Scripture For The Day

   Scripture For The Day  March 31, 2023 "There's Much More to Her Story"   Her nickname was Abi, but her full name was Abijah. There’s not a lot said about Abi in the Bible. Honestly, it only mentions her a few times and mostly about her being King Hezekiah’s mother.  2 Kings 18:2 and 2 Chronicles 29:1. So, why should I even bring her up? Can’t you see? There is much more to her story. Let’s look at Hezekiah’s dad. His dad, King Ahaz, was a horrible king. He was considered one of the worst kings of Judah. He brought back Baal worship. He destroyed God’s Temple by placing idols to be worshiped there. He even sacrificed one of his own sons to this false god. Oh my! Needless to say, God was not happy with this king. But he is not our focus, he is just some background. Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king. In truth, Hezekiah should have been pretty messed up in the head because of his dad. We all know how that can happen. However; when He...

Scripture For The Day   March 29, 2023  The Helpmeet  The Church at Thyratira was getting reprimanded for a woman named Jezebel. It wasn’t the fact that she was a woman or that she was a prophetess. The Bible shares God appointed women who were prophets and leaders and teachers all throughout His Word.  But this particular woman was not called to be a prophet, she called herself... And trust me on this, just because someone says they are called to do this or that, does not mean that they truly are, whether it be a woman or a man.  But some people like to use this scripture in Revelation 2:20 to downgrade women who are truly called by God to do the tough jobs. The New Testament records Anna in Luke 2:36-37 as a woman being called to be a prophetess. She served God with everything she had. Just to name one.   All of us struggle. But many women, even within the church,  struggle with low self-esteem.  They are listening to the lies of...

Scripture For The Day    March 23, 2023  "Oh, How Sharp That Two-Edged Sword Can Be"  We often use the idiom “it cuts deeper than a two-edged sword” to describe situations that can have a positive and negative effect. The Word of God is that double-edged sword. Hebrews 4:12 His Word is Alive and Working. It’s so sharp it cuts us to the core, to where the soul and the spirit are joined. In other words, in many ways, His Word comforts and encourages us but His Word is also meant to convict our hearts to change our ways.  Nothing is hidden from God and we all need correction from time to time. Correction leads to growth.   In Revelation 2:12-13 John continues to write what Jesus tells him to. He tells John to write to the church in Pergamum; “Here is a message from The One Who has the sharp sword with two edges; I know where you live. You live where satan has his throne, but you are true to me… But I have a few things against you…So change your hearts! I...

   Scripture For The Day  March 22, 2023  "Nourish Our Souls"  When my husband and I were first together, we were as close to poverty without being in the clutch of poverty. We struggled. We also didn’t want to be a burden, so we wouldn’t ask for help. We tried to get jobs and for a few months, we were without money. We ate very little. It hurts our daughter when we share this story but to us, it was a blessing and we grew stronger together through it.  This was at a time before my husband had been saved. But I continued to pray and Trust The Lord to get us through it. A few months earlier was Christmas and Tom had given me a gigantic, thick candy cane stick. It was huge. Through the scarcity of jobs and the lack of money, we ran out of food. Eventually, we became so hungry that Tom would take a knife and shave pieces off of the stick for us to eat. It was a good diet to lose weight, the problem was at that time we couldn’t even afford to lose weight....

Scripture For The Day    March 21, 2023  "Remember Your First Love"  Moving on in our study of John, he shares with us the message from Jesus Christ, Himself, to the seven churches in Asia. Those messages transcend time and are not only applicable to those original seven churches but are also applicable to churches today as well as to individual Christians. We can find our church and even ourselves within one or all the letters.  Each letter has some common attributes. First, Jesus identifies Himself. Then He commends each church with ‘I know your…” letting those churches and us know that He knows all about us. But then the rebuke comes. Not all of them had the rebuke and not all rebukes were the same level. But most all need correction, just like we do. He strongly recommended each church (and us) to change in a specific manner. He finishes up by encouraging all of us to keep on keeping on; overcoming the weight of the world and avoiding obstacles that stan...

Scripture For The Day    March 17, 2023  "The Island of Patmos"  I’m at the point of studying John and his exile to the island of Patmos. Some people have wondered through the years why John was spared a horrific death and was able to live to a ripe old age. While the other disciples and many other Christians were persecuted, tortured, and killed, John was exiled. My take on that is that God wasn’t through with John yet. He appointed John to be the one to write down what Jesus told him regarding the book of Revelation. Jesus gave this vision and writing to John at a time when John was exiled to the Island of Patmos and life had essentially slowed down for him. John was already aged and frail at this time of his life.  I’m sure he had some manual labor to do in his exile. He was more than likely beaten for his beliefs. But his running was over. His hiding was over. Knowing John like we do, he was still sharing The Gospel where he was at, when he could, even w...

Scripture For The Day    M arch 16, 2023  "Let My Life Be A Testimony For You"   Since we finished up the study of the Sermon on the Mount, I recently turned back to studying John. You remember John, right? ‘the disciple whom Jesus loved’? That tickles me how John describes himself. But I love the confidence and John was right, Jesus did love him and even though John was as close as a brother to him, Jesus also loves you. And Believe it or not, He loves me too.  But today we are going to revisit what John said about Diotrephes. I can’t seem to get him off my mind. Can you imagine? Apparently, God deemed it important enough to call him out by name for all the world to see. John described Diotrephes as being someone who always wanted to be first, to be the leader, to be in control of whatever is going on, and to top it off, he was a liar. Diotrephes refused to be kind to certain people. He refused to help people who he didn’t like. He was pure arrogance and pe...