You brought eternity into my soul

0-BK 5-FloodGates-Cover-Medium-NewI praise and adore you, Lord God of heaven and earth. Of angels and people. Of stars and beasts. Of galaxies and molecules. So great and so minuscule ~ too large and too small for me to even see. You are in all.  You made all.  Your glory and might and wonders are reflected in all.  You are my Maker, my Defender, the Lover of my soul. You make darkness light. You make rough roads smooth. You make my chains break and fall away. I feel so warm and loved in your presence. You alone are worthy of worship.

Thank you, Jesus, for all your sacrifices. Over and over you sacrificed ~ heaven, a normal childhood, being a suspected bastard, being hounded by would-be assassins for two years. You went in and out of hiding. You dared them to live what they demanded of others. They hated you for it. They tortured you, insulted you, crucified you. Then death and hell.  So much. Because of my sins. My sins. You never gave up on me. Satan tried to destroy you. No one can destroy God.  You destroyed him. You destroyed my sins. Your persistence brought light into my life.  Your love brought eternity into my soul. Your love is unfathomable.

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THEY MET JESUS:  FLOOD GATES.  Jealous leaders feel threatened by Jesus.  The people follow him everywhere.  He is feeding them free.  Healing them free.  Teaching them free.  Even commanding demons. He must be crushed. He must be destroyed.  Spreading rumors about him has not worked.  Blaming him for breaking the law has not worked.  He must be killed.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/2XsOXDS

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-5-flood-gates-adults-childs-versions/

 

Keeping the cosmos synchronized

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailAh, Lord God. I praise you for your greatness and minuteness.  You dwell in the cosmos and you dwell in each tiny atom. You are directed energy, determined love, the head, heart and soul of the universe. Nature praises your reliability and predictability. My spirit praises you for bringing life and brightness and wonder into the world. When the sun shines on me, I know it is you. When rain drops happily onto the ground, I know it is you. When the rainbow emerges among dark clouds, it, of course, is you.

Help me not look down on people with weaknesses. When I do, it makes me weaker than them.

Your patience with mankind through the centuries is beyond comprehension. You answer sometimes silly (to you) daily prayers while having to keep everything in the cosmos synchronized. And, Jesus, you came at just the right time after mankind had tried everything to be perfect and realized it is impossible. Oh glorious thought ~ all you have done and continue to do to rescue me from Satan and keep the way clear for me to live on the heights with you someday forever. Thank you, too, for seekers around the world.  Send more to me so I can reach out to them. Thank you for their souls that I may offer up to you.

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0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailTHE HOLY SPIRIT:  592 VERSES EXAMINED shows the reader everything God wants us to know about His Spirit ~ no more, no less.  This book was NOT written to prove or disprove a pet theory, whether or not it is popular and whether or not preachers around the world declare it as truth.  Simply written, it shows examples of the Holy Spirit with prophets, with apostles, with Old Testament people, New Testament people, etc.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/376695S

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-the-holy-spirit-in-365-scriptures/?frame-nonce=9f9ac75c8f

Come back! Come back to Me!

The scripture for today, January 13 (1/13), is Habakkuk 1:13 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“Your eyes are too pure to look on evil; you cannot tolerate wrong.”

This pretty much explains why no one deserves heaven. Going to heaven has little to do with doing so many good works God will feel obligated to admit you. 

It’s all about sin.  Only sinless people can be in heaven, for God cannot coexist with sin and still be God. Of course, you cannot be sinless. If nothing else, you have sins of attitude and neglect.

For thousands of years, God let mankind try any way they could to be perfect. Some people he gave the Law of Moses to, and some people he continued to let try on their own. Neither worked. No matter how hard we tried, no one could get it right.

The wages you earn for sinning is death (Romans 6:23). Remember in the Garden of Eden God warned, “The moment you sin, you die.” He was talking about souls dying, and eventually, bodies dying. Satan was now holding mankind hostage. Satan causes death, so sinners collect the wages Satan pays for following him.

But mankind was still being held hostage and Satan wasn’t about to let us go.  So God set up a trap.  The death of God. Satan wanted to be God and this was the only way he could carry out his plan. He did not realize it would end up being the destruction of his power of death.

Galatians 4:4 says, “When the time was come, God sent his son.” Finally, when mankind understood everyone needed outside help, God sent Jesus. Hebrews 4:15 says Jesus lived the perfect life that was impossible for anyone to live; he was completely free of sin.

Then God was ready to crush Satan’s head.  God offered his son ~ God in the form of mankind. So, Satan freed mankind from his prison of soul death. But Satan was in for a shock.  He is not as smart as God. His gloating came to an abrupt stop.  God tricked Satan. You cannot kill Life.  God returned to that human body and came back to life.

It was too late. Satan had already freed mankind. 

That done, God ~ who is too pure to dwell with sin ~ is now able to allow obedient, faithful believers in Jesus into his home, heaven. For, through Jesus, we become sinless and pure. Glory of glories!

But something terrible happened after that. People began selling themselves back into slavery to Satan (Romans 6:15-23).  No!  No! This cannot be! Not after all God went through to save mankind from Satan.

So God, through Christians, continually calls out to those who no longer want to worship Him or encourage his Family, “Come back!  Come back to your Father!! Come back.  Your brothers and sisters miss you. I miss you….”

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH takes the reader through the last hours of Jesus before the Great Sacrifice.  Two chapters are completely on his six agonizing hours on the cross ~ the first three in the scorching sun; the second three in cold, cold darkness.  Satan, the Romans, the priests, the Sadducees ~ all thought they had won.  They had only dug their own spiritual graves.  Jesus re-entered his body and walked the earth again.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2UcggRE

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-7-shadow-of-death-adults-childs-versions/

 

And lift the fog of time

0-Cover-MediumJehovah God, you transcend space and time. I do not. I sometimes think back about the clouded past and wonder how many wrong decisions I made. I think, too, about the future and how my decisions of today will influence it. At other times I wonder why unethical people often get rich at the expense of the poor.  As I slide uneasily through time step by step and wonder with uneasy mind, I just do not know what the future will bring. But you do. You have already been to the future. So, I rest in you knowing you will guide me through the unknown and someday will lift the fog of time.

Father, forgive my ingratitude. I want more hours in the day to do more, then I want more hours in the night so I can sleep more. When it is winter, I want it to be summer, then when it is summer, I want it to be winter. When I have an interesting job with low pay, I want a boring job with high pay. And on and on I go. Never content and grateful for what you have given me. I am so sorry.

My Jesus, when I am lonely, I remember how your heart must have ached when the world went after you only for your miracles, only to use you. When I feel nearly broken by my burdens, I remember how you suffered and died to free an ungrateful world from Satan’s clutches.  You understand everything I go through because you have been there. You have been tempted as I have, you have been heavy ladened as I have, you have laughed and wept as I have. You understand. And for this, I thank you, my Lord.

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00-Cover-ThumbnailFUN WITH BIBLE NUMBERS has 525 math problems from the Bible — half from the Old Testament, half from the New Testament.  Great gift for passing the time or homeschoolers.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  http://bit.ly/Bible-Numbers

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/links-to-some-of-my-fun-bible-stuff/bible-puzzles-for-young-and-old/

 

When and How Often?

The scripture for today, November 28 (11/28), is 1st Corinthians 11:28,31 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Medium“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup [of the Lord’s Supper]….If we judged ourselves, we would not come under judgment.”

“When they met on THE first day of the week to break bread” (Acts 20:7), these first-century Christians were meeting to keep the Lord’s Supper, for the word (“met”) in the original Greek of the New Testament means a religious meeting. Interestingly, the word “the” in the original Greek means each and every without exception perpetually.

Even if we did not know the Greek, look how the Jews (and we) interpreted “Remember THE Sabbath Day to keep it holy.”  They did not remember the Sabbath day monthly, quarterly or yearly, but weekly. Therefore, , the first-century Christians realized that “When they met on THE first day of the week to break bread” (Acts 20:7), it meant every Sunday.

We can sing, pray, teach, and read the Bible any day of the week. What makes Sunday special is that’s the day Jesus came back to life, the day Jesus ascended back to heaven, and the day the church was established. Today, on the special first day we are to meet to take the Lord’s Supper, the Communion ~ the bread representing his body dying in our place, the wine representing his blood dripped out of his body in our place.

During the Communion, we consider Jesus’ terrible sacrifice in order to save us from hell. And we consider our sins that made his sacrifice necessary to save us from hell. Today’s scripture tells us that. During our weekly partaking of the Communion, we should be examining ourselves, comparing ourselves to Jesus. It is kind of like taking weekly exams, so we will be ready for the big final exam on the Day of Judgment.

God thought of everything ~ weekly remembering the sacrifice of our Lord so that we never take him for granted, and weekly remembering our sins. And, in the process, our souls fall at his feet and whisper, “Thank you.”

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Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER:  52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS.  Excellent for men officiating at the Lord’s Supper in congregations or for personal meditation while taking the Lord’s Supper.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/LordsSupper52

 

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

Kaleidoscope

Applied ChristianityAh, my God, you are so noble and trustworthy. If I trust in your judgment, then what is best will happen ~ one more step closer to conquering the world.  Conquering bad with good.  You are life and you work every moment to rescue me from a world of sin to deliver me to a world of sinlessness.  All this despite my self-destructive listening to Satan. You are stronger than Satan and make me stronger in the process. Such stubborn love.

Thank you, Jesus, for your example of strict living with kindness intertwined throughout.  Your teachings are a tapestry of dark and light tones that wove together into a blanket of safety. Your life was a kaleidoscope of sunny yellows and bloody reds and every color in between to show me the beauty of everything, no matter how dark it may seem. In gratitude, I worship you.

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS.  During this time of physical restrictions to each other, we can still encourage each other.  These good works can be done by all ages, all health situations, all sizes of congregations and towns.  Each good work is spelled out step by step.  Nothing hard. Stay busy doing good works for others and enrich yourself and the world around you.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/APPLIEDCHRISTIANITY

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-applied-christianity/

Taking Heaven for Granted

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-NewThe scripture for today, October 25 (10/25), is Hebrews 10:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ~ and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Do you declare, “I can walk through nature ~ the temple of God ~ and feel God is closer there than in a church building”? Well, do you really do it? How often? The purpose of the church meeting is not so much to encourage yourself as to encourage your fellow Christians and visitors, along with worshiping God.

Look at the context. Verse 23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,” and verse 24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How do you do these things? A lot of it is done during your congregation’s worship and encouragement service.

And what comes after our verse for today? Verse 26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Meeting together with other congregational members is one of the major experiences that keeps you and your friends from falling and missing heaven. Or does worshipping all the time in heaven sound boring too?

Should you meet once a week? This scripture says to meet “all the more as you see the Day [of Judgment] approaching.’ Do you say, “But that’s too inconvenient”?

It was inconvenient for Jesus to leave a perfect heaven for an imperfect earth. It was inconvenient for him to leave the company of angels for the company of sinners. It was inconvenient for him to do this for 33 long years. Inconvenient to take the blame for your sins, and then take your punishment. Inconvenient to experience agonizing spiritual death when God left him alone on the cross in your place, and then that agonizing physical death in your place.

Do you really know inconvenience?  Do you take heaven for granted?

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0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Thumbnail-New

COME FLY WITH ME is the last biblical historical novel in the THEY MET JESUS 8-book series on the life of Christ.  Life applications questions at the end of each chapter are accompanied by scriptures on which the chapter was based as well as external historical writings.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/FLY-WITH-ME

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/

You make me look good

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-MediumAh, Jehovah God, my Father and Maker, you love me so. You enchant me like a beautifully faceted diamond ~ love on this side, joy on that side, mercy on this other side.  You are my jewel, my precious pearl, my frame of gold. Silver strains of you sing forth from my heart. You are strong when I need you to be, tender when I need you to be. You are the epitome if everything good, thus making life on this earth ruled by Satan bearable.  Oh, that’s right! That’s why I am here ~ to smile when he wants me to frown, to love when he wants me to hate, to act when he wants me to sit idly by. How I delight in defying Satan and winning one more skirmish for you.

Thank you, Lord Jesus, for your example and staying-power while walking on earth. Never sinning, never doubting, never quitting. All for us even while sinning against you.  You knew we’d continue to sin even after we became Christians. We are so fickle, you are so faithful. We are so deceptive even to our own selves, you are so true. Thank you for your undaunting example and loving me even when I do wrong. Thank you for making me look so good. It is your reflection in me.  How I worship you.

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR was always sticking his foot in his mouth.  From his youth, he had wanted to make his parents proud of him, but more, he wanted people to learn about the true God.  It seemed everything he tried something to spread the word, it backfired on him.  But, as he matured…  To BUY NOW, click a good cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/StephenUnlikelyMartyr

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/books-more-biblical-historical-novels/book-7-stephen-unlikely-martyr/

 

Dread, Daring, and Dominion

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-MediumThe scripture for today, September 30 (9/30), is Luke 9:30f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor, talking with Jesus. They spoke about his departure, which he was about to bring to fulfillment at Jerusalem.”

Hebrews 5:7 says something very startling to most people. “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.”

Jesus did not look forward to going to the cross, even though many thousands of others had died that way. Why was it different for him? Because he had to take on all our sins as though he had committed them himself ~ every lie we ever told, every gain from cheating, every insult, every slander campaign against another, every adultery, every murder ~ everything. He had to take the blame for ALL our sins! How could he bear it?

Not only that, but he had to experience both physical and spiritual death. Spiritual death means being separated from, being forsaken by God. What a terror to experience ~ even for a moment.

And so, a few weeks before his crucifixion, as he prayed on the mountain, Moses and Elijah appeared to him, and they spoke about his death. They surely gave courage to Jesus’ human side to do what had to be done to save you and me who deserve hell.

The crowning glory of this conversation with Moses and Elijah is that the Father himself ~ the Will of God ~ reassured him by announcing, “This is my son! Whom I have chosen! Listen to HIM!”

Jesus was to nail the Old Law of Moses to the cross (Colossians 2:14). He had promised people, “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law and the Prophets: I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them” (Matthew 5:17).

On the cross, he said, “It is fulfilled.”  Indeed, by the time Jesus returned to heaven, he had lived the Old Law introduced by Moses perfectly ~ something no man had ever been able to do. And by the time he returned to heaven, he had fulfilled every prophecy about his birth, life, and death, the first such full-time prophet being Elijah.

Oh, the things Jesus went through for us. We fall at his bloody, pierced feet and worship.

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0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailSHADOW OF DEATH is biblical historical novel #7 in the THEY MET JESUS series.  This book has a child’s version; the chapters on the crucifixion have been toned down, but do explain what children hear about but do not understand. In the adult version, each chapter ends with Life Application discussion questions. The adult version has Think & Do at the end of each chapter.  Come along, now, and witness those days of dread, daring, and dominion.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:   http://bit.ly/Death-Resurrection

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-7-shadow-of-death-adults-childs-versions/

Angels

0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-MediumAh, Lord God, there are a lot of people who praise angels. They paint beautiful pictures of angels watching over us, make beautiful statues of glorious looking angels, and sing songs about angels. “Angels are walking among us!” they proudly announce. What?  What about you? You ~ the Emperor of the Universe ~ are walking with us every day. You have since our birth. What about you? You are the Creator, the Maker of the angels. What about you? You materialized and died in our place for our sins. No angel ever did any of that. Glorify angels?  Never. May I forever glorify you, and, though I cannot imagine what you look like, I will have a picture of you in my heart.

Help me, Lord, not burn out. Forgive me when I give up on finding souls to bring to you.

Thank you for the beautiful warm day. Summer is over and I am harvesting my garden now. Days are cool, nights even cooler. I should go outside and take a nap in the warm sun today. Thank you for your beautiful scenery painted by you.  The sun is up, I can hear the autumn crickets and a few birds. The flowers are full, the farmers are reaping, the markets are filling with fresh produce for sale What a glorious earth you prepared for us before we were “born”. Good morning, my Lord. And thank you for it all.

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0000-BK 1-StarSong-Cover-new-ThumbnailSTAR SONG.  For a while, I named this book Angel Song.  Then I learned angels don’t sing.  They shout and sound like billowing waves of the sea, but they do not sing.  That is a privilege God gave only us.  Discover more interesting things about the birth of Jesus and all those involved in it in this biblical historical novel.  (Child’s version also available with same chapter headings.)  Life-application questions at the end of each chapter along with lists of citations.  Yes, this is a unique novel. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  http://bit.ly/StarSong

 

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