Thursday 8/2 ~ And he touched him

The scripture for today, August 2 (8/2), is Matthew 8:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-LUKE-KINDLE Cover-Thumbnail“A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lord, if you are willing, you can make me clean.’ Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. ‘I am willing,’ he said. ‘Be clean!’ Immediately he was cured of his leprosy.’ “

People in Jesus’ day who had leprosy had to live outside of town in what we would call a leper colony. And if someone without leprosy started getting close to them, they were required to call out, “Unclean! Unclean!”

But here was a man who apparently pushed his way through a crowd where he didn’t belong. He didn’t ask Jesus if he could heal him; he asked if he was willing to. After all, he was “unclean”. Remarkably, Jesus said yes.

Then Jesus did another remarkable thing: He touched the man. He touched the leprosy. Not only was he willing to be seen with an unclean man, he was willing to touch him.

Jesus still does this today. When we come to him with a diseased heart wondering if we are good enough, Jesus reaches out across the centuries and touches us. And his voice echoes across the centuries and says, “I am willing.”

No matter how much sin mars your life, Jesus still today wants to say, “Be clean.”

BuyBookNow:  amzn.to/Luke-Physician

.

#sins, #healing, #unclean, #will, #leprosy, #touch, #blog, #inspiration, #devotional, #vespers, #meditation,. #relationships, #godliness, #selfawarewness, #identity, #seekers, #consciousness, #decisions, #knowledge, #attitudes, #awakening, #dawn, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #world, #prayer

 

Monday 7/23 ~ Have you been kidnapped and held for ransom?

The scripture for today, July 23, is 1st Corinthians 7:23 in the New Testament of the Bible.

“You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of men.”

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-ThumbnailWho were you bought from? Satan. God told Adam and Eve the day they sinned their soul would die. Satan is the source of death. When we sin, he holds us hostage.  I Timothy 2:6 says Jesus paid the ransom to free us from Satan.  “For He rescued us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins” (Colossians 1:13-14).

God loved you so much, he put his words in a human body. Why? Hebrews 2:14 says, “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil.”

Then God told the world through his Bible that, if you will believe this really happened and follow his will for you, he will consider you perfect through the blood of Jesus and eligible to enter his perfect home ~ heaven.

But it is not automatic. Romans 6 speaks a lot of who we are slaves to and how to break those chains and come under the umbrella of what Jesus did for mankind.

You were bought a great price ~ the blood of Jesus Christ. On Sundays ~ the day he came back to life and overcame that terrible soul and body death for you ~ where are you? Who do you worship?

~~BUYlink for featured book:  amzn.to/Shadow-Death

.

#devil, #Satan, #sin, #punishment, #kidnapping, #ransom, #redeem, #slave, #blood, #perfect, #sinless, #chains, #FleshAndBlood, #hostage, #blog, #inspiration, #devotional, #vespers, #meditation,. #relationships, #godliness, #selfawarewness, #identity, #seekers, #consciousness, #decisions, #knowledge, #attitudes, #awakening, #dawn, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #world, #prayer

 

Friday 7/20 ~ Who paid the ransom?

The scripture for today, July 20 (7/20), is Ecclesiastes 7:20 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins.”

Many people believe if we don’t murder or steal, and if we help people poorer than ourselves, and aren’t mean to our family, God will have no choice but to let us into heaven. But it only takes one sin to be a sinner

God ~ who is Perfect Goodness ~ cannot dwell with sin. Mankind has never figured out a way to be perfectly good.

God said in the Garden of Eden that the moment we sin, our soul dies. Satan holds us for ransom. I Peter 1:18-19 says, “…knowing that you were not ransomed with perishable things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and spotless, the blood of Christ.”

Jesus became that perfectly good person (Hebrews 4:15) ~ that perfect Lamb of God (John 1:29). Then he paid the terrible ransom to free us from Satan. But, it does no good if we do not believe he did this. We cannot despise Jesus and say he is too demanding. Our part is the easy part.

All he asks is that we love him, thank him, worship him, follow his examples and his all commands (there aren’t many). Then Satan can no longer hold us hostage. God the Father will consider us perfect too. Then we will be accepted into heaven.

–Buylink for BOOK:  amzn.to/Shadow-of-Death

.

#sin, #kidnapping, #ransom, #death, #Satan, #hell, #perfect, #heaven, #payment, #blood, #crucifixion, #rules, #laws, #morals, #good, #right, #blog, #inspiration, #devotional, #vespers, #meditation,. #relationships, #godliness, #selfawarewness, #identity, #seekers, #consciousness, #decisions, #knowledge, #attitudes, #awakening, #dawn, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #world, #prayer

Thursday 7/19 ~ Bad habits ‘n stuff

The scripture for today, July 19 (7/19), is found in Romans 7:19 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do ~ this I keep on doing.”

Doesn’t this pretty much describe all of us in some area of our life?  It may be eating too much, breaking the law by going over the speed limit, laughing at dirty jokes, habitual lying, stealing “little things” at work, cheating on tests, jealousy, impatience, temper ~ any number of things.

Sins of habit and attitude are hard to break. So we go to God over and over asking him to forgive that which, deep down, we know we’re going to do again.

Perhaps this emphasizes the importance of us forgiving others who habitually do wrong to us. We do not know their struggles any more than they know our struggles.

Jesus said, “If you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.” (Matthew 6:14).

Satan wants us to quit trying to do better. And he wants us to quit forgiving each other. Let us not give in to Satan. Let us give in to God. God’s way leads to ultimate forgiveness by him.

~~1-click BUYLINK for BOOK:  amzn.to/-HeartsAfire

.

#forgiveness, #habits, #struggles, #stealing, #lying, #cheating, #speeding, #impatience, #jealousy, #temper, #blog, #inspiration, #devotional, #vespers, #meditation,. #relationships, #godliness, #selfawarewness, #identity, #seekers, #consciousness, #decisions, #knowledge, #attitudes, #awakening, #dawn, #Christianity, #JesusChrist, #church, #Bible, #Scripture, #HolyBook, #religion, #world, #prayer

Monday 4/16 ~ Are you strong enough to forgive?

The scripture for today, April 16 (4/16), is Hebrews 4:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“Let us then approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

Anyone who has lived very long has committed some sin they hope no one ever finds out about. Some people have committed many such sins. Sometimes because of that one “big” sin or the constant repetition of a particular sin, do you punish yourself by putting words in God’s mouth? Do you say, “God could never forgive me for that”? Perhaps you can never forgive yourself, but God is greater than you.

Jesus told Peter we must forgive our brothers 70 times 7. If kept literally, that would mean we’d have to forgive the same sin 490 times. It is figurative for forgiving all the time. 1st Corinthians 13, the “love chapter” of the Bible, says, “Love…keeps no record of wrongs.” That means not holding grudges.

In addition to forgiving yourself and others, can you reach out to help people who cannot forgive themselves? Are you strong enough to imitate God? Are you strong enough to find enough mercy and grace in your heart to forgive?

Wednesday 3/7 ~ Even if they do it over and over?

The Scripture for today, March 7 (3/7), is Titus 3:7 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“So that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.”

Being “just” means being correct, being law abiding, being perfect. No one is. Romans 3:23 says “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”

But God wants you to live in his home so much, he was willing to overlook your sins and pretend you are correct, law-abiding, perfect ~ just. When you follow God and obey the few commands he has for you in the New Testament to become a Christian and stay a Christian, in his eyes, you become just.

Not only just, but God has put you in his last will and testament, what we call the New Testament. It contains his guidelines and what you will inherit. Your inheritance is explained in large part in Revelation ~ God’s heaven. And what an inheritance!

But, back to the overlooking part.  God does so to the same extent you overlook the sins others commit against you.  Yes, even if they do it over and over, just like you commit the same sins over and over and expect God to forgive you.  Now, where is your inheritance?

.

This book is FREE if you are willing to read it and pass it on:  https://1st-century-christianity.com

 

Monday 3/5 ~ God took care of the hard part

The scripture for today, March 5 (3/5), is Titus 3:5 in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Thumbnail“He saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.”

God is perfectly good and cannot dwell with imperfection. How, then, could we ever live with him in his heaven?  After all, as hard as we tried, we could not be perfect. Mankind was held hostage by Satan.

God loved us so much that he solved our dilemma. He sent his Son to live that perfect life that is impossible for us to live. Then, his perfect “Lamb of God” took our punishment for our sins by paying the ransom to get us out of the clutches of Satan.

Romans 3:23 says the earnings of sin is death ~ physical death (separation from this world) and spiritual death (separation from God). Jesus took it all for us. And that included being completely separated from God. At the worst of it, Jesus cried out to God, “Why have your FORSAKEN me?” That’s when Jesus died spiritually for a while. It was we who deserved to be forsaken by God.

Sin and its power now destroyed, God said if we go “through the washing of rebirth” we will be renewed by the Holy Spirit.  

But how? God did not leave us guessing, for in Acts 22:16 he said through Peter, “Arise and be baptized and wash away your sins” and in Romans 6:4 he said through Paul, “We were therefore buried with him through baptism in order that…we too may live a new life [rebirth].”  Then we could start over pure and washed.

God took care of the hard part. He gave us the easy part. And so we worship him.