Scripture for Thursday, November 17 (11/17)

The scripture for today, November 17, is 1st Chronicles 11:17f as found in the Old Testament of the Bible:

CHANGES IN WORSHIP-COVER-KINDLE“David longed for water and said, ‘Oh, that someone would get me a drink of water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem.’ So the Three broke through the Philistine lines, drew water from the well near the gate of Bethlehem and carried it back to David.”

The people who followed David admired him because he knew how to be a good leader. So many were willing to do anything to make “Captain David” happy. David had been born and raised in Bethlehem. Now he was grown and had a following of those evading power hungry King Saul, many of whom were brave soldiers. They had traveled throughout the country either evading or defending themselves against this and other enemies.

Their travels took them back to David’s hometown which was being held by enemy Philistines. For old-times sake, he wanted a drink from the well he had drunk from many times in his youth. Three of his men risked their lives to bring their captain, David, that drink of water.

How much do we admire the Captain of our Salvation, Jesus? How much are we willing to sacrifice for him? Do we say, “I’m too busy to do anything for Jesus and his kingdom today”? Do we say, “I’m afraid if I say something about Jesus to so-and-so, s/he will insult me”? Do we say, “Someone at church offended me, so I’m not going to worship anymore?” Do we admire Jesus enough to put ourselves in the slightest danger just to do the smallest thing for him?

#captain, #salvation, #KingDavid, #soldiers, #service, #loyalty, #sacrifice

The scripture for today, December 17 (12/17), is Revelation 12:17 as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

JesusArmWrestlingSatan“Then the dragon was enraged at the woman and went off to make war against the rest of her offspring ~ those who obey God’s commandments and hold to the testimony of Jesus.”

Verse 9 says the dragon is also the serpent which is also Satan.

There are some people who seem to be enraged all the time. We may never be able to change that person. But we can direct their anger. If they want to be enraged at someone, let them be angry at Satan. Let them go to war with Satan. Let them rage at everything he is doing. Let them lash out at everything he stands for.

So think about the people you know who are extremely angry at the church or at God. Tell them that Christians must be spiritual warriors and they could become a Christian soldier of the Lord.

Some people just cannot get rid of anger in their life. They may mellow in their old age, but that mellowness is a long way off. Show them how much Satan is enraged at them and how much God loves them. Show them how get on God’s side, enroll in the army of the Lord, and use their anger against Satan.

Does it work? Paul said in 1st Timothy 1:13, “I was a violent man.” Yet, he converted people all over southern Europe, as he “fought the good fight”

CrucifixionThe scripture for today, October 28 (10/28), is Matthew 10:28f as found in the New Testament of the Bible:

“Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell. Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father.”

This scripture indicates that sometimes God’s allows us to “fall to the ground” ~ our bodies suffer, or we are killed. How can that be? After all, God is so loving. Surely a good God would not allow any harm to come to someone if he truly loves them.

But we all have our assignment from God in this war between Good and Evil. Just as Job in the Old Testament lost his entire family and entire wealth and then his health, he refused to blame God. He even said, “Shall we accept good from God and not trouble?” (Job 2:10).

Satan causes bad to happen to us. Why? In order to get us to blame God for it. Our assignment is to refuse to deny God. That way, Satan loses one more battle, and God wins one more.

There is an old Christian song called “Victory in Jesus.” How can we have victory in Jesus if we do not have something to be victorious over? Romans 8:37 says we are more than conquerors. How can we be conquerors if we have nothing to conquer?

Let us say with James (1:2) that we consider it pure joy whenever we face trials. Hard to say? Of course, it is. But it could turn your life around.