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Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Overheard: Saving Satan

Posted on March 11, 2013 by Katharine

Surprised? Just think a bit: If you make war against someone, you have to believe he exists, don’t you? Right. So, the demons and their captain do believe Jesus exists, and, Scripture says, they at least have the sense to tremble at the thought, which shows they are not dumb.

Think some more: The old arch-nemesis can disguise himself in a multitude of ways, and it is obvious he has made his way into church membership in lots of places.

Right?

So, let’s see if you would agree he could join your church if he walked the aisle and asked the preacher if he could join. The folks at our church were fascinated with this exercise, and amid very quiet listening, got quite a few chuckles, which I will indicate here with asterisks (*).

Let’s ask all the typical questions we think are so important for church membership, and see if we would let satan join our congregation, as he has so many others before*:

Do you believe Jesus is the Son of God! — Of course, satan would agree. The evil one knows this is true and can agree to it, if it serves his purposes. After all, this fact is the inspiration for his hatred.
Do you believe Jesus was born of a virgin? — Again, he knows this is true; saw the star over Bethlehem, himself, right?
Do you believe Jesus died on the cross? — You know, he’d be thinking, I offered Him a way out but He was too stuck on Himself to take it . . . but he would say, “Of COURSE!”
Do you believe He rose from the dead? — Here he might hesitate. After all, it was his worst nightmare.* But still he would give a “yes” to this question.
Are you willing to baptized as a sign of your faith? — He would never refuse baptism, would never have a problem with it. Of course, he might sizzle . . . *
Will you commit to attending church weekly? — He might think: Thought you’d never ask!*— but he might say, “I won’t miss a single service! I’ll be there every time the doors open!”*

Sounds like a great prospect, so far, doesn’t he? Would he make it into the membership of your church’s congregation?

Now here is the final question:

Are you ready to repent? Will you quit fighting God and start life over? Will you trust and obey Jesus Christ as your Lord in every area of your life?

And exactly at that point is where it all breaks down.

As it should.

Because faith, by itself, when it is not accompanied by works, is dead.

James 2:19 – You believe that there is one God. Good. Even the demons believe that — and shudder.

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Sunday Scripture – Friendship

Posted on June 10, 2012June 9, 2012 by Katharine

Friendship

You adulterous people,

don’t you know that friendship with the world
is hatred toward God?

Anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world
becomes an enemy of God.

Or do you think Scripture says without reason
that the spirit he caused to live in us
envies intensely?

But he gives us more grace.

That is why Scripture says:

“God opposes the proud
but gives grace to the humble.”*

— James 4:4-6

____________________________

*James, the actual half-brother of Jesus,
is quoting, here from the
Proverbs, chapter 3, verse 34.

Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

The Greatness of God

Posted on March 5, 2012March 5, 2012 by Katharine

Such timely observations! A truly great site.

The Way: Redux

The whole world is being shaken! And followers of Jesus around the world are experiencing one common issue: FEAR is taking hold.

USGS reports 47 earthquakes (greater than Magnitude 2.5) around the world on one day, Tuesday, 2/26/2012;
Tsunamis and hurricanes/typhoons ravaging countries;
Arab regimes are falling in many Middle Eastern countries. Most are being replaced by radical leadership seeking to impose Shariah Law and anti-Israeli sentiment, while destabilizing relations with Western democracies;
Pressure from all over the world against Israel; to divide Jerusalem; to give Samaria and Judea to the Palestinians; to exercise restraint and allow the Iranian-backed forces to continue their relentless rocket barrages, killing people and destroying properties in Israel;
Economic turmoil in the European Union; Greece bailout causing riots and potentially threatening the stability of all Western banking systems;
US government in a stalemate over increasing debt limit, balance of trade, unemployment, and the radical environmentalism that…

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Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

God’s Dishonor Roll – Part 3

Posted on February 10, 2012 by Katharine

Consider the times of Jesus. The whole New Testament demonstrates to the world that Jesus is the Son of God by His deeds and by His death. And His 12 Apostles had a front row seat for the whole thing.

Let’s look at what they saw, as recorded by Matthew the Apostle:

Jesus drove out demons, as recorded in Matthew 8. Jesus told the wind and the waves to be still in Matthew 8. They saw Jesus heal the sick and raise the dead. They were there, we read in Matthew 12, when Jesus spoke to the Pharisees like no one had ever spoken to them before. In addition, in Matthew 26, they were there for the Last Supper, when Jesus established a new covenant with all of humankind.

Yet in spite of all these things the apostles were privileged to see, in spite of all the things that were designed to strengthen their faith, “You will all fall away,” Jesus told them, “for it is written: ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’” Matthew 26:31

How could anyone fail God with Jesus walking alongside him?

The disciples swore they would not leave Him, but they were about to find out how weak they were.

They walked with Jesus to the Garden of Gethsemane. Jesus told them to watch and pray. However, they were so tired that they could not even keep their eyes open. Then the soldiers arrived and took Jesus into custody. The disciples were so scared and so startled that they turned and ran for their lives. Jesus was right. They all fell away. They failed Jesus and they failed to keep the faith.

What about us? In church, it’s easy to pledge our allegiance to Jesus Christ. But when we are out in the world, it is not so easy. Out there, we consider other things:

Our marriage.

Our job.

Our finances.

Our family.

Our health.

Our worries.

As much as we want to serve God, there are times when it is hard. We fail, we sin, we deny Jesus as Lord, and we fail to keep the faith.

Yes, we are in pretty good company with God’s dishonor roll of failures. Thank God, He is not finished with us!

Tomorrow: Ar-r-rgh! What to do! What to do!

______________________

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Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

God’s Dishonor Roll – Part 2

Posted on February 9, 2012February 9, 2012 by Katharine

Let’s look at more examples of God’s Dishonor Roll.

In Exodus chapter 2, we read that Moses killed a man with his bare hands.

God could have said, “I’m not working with this guy. He’s a hot-tempered man! He’d be a terrible leader!”

But instead, 40 years later, in chapter 3, we find that God chose Moses. He told Moses He wanted him to be the man to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt. He wanted Moses to be the one to tell Pharaoh, ’Let my people go.’ Even though he killed a man and was a fugitive from justice, He still wanted him to lead His people out of bondage.”

Even Moses thought God was making a mistake.

He made excuses for not being up to the task.

He wanted God to choose someone else.

Moses felt like a failure and unqualified for the task.

He was afraid. He didn’t want to fail again. Have you ever been there?

God could have agreed and selected another person, but He didn’t give up on Moses and enabled Him to show forth God’s miraculous power.

Furthermore, God met with Moses,

this murderer,

this weak man,

and talked to him as a friend. He gave Moses His Law and Commandments, the Old Testament.

“As Moses went into the tent, the pillar of cloud would come down and stay at the entrance, while the LORD spoke with Moses. Whenever the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance to the tent, they all stood and worshiped, each at the entrance to his tent. The LORD would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend.” Exodus 33:9-11a.

Or how about David, a “man after God’s own heart”, who failed greatly: Coveting another man’s wife, he committed adultery with her and planned her husband’s death on the battlefield to cover up his sin.

God could have been done with David and removed him as king of Israel, as He had done with David’s predecessor, Saul, but God had made a promise to David and He kept it. David suffered consequences of his sin, but he continued to rule as king over Israel. He, and his descendants, continued worshipping God.

“When your days are over and you rest with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, who will come from your own body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. I will be his father, and he will be my son.” 2 Samuel 7:12-14a

More tomorrow.

____________

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Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Scripture, Wisdom

Sunday Scriptures – Hope

Posted on January 29, 2012January 29, 2012 by Katharine

Therefore,
since we have been justified through faith,
we have peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ,
through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand.
And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.
Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings,
because we know that suffering produces perseverance;
perseverance, character;
and character, hope.
And hope does not disappoint us,
because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit,
whom he has given us.

You see, at just the right time,
when we were still powerless,
Christ died for the ungodly.
Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man,
though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.
But God demonstrates His own love for us
in this:
While we were still sinners,
Christ died for us.

–Romans 5:1-8

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Believe it or not!, Inspiring, Photos, Scripture, Wisdom

Questions About the Bible – Part 2

Posted on January 27, 2012June 26, 2015 by Katharine

More on the New Testament:

The Twelve, the closest and first disciples of Jesus, or their close associates, wrote the New Testament, inspired by the indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ. They wrote what they saw and heard because it was too precious to them to let it go, forgotten.

And because it was the Truth.

These writers also wrote from quite different backgrounds: tax collectors, fishermen, physicians, lawyers—quite a motley crew. Their styles differed, from intimate, highly personal account, to historical record, to the flowery sentences popular among the legal circles of the day.

Although they wrote from sometimes totally differing perspectives, everything they wrote jives. I mean, one was a killer of Christians before he saw the light and began writing about the glory of Jesus. One was a social mis-fit, working with the wrong political party just for personal gain, before he heard the call to follow Jesus. Another was exiled to a deserted island when he produced some of his writings—far from any contact, any library, yet totally in sync with the rest of what was going on in Christendom at the time.

Christianity, always persecuted from Day One until today, forced people to hide in caves and meet in homes, only to be captured and drug away, on trumped-up charges. Therefore, every scrap of communication from the ones who actually knew and learned from Jesus was and is precious to Christians.

They preserved these writings with their lives, copying them repeatedly, in the days before Internet, word processors, typewriters, ballpoint pens, pencils, or even decent paper. They used homemade ink and quill feathers on chemically-treated sheep skins, rolled up on sticks. They were used to it.

As attacks grew, and began coming from within the followers, Christians even had to devise ways to let people know when writings were authentic. They met, even, to be sure everyone was in agreement on which writings were from the original few followers and which were bogus.

Perilous times.

Like today.

Although we cannot know, for sure, what was said in most of these gatherings, we can read what they preserved. What we notice, again, is a consistent agreement with the writings of the Old Testament, although some of the writers were not scholars, sometimes not even very nice guys, before they met Jesus Christ. We notice gorgeous poetic prose, crystal logic, and heart-rending appeals from men, most of whom had never been to college, indeed, who lived where college happened abroad.

And we find amazing willingness to die.

NOT TO KILL.

To die.

To die for the Truth.

Because He had died for them.

And because they knew Him and, as the Truth, He had set them free.

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