I’d die if I had to do that.

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailThe scripture for today, June 17 (6/17), is Matthew 6:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face.”

This is interesting because Jesus did not say “If, you fast,” but rather “When you fast.” It was as though he was teaching us to take for granted that we would fast ~ it would be second-nature to us. In a sense, it is, for when most people go through a sudden tragedy such as loss of a loved one, they often cannot eat.

But what about voluntary fasting? The early church sometimes fasted. Acts 13:2 says a congregation in Antioch, Syria, fasted and worshiped, then chose men to go out as missionaries. Queen Esther fasted before going to the king uninvited with a request he might not like (Esther 4:16). Isaiah 58:3 says people fasted in order to humble themselves.

Some people respond, “I’d die if I had to fast.” Perhaps that’s kind of the idea. We know we would die if we went without food long enough. So perhaps one day of fasting is a way of saying, “God, I would die for you if I had to.” Yes, fasting is a humbling experience and frightening to some people. But perhaps that is the point.

Is something important coming up that you know you will be urgently praying about? Once you skip one meal, you will have conquered your desire to eat. Then, with your brain not having to concentrate on digesting food, it will be able to focus more on that important thing happening in your life. Your prayers will be more focused. You will be more focused with your eyes more clearly on God.

So, take a shower, comb your hair, put on some nice clothes, and look like you have something important to do. Then fast.

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00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-ThumbnailSTEPHEN: UNLIKELY MARTYR did everything he could think of to convince people his religion was good.  He recruited help.  At night they would sneak pages of scriptures under rocks, inside people’s houses, nailed to statues of the gods.  They met in secret and worshiped. Then publicly they would march.  And they fasted as Queen Esther had done.  If it worked for Esther, surely it would work for Stephen and his zealous friends. Would it backfire? To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/2XBFXvJ

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Love like ocean tides

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newYour love, Oh God, is like the ocean.  When I need you the most, the tide moves in closer and refreshes my soul.  When it is time for me to work on an assignment from you to help people blaming you for their problems, the tide ebbs and moves out to tend to someone else.  Then, when I need refreshed by you, here comes the tide flowing in again. Just like clockwork. You are never far away.  I can always depend on you. You never change. You are from eternity to eternity.

Thank you for being my example. Your feet walked a thousand miles back and forth across Palestine looking for people who needed you. Your hands touched a thousand people with diseases and frailties and handicaps and you healed them all. Your lips parted a thousand times to speak words of hope to people in the clutches of Satan who convinced them they were happy.  They weren’t. Satan convinced them they were safe with him when they really weren’t. Satan convinced them God hated them when you really loved them beyond understand. In some ways I am those people. Yet you kept right on walking and touching and speaking. Thank you, my Lord.  And, Lord, may I walk and touch and speak as you did.

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0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-newFOLK HERO is biblical historical novel #4 in the series THEY MET JESUS ab out 100 people Jesus met and struggled with.  Written in present tense, it puts you there where you see, hear, and touch what they did.  And you feel what they felt.  To BUY NOW, click a book cove or paste this……….  https://bit.ly/2U4kZ7L

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You dared expose your deepest feelings to me

03-Abraham-ThumbnailCoverI adore you, my God. I cannot see or hear you, but I know you are beside me and in love with me. You are higher than the stars, louder than the thunder, gentler than the butterfly, deeper than the ocean, sweeter than a flower. They are all a touch of you. I bask in the warmth of your love, the gentle breezes of your mercy, the quietude of safety in you.

Lord, I lied. I did not tell a lie, but I failed to reveal the truth. I remained quiet and led someone to believe something that did not happen that way at all.  I knew the way it happened, but did not speak up. I must go to them and reveal the truth so you will forgive me.

Ah, my Lord, thank you for the Bible and revealing yourself in it. I never have to guess. Your mind is laid bare to me. You’ve exposed all your joys and pain, laughter and tears, hopes and desires, strengths and tenderness, justice and mercy. You dared expose yourself to me. All the rawness and transparency is there for me. Do I dare do less? My God, my hope is in you. My will I surrender to you. My heart I give you. My soul bows forever to you.

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I pen my thoughts to inspire souls. Will you help me spread the word?

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03-Abraham-ThumbnailCoverABRAHAM is book #3 in the series, A CHILD’S BIBLE HEROES. Abraham did not like all the false gods in his city so was glad to leave.  After that, he seemed as though he was moving all the time.  THINK & DO at the end of each chapter.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover.    https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077MT8G5C/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i21

 

 

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Who is that “Higher Power” out there?

0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbThe scripture for today, May 2 (5/2), is Micah 5:2 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.”

In today’s world completely connected and interconnected universally, people are asking, “Who is the Higher Power?”.  Some say the Muslim Allah is, some say the Hindu Brahman is, some say the Buddhist Nirvana, some say the Jehovah of Christianity is. This is called the “New Age Movement.”

Buddhism (though most people do not realize where it came from) has infiltrated the young American culture by declaring there is no such thing as truth.  One thing is truth to one person, an opposite thing is truth to another person, so believe what you want.  Hinduism teaches we have to keep being reborn and live through this hard life eternally or until we become perfect.  Islam teaches paradise is a place where you can drink all the wine you want and never get drunk, and are waited on my wide-eyed virgins.

None of the writings of these religions have been proven true. The Bible is the only religious book in the world with built-in proofs that it is of divine origin. Prophecies of many events in the life of Christ and of entire empires flow throughout the Old Testament. No human could have known these hundreds of facts hundreds of years before they happened. And, if these prophecies were truth, then the rest of the Bible is truth.

Today’s amazing scripture prophesies where the “ruler…from ancient times” ~ the eternal king ~ will be born. It gives the exact city Jesus (who had been in heaven before his human birth) would be born in but was written seven centuries before his birth.

The Word of God in flesh (John 1:1,14) wasn’t just a prophet, he wasn’t just a good man, he wasn’t a fraud. Isaiah says this child would be mighty God and both Son and Father ~ self-existent.  Thank God, He thought of everything to help us believe Jesus was, indeed, a part of God materialized for lowly us.

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I write to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?          https://amzn.to/2NsVRSL

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0-Titus-Cover-Lg ThumbTITUS: THE ARISTOCRAT was raised in Antioch in today’s Turkey. It was an elitist city where citizens only spoke the proper Latin, not the Greek of commoners.  He was a successful lawyer and arbitrator. He married his “ice queen,” a Nordic princess who feared no one and had a son and daughter. When he met Paul and became a Christian, Paul turned him loose on congregations who did not know how to get along.  Just as he had solved impossible mysteries as a lawyer, now he solved impossible rifts in congregation. Then his daughter died and his wife and son were killed by angry priests.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://amzn.to/2NsVRSL

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You bared your soul to me.

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-ThumbnailI adore you, Lord God. You are majestic and your glorious splendor soars through the universe to my heart. In your hand are all my daily blessings. You sprinkle them around the earth and make me glad. The stars sing of your glory, the mountains quake at your power, the meadows whisper your kindness, the fish in ocean depths slip silently around their world revealing your mercy. I worship you.

Father, if I worship anything besides you, make me see it so I can get it under control. Do I worship power or fame, riches or things?  Do I worship my television, my telephone, internet games? Make me see if I do, so I may repent and rid my life of them.

Thank you for your Word which I love. You poured out your heart to me. I know the pain and laughter, the disappointments and triumphs you have gone through since making mankind. You bare your soul to me in your Word.  You, the God of the universe and Maker of my soul, revealed all of yourself in your Bible. I read it in wonder and awe. I absorb it and it fills my heart and my being. Thank you for showing yourself to me one way in your Bible and in another way by materializing in the form of Jesus.

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I write to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?          https://amzn.to/2Lj8izz

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0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-ThumbnailMICHEL: THE FOURTH WISE MAN.  He is a Jewish descendant of Daniel in Persia. He locates the original Garden of Eden and wants to restore it so God will walk the earth with man again.  He loses his estate, his, father and his wife to his dream.  He is interrupted by a star.  To appease King Phrates who believes a new start means a god has been born, Michel and nine other magi search the world for the meaning of the star.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://amzn.to/2Lj8izz

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Shhh. Do you hear? It’s your turn.

0-Joseph-Cover-Kindle-MediumThe scripture for today, April 29 (4/29), is Deuteronomy 4:29 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

“But if from there you seek the Lord your God, you will find him if you look for him with all your heart and with all your soul.”

Ah, to find God.  Who are you, God?  What do you do all through my day?  What do you have to say to me?  Or do you not say anything?  Do you even see me, God?  Where are you?  I cannot find you.

Open your eyes, friend. God is always nearby.  There is an old expression, “To know him is to love him.” So true.  To find God, get to know him.  He is talking to you right now in his Bible, explaining what he is like and how he reacts to every possible situation in life. Open your Bible.  Look through the mini-books within.  God not only gives you examples of right and wrong ways to seek Him, but he gives you beautiful psalms and proverbs for your everyday life.  And, wonder of wonders, He tells how He came down to us and walked among us as Jesus.  Seek him there. He is talking to you.

Then take the next step.  When he asks questions to people in his Bible, take them as your questions and answer them. When he tells someone to stop doing wrong, take them as yours and admit to him the things you do or say that are wrong. When he blesses people in the Bible, take them as your blessings and thank him for them.   

Yes, seek, and you will find. This mutual conversation with God is the with-all-your-heart-and-soul kind. You can do it. He’s waiting for you.  Shhhh.  Do you hear the silence? It’s your turn. Talk to God.

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I write to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?    https://amzn.to/2FkH4Ku

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0-Joseph-Cover-ThumbnailJOSEPH: THE OTHER FATHER.  What kind of man was Joseph for God to entrust his son to him? What kind of man took on the responsibility of keeping the boy safe in a violent world until he was grown?  How many times, when Roman soldiers were attacking, or the Zealots were wreaking havoc or bears came out of the woods where they were cutting timber did Joseph lift his head and cry out, “God, help me protect our son!”?  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://amzn.to/2FkH4Ku

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Rushing into his arms

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-The scripture for today, April 26 (4/26), is Galatians 4:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“But the Jerusalem that is above is free, and she is our mother.”

There is more confusion over the “new Jerusalem” than you might think.  Well, let’s ask God.

What is “the Jerusalem that is above”? Revelation 21:2 says, “I saw the Holy City, the New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.”

Aha! We learn two things.  The New Jerusalem already exists.  And the New Jerusalem is sometimes called our mother and sometimes the Bride of Christ!

 So, what is the Bride of Christ? Ephesians 5:25,27 says, “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy…and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.”  How exciting! The New Jerusalem, which is the Bride of Christ, is the Church – all of us.

What else can we learn about the New Jerusalem?  Well, the foundation of the New Jerusalem is the apostles. Revelation says it, and Ephesians 2:20 says it.

Hmmm.  This is getting more interesting all the time.  Okay, let’s look at the 12 gates leading into the church. They are the 12 tribes of Israel, Judaism, where all the prophecies of Jesus are found. 

Always check out the symbolism in the Bible. It deepens your spiritual understanding. Like the Walls of Salvation around the New Jerusalem insurmountably high (Isaiah 26:1 & 60:18). The River of Life and Tree of Life are there in the New Jerusalem.  Just imagine on the final day when the church arrives in heaven, and we are all arrayed in sinless white and are rushing into the arms of our groom, our Jesus.

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I pen my thoughts to reach out to souls. Will you help me tells others about this book?        https://amzn.to/3bEHw1L

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00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-PAUL: THE UNSTOPPABLE is by far the most sought-after of all 70 of my books.  It is about a man obsessed, a man who can never do enough to make up for imprisoning, torturing, and killing God’s children. He spends forty-five years going from one city to another daring them to stop him.  They harass him, beat him, starve him, rob him, imprison him, lash him, hound him to the next city. Nothing works.  He knows when he enters a city what they will do to him.  He knows!  But he cannot stop him.  Each time they torture him, he cries out, “Jesus!  This is for you!” At the beginning of the book, he is tall, robust, athletic. By the end, he is stooped, disfigured, the shell of a man, but never defeated.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://amzn.to/3bEHw1L

You poured out your heart to me

The highest praise belongs to you alone, Jehovah of the universe, both that which is seen and unseen.  I praise you, God of the glorious name, God the I AM. You are not just self-existent. You are Love.  You know me by my name. You run after me when I run away from you and call my name. You love me so. If you did not love, you could not exist. If you were not life, you could not exist. How I worship you. 

I am just a weak sinner. I find it hard to forgive sometimes and have to remind myself that you forgive me only as I do others.  Satan wants me to become an accuser like him. Satan, get away from me!

I whisper thank you in my heart for your Word ~ your heart poured out. My puny thanks swells, rushes to you, and bursts forth in your throne room.  Thank you, Jesus, for being my perfect sacrifice. You had to materialize so you could be my substitute. You went through what you did not have to do, even while I was offending you with my sins. Thank you for giving life, and re-giving life over and over. You cannot stop because you are God. Thank you for being stronger than Satan and keeping him at enough distance that I can recognize all the good that you are. Oh, how I long to be with you as your bride forever.

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I pen my thoughts to reach out to souls. Will you help me tells others about this book?’          https://amzn.to/34iQFde

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CHRISTIANITY OR ISLAM: THE CONTRAST can be given to any Muslim without offending them.  So far, I have taught 7000 Muslims and early on realized they have not truly read their Quran any more than the average American has read the Bible. They do not know the violent parts are in there.  This book QUOTES the Quran and Bible on the same subjects to show the contrast. The middle of the book explains falsehoods they have been taught about Christians (such as worshipping 3 gods), and ends with testimonies of 100 of my students who have decided Jesus really was the Son of God.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….  https://amzn.to/34iQFde

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Prayer for Tuesday 3/31

06-PROMISE KEEPER-ChildsCartoonThumbnailAlways I praise you, Lord God. You are in all I see and hear and touch in nature. But you are more. You are Truth and Life and Love and Justice and Mercy. You touch my life with tenderness. You forgive so easily and hastily. How you love me and love to watch me. You spared nothing to bring me close to you in ways I do not begin to comprehend. Your mind and your ways are so far above mine.  I cannot laud you enough.

Lord, yesterday I let someone believe a lie. They believed I had done some good thing but I had not. Further, I did not set them straight. By my silence, I let them go on believing it. Make me go to that person and tell them the truth. If I am embarrassed, so be it. I should not have perpetuated a lie by my silence.

Ah, Jehovah God of the universe, thank you for loving me and caring about me. If I go to a wilderness of apathy, you guide me out. If I climb mountains of egotism, you bring me down. If I dive into the deepest ocean of self-pity, you bring me up. You watch me every moment, not just to protect me from others, but protect me from myself. You never tire of me. I never tire of you. You are my joy, my king, my hero, the lover of my soul.

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I pen my thoughts to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?          https://amzn.to/2UNR4A7

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06-PROMISE KEEPER-ChildsCartoonThumbnailPROMISE KEEPER is storybook #6 in A CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST.  It has the same chapters as the adult PROMISE KEEPER in THEY MET JESUS series with stories on a child’s level.  At the end of each of the ten chapters in each storybook is Think & Do to help the child apply that story to their daily life.  This is a great time to read with your child.  Understandable at age 3 and up to 12. At age 13, they should switch to the adult version.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………  https://amzn.to/2UNR4A7

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Help me see myself the way You do.

05-FLOOD GATES-Child'sCartoon-ThumbnailThe scripture for today, March 30 (3/30), is John 3:30 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“He must become greater; I must become less.”

This is John the Baptist speaking. He had a great following. People “were constantly coming to be baptized” by John (3:23). He had it made! But at the height of his popularity, he said, “I will be stepping down soon.”

Can you do this? Are you at the height of your popularity, perhaps at a club, an organization, church? Could you step down if someone more qualified than you came along? Or will you say, “I started this _______, and I was here first, so this is my project!” ?

Look inside. Deep inside. What are your motives for doing good? Selfish ambition or love for others? 1st Corinthians 13:1 says that, even if I offer my body to be burned and do not have love, it benefits me nothing.

Jesus warned, “Be careful not to do your acts of righteousness before men to be seen by them. If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.”

Think. Think long and hard. Do you have some repenting to do? Father in heaven, help me see myself the way You do.

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I pen my thoughts to encourage souls. Will you help me share today’s book with someone?          https://amzn.to/2vWUCHV

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05-FLOOD GATES-Child'sCartoon-ThumbnailFLOOD GATES is storybook #5 in A CHILD’S LIFE OF CHRIST.  It has the same chapters as the adult FLOOD GATES in THEY MET JESUS series with stories on a child’s level.  At the end of each of the ten chapters in each storybook is Think & Do to help the child apply that story to their daily life.  This is a great time to read with your child.  Understandable at age 3 and up to 12. At age 13, they should switch to the adult version.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………  https://amzn.to/2vWUCHV

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