Get ready to be amazed

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailLord God of heaven and earth, your radiance dazzles the universe. When you speak, the thunders crash. When you protect, you send bolts of lightning where needed. You are not soft. Your enemies hate you for stopping them. They declare you are not a good God because you will not let them do whatever they want.  I am unendingly grateful that you are my shield, my defender, my safeguard, my shelter. You are always there when I need you. I do not even know all the times you have kept me from harm, but I know you do. I praise you with my lips, my actions, my heart.

The other day I began flattering someone so they would do something for me. They are not normally the way I described them. They knew it and I knew it. It was blatant flattery. Lord, nothing is so important that I need to flatter and lie for something to be given or done.

Thank you for rain ~ gentle showers, rushing torrents, and all that is between.  You soften the ground with it and make it ready for seeds anxious to reproduce themselves. Spring is filled with hope, autumn overflowing with bounty.  Even the deserts with their sparseness and sand that blows wearily here and there come alive with blossoms that have been hidden since the last rain long before. No seed really ever dies. It always has life in it. How amazing how you awaken what was thought to be dead even in the desert, and bless the earth. How kind you are to provide my food when I am hungry and nourish my life so I can plant seeds of your hope in others’ hearts.

.

0-HS-592 VersesExamined-COVER-ThumbnailTHE HOLY SPIRIT:  592 VERSES EXAMINED.  There are numerous books on the Holy Spirit, but they are based on only a few Bible verses. Read through these chapters, not to prove what you already believe, but with an open mind and heart that perhaps you don’t believe in enough things the Holy Spirit does, or you believe in more things than the scriptures actually teach.  Now, let us gear up for all things God’s Holy Spirit does, and get ready to be amazed.  To BUY NOW, click a book cover or paste this:  https://bit.ly/376695S 

https://northernlightspublishinghouse.com/1107-2/my-book-the-holy-spirit-in-365-scriptures/?frame-nonce=9f9ac75c8f

 

Wednesday 5/23 ~ Is it a good idea to be mad at God?

The scripture for today, May 23(5/23, is Exodus 5:23 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.thumbnail-new“Ever since I went to Pharaoh to speak in your [God’s] name, he has brought trouble upon this people, and you have not rescued your people at all.”

This is Moses talking to God, and Moses is very angry. Is it a good idea to be mad at God? Deuteronomy 34:10 says there was never a prophet like Moses “whom the Lord knew face to face.”

Getting angry [not violent, that’s different] sometimes is part of a healthy relationship, as long as we are willing to stick around long enough to understand the other person’s point of view. Moses did not desert God. He spoke his mind, then waited to see how God would reply.

It wasn’t that God didn’t want to rescue his people from slavery in Egypt. God was not quite ready yet. And he probably did not rescue his people in the manner Moses had in mind. But eventually ~ after a little patience on Moses’ part ~ it happened: God rescued his people.

Are you angry at God over something? Tell him so. Then stick around and wait for him to express his point of view. It will happen someday. Maybe it won’t be your point of view. Probably it will be better.

~~BUYLINK for eBOOK or discount PAPER:  http://bit.ly/Hearts-Afire

 

 

Sunday 3/25 ~ Keep that hope alive

The scripture for today, March 25 (3/25), is Lamentations 3:25 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-Michel-COVER-Kindle-Thumbnail.jpg“The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him.”

That’s all?  Just hope?  I don’t have to have a deep, deep faith for God to be good to me? All I have to do is hope he exists? Hope he loves everyone? Hope me loves me?

Were you raised by atheists or have you attended a university where professors criticize theists (believers in God)? Have you been told deity is just the essence of the universe with no personality? Are you confused by it all?  You can still hope there is only the One God who does exist, has personality, knows your name and loves you.

Have you had a major tragedy in your life and can’t understand how a good God could allow that bad thing to happen (heaven on earth)? Do you live among people who believe all the gods in the world are the One God, so don’t pay special attention to any of them?

Amidst such confusion, is it hard for you to sort it all out and have faith in the One God of the Bible? What is faith anyway? It is the evidence of what you hope for.  If you cannot go so far as to say you have a deep faith in the One God, you can still hope! Keep that hope alive. Let the Lord be good to you.

.

Buylink to ebook and discount paper:  http://bit.ly/Michel-WiseMan

.

#atheism, #hope, #NewAge, #Pantheism, #faith

 

Thursday 3/1 ~ When I could stand it no longer…

The scripture for today, March 1 (3/1), is 1st Thessalonians 3:1,5 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“So when we could stand it no longer, we thought it best to be left by ourselves in Athens…For this reason, when I could stand it no longer, I sent to find out about your faith. I was afraid that in some way the tempter might have tempted you and our efforts might have been useless.”

In Thessalonica, there had been a riot, and the man who had given Paul and his helpers a place to live was hauled into court. Paul just couldn’t put his host through that so “when we could stand it no longer” he left the city and went off by himself so he wouldn’t jeopardize anyone else.

Still the great Apostle Paul ~ who went everywhere preaching non-stop for decades; who stood up under beatings, stonings, hunger, and shipwrecks; who explained to church leaders how to lead their congregation; whose letters were prophecy and became scripture ~ the powerful Apostle Paul still felt very tenderly toward his fellow Christians.

He worried about how they were getting along spiritually. And when he “could stand it no longer,” he wrote back to Thessalonica to find out how they were doing.

Tender love is a powerful love. A strong love. A love that will never, ever let go. Do you feel this way about the spiritual well-being of other people? Is there someone you need to call or write to today because you want to find out how they are?  Do you have any words of encouragement for them? Any at all?

 

Friday 2/16 ~ Flaming hope with a flickering candle

The scripture for today, February 16 (2/16), is 2nd Thessalonians 2:16 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

00-PAUL COVER-Thumbnail-“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word.”

Who were these people the apostle Paul was writing? They were suffering.  Physically they were suffering.  Some in their group had even been killed for their faith. Mentally they were suffering.  Would they be next? Would it be worth everything they were going through?

Spiritually they were struggling. The apostle Paul, who wrote this, had been through such struggles many times himself. He wanted to make sure their faith did not waver.

How? By praying that their persecution would stop? At no time in the Bible do we have an account of Christians pray that the persecution stop. What did they pray for? Boldness.

They could be bold if they knew Jesus Christ loved them personally. They could be bold if they knew God the Father loved them personally. They could be bold with eternal encouragement, strength.

“Just keep doing what you’ve been doing,” he basically told them.  “With the strength God gives you, keep doing good deeds and spreading the Word.”  Persecuted? Yes. Frightened? Yes. Cowering? Never.

How about your life?

God’s encouragement never ceases. It is always there. There when you feel alone, when you feel forsaken, when you are frightened, when you feel helpless, when you feel hopeless.

God gives good hope. Sometimes things in your life may be going so badly you have trouble having faith in God. But you can still hope. The candle of your faith may be flickering, but your hope can still be a flaming hope, a large hope, a good hope.

 

Tuesday 2/6 ~ Quick! Look up! God is right there!

The scripture for today, February 6 (2/6) is Jonah 2:6f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

00-Stephen-Cover-Kindle-Thumbnail“To the roots of the mountains I sank down; the earth beneath barred me in forever. But you brought my life up from the pit, O Lord my God. When my life was ebbing away, I remembered you, Lord, and my prayer rose to you, to your holy temple.”

This is what was going through Jonah’s mind as he was swallowed by the great fish and on his way to certain death.

It is never too late.

As long as the breath of life is in you, it is never too late to cry out to God. You may be in the pits of your life. You may feel you cannot sink any lower than where you are now.

But look up! God is watching you with tears. You are not only breaking your own heart, but you are breaking the heart of God who loves you so. God wants to lift you up out of your pit.

But he cannot do it without your help. What is your part? You must lift up your hands so God can grasp them.

Quick! Look up! God is right there.

.

Link to ebook & discount paper: http://bit.ly/Stephen-Martyr

.

#hope, #dispair

Scripture for Friday, September 29 (9/29)

The scripture for today, September 29, is Matthew 9:29 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-Bk3-HeartsAfire-COVER-Kindle.medium-new“Then he touched their eyes and said, ‘According to your faith will it be done to you.’ “

Sometimes when we pray for healing during sickness, a well-meaning friend will say, “Well, you haven’t been healed because you didn’t have enough faith.” But Jesus did not heal everyone according to their faith.

The boy in Nain he brought back to life (Luke 7:14-15) did not have any faith at all. The girl in Capernaum he brought back to life (Luke 8:51-56) did not have any faith at all. When Jesus turned water into wine at the wedding feast in Cana (John 2:1-9) the hosts did not have any faith at all. There are other examples.

This is encouraging because often we pray for the healing of non-religious friends. It would be futile to ask God to bring them back to health if it depended on their faith all the time.

He is not a God of futility. He is a God of hope.

Scripture for Thursday, August 24 (8/24)

The scripture for today, August 24 (8/24) is Romans 8:24f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

0-michel-cover-kindle-medium“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”

Faith. Sometimes we go through a period of our life in which it is difficult to have faith that God exists; or even if he does exist, that he cares what happens to us.

Dear friend, during those times, you may not be able to have faith. But you can HOPE. You can hope God exists, you can hope he cares what happens to you.

Even the weakest person can hope. And hope holds us until we are strong enough to, once again, have faith.

So, the next time your faith waivers (and it happens to everyone at some time in their life), remember, you can still hope.

.

website……https://northernlightspublishinghouse.com
monthly newsletter+free book……http://bit.ly/katheryn

.

#hope, #faith, #doubt, #problems, #weakness, #falling, #alone, #wavering, #tripping, #stumbling, #climbing, #rising, #despair

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.

.

website……https://northernlightspublishinghouse.com
monthly newsletter+free book……http://bit.ly/katheryn
.
.

#SavedFromHell, #CondemnedToHell, #friends, #scriptures, #Bible, #opinions, #Savior, #honesty, #truth, #honoring, #dishonoring, #certainty, #assurance, #hope, #reason

Scripture for Sunday, June 11 (6/11)

The scripture for today, June 11, is Job 6:11 as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

0-BK 6-PromiseKeeper-Cover-medium-new-kindle“What strength do I have, that I should still hope? What prospects that I should be patient?”

Many people use the expression, “patience of Job.” But he had on-and-off patience, for he was very sick. By descriptions he gave of himself ~ sores, rancid breath, low voice, partial blindness, skin turned hard and black, bloating, nightmares, extreme pain, unrecognized by his closest friends, some believe he had a grotesque form of elephantiasis leprosy.

What did he need from his friends? He surely didn’t get it, for they spent their time trying to prove that he had sinned and God was right to be punishing him. His reply? “I have heard many things like these; miserable comforters are you all! Will your long-winded speeches never end? What ails you that you keep on arguing?” (Job 16:2f).

So how do we comfort someone who feels utterly hopeless? We certainly don’t put the blame on them, nor do we tell them it’s “all in your head’ or to “snap out of it”. We can share times when we felt hopeless. We can weep with them. We can hold their hand. We can sit with them in silence. We can pray aloud for them. (Some people have never heard their name mentioned in a prayer.)

And we need to let them talk. Sometimes they will say things they don’t mean in the long run, but at that brief moment, they do. Or sometimes they need to talk through things they are unsure about. They may even say contradictory things.

At one time Job said, “Surely, O God, you have worn me out; you have devastated my entire household….God assails me and tears me in his anger and gnashes his teeth at me” (16:7f). But another time he said, “I know that my Redeemer lives and that in the end, he will stand upon the earth….I myself will see him with my own eyes ~ I and not another. How my heart yearns within me” (19:25f).

If you have a very sick friend, let your heart yearn with them.

 

website……https://northernlightspublishinghouse.com
monthly newsletter+free book……http://bit.ly/katheryn
free kdp select & discounts (Searcy)……http://bit.ly/JesusBetrayed

 

#illness, #tragedy, #sickness, #poverty, #patience, #leprosy, #friends, #hope, #despondent, #depression, #prayer, #silence, #misery, #comfort