As long as forever lasts

inside-cover-mediumYou are the God of my heart, my life, my soul.  I long to be with you some day. I have praised you in the past, I praise you now, I will praise you in the future and as long as forever lasts. You are the originator of all material things and all motion. You set the stars in motion and they have never stopped their movement for all these thousands of years. You are the First Cause of all that is good and right. You have made me in your image so I may have a sense of goodness and right ~ a sense of conscience ~ in my thinking and behavior.  I stand in awe of you.

Thank you, Lord, for interruptions in my life. Sometimes people have to get loud and make me stop what I am doing so I will pay attention to them. I get so absorbed in what I am doing day to day, I forget the rest of the world other than a casual hello or goodbye. Keep doing it, Lord.  Keep sending people to my door, to my phone, to my email, all intent on interrupting me. Thank you for sudden changes. They certainly do make life interesting, and you, my Lord, are always interesting.

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Inside-AUDIBLE-thumbnailINSIDE THE HEARTS OF BIBLE WOMEN includes the stories of twelve Bible women (1) in their ordinary life, (2) when a tragedy happens, (3) how they try to survive the tragedy.  Also available in audio form for listening in the car.  The stories are great for private reading or listening.  The thought questions and teacher’s manual are great for classes or ladies retreats.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/HeartsBibleWomen

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-inside-the-hearts-of-bible-women/

Our prayers are diamonds

00-hero-alone-cover-kindle-mediumI adore you, Lord God, and worship you.  I laugh with you, cry with you. I am unworthy of all the attention you give me, especially among the millions of others who long for you.  You know my name and follow me around. My thoughts, attitudes, and activities are readily open to you.  My sins are among them.  How unworthy I am. You love me still.  How marvelous and magnificent you are in love and mercy. I worship you.

Forgive me, Father, for eating too much. I am eating strictly for the taste and not because my body needs it. When I taste something good, the delight lasts less than a minute. Then I have to take another bite to return the wonderful taste to my mouth. On and on it goes until I have made myself sick. Help me find something else as pleasurable and fulfilling to do so I can forget my gluttony.

Thank you for my being able to live in a country that gives me as much freedom as I need to worship you. Even if I must worship you in hiding, I still will have the freedom to find a hiding place.  Every place has valleys and galleys to hide in, and basements, and abandoned buildings and mountain tops. Thank you for the hiding places. And thank you for the heroes who long to worship you together so much, they will do anything to do so. Thank you for worship. Our prayers are diamonds, our songs are silver, our Lord’s Supper rememberings are rubies, and our reading your love letters are gold.

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00-hero-alone-cover-kindle-lgthumbnailYOU CAN BE A HERO ALONE: SURVIVAL STORIES FOR THE COURAGEOUS ISOLATED CHRISTIAN.  God for prisoners, military personnel, university students who feel isolated from other Christians.  And during this time of “social distancing”, it is good for us all.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/BeAHeroAlone

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/you-can-be-a-hero-alone-survival-stories-for-the-isolated-christian/

 

Come back! Come back to me!

Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILI adore you, Lord God. You have been so good for so long always working to save us from hell. So many do not believe they are bound for hell so insult you by never reading your love letter to the world ~ your Bible ~ and never praying unless they need something. Sill, amidst all this, you keep trying to save the world. You want everyone to be your child. You are larger than the universe that you made, but it is tiny humans that capture your heart. You run after us every which way calling, “Come back! You’re headed for danger! I can protect you!” Ah, my Lord God, how you love us. I love you too, Lord. I wish I could love as much as you do. In my frail way, I worship you.

My vegetable garden has been harvested and I have cleared out all that was left behind. And I brought in more fertilizer to give my little seeds a head start next spring. Thank you for allowing me to create with you. I love watching the little green sprigs force their way to the surface and peak at the sun. It makes me think how I am forcing my way up through the darkness of this world and trying to take a peak of heaven. Someday it will happen and the experience will be beautiful.

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Love Letters of Jesus & his Bride, Eccelsia-THUMBNAILLOVE LETTERS OF JESUS AND HIS BRIDE, ECCLESIA is a paraphrase of the Song of Solomon on his wedding day.  Each chapter in the SoS is a love letter by the groom or the bride.  There are over 500 footnotes showing how their relationship is like that of Jesus and his church, including her getting lost and him having to find her and bring her back to safety. To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……… .https://bit.ly/LoveLettersOfJesus

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/love-letters-of-jesus-his-bride-ecclesia-2/

 

Kaleidoscope

Applied ChristianityAh, my God, you are so noble and trustworthy. If I trust in your judgment, then what is best will happen ~ one more step closer to conquering the world.  Conquering bad with good.  You are life and you work every moment to rescue me from a world of sin to deliver me to a world of sinlessness.  All this despite my self-destructive listening to Satan. You are stronger than Satan and make me stronger in the process. Such stubborn love.

Thank you, Jesus, for your example of strict living with kindness intertwined throughout.  Your teachings are a tapestry of dark and light tones that wove together into a blanket of safety. Your life was a kaleidoscope of sunny yellows and bloody reds and every color in between to show me the beauty of everything, no matter how dark it may seem. In gratitude, I worship you.

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Applied ChristianityAPPLIED CHRISTIANITY: A HANDBOOK OF 500 GOOD WORKS.  During this time of physical restrictions to each other, we can still encourage each other.  These good works can be done by all ages, all health situations, all sizes of congregations and towns.  Each good work is spelled out step by step.  Nothing hard. Stay busy doing good works for others and enrich yourself and the world around you.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/APPLIEDCHRISTIANITY

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-applied-christianity/

My song will soar

OldOldTunes-mediumI praise and adore you, God. You are perfect and are willing to see me as perfect even when I am not. I try to be like you but fail in some way every day. You love me in my imperfection. Your love wins over Satan’s hatred. Your forgiveness wins over Satan’s accusations.  Your mercy wins over Satan’s judgmentalisms. I often wonder how you can do it ~ always be forgiving me. Sometimes I am embarrassed to, once again, ask for your forgiveness.  Yet, you are delighted to forgive. You are the God of second chances. And third. And scores. And hundreds. Such patience and love I cannot even begin to comprehend. So, I worship you.

It is Sunday morning again. Oh, how I will sing out my praises to you!  They will soar through the roof to the clouds and beyond, echo from star to star, and surround your throne. My song will not be harmonious and lovely or lyrical, but it will be my song and it will be for the God I love. Accept my praise, my song, the offering of my lips.

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OldOldTunes-ThumbnailTHE OLD OLD STORY SET TO OLD OLD TUNES.  Forty songs for the Old Testament, Forty for the New Testament.  Set to old folk tunes, they are fun to sing in classes with grandchildren, or alone in the car.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this………. https://bit.ly/OldStoryOldTunes

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/links-to-some-of-my-fun-bible-stuff/the-old-old-story-set-to-old-old-tunes/

Hand in hand through eternity

0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnailMy God, I dread not the day when you call me home. I fear not the day when I hear your voice, “Come now, my child.”  I shrink not back from your wounded hands when you reach out for me. Together we will walk through the divine door that leads me on the golden path of glory to home. How I love the hand that was pierced for me, the hand that bore the bitter spike, the hand through which your precious blood was drained out for me. I shall clutch your wounded hand and you will never let me go. We will walk hand in hand through eternity.

My Lord, just when I am tempted to do some evil, you step in my way and hold me back. Just when I am tempted to think some evil, you hold your hand in front of my eyes and stop my wrong contemplations.  Just when I am tempted to run away from a good I should do, you grab hold of me, and rush me back to do what needs to be done. Ah, Lord, you are my rampart, my deliverer, my hero. You make me what I ought to be. I bow at your feet.

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0-REV-Cover-No Logo-KINDLE-lg-thumbnailREVELATION: A LOVE LETTER FROM GOD: A LOVE LETTER FROM GOD.  Once you understand the symbolism of the numbers and that this is a history book, everything easily falls into place. To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/REVELATION-LOVE

 

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/1107-2/my-book-revelationa-love-letter-from-god/

Skeletons

The scripture for today, November 6 (11/6), is Nehemiah 11:6 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

COVER-Music-thumb“The descendants of Perez who lived in Jerusalem totaled 468 able men.”

Just who was Perez, and why was this even mentioned in the Bible? Perez was a son of Judah, and an ancestor of Jesus (Matthew 1:3).

Why was living in Jerusalem a big deal at that time? Because Jerusalem had been attacked and destroyed. It was nothing but rubble and ashes. Earlier, other Jews had returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the temple. Now it was time to rebuild the walls.

These 468 brave people had to agree to move into a burned-out city and rebuild on the ashes of previous homes. In the process of moving building stones out of the way to reuse in the city wall, they surely found skeletons of those who had been slaughtered in the attack decades before.

At first, the Jews had blamed the Babylonians for destroying their city and temple. But Eventually, they began re-reading the prophets who had warned them about their own sins. Finally, they turned inward and placed the blame where it really belonged: Themselves. Their own pride had destroyed their temple and their city, now crumbled ashes.

Following repentance, they acted. Was it easy rebuilding a broken city? Not any easier than rebuilding a broken home, a broken congregation, a broken life. You must look at your own part in your own destruction and begin building yourself anew.

Are there any skeletons or ashes in your soul?  Is there anything that needs rebuilt? It takes grit.  Do you have the grit?

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COVER-Music-thumbINSTRUMENTAL MUSIC IN THE PUBLIC WORSHIP OF THE CHURCH was written in the 1880s by a Presbyterian theologian.  Most of his denomination had already made the switch and added pianos or organs.  This book was his last plea to restore church worship the way it had been.  It is by far the most well researched book on this subject in any century.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/Worship-Music

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/instrumental-music-in-the-public-worship-of-the-church/

Both tears and laughter

Supper-Front Cover-MediumI glorify you who cannot be glorified more than you are. Your magnificence is far above comprehension. Great in love and power, judgment and mercy. You are all majesty. You are the king of my heart, ruler of my life, power of my soul.  How I adore you.  I fall at your feet in both tears and laughter.  You, oh Great One actually notice me. And smile.

It is Sunday morning again, the day you came back to earth from the land of the dead, forever alive ~ proof you’ll do it for me too. Oh, how I love singing my heart out with the rest of the congregation. I do not want other people doing my singing for me and cheat me out of that pleasure. When I sing, I sometimes look around at my friends in the congregation also singing. I cannot hear their individual voices, but I watch their lips move, all synchronized together.  What joy to sing with others, pray with others, take the Lord’s Supper with others. Worship day is so special to me. How could anyone do boring things like shopping or playing ball and miss out on the excitement of worshipping you? I thank you for the privilege of coming into your presence and adoring you.

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THE LORD’S SUPPER:  52 READINGS WITH PRAYERS.  A perfect book for use  by those presiding at the table or for partakers in silent meditation.  To  BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this……….https://bit.ly/LordsSupper52

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Until faith returns

 

00-LUKE-KINDLE Cover-Thumbnail God, you are worthy of praise for your creativity, your mind, your actions, your words. You are goodness and justice and mercy. You are might and power. You are tender and kind. How could I ever want a better judge to stand before at the end of my life?   I worship you.

Father, sometimes I lock people into one action they have done and assume they will always be like that. Help me see the whole person in everyone at all times. Please forgive me when I judge wrong and help me overcome it.

Thank you, Lord God, for hope.  Hope lives, even when faith is tired and beaten down. All things can become better in you either directly or indirectly. No matter what happens, there is always hope because there is always God. Thank you for leaning low when my faith is low and rocking me gently in your arms of hope. Thank you for being patient with me and lending me your strength until full faith returns.

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LUKE: SLAVE AND PHYSICIAN.  Yes, in Roman times, physicians were family slaves.  And slaves came from the losing side in war.  Luke could have been enslaved after the great Battle of Baduhenna Wood in today’s Holland as Lukvert.  In this novelized version of his life, he believes in the Nordic gods. But he cannot find them. When enslaved by the Romans, he learned of innumerable other gods.  His prayer was always, “Oh thousand gods”.  He even climbed Mt. Olympus, but Jupiter was not there.  Now he was ready to meet Paul.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/Lukephysician

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/books-more-biblical-historical-novels/book-3-luke-slave-physician/

Taking Heaven for Granted

0-BK 8-ComeFlyWithMe-Cover-Medium-NewThe scripture for today, October 25 (10/25), is Hebrews 10:25 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another ~ and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”

Do you declare, “I can walk through nature ~ the temple of God ~ and feel God is closer there than in a church building”? Well, do you really do it? How often? The purpose of the church meeting is not so much to encourage yourself as to encourage your fellow Christians and visitors, along with worshiping God.

Look at the context. Verse 23 says, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess,” and verse 24 says, “Let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” How do you do these things? A lot of it is done during your congregation’s worship and encouragement service.

And what comes after our verse for today? Verse 26 says, “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Meeting together with other congregational members is one of the major experiences that keeps you and your friends from falling and missing heaven. Or does worshipping all the time in heaven sound boring too?

Should you meet once a week? This scripture says to meet “all the more as you see the Day [of Judgment] approaching.’ Do you say, “But that’s too inconvenient”?

It was inconvenient for Jesus to leave a perfect heaven for an imperfect earth. It was inconvenient for him to leave the company of angels for the company of sinners. It was inconvenient for him to do this for 33 long years. Inconvenient to take the blame for your sins, and then take your punishment. Inconvenient to experience agonizing spiritual death when God left him alone on the cross in your place, and then that agonizing physical death in your place.

Do you really know inconvenience?  Do you take heaven for granted?

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COME FLY WITH ME is the last biblical historical novel in the THEY MET JESUS 8-book series on the life of Christ.  Life applications questions at the end of each chapter are accompanied by scriptures on which the chapter was based as well as external historical writings.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/FLY-WITH-ME

https://inspirationsbykatheryn.wordpress.com/historical-novel-about-jesus/book-8-come-fly-with-me-adults-childs-versions/