Category: Inspirational

Scripture for Friday, November 17 (11/17)

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The scripture for today, November 17 (11/17), is 1st Chronicles 11:17f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-HeartsAfire-Child'sCartoonCover-Medium“David longed for water and said, ‘Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.’ So The Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David.”

The people who followed David admired him because he knew how to be a good leader. So many were willing to do anything to make “Captain David” happy. David had been born and raised in Bethlehem. Now he was grown and had a following of those evading power-hungry King Saul, many of whom were brave soldiers. They had traveled throughout the country either evading or defending themselves against this and other enemies.

Their travels took them back to David’s hometown which was being held by enemy Philistines. For old-times sake, he wanted a drink from the well he had drunk from many times in his youth. Three of his men risked their lives to bring their captain, David, that drink of water.

How much do we admire the Captain of our Salvation, Jesus? How much are we willing to sacrifice for him? Do we say, “I’m too busy to do anything for Jesus and his kingdom today”? Do we say, “I’m afraid if I say something about Jesus to so-and-so, s/he will insult me”? Do we say, “Someone at church offended me, so I’m not going to worship anymore?” Do we admire Jesus enough to put ourselves in the slightest danger just to do the smallest thing for him?

 

Scripture for Thursday, November 16 (11/16)

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The scripture for today, November 16 (11/16), is John 11:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“Then Thomas…said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go that we may die with him.’ “

This apostle is most often called “Doubting Thomas.” We’ve all heard the story about Thomas being absent when Jesus appeared to the other apostles, then later said he wouldn’t believe Jesus was alive again unless he could touch him. Well, the other apostles hadn’t believed until they saw him either.

After returning to life, Jesus first appeared to the women. Then, “when they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others…But they did not believe the women because their words seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24:9-11).

Now let’s look at our scripture for today. In the months before Jesus’ death, he had been traveling everywhere except to Judea where Jerusalem and the religious leaders were. Those leaders were after Jesus’ life, and everyone knew it. Then Lazarus died and was buried about six miles from Jerusalem. It was dangerous for Jesus to go there.

John 11:7-8 says, “Then he [Jesus] said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?’ “

After explaining that he needed to get to Lazarus, it was Thomas who bravely spoke up and said, “Let us also go that we may die with him!”

Doubting Thomas? Far from it! Brave Thomas. Devoted Thomas. Thomas who was willing to follow his Lord to the death. That was the real Thomas.

 

Scripture for Wednesday, November 15 (11/15)

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The Scripture for today, November 15 (11/15), is Revelation 11:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“The seventh angel sounded his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven which said: ‘The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever!’ “

 Each of us belongs to a kingdom/nation within our world. It is not perfect. Its leaders can sometimes do very bad things. And we wonder how we can stand some of the terrible things that sometimes happen within a government.

But our worldly kingdom/nation is not the only one we can live in. Colossians 1:13 says Jesus “has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

Rescued! Brought us! Past tense! The kingdom isn’t something in the future. It is here now. And it goes by yet another name. Verse 18 says, “And he [Jesus] is the head of the body, the church.”

So, when we become discouraged about the kingdom/nation in our world that we live in, take hope. We can have dual citizenship! For there is another kingdom here, a spiritual one. The king of that kingdom will actually love us. Forever and ever.

 

Scripture for Tuesday, November 14 (11/14)

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The scripture for today, November 14 (11/14), is Job 11:14f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“If you put away the sin that is in your hand and allow no evil to dwell in your tent, then you will lift up your face without shame; you will stand firm and without fear.”

Job’s misguided friend, Zophar, was advising Job that, if he would become perfect (“allow no evil”), he would stand firm before God.

Oh, Zophar! Hadn’t he caught on yet? Hadn’t he yet realized that we cannot be perfect? At the end of this book, God told Zophar and his friends to repent of their words to Job.

Throughout the Old Testament, the Jews tried unsuccessfully to be perfect with the help of the Law of Moses, but they couldn’t do it. In the meantime, the nations that had not received the Law were left to try with their own methods to be perfect, and they couldn’t do it either.

The only thing that ever has allowed mankind to be perfect has been the blood of Jesus. He was the perfect Lamb of God. So finally, eons after Zophar said those words, we who follow Jesus are able to stand firm because Jesus can make us perfect, washing away our sins (John 1:29; Acts 22:16).

 

Scripture for Monday, November 13 (11/13)

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The scripture for today, November 13 (11/13), is Zechariah 11:13 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“And the Lord said to me, ‘Throw it to the potter’ ~ the handsome price at which they paid me! So I took the thirty pieces of silver and threw them into the house of the Lord to the potter.”

The book of Zechariah is full of prophecies about Jesus, especially circumstances surrounding his death. Compare the above scripture with this:

“Then one of the Twelve ~ the one called Judas Iscariot ~ went to the chief priests and asked, ‘What are you willing to give me if I hand him [Jesus] over to you?’ So they counted out for him thirty silver coins” (Matthew 26:15).           and….

“When Judas, who had betrayed him, saw that Jesus was condemned, he was seized with remorse and returned the thirty silver coins to the chief priests….So Judas threw the money into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself….So they [chief priests] decided to use the money to buy the potter’s field as a burial place for foreigners” (Matthew 27:3, 6-7).

The prophet Zechariah wrote this prophecy some five centuries before Jesus. The prophet had been long dead before it was fulfilled. This could not possibly have been contrived to fit such a distant future ~ the exact sum Judas was paid, the money being thrown into the temple and then to buy a potter’s field.

This is only one of many proofs. The Bible is the only religious book in the world with built-in proofs it is of divine origin.

 Religion is not a matter of likes or dislikes, or of giving them all equal chance.  There is only one God.  Which God? Go to the proofs. Examine the proofs.

 

Scripture for Sunday, November 12 (11/12)

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The scripture for today, November 12 (11/12), is Leviticus 11:12 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 5-FloodGates-Cover-Medium-New“Anything living in the water that does not have fins and scales is to be detestable to you.”

This is just one of the over 600 laws in the Law of Moses. They were intricate laws governing both their worship and their everyday life. This one chapter in Leviticus says in part they could not eat camels or coneys or rabbits or pigs. They could not eat eagles, vultures, kites, ravens, owls, gulls, hawks, osprey, storks, herons, hoopoes or bats. But they could eat locusts, katydids, crickets, and grasshoppers. And this is just part of chapter 11!

Why did God give so many intricate laws to the Jews? To give them a chance to keep them all perfectly so they could be perfect. In the meantime, God did not give any laws to the Gentiles; He let them try whatever means they could on their own to become perfect. But during the same time period, both the Jews and Gentiles proved to themselves that it was impossible to keep their religions perfectly and thus be perfect themselves.

Now Jesus was ready to come. He lived the Jewish law perfectly, then nailed it to the cross (Colossians 2:14). Now we live under a law of grace, and his commandments revolve around loving God and loving each other.

Aren’t we fortunate Jesus nailed the Law of Moses to the cross and we live in the Christian era?

 

Today is Veterans Day in America

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Image result for soldiers dying

Today is Veterans Day in the United States. I have many followers who live in other parts of the world. I just want to say that our soldiers did not have to go to your country and give their lives to help you have freedom. They left behind wives and children, parents and siblings and friends to come help you. They did it willingly because we are all God’s children.

Yes, today is Veterans Day in America, and I send this plea to all of you who live in a country full of war.  Please do not run away. Stay, just like America’s forefathers stayed. We went through war to obtain our own freedom. Some 25,000 Americans died as a result of wounds or while prisoners of war at that time. We did not run away to have a better life in Europe. We stayed and protected our families and neighbors. Some of us died without ever seeing that freedom. But, because of them and God’s grace, we are free today. I implore those of you who are thinking of leaving your country “for a better life,” stay and give that life of freedom, that “better life” to your own people.

Scripture for Saturday, November 11 (11/11)

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The scripture for today, November 11 (11/11), is Romans 11:11a as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium“Again I ask: Did they stumble so as to fall beyond recovery? Not at all!”

We weak humans may decide to live for God. But we are still weak humans. So sometimes we stumble and fall. God stands with us. And when we fall, we are not beyond hope. For God holds out his hands and says, “Take them. I will lift you back up.”

And so we do.

And so he does.

He is so amazingly patient with us when we sin. He loves us beyond comprehension.

 

Scripture for Friday, November 10 (11/10)

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The scripture for today, November 10 (11/10), is Acts 11:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonMedium“This happened three times and then it was all pulled up to heaven again.”

Acts 11 is about God telling Peter that his new heavenly kingdom was for the whole world, not just the Jews. What was pulled up to heaven again was a “sheet” holding all the unclean animals which the Old Law of Moses commanded not to eat. Now God was saying, “Eat it. The Old Law of Moses isn’t in effect anymore.”

This was hard to grasp. So hard that, even though it was God telling Peter directly a new spiritual concept, Peter refused it. So hard for him to believe it, that God had to tell him three times!

Isn’t this the way many of us are? We read something in the Bible that we never believed before. We read it and re-read it and re-read it, and it never sinks in. After all, we never believed that before. None of our religious friends believe it. None of our religious leaders believe it. No one on Christian radio/TV or in Christian magazines believes it.

But God’s Word remains, and so over the weeks and months and years we pass through that scripture and read it and re-read it. Over the weeks and months and years, its meaning for our life goes right over our heads.

Then one day, the light goes on!

Viola!

We see it!

We get it!

We are blessed!

 

Scripture for Thursday, November 9 (11/9)

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The scripture for today, November 9 (11/9), is Luke 11:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-michel-cover-kindle-medium” ‘So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.’ “

Does this mean that, if we ask for our favorite team to win, they will win? Does this mean that, if we ask for a particular job, we will get that job? Or, if we have our eyes on a particular young man or young woman, does this mean we will marry that person?

In the context that Jesus said this, he had just taught his disciples what many call the Lord’s prayer. In that prayer, Jesus instructed us to ask for a little bit of the physical and a whole lot of the spiritual.

You might say, “Well, that doesn’t leave me much to pray for.” Oh, yes it does. Shift your focus from yourself. It leaves the rest of the world to pray for. What about their little bit of physical and their whole lot of spiritual? How many people do you pray for? Not as a group, but by name? Not occasionally, but every day?

Well then, will God give us every one of the souls we pray for? God gives everyone free will. He does not force people to follow him. God provides opportunities for people we pray for, and he even moves their hearts. But he does not force them. We must still, keep on praying, even when we feel like someone is hopeless. Maybe they are hopeless during our lifetime. But sometimes someone’s soul is saved after our death.

So let us pray for others and never tire of it ~ a little bit of the physical and whole lot of the spiritual. Seek and we will find. God will answer in his own way.

And that’s a promise.