Category: Inspirational

Friday 3/2 ~ Do you love anyone more than yourself?

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The scripture for today, March 2, is 2nd Corinthians 3:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-new“You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.”

As important as it is to read the Bible for yourself and determine for yourself what you will follow, it is equally important to put those things into your heart at the ready for practical life application on a moment’s notice. But isn’t knowledge of truth enough?  Just giving our heart to Jesus as Lord isn’t enough?

James 2:19 says that even demons believe, but they are still demons and still bound for hell. It takes more than faith. There are things to do.

Are you a letter from God to people around you? Or do you have a double standard, acting one way around worshipers and another way around non-worshipers? People read our hearts by our words and actions. What do people read in your heart?

Do you absolutely and completely believe people will go to hell without Jesus? Do you absolutely and completely believe people have to rise above demons who believe but who are still going to hell? Do you absolutely and completely believe you could be the only one in your family’s and friends’ lives who care enough for their soul that you will actually say something ~ put your heart letter into words?

Do you love them more than yourself? Do you love anyone more than yourself? Do you love them enough?

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Sunday 2/25 ~ Can you hold on?

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The scripture for today, February 25 (2/25), is Revelation 2:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

365LifeChangingScriptures-Front-Thumbnail“Only hold on to what you have until I come.”

Several years ago my 91-year-old mother left this life. Some say that at the moment of death, one’s life flashes before their eyes. In the case of my mother, at the moment of her death, her life flashed before my eyes.

I suddenly imagined her as a baby in her mother’s (my grandmother’s) lap. Then she was a toddler playing in their yard. Then I saw her in school, then as a young bride to my father, then at home with her husband and children gathered around her. Then I saw her as launching a career after we were grown, then retiring, then eventually going into the nursing home.

And when that brief moment of envisioning her whole life was gone, I whispered, “You made it, Mother! You made it! You never faltered. Through all those years of ups and downs, you never wavered in your faith in Jesus Christ. You stuck it out. And now you’re home!”

May we all live our lives in such a way that, despite our ups and downs, we never wander from Jesus. We stick with him through every storm, every flood, every blast of tragedy, every tumbling of dreams. Let us hold on to what we have until the day we leave this temporary life and enter our true eternal life.

Friday 2/23 ~ Both begotten and eternal? Huh?

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The scripture for today, February 23 (2/23), is 1st John 2:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

02-DreamMakerChildsCartoonThumbnail“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

When you speak into a tape recorder and your voice then comes out of that machine for other people to hear, that doesn’t make you two.  You are still one; you have just chosen to put your voice in something where you can be heard by people away from you.  That tape recording is just another form of you. You can also put your voice and body in a movie. That doesn’t make two of you ~ one on the screen and one in your physical body. You are still one.

God is One, and yet he revealed a part of himself in a burning bush to Moses just like you revealed a part of yourself in the tape recorder or movie.  Does that mean there were two Gods ~ one in heaven and one in the bush?  No.  God can and has sometimes revealed himself in different ways. Remember how he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Some say, “If Jesus was God on earth, when he died, God was dead.”  No. That temporary body was dead, but God’s Spirit, God’s Soul, God’s being continued to live. Jesus, the Word of God, did not depend on a body to be alive.

Why would Jesus be called the Son of God, since he was not a son created in the literal way we have sons?  You have thoughts and those thoughts have existed as long as you have.  But you still created those thoughts.  When your thoughts become hearable or seeable, people call that your “brain child”.  In that same sense, Jesus was God’s “brainchild” ~ God’s thoughts in hearable and seeable form. 

How was he the only begotten Son? God has only one Word ~ the Bible.  “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3).  When God spoke the world into existence, that was Jesus. Every time God spoke, that was Jesus.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). God has always been one.

Thursday 2/15 ~ Never let them stop you

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The scripture for today, February 15 (2/15) is 2nd Timothy 2:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”

“Do your best,” Paul told a younger co-worker.  “Do your best.”

This was an apostle speaking. This was Paul who had endured multiple beatings with rods and lashings with whips. This was Paul who no one could stop.

He had endured floods and snowstorms, hunger and robbers on the road. Still, no one could stop him. He endured ship wrecks and even treading water a day and night in the sea. Nothing could stop him.

It seems with Paul, it was never enough. He was driven. When he was stoned and presumed dead, he got up and went back into the city! When he was imprisoned, he defied the magistrates who put him there and sang his sermons to the other prisoners. Nothing could stop him. Nothing could shut him up.

When he wrote this, he was now in prison. He had done his best. Now it was time for the next generation. He was handing the torch over to Timothy and the others.

“Do your best, Timothy. Don’t let them stop you. Never let them stop you. They are lost and don’t know it. Tell them, Timothy. Keep telling them, no matter how terribly they treat you. Keep telling them and keep telling them. Don’t stop, Timothy. Do your best.

“Some will stop what they are doing and listen to you. They will turn their life around. They will be there with you when it is time to be presented to God. They will be there with you, and with you they will say, “I did my best.”

Are you doing your best? Have you let anyone stop you? Don’t. Never let them stop you.

 

Forward: Back to the Bible

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#BOOK #GIVEAWAY, paperback or ebook, “#WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY”.   315 pgs.  Each chapter #quotes famous #theologians, #2nd-century #Christians, and the #1st-century #Bible.  Go here to make your request:  https://1st-century-christianity.com/

Please copy & paste, and pass on to your friends.  Hashtags already in place for you.  My goal is to give away 100,000 of these ~ paper or ebook.  My friends, will you help me do it?  Oh, and you’re welcome to as many paper copies as you would like to share in person.  Go here to make your request: https://1st-century-christianity.com/

Sunday 2/11 ~ How’s your heart today?

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The scripture for today, February 11, is Ecclesiastes 2:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Titus-Cover-Lg Thumb“Yet when I surveyed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind, nothing was gained under the sun.”

King Solomon wrote this. He tried everything to bring deep happiness and satisfaction into his life. He had both the money and power to do it. He tried writing proverbs and songs. He tried having a thousand women. He tried working hard with his hands. He tried building big fancy buildings with grand gardens to surround them. He tried investing his money and becoming the richest man in the world. Nothing worked. He still couldn’t achieve the deep happiness he longed for.

There was a book published a few years ago entitled, How to Want What You Have. Is the deep contented happiness you crave always just around the corner? If you could just be selected for that promotion, if you could just get married, if you could just get a pay raise, if you could just be on the winning team, if you could just have children, if you could just get that house or car….

Always if. Is the problem that, once you attain what you believe will bring you happiness, you just want the next promotion, the next pay raise, a different marriage partner, the next house, no children, the next car?

What was Solomon’s conclusion? He suspected what it is in 3:11: “God set eternity in the hearts of man.” In other words, there is a God-shaped emptiness in man’s heart. Then, after he had tried everything his own way, he had no choice. He spelled it out in the final few verses of his writing: True happiness comes from a love relationship with God. How’s your heart today?.

 

Friday 2/9 ~ What color is heaven?

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The scripture for today, February 9, is I Corinthians 2:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-New“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him.”

This amazing promise applies to us today. It also applies to eternity. Indeed, it is difficult to conceive heaven. That is why so much of Revelation is symbolic. The symbols are beautiful, so try going one step beyond reading how Revelation describes heaven, and make a drawing of what you think it looks like. Then colorize it all those beautiful colors. Revelation 21:12,13,21:

Each of the 12 GATES is named after one of the Tribes of Israel and has an angel guarding it. Make the gates pearl. Make the angel over the gate white or yellow.

Revelation 21:17, 18a: Make the WALL jasper, which is a light see-through green.

Revelation 21:16, 18b: Heaven is full of many MANSIONS (John 14:2). Make them a translucent (see-through) gold.

Revelation 21:21: The STREETS of the city are like crystal and gold. Make them a translucent (see-through) gold also.

Revelation 22:1: The RIVER OF LIFE runs through heaven coming out from the throne of God. Make it blue.

Revelation 4:6a: The CHRYSTAL SEA is in front of God’s throne. Make it blue.

Revelation 22:2: The TREE OF LIFE grows on both sides of the River of Life. Make it green and brown.

Revelation 22:2: The ALTER OF INCENSE from Christians’ prayers is in front of the throne. Make it gold

Revelation 21:23: God’s THRONE is jasper and the glory of God is so brilliant, there is no need of a sun. Make the area of the throne silver/white.

Revelation 4:5: Around the throne of God are the seven SPIRITS of God, symbolized by seven lights. Make them yellow.

Revelation 4:3a: Near the Spirits, there is a ruby red GLOW around the throne of God. Make this inner arch red.

Revelation 4:3b: There is a RAINBOW over God’s throne. Make the arch at the very top over the throne emerald green.

Although this is all symbolic, doesn’t drawing and coloring in the symbols help to put across just how beautiful heaven will be!

#heaven

Wednesday 2/7 ~ Keep fighting and walking, fighting and walking

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The scripture for today, February 7 (2/7), is Proverbs 2:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-New“He holds victory in store for the upright, he is a shield to those whose walk is blameless.”

Do you feel like a loser sometimes? Once someone gets into that mindset, it is hard to break out. One dream after another has been shattered. One goal after another has been impossible. One effort after another has been a failure.

The world can be a cruel place in which to live. It is ruled by Satan.

But look up! Victory is still possible! There is an old song called “Victory in Jesus.” We may be losers to our friends, but victors to Jesus. Just remember, we cannot have victory in Jesus unless we have something to be victorious over.

Life is hard. But each day problems face us and we refuse to give in, that’s victory. Each day we search God’s Word for answers in the right places, that’s victory. Each day we refuse to give up on Jesus despite opposition to him by those around us, that’s victory.

Satan hates it when you don’t give up. Satan wants you to, not only give up on yourself, but also give up on God.

Don’t give up. Never give up. Turn to God who can help you in all your sins be blameless and victorious. Keep on fighting and walking, fighting and walking and until at last you walk right through the gates into heaven and rest in your victory.

 

Book Giveaway ~ Paperback or Ebook

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FREE TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO READ IT.

BOOK GIVEAWAY, paperback or ebook, “WORSHIP THE FIRST-CENTURY WAY”.  315 pgs. Each chapter quotes famous theologians, 2nd-century Christians, and the Bible.  Covers all phases of worship.  Go here to make your request or click the book cover:   https://1st-century-christianity.com/

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