I saw the milky way

I saw the milky way in the sky last night for the first time in years.  How amazing. Chandeliers in the sky for my delight. And 0-Titus-Cover-Lg Thumbmy galaxy is only one of one hundred thousand million galaxies. You think of everything, then go far above that. You love me, then surpass that.  You guide me and go beyond it. You are too marvelous, too wonderful, too majestic, too holy for me to understand.  But I plan to spend my whole life trying, Lord. How exciting that has made my life and will continue to on into eternity.

Thank you, my Lord, for giving me my second breath to come out of my discouragement. Thank you for helping me think of new ways I can reach out to other people so they will know just how much you love them. And for the time to do it. Time is so precious. At the end of time, I will be home with you. But, until then, I will thank you for the priceless thing called time. May I turn it into gold for you.

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0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbTITUS: THE ARISTOCRAT was a university-educated arbitrator and problem solver.  After being converted from paganism to Christianity, Paul knew he was the perfect person to send around to troubled congregations wanting to make changes.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  http://bit.ly/Bk8-TitusAristocrat

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/books-more-biblical-historical-novels/book-8-titus-the-aristocrat/

I feel the night

07-Jairus' Daughter-ThumbnailCoverI feel the night coming on, my Lord. Shadows surround me, I am growing weaker. But nothing can turn my soul away from you. I am in the valley now, Lord. The darkness is filled with the unknown. But I cannot feel alone as long as you are with me. Onward I will go. Though my enemies despise me and my friends desert me, still will I walk toward home.  You have always promised to never leave and forsake me. Though the blackness of dark leaps over me, it will be light in my soul. The valley is deep, but onward I go, for I know that on the other side will be the gate. With tears of joy and relief I will walk out of the valley and through that gate. You will take my hand in your wounded one, and walk with me through glory. On the other side. All on the other side. And I will then praise you forever and forever.

It is dawn. Thank you, Lord, for morning. Thank you for second chances and new opportunities and fresh insights.  The sun is rising higher and higher, spreading its rays of hope and cheer. Thank you for the rest that brought about new strength for a new day. And for time to reflect on the joy of you as I plan my day. Someday there will be another dawn. A dawn when I will close my eyes here and open them in the land of forever dawn where you are the sun and it is always morning.

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07-Jairus' Daughter-ThumbnailCoverJAIRUS’ DAUGHTER is a story of a little girl who went to heaven and played with the angels until Jesus called her back.  Then they all hugged and cried tears of joy. A good way to EXPLAIN DEATH TO A CHILD.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3gvIJtE

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-bible-kids-book-7-jairus-daughter/?frame-nonce=dcd871ac5b

Keep on singing

OldOldTunes-mediumThe scripture for today, August 22 (8/22), is Jeremiah 8:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then is there no healing for the wound of my people?”

Gilead was just across the Jordan River in Palestine with plenty of medicinal healing balsam.  Jeremiah laments that his people have not returned to God, with plenty of  healing balm for their souls. Today, we weep over our nation and hundreds of conflicting denominations that do not return to God. We pray, we weep, we sing our sad songs.

This beautiful African-American spiritual of unknown origin is one of those sad songs. You may be able to hear it sung a cappella here: http://bit.ly/1PfHxrI Here are the words to that spiritual:

There is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.

Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.

If you can’t preach like Peter,
If you can’t pray like Paul,
Just tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.

Keep praying and sharing and singing.

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THE OLD OLD STORY SET TO OLD OLD TUNES has 40 songs about the Old Testament and 40 songs for the new.  All set to old folk tunes.  Fun. Educational. Easy-peasy.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/BibleSongBook

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/links-to-some-of-my-fun-bible-stuff/the-old-old-story-set-to-old-old-tunes/

You taught the inexpressible

0000-BK 1-StarSong-CHILD'SCartoonCover-MediumAh, my Lord and God. How I adore you. How I want to please you. I am yours forever. You are my life and my love. How you can let me be so close to you amazes me. But you made me and want to beautify my spirit and make my heart strong. You treasure me as a pearl in the sea, a diamond in the sky, a twinkle in your eye. Such love overwhelms me. My soul bows to you and my heart worships you.

Lord God, you materialized and came to earth to show us how to live, love, and die. You continually taught the inexpressible, performed the impossible, and reached the unattainable. Why? So we could attain the unreachable. You left all the glories of heaven for us. You left your majesty for us. You left your sinless world for us. How can I thank you for all you did? For me ~ simple unworthy me. I worship in gratitude and always will.

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01-StarSong-CHILD'SCartoonCover-SmallSTAR SONG is storybook one in A CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST.  Large font and syllables of long word are separated by dashes to help the early reader.  “Think and Do” at the end of each chapter.  To BUY NOW, click a cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3hK3K5b

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-life-of-christ-book-1-star-song/

You held out your arms to me

I lift up my praises to you, Jehovah, God of the universe. You are the ultimate love, for though mankind has left you, you want us back so we can 0-BK 2-DreamMaker-cover-kindle-medium-newdelight in each other’s presence. As a new-born baby, I think perhaps I must have been aware of you, having just left your presence. But as I grew older, I drifted farther from you. When I became grown, I did things you were ashamed of. But you pursued me anyway. Your love was stubborn. Your love was such a powerful and mighty and driving force. You reached out to me over and over. Though I ran from you a little while, I gradually realized you were not going to let me go. I gradually realized the potency of your love. When I turned toward you, you held out your holy arms to me and welcomed me back home.

My Lord, sometimes I am tired. I do not want to do anything but sit and stare or go for long walks. Sometimes I am discouraged. I am at a lost what to do next, so I do nothing. Sometimes I feel so inadequate, I lie down and refuse to do anything at all. At those times, you smile, take my hand, and whisper, “It’s okay. Go ahead and rest. I’ll send one of my angels to sit with you. When you are ready, I’ll be ready too.  You do not need to ask my forgiveness, for there is nothing to forgive.  Rest now and be at peace.” Thank you for being so understanding, my Lord.

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0-BK 2-DreamMaker-cover-kindle-new-thumbnailDREAM MAKER is lyrical novel #2 in the series THEY MET JESUS.  He is now grown, Herod is dead, and the Temple takes over trying to find and destroy Jesus. But he takes the kingdom by storm.  Are they too late to stop him?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-2-dream-maker-adults-childs-versions-2/

Me, Lord? Me?

00-hero-alone-cover-kindle-mediumOh Lord, my God. I do not always understand you. But I trust you no matter what happens in my personal life, in my city, my nation, the world. I know you have everything under control. You step back sometimes to let the true motives of bad people be seen at the expense of people they hurt. I do not always understand you. But I trust you no matter what happens to my body during plagues and to the earth during natural disasters. No matter what happens, I will trust you and praise you. I will never turn away from you as long as you give me strength to do so. May I die praising you.

My Father, thank you for making me your child. I am a child of the Creator of greater things than I can ever see or understand ~ me just a spec in the cosmos! How is that possible? I am a child of the King over all kings, the Lord over all lords. I am a child of the self-existent one who chose to make me, protect me, and love me. Me, Lord?  Me?  I fall at your feet in gratitude and heart thanks.

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00-hero-alone-cover-kindle-lgthumbnailYOU CAN BE A HERO ALONE: SURVIVAL STORIES FOR THE COURAGEOUS ISOLATED CHRISTIAN.  Each chapter is the story of someone in the Bible who had to stand alone.  At the end are multiple choice questions and thought questions to challenge the reader’s personal life.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/you-can-be-a-hero-alone-survival-stories-for-the-isolated-christian/

As long as my heart beats

Supper-Front Cover-MediumAs long as there is breath in me, I will praise you. As long as my heart beats, I will praise you. As long as I have a lucid mind, I will praise you. Though I may be beaten to deny you, in my weakness I will praise you. Though I may be imprisoned for not denying you, in my restraint I will praise you. Though they may threaten to kill me, at the moment of my death I will praise you. As long as it is within my being to do so, I will praise you, my Lord and my God.

Thank you for coming to our world as the kind of man you created. With that, you made my salvation possible. Salvation from Sin, Satan and Death and that hopeless prison of hell.  You rescued me. You ransomed me. You bought me back. All to take me home with you to heaven. And everyone else who once turned against you. Thank you for forgiving me and all the others. Thank you for such astounding love that soars through the universe to my heart.

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER: 52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS can be used by those presiding at the Lord’s Table or by partakers in private meditation.  A preface traces keeping the Lord’s Supper back to the original Greek of Acts 20:7.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2Vhacqn

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/the-lords-supper-52-readings-with-prayers/

The basin of blood

0-BOOK 7-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonMediumAh, my Lord God. Everywhere I look, you are there. You leap from mountain to mountain as stepping stones. You throw out seeds of pine and spruce and fir, and forests appear. You blow on them, they fall, and deserts appear.  You step into the oceans, stir them up, and laugh when their waves leap with joy. You are in the chirpings of the birds, the giggles of a child, the echoes in canyons.  You are in the gentle breezes, the laughing brooks, the slumbering meadows. Everywhere I look and you are there, dear Lord. More wondrous still will be when I see you face to face.

There is a basin of blood at the foot of your cross.  You washed me and made me clean when I was baptized in that blood. That which was crimson and laden with grief, made me pure and white and overflowing with joy.  How can this be? What you went through for me. How you fought Satan for my spirit, my life, my soul.  I do not understand your strength, but I know it is greater than Satan’s.  He made you bleed, but the life that flowed out of you with that blood became the water of life. Thank you for all you did for me. I worship you.

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailA CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST: SHADOW OF DEATH explains the death of Jesus on the cross in gentle terms such as “he hurt”.  Children know he died on the cross, but do not understand why grownup talk about it so much. Now they can understand.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/3fVZTQX

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/a-childs-life-of-christ-book-7-shadow-of-death/?frame-nonce=9bf6873c93

Confined to a body

0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-MediumThe scripture for today, August 9 (8/9), is 2nd Corinthians 8:9 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes, he became poor, so that you through his poverty might become rich.”

Such love!

Jesus gave up streets of gold for streets full of trash. Gave up a heavenly mansion for a barn. Gave up the ability to be everywhere at once, to being confined to a body. Gave up eternal bliss for thirty-three years of pain and struggle. Gave up adoring angels for crowds that hated him. And finally, he gave up sinlessness to take the blame for your sins and allow himself to take the soul and body death penalty for your sins.

What more can be said about God who materialized for you and snatched you out of the  jaws of Sin, Satan, and Death? Unless perhaps we can add, ‘What have you given up for him?’.

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0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-ThumbnailSTAR SONG is biblical lyrical novel #1 in the series, THEY MET JESUS.  Follow the lives of 12 people he changed forever, even as a baby.  I began writing this series when I was 17 years old and finished it when I was 60.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/StarSong

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-1-star-song-adult-childs-versions/

It is August and I am happy

00-Hero Alone-COVER-KINDLE-MediumAt first, when I learned about you, Lord God, my faith was a slight spark, barely visible. Later, my faith enlarged to the size of a pin light. Eventually, the light of my faith filled the little space around my body.  Finally, the light of my faith filled a room and I rejoiced in it. But that was not all.  I continued to study your Word and pray and share, and after all that, I realized the light of my faith was large enough to fill an arena. Now that I am growing old, my body is weaker and starting to shrivel, but not the light of my faith. Now, and now oh, Lord, my faith flares up high and wonderous beyond my wildest dreams, fills the world, and draws wanderers to it. All because of you, Lord, for the light of my faith comes from you.

It is August and hot outside. I don’t care. At least it isn’t snowing, Besides, in August I don’t have to worry about shoveling sunshine! In August I slow down a little and take life easy before the bustle of harvest and autumn. I can go out in the cool of the morning and pick strawberries or blueberries. I can wade in mud puddles after a summer shower. I can sit under a tree, look up through the branches, and imagine the top of the tree are reaching the canopy of the sky. I can even lie on my back on a blanket and imagine what kind of animals the clouds look like. Ah, yes, it is August and I am happy.

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00-hero-alone-cover-kindle-lgthumbnailYOU CAN BE A HERO ALONE:  SURVIVAL STORIES OF ISOLATED CHRISTIANS. Inside are stories of Bible people who had to survive alone ~ Noah, Daniel, Elijah, John the Baptist and many more.  A few multiple questions are at the end for personal reflection or class study.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/HeroesAlone

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https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/you-can-be-a-hero-alone-survival-stories-for-the-isolated-christian/