The scripture for today, September 2 (9/2), is Job 9:2 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“Though one wishes to dispute with Him [God], he could not answer Him one time out of a thousand.”
Category: judging
You can start reading your daily scripture thought any time of the year. Each verse depends on the date. For example the verse for March 16 (3/16) is John 3:16. Look up your birthday! Great gift for newly weds, new parents, and isolated Christians. Easy buylink: https://amzn.to/2oyCUmETuesday 8/21 ~ Fasting. Me?
The scripture for today, August 21 (8/21), is Ezra 8:21a as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“There, by the Ahava Canal [from the Euphrates R.], I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God.”
In our modern society, does anyone fast anymore? Not drinking our food (juice) for a day and calling that a fast, but a true fast where we drink only water to stay hydrated, but that’s all. And we turn off all computers, phones, radios, and televisions for the day.
Jesus said in his sermon on the mount, “When you fast….” (Matthew 6:16). He didn’t say, “If you fast….” No, he assumed his followers would fast. Do we?
If we do, do we do it as a group? Does anyone else know about it? They shouldn’t know unless they are the reason for our fast. Fasting is an act of self-restraint. It belongs to the sphere of humble self-discipline. It is strictly a personal and private matter.
All moral and bodily restraint, all humbleness of body and spirit are represented by fasting, and it is a complete failure of self-restraint to want to show the world our self-restraint. An unknown author wrote this:
Let us keep our fast within,
Till heaven and we are quite alone;
Then let the grief, the shame, the sin,
Before the mercy-seat be thrown.
Fasting is a way of starving ourselves temporarily, a way of saying, “God, I would do this and more for you; I would die for you.” Or, “God, I would trade lives with this person I am fasting for to give them rest if it were possible. I would even die for this person.” It is a deep expression to God that goes beyond words.
Also, when we fast, our minds are freed from trying to digest food so we can think clearer and deeper. And we can face ourselves more honestly. Just what are we deep down? Do we truly love God as much as we claim? Do we truly love our families as much as we claim? Our neighbors? Our fellow Christians? Our enemies?
It is a time of self-reflection and self-honesty. When we humble ourselves this much, we can grow closer to God.
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Monday 8/20 ~ Decisions, decisions
The scripture for today, August 20 (8/20), is Proverbs 8:20 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
“I walk in the way of righteousness, along the paths of justice.”
Interestingly, the original Hebrew of “way” is customary path, and the original Hebrew of “paths” is customary road.
If you had a house out in the country, it would have paths leading to and from it. These paths would be taken in your day-to-day life without much thought. In the same way, we live out our principles and moral standards pretty much the same every day on such paths.
But eventually, these paths can merge into major roads. Now we have to make major decisions. Our life decisions on such roads must be based on justice.
It is sometimes hard to make right judgments because we can get emotionally involved and start wishing for an outcome that cannot possibly occur. In those cases, we must stand back and consider, “What would be the just thing to do if someone else had to make this decision?”.
We could also ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?”. After all, Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, the Life” (John 14:6).
(He is the Good Samaritan and spends his life trying to do right. When he meets Jesus, he becomes a Christian, the best decision of his life.) Buy link: amzn.to/Lazarus-Samaritan
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Wednesday 8/8 ~ The God of Second Chances
The scripture for today, August 8 (8/8), is Zechariah 8:8 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“I will bring them back to live in Jerusalem; they will be my people, and I will be faithful and righteous to them as their God.”
The Jews had done terrible things against God. They had worshiped terrible idols that required ghastly things be done in their honor such as setting up brothels with so-called “priestesses” and sacrificing their children on an altar of fire. They had nailed the doors of the Temple closed. They had broken every one of God’s rules. They had sworn at him, rejected him, hated him.
So God punished them with 70 years of exile in Babylon. What a light punishment for what they had done! Still, it was the boomerang effect. They had rejected God, so God rejected them.
But it was not permanent. God is love and has no choice but to love and give people a second chance. Isn’t He amazing? The God of Second Chances?
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Tuesday 8/7 ~ The Boomerang Effect
The scripture for today, August 7 (8/7), is Hosea 8:7 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:
“They sow the wind and reap the whirlwind.”
This is the boomerang effect. We throw a boomerang into the air and no matter how we throw it, it always comes back to us. In the same way, God treats us the same way we treat him.
If we draw near to God, God draws near to us (James 4:8). If we don’t have time for God, God doesn’t have time for us. If we don’t want to do what he says, God doesn’t want to do what we say. If we reject God, God rejects us:
Psalm 9:15-16; Psalm 10:2; Psalm 37:14-15; Psalm 140:9; Proverbs 3:34; Proverbs 6:27; Proverbs 26:27; Isaiah 33:1; Isaiah 59:18; Ezekiel 7:8; Obadiah 1:15.
Another viewpoint is that there may be people out there mistreating us. Someday their mistreatment will boomerang right onto themselves. In the meantime, our assignment is to remain true to God with patience and calm. God will take care of the boomerang.
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Sunday 8/5 ~ Amazingly simple
The scripture for today, August 5 (8/5), is Romans 8:5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires, but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”
That makes sense to a Christian. But how are you supposed to know what the Spirit desires? Certainly, God doesn’t leave you to guessing.
Jesus said in John 14:17 that he was going to send the Comforter ~ the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17, talking to the same people, he said, God’s Word is Truth. Amazingly simple.
If you want to know what the Spirit desires, then find out what the Word desires. God has given you the Bible full of examples of every possible circumstance and experience of life ~ what works and what doesn’t work.
Someone says, “Well, I shall let the Spirit move my heart.” However, by researching all verses in the Bible where someone’s heart was moved, it was always by God the Father, not God the Spirit. Isn’t that interesting? Not what most of us have been told.
Some people pray and pray about a major decision believing Romans 8:28 says “all things work together for the best…” It does not say that. It says “for good”. In other words, whatever decision you make, God will turn it into some kind of good. So, go ahead and make your decision. Whatever it is, God will make it work out for you.
You can always rely on what the Bible says, which is exactly what the Spirit says.
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Wedesday 8/1 ~ What is your reason for being?
The scripture for today, August 1 (8/1), is Romans 8:1 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”
There are a lot of religious groups out there in the world who control their people with fear. If you don’t do such and such, it proves you aren’t spiritual enough. If you do such and such one second before you die, you’re going to hell.
They put burdens on you that just are not in the New Testament. By making you feel guilty, they make you depend on them for your salvation and that boosts their ego. The Apostle Paul wrote to the congregations in Galatia (today’s Turkey) and warned them with tears:
“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel ~ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently, some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached [past tense] to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again:
If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? ” (Galatians 1:6-10).
Are you sure you are IN Christ Jesus? Do your church leaders dance around scriptures they wish weren’t in the Bible and tell you they don’t really mean what they say? Or add things that the scriptures say nothing about? Are you sure they aren’t people pleasers instead of God pleasers? What do they do with Romans 6:3-4 and Galatians 3:27? Look it up and compare.
Oh to be sure we are indeed IN Christ Jesus and can someday live in his world. This is our longing. Our hope. Our reason for being.
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Sunday 7/22 ~ How do you know what you believe is true?
The scripture for today, July 22 (7/22), is 2nd Samuel 7:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.
“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”
How do you know there is no God but the God of the Bible that we read about and “hear with our own ears” (when scriptures are read aloud)? How do you know our God is the only true God, and our Bible his only true words?
Investigating the numerous built-in proofs is how we know. Prophecies fulfilled of people and entire nations as given in the Bible and verified in secular encyclopedias. Scientific facts not known in early centuries. Over 300 archaeological facts. Here is a colorful website showing most of them:
bit.ly/BibleKingdomProphecies
Therefore, you can KNOW what God is like, what he wants and how he views you, for you have heard with your own ears and seen with your own eyes. How lucky you are. How blessed.
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Saturday 7/21 ~ How about teaching your teachers?
Our scripture for today, July 21 (7/21), is Matthew 7:21ff as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and in your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ “
There are hundreds of denominations/sects out there all contradicting each other. It’s impossible for them all to be right. We cannot all be on different roads going to the same place. We cannot all be pleasing God if we decide opposing things please him.
We can never rely on what someone else says just because they look and act holy and say all the right holy words and phrases and pray such holy-sounding prayers. We must never rely on our religious leaders to tell us what to believe. Shall we take their opinion or God’s opinion?
Romans 10:1 in the Bible mentions some people who had a lot of zeal for God, but were lost because it was not according to the proper knowledge.
Well, how do you get God’s opinion? Read the Bible for yourself! Use a concordance (lists every word in the Bible and every scripture with that word) and look up your chosen subject. Then, having found the truth, why not go back to the religious leaders in love and try to teach your teachers? Some just might listen to you.
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Saturday 7/7 ~ What does God go through to answer your prayer?
The scripture for today, July 7 (7/7), is Matthew 7:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:
“Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”
How beautiful. The Creator of the universe pays attention to each and every one of us. How does he do it? How does he even sort us all out when thousands of us are praying to him at the same time?
Sometimes you may not think he is listening to your prayers. But it takes time to answer some of them. If I am praying to meet my future husband or wife, God may have to move him or her from the other side of the country, get a new job for him or her and arrange for us to “accidentally” bump into each other. This is just one example.
Also, when Jesus said whatever we seek will be given to us, he had already explained that we must “seek first his kingdom and his righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). So only within that context, God will give us our heart’s desire.
Maybe today you can do a little bit of extra seeking and extra knocking. What is God’s desire for you?
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