Monday 9/30 ~ We fall at his bloody pierced feet and worship him

The scripture for today, September 30 (9/30), is Luke 9:30f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“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!

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 him the courage 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 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 him.

 

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailTHEY MET JESUS: SHADOW OF DEATH includes two chapters on the crucifixion itself ~ one the first three hours, one the last three hours.  I studied a lot of medical manuals and consulted physicians and they are the result. It also includes the hours before his crucifixion, the mourning of his followers and that great Sunday morning when he gave Satan the final blow: He came back to life!  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2MPmDcj

 

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The Lord's Supper: 52 Readings With Prayers Kindle Edition

I do not know if the congregation you attend commemorates the Lord’s death and resurrection every Sunday or not.  If not, perhaps this book will encourage you to begin this wonderful practice ~ celebrate “Easter” every Sunday.

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Thursday 9/26 ~ How amazing God’s plan for us

The scripture for today, September 26 (9/26), is Hebrews 9:26f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

07-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonThmbnail“Then Christ would have had to suffer many times since the creation of the world. But now he has appeared once for all at the end of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself. Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face the judgment.”

According to the Old Law of Moses, sacrifices of perfect lambs had to be made to temporarily pay the ransom of death for people’s sins. But it wasn’t enough because what Satan really wanted was the death of God so he could take over.

Finally, Jesus became the perfect Lamb of God and gave Satan what he wanted (Matthew 20:28). In a sense, he laid down on the altar of the world. He paid the ransom Satan demanded to release our sinful souls from his clutches.

Then Jesus fooled Satan.  Satan thought he got what he wanted ~ God in the body of Jesus had died.  The ransom was paid and our souls released in one fell swoop. Then three days later he played a trick on Satan: He came back to life!

And so, just as Jesus died once, we too die once. Then our judgment. No second chances. No reincarnations. No going back and trying to be perfect again and failing again.  No trying for yet another 1000 years because supposedly Jesus didn’t get it right the first time.  

Jesus released us from all of our failures at being perfect. Thank God, he was perfect for us. And now, after dying once, when he returns, he will not set foot on earth.  Instead, his followers will meet him in the air among the clouds (I Thessalonians 4:17). The rest will face judgment.

How amazing God’s plan for us!

 

07-SHADOW-ChildsCartoonThmbnailA CHLD’S LIFE OF CHRIST: Storybook 7, SHADOW OF DEATH, takes the child very gently through Jesus hurting and then dying so he could go to a perfect and beautiful world and show us how to follow him there.  Children hear about the cross; help them understand with gentle words that keep them focused on the beauty of heaven.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2OR1Ztg

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Tuesday 9/24 ~Mull over it. Absorb it. Be amazed

The scripture for today, September 24 (9/24), is Luke 9:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnail“For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it.”

Romans 6 explains this phenomenon best. We are to put our old self to death ~ to crucify that part of us that sins and doesn’t care, that part of us that puts ourselves first (verse 7) ~ in imitation of Jesus dying. Once we decide to put that part of ourselves to death, we are buried, just like Jesus was buried (verse 3 & 4a).

And then, just as he was raised from the dead as the savior, we rise from the dead as the saved. Why? “If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection” (verse 5). Having been “brought from death to life” (verse 13) through baptism, we have been born again!

This is a spiritual death, of course. There is another spiritual death called the second death in Revelation 21:8. If we go through the first spiritual death at baptism, we will not have to go through the second spiritual death in hell. We will have lost our life of sin and in the process saved our souls.

It’s all there. Study it. Mull over it. Absorb it. Be amazed.

 

0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnailREVELATION: A LOVE LETTER FROM GOD takes readers through the glorious symbolism, especially the meaning of numbers to the Jews. For example, 10 means all-inclusiveness.  Therefore 10x10x10 =1000 means all-inclusiveness with no exceptions forever. What amazing promises God makes us in this, his last book.  Read it and be lifted up.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2lphdYu

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Sunday 9/22 ~ What do you do on Sunday mornings?

The scripture for today, September 22 (9/22) is Luke 9:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“And he [Jesus] said, ‘The Son of Man[kind] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Jesus did not look forward to his death. Hebrews 5:7 says, “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….” Loud cries!

Yet, in today’s scripture, shortly after he announced to his apostles that he would be killed in Jerusalem, over in verse 51 it says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Jesus had to use every bit of self-determination he could muster up to face that terrible death he had to suffer for us. What kept him to his goal? He knew only he could save us from hell by taking the death wages from Satan (Romans 6:23). Then his work would be done ~ all would be finished ~ and he could return to heaven.

Is it difficult for you to get up on Sunday morning to go to church? Is it difficult for you to read the Bible every day? Is it difficult for you to invite a friend to church with you? Do you love Jesus as resolutely as he loves you? Are you as determined to go to heaven and avoid hell as he was for you? Do you love your soul as much as Jesus does?

 

Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER: 52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS can be used by those leading the ritual or by participants in the pews for your meditation.  A must for every church library and great gifts.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2V8uH8f

 

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Saturday 9/21 ~ God’s blood

The scripture for today, September 21 (9/21), is Hebrews 9:21f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnail“In the same way, he [Moses] sprinkled with the blood both the tabernacle and everything used in its ceremonies. In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness.”

Long ago in the Garden of Eden, God told Adam and Eve, the day they sinned they would die.  And it happened. The day they sinned their souls died. Death means separation. In a physical sense, we are separated from people living on earth. In a spiritual sense, we are separated from God in heaven. God is life, and cannot dwell with death. It is not in his nature. Neither can he dwell with sin. That, too, is not in his nature.

Death is Satan’s nature, so the souls of mankind began to dwell with Satan. He lured us into his trap and we gave in to his temptations. He held us ransom.  It was a blood ransom. God was able to temporarily appease Satan by commanding people to spill the blood of animals.  But animal blood was not enough for Satan. He demanded God’s blood. 

God loves us so very, very much, he sent his Words to earth, taking on flesh and blood (John 1:1,14). Then he bought us from Satan with his own blood (Acts 20:28).

What a God we have! What incomprehensible love! Let us fall at his feet in the awe of silence and worship.

 

Was Jesus God-COVER-kindle-thumbnailWAS JESUS GOD? (WHY EVIL?) takes simple steps from the Garden of Eden to the Garden of Gethsemane to show Jesus was God’s Word materialized.  then it moves beyond all that to talk about the glories of our next life ~ our permanent life ~ and heaven. The entire book is centered around John 1:1, 14: “In the beginning was the Word. The Word was with God. The Word was God…And the Word took on flesh and dwealt among us.” To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/2V9FfUB

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Friday 9/20 ~ Which God? Which Savior?

The scripture for today, September 20 (9/20), is Luke 9:20 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

” ‘But what about you?’ he asked. ‘Who do you say I am?’ “

04-King Joash-ThumbnailCoverJesus is still asking that question today. Who do you say Jesus is? Some people in the world say Jesus was the savior of the Christians, the same person as Moses to the Jews, and Mohammed to the Moslems, and Buddha to the Buddhists. In the name of being fair to everyone, they claim these are all saviors of different religions going by different names but of the same God.

Let us not be caught in the web of the New Age Movement that claims all saviors are the same savior and all gods are the same God.

This is an impossibility. These religions contradict each other. Read their holy books and you will discover this. So, which one is right?

The Bible is the only religious book in the world that can be proven to be divine with fulfilled prophecies of entire kingdoms. It says regarding our Jesus, “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Here is a website with hundreds of proofs ~ https://casagrandechurchofchrist.com

Investigate. Read. Compare. Then stand up for Jesus, THE Savior! Stand up and be counted!

 

04-King Joash-ThumbnailCoverA CHILD’S BIBLE KIDS:  KING JOASH is the story of an orphan boy raised in secret in the temple who became king.  His people worshipped many so-called gods. They wanted to be able to choose their own god whose worship was more fun than the other gods’.  Young King Joash loved his Creator, the only God, and forbade his people to worship their so-called gods that weren’t even real.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this: https://amzn.to/30wvSzp

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Tuesday 9/17 ~ Come back! Come back to me!

The scripture for today, September 17 (9/17), is Nehemiah 9:17 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAIL“They refused to listen and failed to remember the miracles you performed among them. They became stiff-necked and in their rebellion appointed a leader in order to return to their slavery. But you are a forgiving God, gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in love. Therefore, you did not desert them.”

Such love! Do you rebel against God (who is only trying to save you) over and over because you don’t want anyone telling you what to do? Or because he’s too much bother? Or because you don’t have time for him? Or maybe you just outright hate God? Stop. Turn around. He is only trying to help you.   

God has faith in you when you do not have faith in him. God forgives you over and over. First Peter 3:9 says “The Lord…is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

God could turn you into a robot and force you to love and obey him. But that wouldn’t be real love. God is Love, and he cannot go against his own nature.

And so God follows you around and pleads over and over, “Come back! You’re in danger. Come back. Follow me to safety!”

How he hurts when you do not; how he smiles when you do.

 

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS & HIS ECCLESIA:  Isn’t the name “Ecclesia” beautiful? It is Greek for the church.  You are beautiful to Jesus.  But, as happens in the Song of Solomon, sometimes she cannot find the lover of her soul, so he runs after her and brings her back to him.  This book is a paraphrase of S of S; each chapter is a love letter.  Beautiful and inspiration. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2V1Bqkg

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Monday 9/16 ~ I cannot hold it in

The scripture for today, September 16 (9/16), is 1st Corinthians 9:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“Yet when I preach the gospel, I cannot boast, for I am compelled to preach. Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel!”

The Apostle Paul said this. An Old Testament prophet, Jeremiah, said almost the same thing in 20:9: “If I say, ‘I will not mention him or speak any more in his name,’ his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in! Indeed, I cannot!”

Are you so full of the Word of God that you have to share it? Do you work it into your daily conversations? Do you write to people about it? Do you call people about it? Do you journal about it?

I knew a lady once who took several church bulletins home with her every Sunday. Then during the week, if she heard a conversation at a bus stop, she’d interrupt them and say, “I couldn’t help but hear what you were saying. Perhaps God in your life would help.” Then she’d hand them a bulletin. She’d do the same thing at fast-food places or in the waiting room of a doctor. She could not hold it in. She had to share, even if it was with strangers.

There is a man in Afghanistan who is a partially secret Christian. When he thinks he can trust someone, he tells them the gospel. He knows he could be arrested and imprisoned or killed, but I cannot hold it in. He has run for his life three times in the last eight years. He tells me, “I will not stop until they kill me.”

What about you? Is the Word of God overflowing in you so much you cannot keep it in? Tell someone today that God loves them. Watch them smile with a gleam in their eye that says, “I’d like to know more”.

 

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE was just that. He’d go into a town, tell people how to go to heaven instead of hell, be beaten by the local priests, get up and do it again. He could not hold it in.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or PASTE THIS:  https://amzn.to/30iM9rH

 

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Sunday 9/15 ~ Can you spare a few more minutes?

The scripture for today, September 15 (9/15), is 2nd Corinthians 9:15 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Supper-Front Cover-Thumbnail“Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!”

Can you imagine dying in the place of someone else?  We occasionally hear stories from the battlefield of a man falling on a grenade so he is the only one killed, thus saving his buddies.

But closer to home, if you saw a child in the path of a car, would you run out and throw the child out of the way knowing there will be no time for you to escape death?

What if you were hiking or sailing with a friend and got lost? Would you split the food and water evenly, or would you give it all to your weaker friend? What would you do if you were lost with someone who hated everyone? Would you give them all the food and water knowing you would die and the hateful person live on?

What if you were with a friend and were arrested for a crime the friend did? Would you take the blame and the punishment of twenty years in prison so your friend could go free?  What if that person was a habitual criminal, you happened to cross paths at the wrong time, and you were both arrested for his heinous crime? Would you take the blame and his punishment (execution) for him?

Now try to imagine making your child die in the place of your enemy ~ your sinless, innocent child.

It is indescribable.

It is unimaginable.

It is unthinkable.

But God did exactly that.

How can we thank Him for his indescribable gift of Jesus redeeming us from Satan? We fall silently at His feet and worship.

Today is Sunday, the day the apostles and those they taught kept the Lord’s Supper remembering Jesus’ body that was tortured and died in our place and his blood that was drained from his body in our place. When you worship today, will you have time to remember his death with all the singing and praying and speechifying going on? Will you squeeze out the reason for Sunday, the day he came back to life and the day he returned home to heaven? Can you take a little more time?

This is the day he ransomed you from Satan and hell! So, I ask again, do you have time?

 

Supper-Front Cover-ThumbnailTHE LORD’S SUPPER: 52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS provides scriptures about Jesus and his ultimate sacrifice, the love of God for us, and sacrifice in general. Never run out of things to say and think about in this most precious time every Sunday.  The prayers will help you say what is on your heart during those intimate moments with Jesus.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://amzn.to/2I7yfm4

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