Archive for the ‘ Bible ’ Category
Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, ESV
A grateful heart cannot help but rejoice in all things. Look at the disciples in Acts who thanked God for being worthy to suffer because it was for their Lord. This only becomes possible by continuously being in contact with Him.
Do you have a grateful heart?
Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.
1 Timothy 4:12, ESV
Young, old, or have a past: do not wait for others to give you a chance.
You live your faith, and live it well in the power of Christ by the Holy Spirit to the glory of the Father.
Amen.
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.”
John 5:24 ESV
When John later said “There is no fear in love” (1 John 4:18), he was reminding us that faith in Christ means we no longer need fear punishment and harsh judgment. Through His life, death, and resurrection, Jesus Christ literally saves us.
I am starting something new for my blog, obviously with today being the first day.
It is what I am calling “VerseD”, a verse of the day with a quick thought.
May we all be a little more blessed by having a new thought everyday from God’s Word.
“for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.”
Philippians 2:13 ESV
We may feel things are out of our control sometimes (or all the time). It may feel God is testing us. In truth, God has a plan, and we are a small part.
Find the peace this can bring.
Remember God is in control.
This about sums up my thoughts, too.
Daniel
For those who did not know or forgot, I am a contributor to Proverbial Thought.
Let us know your thoughts to Anthony’s questions!
Daniel
Many of you may know that I have another blog, and some of you may take advantage of it on a daily basis.
The other blog is ProverbialThought.com, and it has been a daily/semi-daily part of our lives for several years, bringing to us the wisdom of Proverbs – with a twist.
But here’s the thing… we are coming to an end to another rotation, and I’m wondering what to do next.
If you haven’t yet gone to my other blog – one that has been co-written by some wonderful people – go there now and see what you think.
Where should we go from here?
Start over – again? With a fresh group of contributors?
What about listing all of the past posts in pages, just like I started doing with the first two chapters?
I would love to know…
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The Bible speaks a lot of generations…I mean a lot! The Old Testament is filled with long passages about who fathered who and to which tribe each person belonged and how long each person lived and so on and so forth.
This week, while reading Matthew 1 (as part of our One Year Bible reading plan….it’s not too late to start. The link is at the end of this post), I was captivated as the first 17 verses are dedicated to the genealogy of Jesus, beginning with Abraham and taking us to Jesus…42 generations in between to be exact! What stood out to me while reading this is the fact that God fulfills many of His greatest promises over the course ofgenerations…not seconds, not hours, not days…but generations! All the way back in Genesis 2 God promised Jesus and here in Matthew 1 we finally meet Him!
It…
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2017 was another full year.
I taught 7th Grade Math.
We changed local churches.
God finally helped to revive my teaching and apologetics ministries, most notably through the creation of the a simple man of God YouTube channel.
I survived the closing of my favorite coffee shop, where I was a customer, a barista, and finally the manager.
This all leads to the extremely likely possibility of new Adventures. (Yes, this is a veiled hint as to what is coming next.)
In all things, God is good. All the time.
Fall on the promises of God, this year and always.
The Lord bless you and keep you; the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
In His Love,
Daniel
It is time to finish up the series that first ran three years ago!
__________
It is now the fourth week of Advent! (See the last three weeks’ devotional thoughts here, here, and here.)
Again, Advent is a time to remember our Lord’s first coming as we look forward to His imminent return.
So, let us prepare hearts for encountering the Lord!
There is a slight twist today in presentation as well as seeing as it is Christmas Eve!
O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,
It is the night of the dear Saviour’s birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
At first we are reminded that sometimes life is going well.
Then we are reminded that sometimes life is hard.
Life seems perfect and flawless.
Or we are dealing with an illness, a tragedy, or the loss of a loved one.
The answer, in any circumstance good or bad, is to fall on our knees and acknowledge that we need a Savior, to seek the God who came to save us from our sin and suffering by coming to us as an infant, the weakest of all things.
Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O’er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
The Light of the world calls us to Himself, and only the wise heed His call. Only the wise understand that He truly understands all of our hurts and needs and can help us because He has been through it all.
And He deserves our adoration and worship.
Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
It is not only our trials and pains which he helps, but He has called us to love all other people.
We not only see our need for salvation from sin and God’s wrath, we see our need for His love to fill our hearts, to treat our friends, enemies, and strangers alike as brothers and sisters, with love and compassion.
And for ever we shall worship Him and declare His awesomeness!
For He has come to save and will come again a final time to fully redeem His own, and that is the full promise of the gospel!
He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!
The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen.
Revelation 22:20-21, ESV
It happens to be Christmas Eve!
Back in the first year of this blog, I did a short Christmas series, beginning with this post, and then this post and this post and this post and this post.
Shall we relive the memories? Okay!
This last part might be a bit fanciful, but one of the joys of Christmas is having some fun.
When Jesus was born, we read: “She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (Luke 2:7)
Immediately following His birth, we read: “When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, ‘Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.’ So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.” (Luke 2:15-16)
Eight days after He entered our world, we read: “When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: ‘a pair of doves or two young pigeons.’” (Luke 2:22-24)
A while later, we read: “Magi from the east came to Jerusalem.” (Matthew 1:1)
What is connection in all of these?
Those are barely mentioned, if at all, in each segment of the story: the animals!
Think about it:
When Mary and Joseph laid Jesus in the manger, a feeding trough for animals, this meant that for at least that night and into the morning the animals gave up their dining table.
When the shepherds left their herd for the night, as I mentioned the other day, the sheep lost their security system for a while.
When Jesus was dedicated, two pigeons gave up their lives!
When the Wise Men journeyed from the East, it was their camels and horses who bore the brunt of the excursion and lose any comfort during the trip (though I am sure the Wise Men would have mentioned a thing or two about riding animals through desert and mountain paths).
Would you give up your dining table for a poor baby? Would you like knowing you were unprotected for the night? Would like to carry someone else’s belongings for hundreds of miles (or several dozen … no one really knows exactly how far they travelled)? Would you die for someone?
My take on these under-mentioned characters is this: they were unwilling participants … actually, more like unawares … in this story of our Lord’s birth, yet they can still teach us something.
There are times when God will call us to go hungry for the sake of the Kingdom.
There are times when God will call us to step out of our comfort zones for the sake of the Kingdom.
There are times when God will call us to give up our lives for the glorification of Jesus Christ.
I can almost guarantee you that these things happen frequently throughout our lives without us even realizing it.
Think of Chinese believers who are worshiping together in someone’s home, when authorities come in and break up the meeting.
Think of Asian/Arab believers who are going to church, and they get beat up as they walk for simply believing in Jesus.
Think of African believers who sit in prison for reading the Bible at home.
Think of the missionaries who die entering a town, yet their children are able to share the gospel with hundreds or thousands through their tragedy.
Think of that time you saw a man on the side of the street, begging for money, and you gave him or fast food sandwich to help him survive a couple more days.
We are all called to serve. We do not always get an angel or a star to warn us and guide us before our service starts.
Merry Christmas, and peace and joy from our Lord to you!
a simple man of God 