Wednesday 4/17 ~ How deep are your roots?

On April 17, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn #friendships, Bible, ego, eternity, faith, Heaven, judging, knowledge, Scripture, truth2 Comments

The scripture for today, April 17 (4/17), is Mark 4:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the Word, they quickly fall away.”

We may be mentally prepared for persecution out in the world. But what about persecution among our friends who we attend worship with all the time? They can turn on us too.

Perhaps you have discovered a “new” truth and are trying to get members of your congregation to believe it. If members get the feeling you are trying to prove them wrong and make them look bad, they will turn on you, much like people do a “whistleblower” in the business world.

On whose side will you stand? Your friends’ so you can continue to be friends with them, or God’s? It’s easy to let things slide and pretend that “new” truth no longer exists so you can keep your friends. How deep are your roots? Who shall you worship? Your friends or your God? What is more important? Your comfort in this life or your eternity?

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Saturday 4/6 ~ Your heart will soar

On April 6, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, church, ego, ethics, faith, Holy Spirit, judging, knowledge, Scripture, truth1 Comment

The scripture for today, April 6 (4/6), is 1st Corinthians 4:6 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“…learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”

Periodically through the Bible there appears this same warning for us to not “go beyond what is written.” 2nd Peter 1:20 says prophecy is scripture. Prophecy was needed before the New Testament was written, but no more after that, for by then, the prophecy of the apostles had been written down and were being passed around.

It is important to find out if what we are being taught is “beyond what is written.” It can be done. How? Simple. Use a concordance. A concordance is the size of an unabridged dictionary and includes every word in the Bible alphabetically, and every scripture that contains each word. Many libraries have one. Or you can order one from your local bookstore. There are some concordances on the internet too. Here is one: http://bibletab.com

You are an intelligent person. Don’t take for granted what others tell you, no matter how holy they look and act and how much they smile at you or threaten you. Check things for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. Decide for yourself whether any of your church leaders have gone “beyond what is written.” You can do it: Find out for sure.

It is liberating. Your heart will soar and your soul will embrace God in a whole new way.

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Thursday 4/4 ~ A sinless anger?

On April 4, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn #friendships, attitude, family, forgiveness, healing, judging, love, patience, problemsLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 4 (4/4), is Psalm 4:4 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“In your anger do not sin.”

You’ve gotta be kidding! That’s impossible! When you get angry, it’s time to lash out at everyone. And yell and call them names. And show our temper? Maybe even throw a few things? After all, that’s the only way to get across to the other person that you are really angry.

Hold on. If, for instance, you told your child not to do something for their own safety but your child did it anyway, of course you would become angry. Why? Your child put himself in danger because of his action.

You can choose to lash out at your child wildly so that your emotions mask your words. Or you can choose to talk calmly and explain the dangers your child was put in because of that action. Maybe punishment is in order. You can calmly but firmly tell them what their punishment is. You can calmly punish your child without losing your temper.

It is the same way with adults. If you lose your temper and shoot daggers with your eyes and rant and rave, all your actions distract people from your words. Aren’t your words of explanation more important than the emotionalism and yelling? If you were hurt, just say so. If they hurt themselves, just say so.

And with other adults, tell them how you feel, not how they feel; you don’t really know. Tell them what you want, not what they want; you don’t really know.

While we’re at it, not all words help. Name calling does not help. Name calling is done when you choose not to explain how you feel. Name calling such as, “You’re irresponsible,” locks the other person in and sets them up for future failures between you and them. Losing your temper during anger gets you off the issue and into sin.

If I’m angry because it rained, I do not lash out at the rain. I calmly deal with it and go on with my life.

Next time you are angry at a person, try to remain calm and then explain the problem in tones that they can truly listen to and learn from. If you have trouble doing this, practice when you’re alone. It will come to you in the right way. It will teach you to remain calm when you’re angry.

Anger is not the same thing as sin. What you do with it can be. Choose a calm anger. Thereby, you will have a peace that passes understanding.

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Wednesday 4/3 ~ Discovering real truth

On April 3, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, ego, ethics, judging, knowledge, persecution, power, Scripture, sin, teaching, truth, worship1 Comment

The scripture for today, April 3 (4/3), is 1st Timothy 4:3 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“They [false teachers] forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and who know the truth.”

It is hard for you to think that smiling, humble, Bible-quoting, holy-looking church leaders could be false teachers and condemned by the God they claim to represent. We want to think well of everyone. Isn’t that the way Christians are to think? But sometimes thinking well of someone and thinking well of the truth can clash. Now you have a choice to make ~ a hard choice.

The Apostle Paul, warned of false teachers in the church that would come in the future. Indeed, it did happen. A time came when certain Christians were ordered not to marry, and not to eat certain foods (for instance, on Friday. They claim it is a sin to disobey them and don’t show you the scriptures they refuse to obey.

Remember, your church leaders are going to be judged by God just like everyone else. Always, as the Apostle Peter once warned, “We ought to obey God and not men” (Acts 4:19). Besides, do you think this is one reason people have turned against “organized religion”?

This is why it is important to read the Bible for yourself. Use a concordance to look up all scriptures in the Bible with any keyword and you will learn what is true and not true. Isn’t it time for you to sort through everything you have been told? Isn’t it time for you to discover pure truth?

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Sunday 3/31 ~ Family

On April 1, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, Daily, family, forgiveness, judging, love, patience, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 31 (3/31), is Mark 3:31ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Then Jesus’ mother and brothers arrived. Standing outside, they sent someone in to call him. A crowd was sitting around him and they told him, ‘Your mother and brothers are outside looking for you.’ ‘Who are my mother and my brothers?’ he asked. Then he looked at those seated in a circle around him and said, ‘Here are my mother and my brothers! Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.’ “

Do you need a mediator between Jesus and yourself? Jesus said his followers are his brothers, sisters, and mother. You do not need anyone to intercede and beg Jesus to give you special attention (I Timothy 2:5). He already gives us special attention. After all, we are his family.

Oh, how comforting. No one has a perfect family here on earth. You love your family anyway. It is the same with Jesus’ family ~ the church. We are not perfect. But we forgive each other just as Jesus forgives us. Do not refuse to be with Jesus’ family because of someone’s imperfections of offenses. Ephesians 5:23 and elsewhere say Jesus is the head and we are his body. To break away from Jesus’ body is to break away from Jesus ~ our Brother, our Savior, the Lover of Your Soul.

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Friday 3/29 ~ Obscure Greatness

On March 29, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn church, governments, Inspirational, judging, persecution, sacrifice, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 29 (3/29), is Luke 3:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“…the son of Joshua, the son of Eliezer, the son of Jorim, the son of Matthat, the son of Levi….”

Who in the world were these five men: Joshua, Eliezer, Jorim, Matthat, and Levi? Some were named after famous Jews, but no one in this list was famous himself. In fact, nothing else is said in the Bible about any of these men. They’re just a single name in a single but long list made in obscurity.

Who were they that they earned even one brief mention in the Bible?

They were ancestors of Joseph, the human “father” of Jesus. What else? They were born and survived long enough to have sons. Not important at the time? No, but eventually it was.

We read obituaries and sometimes wonder about our own. Our whole life reduced to born, married, had a job, had children, died. That’s it. Nothing out of the ordinary. Just another one of billions in the world having come and gone.

Hold on! Maybe not!

Maybe your life, as ordinary as it seems now, will someday serve a greater purpose through your descendant or someone you become friends with. In a later generation ~ maybe ten or twenty generations from now ~ someone may do something extremely important for souls of the world. And it was made possible because of your “unordinary life” way back in the early twenty-first century when you survived one day at a time.

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Thursday 3/14 ~ Are you throwing away your prize?

On March 14, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Death of Jesus Christ, ego, eternity, judging, sacrifice, Saved from hell, things, worship1 Comment

The scripture for today, March 14 (3/14), is Philippians 3:14, as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

Jesus knew that, out of jealousy, the religious leaders were trying to kill him. So, for a while, he stayed out of Jerusalem where the religious headquarters was. But eventually, the time came for him to put himself in their hands. Was it easy for him to do? Definitely not! For he knew his death would be by physical and spiritual torture.

“They were on their way up to Jerusalem with Jesus leading the way, and the disciples were astonished while those who followed were afraid” (Mark 10:32).

Jesus pressed on. He did not want to go through the crucifixion. Hebrews 5:7 says that “during the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death.”

As difficult as it was for him, Jesus pressed on toward the goal to win the prize. But the prize was not for himself; it was for you and me ~ eternity in heaven instead of hell!

You do not have to go through what he did for your salvation and avoidance of hell. Your little bit of sacrifice is nothing by comparison. Or do you turn away from the prize Jesus sacrificed so much for so you can have a little more fun, accumulate a few more things, watch a few more tv shows, play a few more computer games, be a little more important to your friends?

Are you throwing away your prize?

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Chap. 1 ~ Pilate: Soaring to Nothingness
Chap. 2 ~ Simon the Libyan: The Gauntlet
Chap. 3 ~ Crucifixion I: The Substitute
Chap. 4 ~ Crucifixion II: Victorious Dying
Chap. 5 ~ Two Thieves: Stranger in Paradise
Chap. 6 ~ Joseph of Arimathea: Sleeping Giant
Chap. 7 ~ Graveyard Sentries: Dawn Eyes
Chap. 8 ~ Five Wealth Women II: Breath of God
Chap. 9 ~ Peter: Torch Flight
Chap. 10 ~ Big Little James & Alphaeus: Desert of Sighs

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Wednesday 3/13 ~ Do you hear it now?

On March 14, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn attitude, blessings, Daily, joy, judging, knowledge, Scripture1 Comment

The Scripture for today, March 13 (3/13), Is Ezra 3:13 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“No one could distinguish the sound of the shouts of joy from the sound of weeping, because the people made so much noise. And the sound was heard far away.”

Solomon’s great temple had been destroyed and the Jews forced to go to Babylon as slaves Now, 70 years later, they were back as freedmen and had rebuilt the temple. The older Jews who had seen Solomon’s golden temple wailed in grief because this one was not nearly so grand. The younger ones shouted for joy because at least they now had a temple again. So, the laughing of the young people and the crying of the old people mingled.

Today, sometimes the laughing and crying around us get too loud and put our lives in confusion. We don’t understand what is going on. Sometimes the laughing or crying is our own. Sometimes we need to get away from the loud laughing and crying.

Turn off the television. The radio. The cellphone. The computer. Don’t answer the door. Go into a room where you can be alone in complete silence. If you have a family, put a sign on the door. Then pick up the Bible and begin to read Luke about the life of Christ, or Philippians about peace, or the Psalms about overcoming adversity, or James about the direction your life is going. Read an entire book of the Bible in one sitting. Then be still.

Hear it now?

It is God’s heart calling your heart.

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Tuesday 3/12 ~ Are you really sure?

On March 12, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, ego, judging, knowledge, Scripture, truth1 Comment

The scripture for today, March 12 (3/12), is Ezekiel 3:12 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“The Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound ~ May the glory of the Lord be praised in his dwelling place!”

This is quite interesting because, despite some who preach being “slain in the Spirit,” the Spirit does not make people fall down. The Spirit lifts people up. The Spirit did this to Ezekiel on several occasions; always, if he was sitting or lying down, the Spirit lifted him up onto his feet.

There are so many things we think we know and are told about the Bible, but when we begin to investigate one of them, it just isn’t there.

>What about Joseph dying after Jesus turned 12? When Jesus was rejected after preaching in Nazareth a year before his crucifixion, they mentioned Joseph in the present tense.

>Or the Holy Land always having been desert? The Bible tells of nine forests plus the trees on mountains.

>Or the prodigal’s brother? As the oldest son, he was going to inherit the entire estate, but his insane greed wanted his brother’s party too.

>Or David being just a boy when he killed Goliath? He had already killed a lion and bear before that, and big Saul’s armor fit him.

>What about “Doubting Thomas”? The other apostles refused to believe before they saw Jesus alive again. More, when Jesus wanted to go to Jerusalem, his apostles said no, but Thomas said, “Let us go to Jerusalem so we may die with him.”

>Or everyone going inside the temple to worship? Only priests were allowed inside the building. Commoners worshiped in the courtyard.

>Or Bethlehem being a little town? It was a fortified walled city.

What excitement to read the Bible for yourself and discover its treasures for yourself. Open it. Read it. Be delighted.

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Sunday 3/10 ~ A part of you

On March 10, 2019July 15, 2025 By Inspirations By KatherynIn ego, faith, Heaven, Inspirational, judging, knowledge, loveLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 10 (3/10), is Colossians 3:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“And have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.”

Did you ever make something with your hands and it was your pride and joy? Were you so proud of it that you would stop at nothing to take care of it and make sure it lasted forever? Yes, you had a few rules about its care. You had a few rules about who could touch it and who couldn’t. You had a few rules about whether it should be kept at high or low temperature and should or shouldn’t be exposed to water. You were its creator and it was, in a sense, a part of you.

Do you resist knowing the Bible because you think of it as being full of rules from a God who doesn’t really like you and is just giving you a hard time so you can’t have any fun?

Think again. He made you. You are his pride and joy. He will stop at nothing to make sure you will last forever. He made a few rules for your daily maintenance.

He is your Creator. He loved you enough to make you, and you are a part of him. Now he wants to take care of you so you can last forever. Can you love him back ~ your Maker and the Lover of your soul?

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