Tuesday, February 6, 2018

The Daily Readings for WEDNESDAY, February 7, 2018

Jesus the Light of the World
John 8:12-20

Daily Readings

Genesis 27:1-29
When Isaac was old and his eyes were dim so that he could not see, he called his elder son Esau and said to him, "My son" and he answered, "Here I am." He said, "See, I am old; I do not know the day of my death. Now then, take your weapons, your quiver and your bow, and go out to the field, and hunt game for me. Then prepare for me savory food, such as I like, and bring it to me to eat, so that I may bless you before I die." Now Rebekah was listening when Isaac spoke to his son Esau. So when Esau went to the field to hunt for game and bring it, Rebekah said to her son Jacob, "I heard your father say to your brother Esau, 'Bring me game, and prepare for me savory food to eat, that I may bless you before the LORD before I die.' Now therefore, my son, obey my word as I command you. Go to the flock, and get me two choice kids, so that I may prepare from them savory food for your father, such as he likes; and you shall take it to your father to eat, so that he may bless you before he dies." But Jacob said to his mother Rebekah, "Look, my brother Esau is a hairy man, and I am a man of smooth skin. Perhaps my father will feel me, and I shall seem to be mocking him, and bring a curse on myself and not a blessing." His mother said to him, "Let your curse be on me, my son; only obey my word, and go, get them for me." So he went and got them and brought them to his mother; and his mother prepared savory food, such as his father loved. Then Rebekah took the best garments of her elder son Esau, which were with her in the house, and put them on her younger son Jacob; and she put the skins of the kids on his hands and on the smooth part of his neck. Then she handed the savory food, and the bread that she had prepared, to her son Jacob. So he went in to his father, and said, "My father" and he said, "Here I am; who are you, my son?" Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you told me; now sit up and eat of my game, so that you may bless me." But Isaac said to his son, "How is it that you have found it so quickly, my son?" He answered, "Because the LORD your God granted me success." Then Isaac said to Jacob, "Come near, that I may feel you, my son, to know whether you are really my son Esau or not." So Jacob went up to his father Isaac, who felt him and said, "The voice is Jacob's voice, but the hands are the hands of Esau." He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau's hands; so he blessed him. He said, "Are you really my son Esau?" He answered, "I am." Then he said, "Bring it to me, that I may eat of my son's game and bless you." So he brought it to him, and he ate; and he brought him wine, and he drank. Then his father Isaac said to him, "Come near and kiss me, my son." So he came near and kissed him; and he smelled the smell of his garments, and blessed him, and said, "Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the LORD has blessed. May God give you of the dew of heaven, and of the fatness of the earth, and plenty of grain and wine. Let peoples serve you, and nations bow down to you. Be lord over your brothers, and may your mother's sons bow down to you. Cursed be everyone who curses you, and blessed be everyone who blesses you!"

Romans 12:1-8
I appeal to you therefore, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds, so that you may discern what is the will of God-- what is good and acceptable and perfect. For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of yourself more highly than you ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned. For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. We have gifts that differ according to the grace given to us: prophecy, in proportion to faith; ministry, in ministering; the teacher, in teaching; the exhorter, in exhortation; the giver, in generosity; the leader, in diligence; the compassionate, in cheerfulness.

John 8:12-20
Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life." Then the Pharisees said to him, "You are testifying on your own behalf; your testimony is not valid." Jesus answered, "Even if I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is valid because I know where I have come from and where I am going, but you do not know where I come from or where I am going. You judge by human standards; I judge no one. Yet even if I do judge, my judgment is valid; for it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me. In your law it is written that the testimony of two witnesses is valid. I testify on my own behalf, and the Father who sent me testifies on my behalf." Then they said to him, "Where is your Father?" Jesus answered, "You know neither me nor my Father. If you knew me, you would know my Father also." He spoke these words while he was teaching in the treasury of the temple, but no one arrested him, because his hour had not yet come.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted.

Prayer of the Day for WEDNESDAY, February 7, 2018


Thank you my God for the day you have given us! Thank you because you are great and worthy. Thank you for another day of living, Thank you for each breath we have taken Thank you for dying on that cross my God For our sins! Forgive our sins, Lord, Amen.

Verse of the Day for WEDNESDAY, February 7, 2018


Ephesians 3:17-18 (NIV) so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ,

Read all of Ephesians 3

Listen to Ephesians 3

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Morning Devotions with Chaplain Kenny - Incomprehensible Love


Incomprehensible Love

...so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ...
~ Ephesians 3:17-18 (NIV)

A child asked Jesus how much he loved her. He answered, “This much,” and then he stretched out his arms and died on the cross.

You may have heard this before. It’s a good way to think about how much Jesus loves you. He loves you so much that he left heaven and came to earth for you. He loves you so much that he suffered and died for you. And the Bible says that nothing you can do will separate you from the love of Jesus.

In these verses from Ephesians, Paul describes Jesus’ love as being “wide and long and high and deep.” The idea is that it is infinite—you will never come to the end of it. God loved you before he created you. He loves you right this minute. And he will love you for eternity.

We cannot possibly understand how much Jesus loves us. We don’t have to. All we have to do is accept it.
Thank you my God for the day you have given us! Thank you because you are great and worthy. Thank you for another day of living, Thank you for each breath we have taken Thank you for dying on that cross my God For our sins! Forgive our sins, Lord, Amen.
In Jesus,
Chaplain Kenny


Seeking God?
Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal
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Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
What are some things that you know about but don’t really understand?

Un dia a la Vez - Agrada a Dios en todo


Agrada a Dios en todo

No temas [...] ni te desanimes, porque el Señor tu Dios está en medio de ti como guerrero victorioso. Se deleitará en ti con gozo, te renovará con su amor.

Todos tenemos luchas que se nos presentarán casi a diario. Aunque a veces hemos sido débiles y hemos fallado, en nuestro corazón lo que más deseamos es agradar a Dios en todo.

Sin embargo, agradar a Dios en todo es renunciar a cosas que sabemos que no son buenas, tales como el adulterio, la venganza, el divorcio, la mentira, matar, robar, entre otras.

Es más fácil agradar a Dios en las cosas sencillas, ¿pero qué me dices cuando estamos en alguna situación, algún vicio y por más que tratamos no podemos renunciar?

Sin embargo, no todo es preocupación. Debes saber que el único que nos puede ayudar a renunciar es el mismo Dios a través de una decisión que tomemos tú y yo, pues Él ve y conoce nuestro corazón.

El día que decidí dejar de fumar, hablé muy claro con mi Dios y le dije: «Padre, a mí me gusta mucho fumar, pero quiero agradarte. No quiero ver sufrir más a mis hijas porque me vean fumar, pero yo sola no puedo. Quítame, por favor, el deseo, y te prometo que nunca más lo vuelvo a hacer».

Esa noche apagué el cigarrillo y no sentí nada diferente. Entonces, al otro día, ya no volví a sentir deseos de fumar y, gracias a Dios, pude dejar ese vicio que no solo me enfermaba, sino que lo desagradaba por completo a Él.

Mis amigos, la clave en una decisión es dar el primer paso y Dios te respalda. Si todo se puede en Él, podemos hacer cualquier cambio. 

Un Día a la Vez Copyright © by Claudia Pinzón
Todos tenemos luchas que se nos presentarán casi a diario.

Standing Strong Through the Storm - BE NOT AFRAID


BE NOT AFRAID

I sought the Lord and he answered me; He delivered me from all my fears.
~ Psalm 34:4 (NIV)

The one positive fear that the Bible endorses is the fear of God. Wise Solomon said fearing God is the beginning of wisdom. It was Oswald Chambers who added, “The remarkable thing about fearing God is that, when you fear God, you fear nothing else; whereas, if you do not fear God, you fear everything else.”

In Eritrea, Helen Berhane was frequently tortured during her almost three years in the shipping container prison. In spite of that she had no fear. Once when interrogated for teaching the Bible to the guards outside her cell, she replied:

“I am always looking for opportunities to talk about my faith and to spread the news about Jesus. I am not ashamed of the gospel and I will talk to anyone and to everyone. Jesus does not just want me to tell the prisoners about him, he wants me to tell the guards too. Even if the president were to visit the prison, I would tell him about the gospel.

“I am not afraid of you. You can do what you want to me, but ultimately all you can do is kill my body, you cannot touch my soul. You cannot even kill me unless it is God’s will that I should die.”[1]

Her persecutors had no answer and returned her to her shipping container.

David Aikman writes in his book Great Souls about the personal life of Pope John Paul II—especially his personal prayer life. When he became pope in 1978, the result of all that personal prayer was evident in his inaugural sermon. “Be not afraid!” he said.

He recognized that fear is a sin because it denies the sovereignty of God. And he recognized that as a leader of a large Church, and unwaveringly opposed to the powerful communist empire, he had to give people the courage to resist evil.

And courageous he was. When he saw Russian tanks poised to invade Poland, the Pope announced he would go and stand with his people if the Soviets crossed the border. The Soviet tanks did not move.

The Pope knew he might face assassination—and indeed, someone did try to assassinate him—yet he continued to tell the world, “Be not afraid.”

RESPONSE: Today I will live in the fear of God so that I will not fear anything or anyone else.

PRAYER: Pray that all Christians in fearful situations today will have the attitude of trust in the Lord and not fear for their lives.

1. Helen Berhane, Song of the Nightingale (Colorado Springs: Authentic Media, 2009), p. 75.

Standing Strong Through The Storm (SSTS), a daily devotional message by SSTS author Paul Estabrooks. © 2011 Open Doors International. Used by permission.

Girlfriends in God - What Your Husband Really Wants


What Your Husband Really Wants

Today’s Truth

“So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,” 
~ Matthew 7:12 (NIV)

Friend to Friend

If there’s one thing I know about us girls, it’s that we like romance! We love romance novels, romance comedies, romance tragedies, and romance, romance, romance. Most gals would much rather take in a romantic movie than an action film. And what woman doesn’t dream about her husband romancing her the way he did when they were dating? But guess what, that man of yours longs for romance too.

One night Steve and I were planning a romantic evening at home alone. We borrowed a movie from our friends Gene and Sheri. A Vow to Remember promised to be a real tearjerker. The couple on the DVD case appeared lost in each other as their arms intertwined in a lovers’ embrace. The back cover boasted, “Capture your mind, your heart and your soul…Paints a compelling picture of forever love.”

The lights were dim, the candles were lit, and the mood was set. However, when Steve placed the movie in the DVD player, we were not greeted with strains of a melodious theme song or misty-eyed romance. Oh, no. It was Arnold Schwarzenegger with machine gun at the ready! Our romantic evening was rudely interrupted by The Terminator.

Gene had placed the wrong movie in the case!

Perhaps romance in your marriage has a greater resemblance to The Terminator than A Vow to Remember.

When a wife doesn’t feel cherished, she’s not as interested in being physically intimate with her husband. When a wife withholds physical intimacy from her husband, he doesn’t feel like showing affection to his wife. Okay. So that’s a problem. Someone has to make the first move. It could be you.

Jesus said, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you,” (Matthew 7:12). We call that the Golden Rule. Isn’t it interesting that a wedding ring is often called a band of gold?Whether a wedding ring is gold, platinum, silver, or bronze, the Golden Rule certainly applies in a marriage relationship.

We should never give with the ulterior motive of receiving. James warns that even our prayers can go unanswered when we pray with wrong motives (James 4:3). But the truth is, most of the time when we romance our husbands they become more romantic in return.

The Golden Rule for romance could be, Express your love to your husband in the same way you want him to express his love to you. Sticky notes of love on his bathroom mirror, romantic texts in the middle of the day, and declarations of how proud you are of him are actually showing him ways to love you in return.

Consider this: God fashioned your husband to be a sexual, visual, tactile human being. When you meet his needs, you are ministering to him in a way only you can. God planned it that way.

We need to erase the line separating the sexual and the sacred and realize that being intimate with our husband is an opportunity to glorify God.

Let’s Pray

Lord, help me to be more affectionate toward my husband. Show me ways that I can romance him and love him the way You intended. Remove any barriers that hinder us from being man and wife as You created us to be.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen

Now It’s Your Turn

Read Song of Solomon 7:11-13. What do you think the Shulammite meant in her reference to both “old and new?”

What is one new way you can romance your husband?

More from the Girlfriends

Today’s devotion was adapted from my book, A 14-Day Romance Challenge: Reigniting Passion in Your MarriageClick here for a fun video sure to make you smile! I’m offering a special Valentine’s Marriage Bundle with discounts on four of my favorite marriage resources from February 1-16, so click on over! Let’s make 2018 a year to strengthen our marriages and pray for our men.

Seeking God?
Click HERE to find out more about how to have a personal
relationship with Jesus Christ.

Girlfriends in God


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LHM Devotion - February 7, 2018 "Not a Jot"

https://www.lhm.org/dailydevotions/default.asp?date=20180207

Devotions from Lutheran Hour Ministries

"Not a Jot"

Feb. 7, 2018

(Jesus said) "For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished."
~ Matthew 5:18 (ESV)

Gerald Winters is a Stephen King fan.

By that I mean when Winters read his first King book, way back in 1998, he became addicted. For the next two decades he collected everything which was related to or had sprung from the fertile, albeit somewhat twisted, mind of the famous horror story author.

Eventually, Winters' collection grew so big he decided to open up a rare books store in Bangor, Maine. Naturally, Stephen King was at the heart of everything Winters did. After a while, it became apparent that Winters needed to reorganize his book collection. There was nothing for him to do but clear the shelves and transport everything to his basement where he could bring organization out of chaos.

It was a great plan, and I'm sure Winters could have been able to pull it off without any kind of problem ... if it were not for the fact that a water main burst near his store, flooding the basement with six feet of water and, in the process, ruining 90 percent of his inventory. Included in the waterlogged pile are seven of King's original typed manuscripts, dozens of first- and limited-edition books, foreign language prints, signed tomes, and other hard-to-find collectibles. Even Stephen King reacted to the news by saying, "I'm horrified. As a book lover, my heart goes out to him."

Reading about the disaster in Winters' bookstore, I wondered if the same kind of thing could have happened to books of our Bible.

Suppose Moses was sitting in his tent out in the Sinai and his brother came in with a pitcher of iced tea. And supposed Aaron tripped and spilled all over Deuteronomy. Or suppose it was a cold night in Ephesus, and John wanted to start a fire in the fireplace. Without thinking, he used some dry paper-like stuff to get the fire going. Then, when he looked closely, he realized what he had done; there went Fourth John.

Well, folks, that didn't happen.

The first and most important reason it didn't happen is that the Holy Spirit inspired the words used in those books, and He was not going to let them disappear. After all, those words point to the Savior and the salvation His sacrifice has won.

The next reason it didn't happen is there has always been a tremendous thirst for the Word. That means copies of Scripture were constantly being made for the growing church. In practical terms, our Scriptures are the best attested documents of the ancient world.

What does that mean?

It means this: when it comes to writers like Aristotle, Plato, Caesar, Tacitus, and Herodotus we have an average of 20 ancient copies of those manuscripts. And the Bible? There are 5,000 individual Greek manuscripts that contain all or part of the New Testament. These are 8,000 copies of the Vulgate, the fifth-century Latin version of the Bible, translated by Jerome. In short, the Lord preserved His Scripture so you would have them and be sure they had he truth.

THE PRAYER: Dear Lord, I give thanks for Your Word which is the Savior's story of salvation. In Jesus' Name I give thanks. Amen.

Use these devotions in your newsletter and bulletin! Used by permission; all rights reserved by the Int'l LLL (LHM).
Gerald Winters is a Stephen King fan.

Devocional del CPTLN de 07 de Febrero de 2018 "Practiquemos lo que predicamos"


ALIMENTO DIARIO

"Practiquemos lo que predicamos"

7 de Febrero de 2018

Por esto también a los muertos se les predicó el evangelio, para que sean juzgados en su cuerpo según los criterios humanos, pero vivan en el espíritu según Dios.
~ 1 Pedro 4:6 (RVC)

Hace años, un misionero en la India estaba enseñando la Biblia a un grupo de señoras hindúes, quienes parecían estar interesadas. En la mitad de la lección, una de ellas se levantó y se fue.

Unos minutos después regresó, y continuó escuchando con mucho más atención que antes. Al finalizar la clase, el misionero le preguntó por qué había salido, si había dicho algo que la había ofendido, o que se había aburrido.

"No, para nada", le contestó la señora, "lo que pasa es que estaba tan impresionada con lo que usted había dicho acerca del salvador Jesús, que fui a preguntarle a su chofer si usted realmente vivía así como hablaba. Cuando él me dijo que sí, regresé rápido para no perderme sus enseñanzas".

Una vida coherente. Eso es lo que buscamos en las personas, ¿verdad? Queremos que las personas practiquen lo que predican, por lo que nos desanimamos cuando alguien en quien confiamos habla de una forma y vive de otra.

Pero con Dios no sucede así; Él siempre mantiene su palabra. ¿Cuántas personas conoce de las que puede decir eso... TODO EL TIEMPO?

Dios nos ama, y nos ama de verdad. En la persona de su Hijo lo ha demostrado muy claramente. Es por ello que, más allá de lo que nos suceda en la vida, podemos estar seguros que el Señor siempre mantiene sus promesas.

Y, por la gracia de Dios, nosotros también podemos mantener nuestra promesa de fidelidad a Él.

Que esa sea nuestra meta, porque los demás nos observan para ver si practicamos lo que predicamos.

ORACIÓN: Padre celestial, ayúdanos a practicar lo que predicamos, dando testimonio con nuestra vida del Salvador que nos redimió. En su nombre. Amén.

De una devoción escrita originalmente para "By the Way"

© Copyright 2018 Cristo Para Todas Las Naciones. Que a través de estos devocionales, la Palabra de Dios te refresque en tu diario caminar.
Hace años, un misionero en la India estaba enseñando la Biblia a un grupo de señoras hindúes, quienes parecían estar interesadas...

Хлеб наш насущный - Одеяло для каждого

https://russian-odb.org/2018/02/07/%d0%be%d0%b4%d0%b5%d1%8f%d0%bb%d0%be-%d0%b4%d0%bb%d1%8f-%d0%ba%d0%b0%d0%b6%d0%b4%d0%be%d0%b3%d0%be/

Одеяло для каждого

Читать сейчас: Иоанна 18:15-18, 25-27
Библия за год: Левит 1-3; Матфея 24:1-28
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Более же всего имейте усердную любовь друг к другу, потому что любовь покрывает множество грехов.

Линус Ван Пельт, или просто Линус, был одним из главных персонажей комикса «Орешки». Проницательный и умный, но уязвимый Линус постоянно носил с собой «защитное одеяло». Читатели легко связывали с этим персонажем себя. У всех нас есть страхи и слабые места.

Апостолу Петру тоже был известен страх. Когда Иисуса арестовали, Петр вначале проявил храбрость и пошел за Ним во двор первосвященника. Но там страх взял свое (Ин. 18:15-26). Из-за боязни быть разоблаченным Петр трижды отрекся от Господа. Но Иисус никогда не переставал любить Своего ученика и впоследствии поставил его столпом церкви (см. Ин. 21:15-19).

Петр уделяет особое внимание любви (1 Пет. 4:8), потому что сам испытал глубокую любовь Христа. Он призывает иметь ее «более всего» и тем показывает, как важна любовь в наших отношениях. Призыв любить еще больше усиливается последующими словами: «…имейте усердную любовь друг к другу, потому что любовь покрывает множество грехов» (1 Пет. 4:8).

Вам тоже нужно такое «защитное одеяло»? Мне – да! Когда я говорю что-нибудь, о чем потом жалею, на меня, как озноб, накатывает чувство вины и стыда. Мне нужна та благодать, которой покрывал Спаситель падших людей в Евангелиях.

Для Его учеников любовь – это одеяло, которым мы призваны покрывать других. Мы сами приняли от Него эту безмерную любовь. Будем же щедро дарить ее окружающим.
Небесный Отец, Твоя милость в Иисусе Христе спасала меня много раз. Помоги мне стать инструментом Твоей спасительной любви.
Бог любит нас. Давайте и мы будем любить друг друга.

автор: Артур Джексон

© 2018 Хлеб Наш Насущный
Линус Ван Пельт, или просто Линус, был одним из главных персонажей комикса «Орешки».