Tag: Bible

Monday 4/9 ~ I want to do this. Help me.

On By In Death of Jesus Christ, discouragement, forgiveness, good works, Saved from hellLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 9, is 1st John 4:9f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-1st Century Worship KINDLE-COVER-Thumbnail“This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: Not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”

How perplexing. We are stymied. There is no solution. We humans do not have the will to live perfect lives. We give in to sin. We can never get it right. Romans 6:23 says the wages of sin is death. In the Old Testament era, God let people kill an animal in their place whenever they sinned, but it had to be done over and over. But still, every time we sinned, our souls died a little more.

Then came our answer, our rescue our solution. But the cost.  It was so high.  God sent his Son to us for a while with a body so his Son’s body could be killed (collecting our wages, the cost of our sins) in our place.

Finally, God invited mankind to bring our souls back to life through him ~ that is, become Christ-ians. How do we become alive through Jesus? Of course, we know about believing Jesus was the Son of God and repenting of our sins. Also Romans 6:4 says when we are baptized and come forth out of the Spirit’s watery womb, our souls are born again and we now have a new life.

But it does not stop there. We must try the best we can to live as Jesus lived, speak as Jesus spoke, love as Jesus loved. With Jesus living in us, we are his mouth, his hands, his feet. It is then that we offer our own bodies as daily sacrifices (Romans 12:1).

Oh, Lord God.  I want to do this. Help me.  Help me.

Friday 4/6 ~ It is liberating! Your heart will soar

On By In Bible, faith, judging, knowledge, truth, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, April 6 (4/6), is 1st Corinthians 4:6 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00- Worship Changes KC COVER-thumbnail“…learn from us the meaning of the saying, ‘Do not go beyond what is written.’ Then you will not take pride in one man over against another.”

Periodically through the Bible, there appears this same warning for us to not “go beyond what is written.” 2nd Peter 1:20 says prophecy is scripture. Prophecy was needed before the New Testament was written, but no more after that, for now, the prophecy of the apostles had been written down and were being passed around.

It is important to find out if what we are being taught is “beyond what is written.” It can be done. How? Simple. Use a concordance. A concordance is the size of a large-city telephone book in fine print and includes every keyword in the Bible and every scripture that contains each word. Many libraries have one. Or you can order one from your local bookstore. There are some concordances on the internet too. Here is one:  http://bibletab.com

You are an intelligent person. Don’t take for granted what others tell you. Check things for yourself. Read the Bible for yourself. Decide for yourself whether any of your leaders have gone “beyond what is written.” You’re smart. You can do it:  Find out for sure.

It is liberating. Your heart will soar and your soul will embrace God in a whole new way.

 

Saturday 3/24 ~ No guessing

On By In Bible, faith, Holy SpiritLeave a comment

The scripture for today March 24(3/24), is 1st John 3:24 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailThose who obey his commands live in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.”

Some people think we can tell that we are obeying God and he is therefore in us by how we feel, by our emotions. But emotions are fickle. We can feel great one day and sad the next and frustrated after that, then great again. It can be confusing to rely on how we feel as to whether or not God’s Spirit lives in us.

Jesus said in John 14:17 that he was going to send us the Counselor, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 Jesus said God’s Word is Truth.

Now that makes more sense! Even in the days before the New Testament was assembled into one book, Christians were given the gift of prophecy by the Spirit of Truth, and sometimes they wrote it and circulated it.

In the meantime, the Apostles went everywhere teaching, and they wrote letters that were circulated (even those we don’t know about today). Those letters that were preserved were copied and circulated everywhere.

Finally, these letters were assembled into what we call the New Testament. So today we can still know by reading the Bible ~ God’s Word ~ and following it. God thought of everything. His word is clear, and that is how we know we have obeyed him and he lives in us.

How grateful we are today for his Bible. No guessing.

 

 

Monday 3/12 ~ Prepare to be delighted

On By In Bible, blessings, faith, Inspirational, knowledgeLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 12 (3/12), is Ezekiel 3:12 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

365LifeChangingScriptures-Front-Thumbnail“The Spirit lifted me up and I heard behind me a loud rumbling sound ~ May the glory of the Lord be praised in his dwelling place!”

This is quite interesting because, despite some who preach being “slain in the Spirit,” the Spirit does not make people fall down. The Spirit lifts people up. The Spirit did this to Ezekiel on several occasions; always, if he was sitting or lying down, the Spirit lifted him up onto his feet.

There are so many things we think we know about the Bible, but when we begin to investigate, it just isn’t there.

>What about Joseph dying after Jesus turned 12? When Jesus was rejected after preaching in Nazareth a year before his crucifixion, they mentioned Joseph in the present tense.

>Or the Holy Land always having been desert? The Bible tells of nine forests plus those on mountains.

>Or the prodigal’s brother?  As the oldest son, he was going to inherit the entire estate, but his insane greed wanted his brother’s party too.

>Or David being just a boy when he killed Goliath?  He had already killed a lion and bear before that, and big Saul’s armor fit him.

>What about “Doubting Thomas”?  The other apostles refused to believe before they saw Jesus alive again. More, when Jesus wanted to go to Jerusalem, his apostles said no, but Thomas said, “Let us go to Jerusalem so we may die with him.”

>Or everyone going inside the temple to worship?  Only priests were allowed inside the building. Commoners worshiped in the courtyard.

>Or Bethlehem being a little town? It was a fortified walled city.

What excitement to read the Bible for yourself and discover its treasures for yourself. Open it. Read it. Be delighted.

Friday 3/2 ~ Do you love anyone more than yourself?

On By In faith, family, good works, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, March 2, is 2nd Corinthians 3:2 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 4-FolkHero-Cover-Kindle-thumbnail-new“You yourselves are our letter written on our hearts, known and read by everybody.”

As important as it is to read the Bible for yourself and determine for yourself what you will follow, it is equally important to put those things into your heart at the ready for practical life application on a moment’s notice. But isn’t knowledge of truth enough?  Just giving our heart to Jesus as Lord isn’t enough?

James 2:19 says that even demons believe, but they are still demons and still bound for hell. It takes more than faith. There are things to do.

Are you a letter from God to people around you? Or do you have a double standard, acting one way around worshipers and another way around non-worshipers? People read our hearts by our words and actions. What do people read in your heart?

Do you absolutely and completely believe people will go to hell without Jesus? Do you absolutely and completely believe people have to rise above demons who believe but who are still going to hell? Do you absolutely and completely believe you could be the only one in your family’s and friends’ lives who care enough for their soul that you will actually say something ~ put your heart letter into words?

Do you love them more than yourself? Do you love anyone more than yourself? Do you love them enough?

Friday, 2/1 ~ You’re smart. Check it out for yourself

On By In Bible, judgingLeave a comment

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

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-Thumbnail“[the Magi/Wisemen] asked, ‘Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.”

There are people who believe the “star of Bethlehem” was in the east. But the star wasn’t in the east; the wise men (Magi) were.

The Christmas carol says the star led the wise men the whole way. But Matthew 2:9 & 10 says, “After they had heard the king [Herod], they went on their way, and the star they HAD seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed.”

The wise men saw the star while they were in the east and headed in the direction it came from. After they were in Jerusalem, the star reappeared ~ the star they HAD seen in the east. They rejoiced when they saw the star again, not because it had been with them the whole time, but because it had reappeared.

There are so many things about the Bible that we have heard all our lives and just assume are true. Here’s an idea: Investigate things for yourself! Why take a teaching about the Bible for granted? You’re smart. Check things out yourself.

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Link to ebook & discount paperback:  http://bit.ly/Michel-WiseMan

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#Bible, #judging

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

Scripture for Friday, November 24 ~ The Holy Spirit

On By In Bible, Holy Spirit, InspirationalLeave a comment

The scripture for today, November 24 (11/24) is Ezekiel 11:24 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-Medium“The Spirit lifted me up and brought me to the exiles in Babylonia in the vision given by the Spirit of God.”

How did the Holy Spirit move people? Not by making them fall down, but by lifting them up. Ezekiel was the prophet who experienced this most often, and the Spirit always lifted him up.

Jesus said in John 14:17 that he would send the Comforter, the Spirit of Truth. And in John 17:17 he said, “Your [God’s] Word is Truth.”

How amazing. We do not have to guess what God’s Spirit of Truth wants us to do or not do. There are so many things about God’s Holy Spirit out there that just are not in the scriptures. On the other hand, there are so many things about God’s Holy Spirit in the Bible that we do not pay any attention to.

Let us be grateful for the Bible manifestation of the Holy Spirit and that we do not have to guess what God is like and how he says we can live the best possible life. Let us continue to read the Word of God and let the Holy Spirit continue to lift us up.

 

Scripture for Monday, October 23 (10/23)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn Bible, Daily, Holy Spirit, Inspirational, Scripture, truthLeave a comment

The scripture for today, October 23 (10/23) is Jeremiah 10:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

inside-cover-medium“I know, O Lord, that a man’s life is not his own; it is not for man to direct his steps.”

Just how are we supposed to know what steps God has directed us to take? Do we have to guess, rely on a feeling, depend on the movement of our heart, a vision? Actually, we have a guide, a roadmap.

Jesus said in John 14:16-17 that after he left, the Father would send another Counselor ~ the Spirit of Truth. In John 16:13 Jesus said The Spirit of Truth will guide us into all truth.” In John 17:17, Jesus said, “Your Word is truth.”

Yes, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth, guides us through the Word of God, the Bible.

We don’t have to guess! We don’t have to wonder! We don’t have to get discouraged! God has given us his Word to direct our steps. All we have to do is open his Word and read the map.

 

Scripture for Friday, September 22 (9/22)

On By Inspirations By KatherynIn death, Death of Jesus Christ, forgiveness, Inspirational, Saved from hell, worshipLeave a comment

The scripture for today, September 22 (9:22) is Luke 9:22 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

Songs-First 140-BK 7-ShadowOfDeath-Cover-new-Medium“And he [Jesus] said, ‘The Son of Man[kind] must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.”

Jesus did not look forward to his death. Hebrews 5:7 says, “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death….” Loud cries!

Yet, in today’s scripture, shortly after he announced to his apostles that he would be killed in Jerusalem, over in verse 51 it says, “As the time approached for him to be taken up to heaven, Jesus resolutely set out for Jerusalem.”

Jesus had to use every bit of self-determination he could muster to face that terrible death he had to suffer for us. What kept him pushing forward instead of doing something else? He knew he would be saving us from hell by taking our punishment for us. Then his work would be done ~ all would be fulfilled ~ and he could return to heaven and his Father.

Is it difficult for you to get up on Sunday morning to go to church or would you rather be doing something else? Is it difficult for you to read the Bible every day or would you rather be doing something else? Is it difficult for you to invite a friend to church with you or would you rather be doing something else? Do you love Jesus as resolutely as he did and does you?