Category: Scripture

Tuesday 4/17 ~ Persecution from within

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

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“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 someone has discovered a new truth and is trying to get members of our congregation to believe it. If members get the feeling someone is trying to prove them wrong and make them look bad, they will turn on that person 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 friends or your eternity?

Wednesday 3/28 ~ The Holy Spirit is what?

On By In forgiveness, Holy Spirit, Scripture, truth3 Comments

The scripture for today, March 28 (3/28), is Mark 3:28f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Thumbnail“I tell you the truth, all the sins and blasphemies of men will be forgiven them. But whoever blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will never be forgiven; he is guilty of an eternal sin.”

This is confusing to many because we aren’t sure what it means to speak against the Holy Spirit. Jesus clarifies it in John 14:17 where he said he was going to send to us another Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 he said God’s Word is Truth ~ the Bible.

If we refuse to believe what is in the Bible, then we are going to refuse to believe in a Savior and refuse to repent of sins. These things are unforgivable because we have no belief in Jesus or sin, and no remorse.

Have you ever tried reading the Bible through in a year? If it’s too much for you, the Old Testament half was written to the Jews and the New Testament half was written to the Christians; choose one. It will fill you with an amazing amount of knowledge and understanding, all from the Holy Spirit ~ the Spirit that communes with your spirit.

Tuesday 3/13 ~ It’s God’s heart calling to your heart

On By In Daily, healing, Inspirational, ScriptureLeave a comment

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

0-Joseph-Cover-Thumbnail.jpg“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. Now, 70 years later, they were back and had rebuilt the temple. The older Jews who had seen Solomon’s temple wailed in grief because it was not nearly so grand as Solomon’s. 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 phone. The computer. Don’t answer the door. Go into a room where you can be alone in complete silence. 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 the whole book in one sitting.

     Be still. Hear it now?

          It is God’s heart calling your heart.

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Friday 2/23 ~ Both begotten and eternal? Huh?

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The scripture for today, February 23 (2/23), is 1st John 2:23 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

02-DreamMakerChildsCartoonThumbnail“No one who denies the Son has the Father; whoever acknowledges the Son has the Father also.”

When you speak into a tape recorder and your voice then comes out of that machine for other people to hear, that doesn’t make you two.  You are still one; you have just chosen to put your voice in something where you can be heard by people away from you.  That tape recording is just another form of you. You can also put your voice and body in a movie. That doesn’t make two of you ~ one on the screen and one in your physical body. You are still one.

God is One, and yet he revealed a part of himself in a burning bush to Moses just like you revealed a part of yourself in the tape recorder or movie.  Does that mean there were two Gods ~ one in heaven and one in the bush?  No.  God can and has sometimes revealed himself in different ways. Remember how he walked with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden?

Some say, “If Jesus was God on earth, when he died, God was dead.”  No. That temporary body was dead, but God’s Spirit, God’s Soul, God’s being continued to live. Jesus, the Word of God, did not depend on a body to be alive.

Why would Jesus be called the Son of God, since he was not a son created in the literal way we have sons?  You have thoughts and those thoughts have existed as long as you have.  But you still created those thoughts.  When your thoughts become hearable or seeable, people call that your “brain child”.  In that same sense, Jesus was God’s “brainchild” ~ God’s thoughts in hearable and seeable form. 

How was he the only begotten Son? God has only one Word ~ the Bible.  “In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, and the Word was God…All things were made through Him, and without Him, nothing was made that was made” (John 1:1-3).  When God spoke the world into existence, that was Jesus. Every time God spoke, that was Jesus.

“For unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given…Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). God has always been one.

Saturday 1/20 ~ Read it. Love it. Absorb it.

On By In Bible, Daily, Holy Spirit, Scripture, Thanksgiving2 Comments

The scripture for today, January 20 (1/20), is 2nd Peter 1:20f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

365LifeChangingScriptures-Front-Thumbnail“Above all, you must understand that no Prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation. For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

Isn’t this interesting? It’s a definition of prophecy. Prophecy is Scripture. It isn’t just telling the future. It’s telling the mind of God. Sometimes in the Old Testament God warned his people that if they did so-and-so, this would happen, but if they did such-and-such, that would happen.

But ultimately all prophecy was telling people how much God loved them and wanted them, in the long run, to be happy. The Old Testament has much of that in it, and all the New Testament does. It is your Creator’s Words.

1st Corinthians 13 says prophecies will cease and they did when we got the entire Word of God, the entire Bible.  If someone prophesied today, it would be unfair to the rest of the world, for prophecy is scripture. The rest of the world would be cheated out of knowing the complete Word of God.

You are so blessed that you do not have to guess what is on God’s mind. Many other religions have to guess ~ Hinduism, Buddhism, and so on. But you have God’s very own words in black and white to read over and over whenever you like ~ prophecy which is Scripture.

 Read it.

     Absorb it.

          Love it.

               It was written by the Lover of your Soul.

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link to ebook & discount paper:  http://bit.ly/BibleLifeChanging

#scripture, #prophecy. #Bible, #Holy Spirit

Wednesday 1/10 ~ Are you balanced?

On By In good works, Inspirational, Scripture2 Comments

The scripture for today, January 10 (1/10), is Colossians 1:10 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: Bearing fruit in every good work; Growing in the knowledge of God.”

Are you always doing some good work for other people? Does it fill your thoughts and life?  Or are you always delving into the Bible to gain more knowledge of God? Does it fill your thoughts and life? Good for you.

But we see here, we must have a balance. James 2:17 says faith without works is dead. On the other hand, Romans 10:2 says certain people were zealous for God, but their zeal was not based on knowledge.

We have to add to our Bible-based faith, good works. We have to add to our zealous good works, the knowledge of God from the Bible.

It’s hard to get out of a rut, no matter how good it is.  Maybe it’s time to examine yourself.  Maybe it’s time to add the other requirement to your life.  Don’t you want to be spiritually balanced?

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link to ebook & discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/LazarusSamaritan

#goodworks, #bibleknowledge

Saturday 1/6 ~ Oh! I didn’t know that before

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The scripture for today, January 6 (1/6), is Titus 1:6f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

changes-in-worship-cover-medium“An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. Since an overseer is entrusted with God’s work, he must be blameless ~ not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, nor pursuing dishonest gain.”

This is quite interesting. God does not leave us to guess the qualifications of a church leader. We don’t have to hold conferences or synods to decide on qualifications for this office because God has already given them.

Something surprising here is that the word elder is used interchangeably with the word overseer (sometimes also translated bishop). The word elder comes from the Greek word presbyter. The word overseer/bishop is from the Greek word episcopos. Elder and overseer and bishop all are the same in this passage referring to the same office!

Here’s something else interesting about the elder/overseer/bishop: The word pastor comes from the Greek word for shepherd, poiman. In Acts 20:17, Paul sent for the elders of the church in Ephesus to talk to them. When they arrived, he said, “Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds [pastors] of the church of God which he bought with his own blood.”

Do you see the overlapping of the same office being called by different names? It’s kind of like father and papa being the same.

Titus 1:6f uses elder and overseer for the same office. Overseer is the same in Greek as bishop. Acts 20:17 uses elder, overseer, shepherd (pastor) for the same office.

In our daily lives, we have different words meaning the same person; such as father, parent, dad, papa ~ all names for the same position in the family.

So, too, for the family of God ~ the church ~ all these words overlap as names for the same office! And the qualifications for this office are found in our scripture for today, Titus 1:6f. Indeed, how interesting! 

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ebook & discount paperback link:  http://bit.ly/WorshipChanges

There It Stands

On By In Bible, power, ScriptureLeave a comment

New Testament ParchmentEmpires rise and fall and are forgotten—There it stands.

Dynasty succeeds dynasty—There it stands.

Kings are crowned and uncrowned—There it stands.

Emperors decree its extermination—There it stands.

Despised and torn to pieces—There it stands.

Storms of hate swirl about it—There it stands.

Atheists rail against it—There it stands.

Agnostics smile cynically—There it stands.

Profane prayerless punsters caricature it—There it stands.

Unbelief abandons it—There it stands.

Higher critics deny its claim to inspiration—There it stands. Thunderbolts of wrath smite it—There it stands.

An anvil that has broken a million hammers—There it stands.

The flames are kindled about it—There it stands.

The arrows of hate are discharged against it—There it stands. Radicalism rants and raves about it—There it stands.

Fogs of sophistry conceal it temporarily—There it stands.

The tooth of time gnaws but dents it not—There it stands.

Infidels predict its abandonment—There it stands.

Modernism tries to explain it away—There it stands.

Devotees of folly denounce it—There it stands.

It is God’s highway to Paradise. It is the light on the pathway in the darkest night. It leads businessmen to integrity and uprightness. It is the great consoler in bereavement. It awakens men and women opiated by sin. It answers every great question of the soul. It solves every great problem of life. It is a fortress often attacked but never failing. Its wisdom is commanding and its logic convincing. Salvation is its watchword. Eternal life its goal. It punctures all pretense. It is forward-looking, outward-looking, and upward-looking. It outlives, outlifts, outloves, outreaches, outranks, outruns all other books. Trust it, love it, obey it, and Eternal Life is yours.

A. Z. Conrad (1855-1937)

Scripture for Friday, 12/1 ~ Bible Research

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The scripture for today, December 1 (12/1), is Jeremiah 12:1ff as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

Life-Changing-Scriptures-Cover-medium“Lord, you always give me justice when I bring a case before you to decide. Now let me bring you this complaint: Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why are evil men so happy? You plant them. They take root and their business grows. Their profits multiply, and they are rich. They say, ‘Thank God!’ But in their hearts, they give no credit to you. But as for me ~ Lord, you know my heart ~ you know how much it longs for you. And I am poor, O Lord!”

Now compare this with Job 15:20-24:

“All his days the wicked man suffers torment, the ruthless through all the years stored up for him. Terrifying sounds fill his ears….He despairs of escaping the darkness; he is marked for the sword. He wanders about ~ food for vultures; he knows the day of darkness is at hand. Distress and anguish fill him with terror.”

These two passages contradict each other. So what is the problem? The words spoken in Job were by Eliphaz, one of Job’s well-meaning friends who took it upon himself to help Job figure out why he had lost all his wealth, all his children, and all his health. Was Eliphaz right?

At the end of the book of Job, is this: “The Lord…said to Eliphaz the Temanite, “I am angry with you and your two friends because you have not spoken of me what is right.” Then God ordered Eliphaz and his friends to sacrifice seven bulls and rams (not small sacrifices), then ask Job to pray for them so God “will not deal with you according to your folly.”

When we read scripture, let us be careful to investigate its context and ALL other scriptures on the same subject. Only then can we have the whole picture. Only then can we avoid religious folly.

 

Scripture for Monday, 11/27 ~ Religious Leaders

On By In Inspirational, power, Scripture2 Comments

The scripture for today, November 27 (11/27), is Mark 11:27f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

campbell-cover-kindle-lg-medium“…the chief priests, the teachers of the law and the elders came to him [Jesus]. ‘By what authority are you doing those things?’ they asked. ‘And who gave you authority to do this?’ “

As you learn more about the Bible, consider teaching your community’s religious leaders. Have the courage to speak up and quote something in the Bible which that church may not be following. Then, when your religious leaders go to you wanting to know by what authority you teach something new, be ready for them with the scriptures. Periodically tell them in private ~ gently and respectfully ~ again and again.

Just remember that leaders often take longer to accept a new teaching. It may take them months or years to accept it. Keep on keeping on. And be patient with them.

Pray for your community religious leaders.  Ask God to touch their hearts. He will not go against their natural nature, but if they have honest hearts, it will work.

Plant the seed, and God will give the increase (1st Corinthians 3:16). God said, “My Word will not return to me void” (Isaiah 55:11).