Scripture for Monday, August 14 (8/14)

The scripture for today, August 14, is Romans 8:14 as found in the New Testament of the Bible.

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Medium“Those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.”

Well, how are we supposed to know the Spirit is leading us? Is it guesswork? Does it depend on our emotions and how we are feeling that day? It doesn’t seem fair of God to leave us guessing.

But God does not make us guess. Jesus said in John 14:16,17, “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever ~ the Spirit of Truth.” And in John 17:17, praying to God the Father, Jesus said, “Sanctify them by the Truth; Your Word is Truth.”

Jesus said we are sanctified by God’s Spirit, God’s Truth, God’s Word. How? Not by feelings. Not because someone else said so. Not by touching it or carrying it around in our pocket. But by reading it and following it. Romans 10:17 says, “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God”. That is how the Spirit leads us.

We don’t have to guess. We just follow. Then we are sons of God ~ not slaves of God, but sons!

How blessed we are.

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Scripture for Sunday, August 13 (8/13)

The scripture for today, August 13 (8/13), is Isaiah 8:13f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.medium-new“The Lord Almighty is the one you are to regard as holy, he is the one you are to fear, he is the one you are to dread, and he will be a sanctuary.”

“Holy” in both the Hebrew and Greek means someone or something set up as very special. Who or what do we daily set up as someone or something special? Do we in a sense “worship” that person or thing? Whoever or whatever we worship, we become a slave to. Are we a “slave” to anything in our life? Is there something we cannot control because it controls us? Are we a slave to attention or food or money or power or clothes or houses or cars or etc?

Then, when there is a tragedy in your life, can you rely on those things to get you through? Who or what will be your sanctuary in times of trouble? Will you be able to say, “The Lord Almighty…he will be my sanctuary”?

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Scripture for Saturday, August 12 (8/12)

The scripture for today, August 12 (8/12), is John 8:12 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-THEY MET JESUS-Medium-front cover“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’ “

Jesus had only about six months left to live. He knew the religious leaders were after his life out of jealousy. Before going to Jerusalem, he told his brothers, “The world cannot hate you, but it hates me” (John 7:7). Knowing people were wanting to kill him, he slipped into Jerusalem after everyone else got there (John 7:10, 14). Then suddenly he appeared in the middle of the Temple complex ~ the size of many football fields. He knew he was safe as long as there was a crowd.

Jesus answered some private questions, and then “he cried out, ‘You know me! You know where I am from!’ ” (John 7:28). They knew he was born in Bethlehem as predicted.  Still, they denied it.

Every day of this feast, a priest would ceremonially pour out some water to represent the water that poured out of the rock when the Jews wandered in the wilderness. But on the last day, the priest did not do this, for it represented their ancestors finally arriving in the Promised Land. It was on this last day of the feast that Jesus “stood and said in a loud voice…  ‘If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink! Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him!’ ” (John 7:38f)

First thing the next morning at dawn he returned to the Temple court.  Maybe it was a beautiful sunrise. When the sun was up and the crowds returned, he shouted something else to everyone, “I am the light of the world!” (John 8:12).

He had compared himself to the water ceremony of the day before, and now he was comparing himself to the new dawn. There he was. God the Son crying out to humanity. Come to me! I am doing everything I can to help you! Won’t you come? Please listen to me! Please come! I can save you from hell!!!

Such stubborn love.

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Scripture for Friday, August 11 (8/11)

The scripture for today, August 11 (8/11), is Romans 8:11 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Medium“And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living IN YOU, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives IN YOU.”

But how do we know the Spirit is IN US? Death literally means separation. Physical death means separation from this body on earth. Spiritual death means separation of our soul from God who is Life. Whenever we sin, our soul dies. It happened to Adam and Eve who didn’t think God meant it when he said, “In the day you eat of the fruit, you will die.” They could no longer walk and talk with God in the garden because they were now separated from him, spiritually dead. With that eventually also came physical death.

There are certain spiritual laws that cannot be broken. For example, it is impossible for God to lie. It is also impossible for God to sin. Therefore, God cannot co-exist with sin. We sin. Another law is that sin demands death. For centuries, God allowed mankind to sacrifice an animal in their place to take their death punishment. But it was just a temporary fix. Finally, he sent the Word in bodily form to be sacrificed in our place and take our death punishment. Now, all we have to do is be IN JESUS which is accomplished by baptism: Galatians 3:26 says this.

What is the role of our spirit? When we die, we say our spirit has left our body. So, as long as we are alive, it means our spirit is still IN US We are not conscious of our spirit being in us; we just know it is because we are still alive. In the same way, when we become Christians God’s way (not man’s way), God’s Holy Spirit enters us and is IN US; Acts 2:38 says so. This is when we become spiritually alive; Romans 6:3-4 says so.

We are not overtly conscious of God’s Spirit being IN US, but we know it is true because our soul is now alive. Forever alive.

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Scripture for Wednesday, August 2 (8/2)

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

A man with leprosy came and knelt before him and said, ‘Lor 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 can say, “Be clean.”

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Scripture for Tuesday, August 1 (8/1)

The scripture for today, August 1 (8/1), is Romans 8:1 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

worship-the-first-century-way-cover-kindle“Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.”

There are a lot of religious groups out there in the world who control their people with fear. If you don’t do such and such, it proves you aren’t spiritual enough. If you do such and such one second before you die, you’re going to hell.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the congregations in Galatia (today’s Turkey) and warned them with tears:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting the one who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel ~ which is really no gospel at all. Evidently some people are throwing you into confusion and are trying to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached [past tense] to you, let him be eternally condemned! As we have already said, so now I say again:

If anybody is preaching to you a gospel other than what you accepted, let him be eternally condemned! Am I now trying to win the approval of men or of God? Or am I trying to please men? ” (Galatians 1:6-10).

Are you sure you are IN Christ Jesus? Do your church leaders dance around scriptures they wish weren’t in the Bible and tell you they don’t really mean what they say? What do they do with Romans 6:3-4? How do they handle Acts 2:38 so it doesn’t say what it says? How about I Peter 3:21 and Acts 22:16?  Do you do what these scriptures say and for those reasons or what is popular? Do your friends speak for God or do you let God speak for himself? Our friends will be judged by God like everyone else. Listen.  Do you hear? That is God speaking to you.

Oh, to be sure we are indeed IN Christ Jesus. This is our longing. Our hope. Our reason for being.

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Scripture for Wednesday, July 26 (7/26)

The scripture for today, July 26 (7/26), is John 7:26 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Medium“Here he [Jesus] is speaking publicly [in the temple], and they are not saying a word to him. Have the authorities really concluded that he is the Christ? But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.”

These people standing around the temple refused to believe in Jesus because they chose to disregard a scripture that all Jews knew about. They said no one would know where the Christ (the Messiah) would come from. But they did know. It was in their own scriptures ~ Micah 5:2

But you, Bethlehem…out of you will come for me the one who will be ruler over Israel.”

Are you sometimes like all those people standing around in the temple? Do you sometimes make up your mind about something religious; and even if the Bible says something different, you refuse to acknowledge it? Does your ego sometimes get in the way? Or are you afraid of pressure from your friends?

As you read the Word of God, open wide your heart and mind. Indeed, sometimes your friends and your stubborn will get in the way. Don’t let them come between you and God. Walk the beautiful path God has created for you.

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Scripure for Tuesday, July 25 (7/25)

The scripture for today, July 25 (7/25), is Hebrews 7:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

FunWithBibleNumbers-Cover-Kindle“Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him [Jesus] because he always lives to intercede for them.”

Indeed, all of mankind is invited to come to God through Jesus. There are scriptures in the Bible about being chosen by God. But when you check the original Greek, it means you are being invited by God. If a company puts out a newspaper ad inviting people to be interviewed for hiring, the company can only choose those who accepted the invitation and go to them.

And something else stands out in that verse. Jesus is our intercessor, our mediator. Why would we want anyone lower than Jesus to be our intercessor when Jesus will do so himself?

How amazing! In one sentence we see that God the Father invites all of mankind to come to him to be saved completely and that God the Son/Word is our ever-present intercessor.

Such love. Such divine love. It is beyond comprehension. All we can do is fall on our knees and whisper, “Thank you.”

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Scripture for Monday, July 24 (7/24)

The scripture for today, July 24 (7/24), is Matthew 7:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-COVER-KINDLE“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.”

The problem we have with putting into practice the Words of God is that we sometimes read blindly. We don’t see the significance of something. We may read it over and over for years and never see its significance.

Take, for example, the story of Jesus’ birth. We sometimes see pictures of baby Jesus in a stable with the shepherds and three wise men all gathered around him. But Matthew 2:11 says by the time the wise men arrived, Jesus and his parents were living in a house. Further, the Bible does not say how many wise men there were; it just says they gave three kinds of gifts ~ gold, incense and myrrh.

How about 1st Timothy 3:2?  “Now the overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach.” This word “overseer” is sometimes translated bishop, sometimes elder, and sometimes pastor. It’s all the same office. We might think at first glance that we believe all this. But do we glaze over the fact that he must have a wife? Hmmm….

Here’s another one. At funerals, we often quote Psalm 23:4, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me, your rod and your staff they comfort me.” But for the Christian, there are no shadows in the valley of death. Jesus was born “to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death to guide our feet into the path of peace” (Luke 1:79).

Oh, so many things we over look ~ meaningful things. Let us continue to study God’s Word daily with our mind and heart open to new things we never realized before.  Let us build the house of our faith “on the rock.”

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Scripture for Saturday, July 22 (7/22)

The scripture for today, July 22 (7/22), is 2nd Samuel 7:22 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible.

00-Heroes-Alone-COVER-KINDLE“How great you are, O Sovereign Lord! There is no one like you, and there is no God but you, as we have heard with our own ears.”

How do we know there is no God but the God of the Bible that we read about and “hear with our own ears” (when scriptures are read aloud)?  How do we know our God is the only true God, and our Bible his only true words?

Here’s how:  Numerous built-in proofs. Prophecies fulfilled of people and entire nations as given in the Bible and verified in secular encyclopedias. Scientific facts not known in early centuries. Over 300 archaeological facts.

http://churchofchrist-cg-az.com/BibleProofs-Archaeology-Index.html

Therefore, Christians can KNOW what God is like, what he wants and how he views us, for we have heard with our own ears and seen with our own eyes.

How lucky we are. How blessed.

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