips.
Paul said in 2nd Corinthians 12:10, “For Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses…For when I am weak, then I am strong!” If God did not believe you or your relative or friend could handle your affliction, he would not allow you to have it.
It’s almost as if the more affliction you have, the more faith God has in you. After all, 2nd Corinthians 6:1 says we are workers together with God.
Has God given you an assignment? What a privilege!
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