Category: Inspirational

Thursday 2/1 ~ Where is he when he is home?

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

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home.”

Just think of it. Jesus coming home. The place where his family lives. The familiar places he’d seen walking around town in earlier years. The familiar faces. Hearing a voice in a crowd and recognizing it and automatically knowing s/he is a neighbor. Being able to walk through a market almost blindfolded because the same shops are in their same places selling their same goods.

Has Jesus come home to your heart? Is it familiar to him? Does he recognize you? When he hears your prayers, does he automatically know who you are? Can he walk beside you as you walk through life, knowing the places you will be visiting? Does he live with you?

When he is in your heart, is he home?

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Wednesday 1/31 ~ God didn’t create everything?

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The scripture for today, January 31(1/31), is Genesis 1:31 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-Thumbnail“God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning ~ the sixth day.”

Oh, how God loves to spoil us! He didn’t create a barren earth and then order us to get to work and plant something. He got everything just right. And then….  And then….  And then his crowning glory ~ he created us! Special us!

We looked around with wonder and began exploring our world as an infant would.  But then what? What was there to do?

To our delight, we discovered God hadn’t created everything after all.  Why? Because he made us to be like him ~ creative.  

He left the jewels unmined, the buildings unbuilt, the clay unmolded, the songs unwritten, the paintings unpainted, the ships unmade, the poems unpenned, the sculptures uncarved….

Today, create something!

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Elephant attacks

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Image result for dangerous elephants

On January 9, Selvam was baptized into Christ. On January 12, as he traveled home on a motorcycle, an elephant stepped into the road. The three passengers on the motorcycle ran, but the elephant caught our new brother, Selvam, bashing his body against a tree. His lifeless dead body laid in his own blood throughout the night, as the angry elephants would not allow authorities to remove his body.

This death follows the death of another man, the husband of a faithful sister, who was killed last year by the elephants. Below, is an article I received from Brother Jaeyachandran this morning: 

“The same wild elephant who killed Selvam is coming & standing daily in that same place where you & I went to the village. On that road, the same elephant came & stand in front of a bus and ladies & small children were scared & crying.

Our brother Marudhu & 4 of them immediately said ‘Jesus says go away, Jesus says go away,’ they said continuously 3 times to the elephant, after that the elephant went away from bus & hit the ground with his trunk 3 times. This news was printed in the newspaper & the reporters change the name of Jesus to ‘King’ instead. Our Lord saved the 42 members on that day, we thank to our God.”

Please continue to pray for these terrified souls. This elephant battle is on-going.
~ Don Iverson
Missionary to India

 

Saturday 1/27 ~ Open my blind eyes, my deaf ears, my hard heart.

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The scripture for today, January 27 (1/27), is James 1:27 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: To look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.”

A lot of people never lie, never cheat, never steal, never murder.  Wow!  That person deserves to go to heaven!  Not!  The greatest sin of most people who are “good” is the sin of omission.  We don’t do the good things we should be doing.  We are basically “good for nothing”.  

Do you hear of someone whose relative just died? Do you call them?  What about the person who is home sick: Do you send them a card? What about the person who needs a ride to the doctor: Do you give them a ride?  What about the mother who sits in church with wiggly children and finally just leaves during the service out of embarrassment: Do you move over and sit with her? What about that children’s home where they would love a card, a gift certificate, a gift?

Oh, Lord God.  I never thought.  I have been heedless to their silent cries. I have traveled on the other side of the road from them so my perfect life is not interrupted.  Lord, can you forgive me? Open my blind eyes, my deaf ears,  my hard heart.

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Link to ebook or discount paperbook:  http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

Tuesday 1/23 ~ He is just too big to see

On By In faith, Inspirational, Thanksgiving2 Comments

The scripture for today, January 23 (1/23), is Romans 1:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

04-FOLK HERO-Child'sCartoon-Thumbnail“….and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”

Well, the opposite has happened in our millennium.  Instead of worshipping many gods, people are worshiping nothing.  They declare God does not exist. They declare the existence of the universe just happened for no reason and that their minds have reason for no reason. One of their arguments is that they cannot see God.

Do you ever wish you could see God, touch God, look God in the eye? Everyone has. And we may wonder why we can’t.

If this were the case, then God wouldn’t be God. He wouldn’t be omnipresent (present everywhere). He would only be able to listen to one prayer at a time, and the rest of the world’s prayers would go unheard.

Besides, God is too big to see.  It is like facing a tree or building half an inch away.  We have no way to know what the tree or building looks like because it is so big. So, we see only a tiny bit of God because He is so big he covers the universe and beyond.

Let us be grateful our God is so great He cannot be limited. He cannot be pictured. He fills heaven. He is so great He fills our hearts and our souls.

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link to ebook & discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/ChildsLifeOfChristSet

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#polytheism, #atheism, #God, #faith

Monday 1/22 ~ Me radiant, Lord? Me?

On By In church, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Inspirational, weaknessLeave a comment

The scripture for today, January 22 (1/22), is Ephesians 1:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”

What makes this so interesting is that…

  • the church is the body of Christ. What else is the church? Colossians 1:18 says…
  • the church has only one head on earth and in heaven ~ Jesus.   Matthew 16:17-18 says…
  • the church is the kingdom of heaven. Ephesians 5:25 & 32 says…
  • the church is his bride. Revelation 21:2, 9-10 says…
  • the church bride is the new Holy City Jerusalem.

And what does Jesus think of the church? Oh, you already know this one.  Ephesians 5:25-27 says he loved the church so much that he gave himself up for her, to make her radiant ~ no stains, no wrinkles, no blemishes.

Oh, that last part: I must have missed it before.  Me, radiant? Human, sinful me, radiant? And no stains, Lord?  No stains, too?

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link to ebook & discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/TheyMetJesus

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#sinner, #forgiveness, #namesOFchurch, #sinner

Sunday 1/21 ~ Or, must Jesus bear the cross alone?

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The scripture for today, January 21 (1/21), is Job 1:21 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“ ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.’ “

Job had every reason to turn against God. In one day his entire wealth was stolen from him, nearly all his servants were killed by an invading army, and all his children died in a storm. Why hadn’t God protected him if he loved him so much?

We often forget that Satan exists also. Just remember, whatever Satan does, God can undo.

Satan is the accuser (Revelation 12:10), but God is the forgiver. Satan can cause us to get sick, but God can heal. Satan can cause us to die, but God can bring us back to life. Satan can make us miserable in this world, but God can take us to a better world.

Shall we leave God to fight Satan alone? We were made in his image.  And how do we fight Satan? Romans 12:21 says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

But sometimes we are forced to be separated from other Christians and have no encouragement. What can be the result? God’s kingdom arises in yet another place. James wrote to the Jewish Christians “scattered among the nations” (James 1:1). Peter wrote to “God’s elect, strangers in the world, scattered.…” (I Peter 1:1).

Romans 8:28 says, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.” There’s more….

  • In all these things we are more than conquerors
  • through him who loved us.
    For I am convinced that neither death nor life,
    Neither angels nor demons,
    Neither the present nor the future,
    Nor any powers,
    Neither height nor depth,
    Nor anything else in all creation
    Will be able to separate us from the
    Love of God
    That is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
    (Romans 8:37-39)

How can we be “more than conquerors” unless we have something to conquer? How can we have “victory in Jesus” unless we have something to be victorious over?

Each of us has periodic assignments from God. What bad thing has happened in your life lately? That is your assignment.

Or, must Jesus bear the cross alone?

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link to ebook or discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/stephenmartyr

#problems

Wednesday 1/17 ~ Just look for them. They’re there.

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The scripture for today, January 17 (1/17), is James 1:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Mefiboset-KINDLE Thumbnail“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.”

Do you sometimes feel slighted because other people get more gifts on special occasions (or even between special occasions) than you do? No need to feel that way. Christians get the goods ones. Christians get the perfect ones. We get them all! And our heavenly Father will never stop showering us with those “good gifts,” those “perfect gifts.”

These gifts are good and perfect because they are forever gifts. And what can be better than that?

Every gift, Lord? Every one?  Ah, yes.  Just look for them. They’re there.

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Link to ebook & discount paper:  http://bit.ly/crippledprince

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Tuesday 1/16 ~ Do not urge me to leave you

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The scripture for today, January 16 (1/16), is Ruth 1:16ff as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Inside-COVER-lg thumbnail“Don’t urge me to leave you or to turn back from you. Where you go I will go, and where you stay I will stay. Your people will be my people and your God my God. Where you die I will die, and there I will be buried. May the Lord deal with me, be it ever so severely, if anything but death separates you and me.”

Although Ruth was talking to her mother-in-law after the death of her husband (Naomi’s son), this can be and sometimes is quoted by the bride and groom at their wedding. If only it were quoted more often. Not only at weddings, but at anniversaries. At birthdays of children and parents. During arguments, and low times and hard times and discouraging times.

These are the words of love ~ deep genuine, unselfish love. Let us so love one another that deeply.

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Link to ebook & paperback:  http://bit.ly/InsideHeartsWomen

Monday 1/15 ~ You may already be doing it

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The scripture for today, January 15 (1/15), is Galatians 1:15f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Cover-KINDLE-Thumbnail-New.jpg“But when God, who set me apart from birth and called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles….”

Isn’t this amazing! God knows before you are born what you can be doing for him later in life. He sets aside work for you to do, but he does not force you to do it. You may set aside a certain amount of money to spend on food but you end up spending it on clothing.  Being set aside does not mean something will end up doing what it was set aside for.

 God has given you certain talents and set you aside to use them for Him.  Do you? Is your thinking even oriented on things that can endure through eternity? Or do you think only of the next day, or the next year?

You do not have to guess what God has set you aside to do.  Read the scriptures. He has messages for you all through it.  Find someone in the Bible with your personality and use that person as an example.  Find advice in the proverbs. Find advice in Jesus’ teachings, and in his apostles’ teachings.  It’s all there.  Pick one and do it.

If you are willing to follow God’s advice and not man’s, then God has work set aside for you to do.

You may not think your life has been very exciting. You may be waiting for God to give you a big important job to do for him. But the truth is, you ~ in your seemingly mundane life ~ may already be doing what God set aside for you to do.

Never underestimate yourself and what God can accomplish through you.

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Link to ebook and discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/500GoodWorks