Daily Devotions

[Berean]

Hi to all

Daily Devotional

 

Fire walking is the act of walking barefoot over a bed of hot coals or stones. It has been used as a rite of passage to test a person’s strength, courage, or faith. Some believe it requires supernatural power, but modern physics has debunked this idea. Can a person walk barefoot over hot coals and not burn their feet? It depends. Several factors are involved. First, the length of time the foot is in contact with coals is usually not enough to induce a burn.

Some try to run through the coals but are burned because the coals are pressed hard against their feet. Second, coals are not very good conductors of heat. If a person walked through hot coals and stepped on a piece of metal, his or her feet would burn. Another factor is that coals reach their flash point (hottest temperature) and then begin to cool down, so you must choose carefully when to walk through the fire.

But it’s not really a good idea to walk through a bed of hot coals. You will probably burn your feet! It is not a matter of supernatural power (though the devil can do lots of tricks). It is just not a smart thing to do. And that’s the point Solomon is making when he writes, “Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be burned? Can one walk on hot coals, and his feet not be seared?” (Proverbs 6:27, 28). It’s a rhetorical question intended to get the answer, “Of course not!”

That is what the wise man teaches about the person who thinks adultery is something that is innocent and will not hurt you. “Whoever commits adultery with a woman lacks understanding; he who does so destroys his own soul” (v. 32). Will breaking the seventh commandment leave you unscathed? Of course not! Be wise and do not go down the senseless and destructive path of sexual sin. It is driven by a passion that will burn and destroy you forever.
<span style=”color: #008000;”>KEY BIBLE TEXTS</span>
<span style=”color: #008000;”>Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. Hebrews 13:4 </span>
<h2><span style=”color: #008000;”>God bless </span></h2>

[Berean]

Hi to all

Daily Devotional

DEFEATING DECEIT 

 

Among Americans polled about honesty, 52 percent said lying is never justified; yet 65 percent said it was sometimes okay to lie to keep from hurting someone’s feelings. Twelve percent of adults admit that they lie sometimes or occasionally. However, when asked, “Are you a liar?” 97 percent said “No.” The three percent who admitted to lying were tested to evaluate their actual honesty and were found to be 28 times more honest than the people who denied lying.

Very few people—if any—are honest 100 percent of the time. Even Christians and other people who are committed to being honest sometimes are caught off guard and speak something that is less than the truth in the confusion of the moment—sometimes to keep from hurting another person’s feelings. Other times, perhaps, they are not completely honest with themselves.

We deal with dishonest people all the time. And all of us, at some time in our lives, have been dishonest. Many times dishonesty hurts other people; sometimes it only hurts the dishonest person. But dishonesty always hurts God because one of His characteristics is truth. The Bible says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who deal truthfully are His delight” (Proverbs 12:22).

Lying comes naturally to humans. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The only way to conquer a deceitful heart is to allow God to replace it with the pure heart of our Savior. He is willing to transform us today.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. Psalms 120:1Deliver my soul, O LORD, from lying lips, and from a deceitful tongue. Psalms 120:2 

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Daily Devotional

LIKE A BEAR 

Found along the coasts and islands of the northernmost regions, polar bears are the largest land carnivores. In fact, one adult male polar bear weighed more than 2,200 pounds! Yet the young are only about 25 ounces when born. Adult polar bears also have very large stomachs with a capacity for more than 150 pounds of food, which allows them to go weeks between meals. They are also great roamers, covering up to 50 miles a day and 100,000 square miles during a lifetime in a constant search for seals.

Strong swimmers, polar bears paddle with their large front paws and use their rear paws as rudders to steer. They swim an average of six miles per hour and can go as far as 60 miles without a pause. Polar bears are also excellent divers, remaining submerged for up to two minutes and attaining a depth of 15 feet. They have also been observed leaping out of the water up to eight feet in the air to surprise a seal resting on an ice floe.

King Hezekiah was one of the better kings of Judah. Most of them were evil. His name means “the Lord strengthens.” Hezekiah was like a strong bear, but not because he was physically large or intellectually sharp. The Bible says, “And he did what was right in the sight of the Lord” (2 Kings 18:3). One of his strongest moments was when he destroyed the bronze snake that Moses made in the wilderness. It had become an idol for God’s people, and they even offered incense to it.

We do not need to swim 60 miles without a pause in order to be strong. We can be strong by being obedient to the Lord, just like Hezekiah. “He trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor who were before him” (v. 5).

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“Beat your plowshares into swords and your pruninghooks into spears: let the weak say, I am strong.”
Joel 3:10

 

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Hère is the Daily Devotional

Love That Is Measureless, January 4
The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with loving kindness have I drawn thee. Jeremiah 31:3. 

Those who know not God cannot by their learning or science find out God. Christ does not try to prove the great mystery, but reveals a love that is beyond measurement. He does not make God’s power and greatness the chief theme of His discourses. He speaks of Him oftenest as our Father…. He desires our minds, weakened by sin, to be encouraged to grasp the idea that God is love…. HP 10.2

The father of the prodigal son is the type that Christ chooses as a representation of God. This father longs to see and receive once more the son who has left him. He waits and watches for him, yearning to see him, hoping that he will come. When he sees a stranger approaching, poor and clothed with rags, he goes out to meet him, if perchance it may be his son. And he feeds and clothes him as if he were indeed his son. By and by he has his reward, for his son comes home, on his lips the beseeching confession, “Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in thy sight, and am no more worthy to be called thy son.” And the father says to the servants, “Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet; and bring hither the fatted calf, and kill it; and let us eat, and be merry” (Luke 15:21-23). HP 10.3

There is no taunting, no casting up to the prodigal of his evil course. The son feels that the past is forgiven and forgotten, blotted out forever. And so God says to the sinner, “I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and as a cloud thy sins” (Isaiah 44:22). “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more” (Jeremiah 31:34)…. HP 10.4

Heaven is waiting and yearning for the return of the prodigals who have wandered far from the fold. Many of those who have strayed away may be brought back by the loving service of God’s children…. HP 10.5

Think of the Father subjecting Himself to sorrow, sparing not His own Son, but freely delivering Him up for us all…. O that we had a better understanding of His love! 6Manuscript 76, 1903.

 

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Hère is the Daily Devotional

Gift of God’s Love, 

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:16. 

How can we understand God? How are we to know our Father? We are to call Him by the endearing name of Father. And how are we to know Him and the power of His love? It is through diligent search of the Scriptures. We cannot appreciate God unless we take into our souls the great plan of redemption. We want to know all about these grand problems of the soul, of the redemption of the fallen race. It is a wonderful thing that after man had violated the law of God and separated himself from God, was divorced, as it were, from God—that after all this there was a plan made whereby man should not perish, but that he should have everlasting life…. God gave His only-begotten Son to die for us…. When our minds are constantly dwelling upon the matchless love of God to the fallen race, we begin to know God, to become acquainted with Him…. HP 11.2

Right here on this little atom of a world were enacted the grandest scenes that were ever known to humanity. All the universe of heaven was looking on with intense interest. Why? The great battle was to be fought between the power of darkness and the Prince of light. Satan’s work was to magnify his power constantly…. He was all the time placing God in a false light. He was presenting Him as a God of injustice, and not a God of mercy. He was constantly stirring up their minds so that they would have an incorrect view of God. HP 11.3

How was God to be rightly represented to the world? How was it to be known that He was a God of love, full of mercy, kindness, and pity? How was the world to know this? God sent His Son, and He was to represent to the world the character of God…. HP 11.4

We want to keep this perfect Pattern before us. God was so good as to send a representation of Himself in His Son Jesus Christ, and we want to get the mind and heart to unfold and reach upward…. Let yours be the prayer, Reveal Thyself to me, that in Thy matchless grace I may lay hold on the golden link, Christ, which has been let down from heaven to earth, that I may grasp it and be drawn upward.7Manuscript 7, 1888, quoted in A. V. Olson, Through Crisis to Victory, 246-248.

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Hère is the Daily Devotional

The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth occurred at Barrow Island, Australia. During typhoon Olivia, the wind reached 253 miles per hour. For more than 60 years, the Mount Washington Observatory in New Hampshire boasted that it had recorded the fastest wind speed on Earth. In 1934, the observatory recorded a wind speed of 231 miles per hour.

But in 1996, during typhoon Olivia, Barrow Island in Australia recorded a wind speed of 253 miles per hour. The amazing—and somewhat puzzling thing—is that it took the World Meteorological Organization 14 years to recognize a new record had been set. As they were scouring through some old data, they came across the record-setting wind speed.

It didn’t take long for news to spread about the new record. And the Mount Washington Observatory reluctantly conceded that the data had to be recognized, though they were still suspicious of why it took 14 years for the new record to be declared. Of course, whether it is 253 or 231 miles per hour, we wouldn’t want to be facing such powerful winds!

Interestingly, the prophet Elijah faced some very strong winds after escaping from evil Jezebel and waiting to hear from God. He also faced an earthquake and fire. But 1 Kings gives us some interesting insight into God’s glory and power. There we read that God was not in the wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire. Instead, He spoke to Elijah in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).

This is how God prefers to speak and interact with us. He doesn’t want to overwhelm us with grandeur. He doesn’t desire to impress us with splendor. He wants to come close and converse with us as with a friend.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth. Psalms 46:10 

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Hère is the Daily Devotional

According to researcher David B. Barrett, there were 33,830 different Christian denominations worldwide as of 2001. Of course, it’s hard to know exactly how many different denominations there really are, but nearly 34,000 is a staggering number. These range from Baptists to Roman Catholics to Pentecostals to Latter-day Saints—and everything in between.

And to think that it all started with one Man who lived 2,000 years ago! Of course, this is the point that so many have made: If all 33,380 of these denominations are all supposedly following the same Person, why is there so much division?

Yet it shouldn’t surprise us. It didn’t take long for the early Christian church to start dividing into different denominations. In at least two places, the apostle Paul addressed this very issue: “Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you all speak the same thing, and there be no divisions among you” (1 Corinthians 1:10). He then went on to write, “Now I say this, that each of you says, ‘I am of Paul,’ or ‘I am of Apollos,’ or ‘I am of Cephas,’ or ‘I am of Christ.’ Is Christ divided?” (vv. 12, 13). Later on, while writing about the Lord’s Supper, Paul raised the issue again: “For first of all, when you come together as a church, I hear that there are divisions among you” (1 Corinthians 11:18).

It was never Christ’s desire for there to be division among His followers, of course. Though He never wanted a surface-level unity that was at the expense of truth, He nevertheless prayed to His Father that all believers would “be one, as You, Father, are in Me” (John 17:21). This is because true unity among Christ’s disciples indicates to the world that He is worth following.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! Psalms 133:1 

 

God bless 

[Proclaimer]

Berean.

I’m going to ask you straight.

Are you a Seventh Day Adventist Flat Earther?

[Berean]

Hi Proclaimer

I’m going to ask you straight.

Are you a Seventh Day Adventist Flat Earther? 

Me

Seventh Day Adventist YES
BUT FOR THE REST IF THE EARTH IS A GLOBE OR FLAT, IT IS SECONDARY FOR ME.
I WANT TO BE GUIDED BY THE SURE AND SOLID WORD OF GOD.

Here is the patience of the saints: here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus.(Révélation 14:12)

 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

Metamorphic rocks are created when other types of rocks are transformed due to great pressure and heat within the earth. The meaning of the term “metamorphic,” in fact, is “changed.” When igneous rocks, sedimentary rocks, or even metamorphic rocks get buried very deep under the earth’s surface, they get changed into something else by the enormous pressure and heat inside the earth. Metamorphosis is a word we often associate with caterpillars and butterflies or tadpoles and frogs. But rocks can change too. For instance, limestone can be changed into marble and shale can turn into slate. The process requires an intense amount of pressure.

Marble is a beautiful stone that can be polished. That’s why it is often used in elaborate buildings for bathtubs, floors, and counter-tops. Marble is also a popular stone used for carvings to make statutes. There are many different types of marble because of various elements present during formation. It also has different sizes of crystals, which make for a wonderful variety of this rock. And it all comes from sandstone, which is a soft stone that easily crumbles.

Paul urges the Christians in Rome, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). God wants you to be changed into something beautiful for the Lord’s temple, a pillar or a vessel that serves others. How does this happen? Often under pressure. Some of the hardest lessons in life come from difficulties. But as we persevere our hearts are changed. We become more like Christ, fit to be in a heavenly temple.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1 

God bless 

[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

THUNDERSTORM BLESSINGS 

We know thunder as the sonic shockwave created by lightning. Though scientists are still exploring the exact cause of the shockwave, one theory considers as a factor the extreme heat generated by lightning. The average temperature inside a bolt of lightning has been estimated at 36,300 degrees Fahrenheit, though it can spike as high as 54,000 degrees.

Worldwide, there are about eight million lightning strikes per day—or 100 times every second. Thunder is mentioned in the Bible 42 times, and reference to lightning is made 28 times. This should come as no surprise since thunder and lightning are such riveting displays of God’s awesome power.

Although the potentially devastating effects of lightning are well known, people are less aware of its beneficial side. Lightning helps to dissolve the atmosphere’s nitrogen, enabling it to combine with raindrops, which makes a great fertilizer for plants. Lightning also helps to balance Earth’s electrical field, and it contributes to the ozone layer, which helps shield the Earth from the harmful rays of the sun. Lightning storms also clean and revitalize the air.

Our planet is dependent on thunderstorms, and so are we. We couldn’t survive for long without them. Next time you see a flash of lightning and hear the rumble of thunder, why not whisper a prayer of thanks to our almighty God, who gives us blessings through the storms?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
The voice of the LORD is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the LORD is upon many waters. The voice of the LORD is powerful; the voice of the LORD is full of majesty. Psalms 29:3-4The LORD will give strength unto his people; the LORD will bless his people with peace. Psalms 29:11  

 

God bless 

 

[Proclaimer]

Seventh Day Adventist YES
BUT FOR THE REST IF THE EARTH IS A GLOBE OR FLAT, IT IS SECONDARY FOR ME.
I WANT TO BE GUIDED BY THE SURE AND SOLID WORD OF GOD.

That means you’re a flat earther or undecided at this point. People will assume your are naive which may explain why you belong to a denomination in the first place.

[GeneBalthrop]

Proclaimer……Good point to Berean,  he needs to stop believing everything his Church is telling him and start thinking for himself.

Berean look at it this way, if God has given us the “Spirit of Truth”  then this scripture applies to us, …..”brethern you have “NO” need of a teacher , for the Spirit ITSELF  will teach you “All” things”, and again,  “you shall all be taught of or  (by) God”.  

The “cognisity” Of the truth is given us by God the Father himself. While a church can be a good social outlet, it should never replace “the Spirit, God the Father, has given us”.  

God the Father should be all of our,   “First love” , remember the warning to the church of Ephesus, Rev 2:1-7….how they had left their “first love”. 

Peace and love to you and yours Berean………gene

 

[Berean]

Proclaimer

The Gospel of Christ does not speak of a flat earth or a globe. Does he do it ?
So that’s far from my concern.
I advise you the Gospel of Christ, you will be safer online than sterile and endless debates.

[Berean]

Gene

You

Berean look at it this way, if God has given us the “Spirit of Truth”  then this scripture applies to us, …..”brethern you have “NO” need of a teacher , for the Spirit ITSELF  will teach you “All” things”, and again,  “you shall all be taught of or  (by) God”.   

 

Me

👇

Ephesians 4

There is one body, and one Spirit, even as ye are called in one hope of your calling;
[5] One Lord, one faith, one baptism,
[6] One God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
[7] But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
[8] Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.
[9] (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?
[10] He that descended is the same also that ascended up far above all heavens, that he might fill all things.)

👇
[11] And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
[12] For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: 

👇
[13] Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: 

👇
[14] That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; 

[15] But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:
[16] From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love

[Proclaimer]

The Gospel of Christ does not speak of a flat earth or a globe. Does he do it ?
So that’s far from my concern.
I advise you the Gospel of Christ, you will be safer online than sterile and endless debates.

The gospel of Christ is accepted and not debated here by anyone as far as I know.

But people teach false things using the bible and yes, they need to be challenged.

And you never said no to flat earth which means you think the bible might teach it.

I can tell you that it doesn’t.

And what denomination did Christ belong to?

Denominations IMO is another name for divisions.

[mikeboll64]

Berean, I’m truly sorry that the thread in which you post a spiritually inspiring message each day was invaded by marauders trying to pick a fight with you.  Please carry on with your Godly mission and just block out the noise.

🙏

[Berean]

Hi Mike

Thanks for the encouragement….But I wonder if I will continue to post anything on this thread, if no one is interested, except for one or two…

 

[GeneBalthrop]

Berean……..Your blogs are really not yours most of the time , they are someone elses , that you think are true, most of the time from your church affleations.  Your not coming from what the Spirit of God is showing,  you but from what your church tells you. Notice how you changed my last post to you from my point about the church of Ephesuans in Rev 2 to what Paul was teaching them , missing my poinr completely about them falling away from their “first love”.  You see all that Paul told them came to nothing in the end, unless they repented.  That only proves that being in a church guarentees nothing.  But by you changing my point,  shows me your really not intrested in  leting the Spirit of God lead you or you would have gotten my point. IMO

Peace and lovecto you and your Berean. ……….gene

 

[Proclaimer]

Mike  this thread is Berean’s and a good place to ask him questions about what he believes. The only offense that should be taken is if a person is hiding something.

Always be ready to give an answer to what you believe, we are told.

And indeed  I myself am not offended by questions regarding what I believe. In fact I’m happy to give such answers to questions. Why? Because in order for me to believe and teach something, it means it has been tried in the fire and I have nothing to hide. Further, if I’m wrong then I want to know about it, so I can be better.

So why is Mike sorry? Maybe because he feels the heat when questions are asked of him and he passes this onto berean by perhaps identifying with this uncomfortable feeling that he has endured then saying sorry that berean might also endure good questions about what he believes and is teaching.

Finally, notice how I never really critiqued berean’s posts, but Mike brings it up as if I have somehow opposed his posts. He’s an expert at changing reality to suit his narrative. It helps him avoid feeling uncomfortable with truth and light by detracting from the real issues.

At the end of the day, if a person cannot give answers about what they believe and teach and refuse to answer fair and truthful questions, then that person consciously or unconsciously hiding something and could be a liar.

But children of light should be transparent. Not like those in the world who prefer darkness to light and who would rather hide in caves and have rocks fall on them than look at the Lord Jesus Christ, because of their shame.

[Author]

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