Daily Devotions

[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

FATAL DRINKS 

Two fatal drinks changed history. On the last day of Lincoln’s life, the great emancipator said: “We have cleared up a colossal job. Slavery is abolished. After reconstruction, the next great question will be the overthrow and suppression of the legalized liquor traffic.”

That evening, Friday, April 14, 1865, John Wilkes Booth stopped by a saloon to fill himself with liquor to nerve himself for his evil plan. That same night, Lincoln’s bodyguard left the theater for a drink of liquor at the same saloon! While he was away, Booth shot Lincoln. These two drinks were among the most costly in American history.

The Bible warns us, “Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags” (Proverbs 23:20, 21).

Getting enough sleep is also very important to our lives. Your driving capability after having been awake for 18 hours is the same as driving after you have had two alcoholic drinks. When you have been awake for 24 hours, you’re driving no differently than if you’ve had six drinks! Getting enough sleep is important when it comes to performance, but Jesus said there is a time to stay awake at any cost.

The guidance of Solomon is worth following. “Hear, my son (and daughter), and be wise; And guide your heart in the way” (v. 19). Don’t let alcohol guide you. Don’t allow sleep deprivation to lead you.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? Proverbs 23:29At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. Proverbs 23:32

 

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

LIBERTY STANDS

 

The Statue of Liberty is one of the most honored symbols in America. It came to the United States after 20 years of dedication and at a cost of more than $4 million. French sculptor Frederic Bartholdi was inspired to build the enormous monument after seeing the colossi in Egypt. After examining different candidates, he chose his mother as the statue’s model.

The statue was built in France, then dismantled and packaged into 200 massive crates for transport to New York. A French warship transported the gift across the Atlantic. On the way, a terrible storm threatened to sink the vessel. The crew begged the captain to dump the heavy crates into the sea to lighten the load, but the captain responded, “This ship will sink before I give up liberty.”

“Liberty” stands at 151 feet tall. From the bottom of the pedestal to the tip of the torch, it rises 305 feet high. Her hand is more than 16 feet long, and her nose is 4-½ feet in length. Over 60,000 pounds of copper and 250,000 pounds of steel were used to create her.

Symbolism is wrapped all around the statue. From the torch that is to light the world with freedom, to the tablet in her hand that is inscribed with the date July 4, 1776, to the broken chains at her feet representing release from bondage, Lady Liberty has welcomed travelers to the land of freedom since 1886.

Job longed for freedom from his sorrow and pain. He wrote, “Oh, that my words were written! Oh, that they were inscribed in a book! That they were engraved on a rock With an iron pen and lead, forever!” (Job 19:23, 24). Then out of his deep anguish rose faith: “For I know that my Redeemer lives, And he shall stand at last on the earth” (v. 25).

Like Lady Liberty who stands on Bedloe’s Island in New York Harbor, someday Christ will stand above the broken chains of sin and proclaim liberty from the shackles of death. Will you accept Jesus as Lord of your life?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage. Galatians 5:1

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

BILL A PRAYING FRIEND, PART 1

 

Bill’s life looked great. His success in industrial sales propelled him up the corporate ladder and to a future filled with achievement. His wide circle of friends and business colleagues saw him enjoying the lifestyle of someone who made good money.

“Anybody looking at me from the outside,” explains Bill, “saw a successful up-and-coming manager. But they did not see the self-medication, the frustration, the self-loathing, the depression, the complete dependence on self. In fact, I always felt like I was on the outside looking in.”

Despite the outward appearances, Bill was miserable. He wandered down many roads looking for peace and joy, but instead he ended up with two failed marriages. He then drifted into drugs. His anger with himself only grew.

Weary of shallow friends and relationships but still wanting something more in life, Bill joined an online dating service. He chose the name “Tall Blue-Eyed Texan.” And there he met Carrie, a woman who had been praying for a long time that God would let her meet a tall blue-eyed Texan who loved the Lord. Bill smiles sharing the story. “I’m 6 feet 4 inches tall, live in Texas, and have blue eyes. Exactly what she was looking for—well, almost. I didn’t know the Lord, let alone love Him.”

So Carrie helped Bill get to know Jesus for the first time. She had grown up in a Sabbath-keeping home but was attending a non-denominational church when they met. As Bill listened to Carrie share, he came to love and accept Christ as his Savior.

Pour la première fois, Bill a commencé à trouver la paix dont il avait rêvé – et le véritable amour. Carrie est devenue sa femme et ils allaient à l’église ensemble tous les dimanches.

But doubts remained. “The one thing, though, that I couldn’t shake,” Bill says, “was that feeling of being on the outside looking in—of not really belonging.”

Bill’s job eventually led them to another state, and he and Carrie tried out several Sunday churches. Nothing ever quite fit. Although Carrie shared with him about the Bible Sabbath and sometimes talked about returning to a Sabbath-keeping church, Bill figured it didn’t matter on which day you worshiped as long as you worshiped.

But behind the scenes, a friend of theirs was already praying they would become Sabbath-keepers.

Reflect: Do you know of someone who has prayed (or is praying) for you? God wants you to intercede for a friend in need.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Matthew 6:33

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

BILL A PRAYING FRIEND, PART 2

 

 

Bill and Carrie were looking for a church, but behind the scenes, a friend of theirs was already praying they would become Sabbath-keepers and felt impressed to send them a set of Storacles of Prophecy Bible lessons from Amazing Facts.

Carrie was eager to study them, and Bill agreed. “As we went through them, I was amazed at what I was learning.” They also watched Amazing Facts presentations. “Pastor Doug is a great teacher and speaker. And what he was saying were things I had never heard before, but they made perfect sense. What spoke to me most though was the teaching on the Sabbath. That really hit home. I knew it was right.”

It took some time, but Bill and Carrie eventually decided to try attending a church that kept the Sabbath. However, Bill was pessimistic. He felt concerned about how Sabbath-keeping would affect his life and doubted that he could adapt to such a huge change in his weekly routine—especially with the demanding requirements of his career.

I travel frequently for my job, managing a business, and I was always working or thinking about work. But as soon as we started observing the Sabbath, I realized what a blessing it was in my life. The Sabbath taught me to set work aside for one day and focus on God and my family. I discovered that I have been able to do more with the six days than I could ever do with seven.” And Bill realized he’d found the last piece he’d been searching for. “I finally felt at home in a church. The Sabbath became a huge blessing in my life, and that feeling of being on the outside looking in disappeared!”

Next to the Sabbath, Bill considers what Pastor Doug shared about tithing to have the biggest impact on his life. “To me, tithe and Sabbath are tied together. Just as I now accomplish more in six days because I set aside Sabbath to spend with God, I receive more monetary blessings as I tithe faithfully.”

Bill and Carrie are active in their church. Bill teaches a Sabbath School class and was recently asked to preach a sermon. “I’ve gone from an infant on baby food to helping to feed others with solid food,” Bill explains.

Reflect: Have you discovered the blessing of returning tithe? It’s a way to put God first in your life! You can never out- give the Lord. Watch how He blesses your faith!
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
As newborn babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye may grow thereby: 1 Peter 2:2

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

THE SAMARITAN WOMAN THE GIFT

 

 

Today, “The Woman at the Well” wouldn’t be that much of an oddity, at least not in the U.S., or Britain, or many other places. But in her day, she was part of a minority in Palestine who was looked down upon by the religious and cultural elite in Israel. Although that wasn’t the spectacle of her first-century life. It was her “backstory.”

This woman, who met Jesus in the middle of the day at a well in Samaria, was notorious. Married far more than once, she was in an illicit relationship. In Jesus’ time, it was so much of a scandal that she could only collect water from the community well during the height of the midday sun. To go when the rest of the townsfolk were there would only invite ridicule.

When the woman arrived at the well, Jesus engaged her: “Give Me a drink,” He said (John 4:7). In that culture, this was an invitation to a conversation. She’d probably had such invitations before, and some of those had led to her five marriages, maybe even her current unmarried relationship.

Knowing that Jesus was a Jew, she asked Him why she was being asked to fetch a drink. The Jews had long looked down on the Samaritans; the Bible says they “[had] no dealings” with her people (John 4:9).

That’s when Jesus revealed Himself, albeit subtly: “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water” (v. 10).

When Jesus told the woman what she already knew, that she had been married five times and was now living with a man to whom she wasn’t wed, the light began to dawn. “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet” (v. 19). When she described the Messiah as revealing all truth, Jesus answered, “I who speak to you am He” (v. 26).

This revelation turned the woman into an evangelist; she told the men of the village, “Come, see a Man who told me all things that I ever did. Could this be the Christ?” (v. 29). The men followed her and listened to Jesus.

Divine insight made a disciple of the Samaritan woman—and an outreach worker as well!

Reflect: After she recognized Jesus as the Messiah, this woman evangelized her community. What are you doing to reach your neighbors? Pray and act this week!
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ? John 4:29

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

 

ZACHARY ONCE UPON A MURDER, PART 1  

The sound was sickening, like a slab of meat being punched over and over again. It echoed off the cold, hard walls of the prison. Thud, thud, thud. It was the sound of someone fighting for his life.

Finally, a small form dropped to his knees—his body a swollen, bruised lump. There had been four men, all bigger than him. He had fought back, and they had finally left him alone. But he knew there would be more to come. He was “fresh fish,” new to prison, and this was his welcome to life behind bars.

God saw Zachary and loved him. Through generous and compassionate believers, this broken and bruised inmate found healing and hope.

Zachary grew up in a big Catholic family, the eldest of four boys. When he was young, he liked going to church, but he liked other things more—alcohol, drugs, guns. He loved guns. He stole, he fought, he dealt, and he lived life with a gang.

One day, he shot a man dead. For his crime, he was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Now, in that dark, lonely place, bruised and beaten, Zachary looked at his life and was afraid.

At night he was tormented by a demon. It held him so tightly that he could not move or speak. He would wake up sobbing.

And those men who had beat him would come back. How could he stand up to them again? How could he endure another 25 years of this?

That harrowing day, he realized that his prison cell was not his only prison. Zachary realized how weak he really was and just how much he did not want to die. That agonizing day he cried out to God. He explains, “I knew my life was wrong and that my situation was a direct result of what I had done. And I also knew nothing could save me but God.”

He cried and cried, as though he would never stop. He told God how sorry he was for all the evil he had caused and pleaded for His help. He also had a growing desire to read the Bible. “In my distress I cried to the Lord, and He heard me” (Psalm 120:1).

Reflect: Did you know God hears the cries of our heart and has compassion for us when we are in great distress? Turn to the Lord when life has beaten you down. He truly cares for you.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
In my distress I cried unto the LORD, and he heard me. Psalm 120:1 

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

DOES THE APOSTLE PAUL SPEAK AGAINST PEOPLE WHO SAY SOME FOODS ARE UNCLEAN?

It’s best to look at Romans 14:14 in its full context. Paul was writing about a judgmental spirit among the apostolic believers. Verses 4, 10, and 13 speak against the sin of critically judging others. It caused a division in the early church. Gentile and Jewish Christians were battling each other.

The previous verse strikes at the heart of the issue: “Therefore let us not judge one another anymore, but rather resolve this, not to put a stumbling block or a cause to fall in our brother’s way” (verse 13). The problem was that the Gentile Christians criticized the Jewish Christians for eating food sacrificed to idols. And the Jewish Christians judged the Gentile members for not regarding certain ceremonial days in Judaism.

Some Gentile converts were so fearful of eating meat offered to idols that they ate only vegetables. Paul speaks of them in verses 1 and 2. The Jewish Christians thought that was ridiculous and apparently made divisive attacks against their fellow Christians. It was so serious that Paul addressed the problem again in 1 Corinthians 8:8–12.

Here Paul counseled his Jewish friends to not eat food offered to idols in the presence of those who thought it was wrong to do so. Even though they knew an idol was nothing, Paul still said to them, “Because of your knowledge shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when you thus sin against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ” (1 Corinthians 8:11, 12).

So the answer to today’s question is no; Paul is not directly speaking about unclean foods as defined in Leviticus 11. In fact, the issue is not really clean or unclean foods. The focus of his statements is on critical attitudes over non-moral issues that were dividing the church. He was, in essence, saying, “Let’s stop criticizing and wounding each other and get on with sharing the gospel!”

 

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
I know, and am persuaded by the Lord Jesus, that there is nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth any thing to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Romans 14:14

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

WILLIAM BOOTH “GOD SHALL HAVE ALL THERE IS OF WILLIAM BOOTH,” PART 1

At 13, a young boy should be in school, spending his free time at play and study. Instead, William Booth was working for a pawnbroker in Victorian-era England.

“My father was a Grab, a Get,” Booth would later recall. “He had been born into poverty. He determined to grow rich; and he did. He grew very rich, because he lived without God and simply worked for money; and when he lost it all, his heart broke with it, and he died miserably.”

Not only did Samuel Booth’s heart break, but William’s father lost the money to send the young boy to school. So William was apprenticed to pawnbroker Francis Eames in Nottingham. There, William saw people at their worst, pawning necessary items to have money for necessities—or addictions such as alcohol.

He also saw what a bad employer would be like. Eames treated Booth miserably, even though the boy was his most reliable employee. After Booth’s father died when the lad was 14, William was a source of support for his mother, Mary, and siblings, but he toiled under taxing conditions.

During this period, he began attending the Broad Street Wesley (Methodist) Chapel in Nottingham. On one evening in 1844, he responded to the preacher’s messages and surrendered his life to Christ while walking home. “It was in the open street [of Nottingham] that this great change passed over me,” he later wrote. In his diary, Booth offered a solemn vow: “God shall have all there is of William Booth.”

A visit to Nottingham from American revivalist James Caughey kindled a desire in the young man to go out and win souls. He would implore those going into the saloons and other places of degradation to instead come to church. Booth would stand on a barrel and preach to open-air “congregations” of two or three people, appealing to them to receive Christ.

Booth left the pawnbroker’s shop and set out to share the gospel. But another “conversion,” if you will, lay ahead, and with it another life-changing experience.

Reflect: What motivates you to go out and seek the lost? Pray that God will give you a love for lost souls.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? John 11:40

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

WILLIAM BOOTH “GOD SHALL HAVE ALL THERE IS OF WILLIAM BOOTH,” PART 2

 

William Booth once saw England’s poorest as customers in a pawn shop. Now, the converted man saw the poor, the drunken, and the desolate as objects of Christ’s love.

Booth had abandoned the pawnbroker’s trade, despite a six-year apprenticeship in Francis Eames’ Nottingham establishment. Instead, he became a Methodist evangelist, ending up in London and marrying a young woman who was a spiritually kindred soul, Catherine Mumfort. It was Catherine who motivated and guided the young preacher.

Eventually, Booth worked in the slums of East London and was invited to preach in a tent erected at a burial ground. It was about as far from a traditional Methodist chapel as one could go: the air was heavy with the odors of alcohol and naphtha lamps, and the coarse people were curious about what the young man was saying. On the night of July 2, 1865, “a few souls” came forward to the “mercy seat” at the front of the tent to find salvation after Booth had preached. Arriving home near midnight, Booth found Catherine waiting up for him: “O Kate, I have found my destiny!”

That destiny involved starting The Christian Mission to East London, where Booth would seek the lost as well as improve the lives of those living there. More distinguished Methodist chapels didn’t want the unwashed converts Booth brought to their doors, so he started holding a weekly worship of his own.

By 1878, Booth’s mission was raising funds and sharing an annual report with donors. In writing one such report, Booth’s now-grown son Bramwell, assisting his father, gave the mission the name we know today: The Salvation Army.

William Booth now wrote, “We are a salvation people—this is our specialty— getting saved and keeping saved, and then getting somebody else saved.”

Booth’s Salvation Army, with its uniforms, brass bands marching through the streets, and “open air” evangelism outside of pubs and in town squares, sent shockwaves through England. Saloonkeepers recruited ruffians to break up Salvation Army meetings. High-church leaders looked suspiciously upon the informal services Booth’s disciples held.

But his movement grew, spreading to America and Canada, and now operates in more than 130 countries and territories. The Army has 2,000,000 church members, each of whom proclaims the message of Booth’s signature hymn,
“O Boundless Salvation,” which says God’s grace is “now flowing for all men.”

Reflect: How long would you be willing to pray for something you desired from God? Be persistent and never give up!

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. Acts 16:31

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

 

THE QUEEN OF SHEBA PEARLS OF WISDOM

 

The queen of Sheba is an individual shrouded in mystique, alternately portrayed as a demi-goddess, an oracle, even a kingdom. But the Bible is clear in its depiction: The foreign queen was a real woman who ruled in South Arabia and who had taken note of Israel because of its famous king.

This was during the golden age of Solomon’s reign, when he was a faithful servant of God. His deeds had spread far and wide since God had given him the gift of wisdom, and it was because of this that the queen of Sheba had traveled from her distant homeland “to test him with hard questions” (1 Kings 10:1).

It was apparent from the start that the queen did not have any ulterior motive. Her visit was not a political stratagem nor an attempt at a diplomatic alliance; this was a woman who was genuinely seeking, a lady of great influence who sincerely wanted to know more about Solomon’s wisdom, his way of life, his nation (2 Chronicles 9:1). What an occasion to witness of the God who gave Solomon this wisdom, who guided his steps, who was the true Ruler of Israel!

So Solomon did exactly that. All the queen’s questions were answered (v. 2); and she was able to observe all the king’s actions, his daily routine, his interactions with others, his religious practices (vv. 3, 4).

At the end of her visit, the queen came away with one clear picture: It was because of the God Solomon worshiped that Solomon was who he was— wise, gentle, kind. She had seen how he treated his servants, how content his subjects were (vv. 7, 8). She had seen the love of God flowing through this king and his people and that their devotion to God had resulted in an abundant life.

With a heart overflowing with gratitude, she gave to Solomon all she could—gold, gems, spices, wood (vv. 10, 11). In like manner does one when realizing the eternal gifts God has given her, she willingly gives all she is and all she has to God?

Satisfied, the queen of Sheba returned home, forever changed with a newfound knowledge of the living God.

Reflect: The queen of Sheba was touched, not by some extraordinary miracle, but by Solomon’s habitual life of faith. Is your life that attractive to others?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Blessed be the LORD thy God, which delighted in thee to set thee on his throne, to be king for the LORD thy God: because thy God loved Israel, to establish them for ever, therefore made he thee king over them, to do judgment and justice. 2 Chronicles 9:8

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

 

Here is the Daily Devotional

BRIAN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, PART 1

 

When Brian first gave his heart to the Lord, he earnestly prayed to understand more about the mark of the beast. Before becoming a Christian, he heard and read about Revelation 13 all the time and knew it was very important. His study convinced him that whatever it was, this power would be very subtle and deceptive. He knew it would sway practically the whole world. “I didn’t want to receive this mark,” he explains, “which was condemned in the strongest language.”

Brian searched for explanations for the mark of the beast in all kinds of sources. “None of them,” he says, “provided me with a satisfactory answer.” When he gave his life to Christ, he felt assured that the Bible truly was the inspired Word of God and would make this point clear, he believed, “beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

A couple months after his conversion, Brian felt impressed to visit the Sabbath-keeping church that his aunt attended. At the time he didn’t know a thing about this church. It was just another denomination.

On the first Sabbath he attended church, the pastor concluded with an altar call. Brian raised his hand to indicate his interest in being baptized. After the service he spoke with the pastor who gave him a copy of the first lesson in the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides and said, “A Bible worker will be in touch to study the lesson with you.”

Brian was so hungry to learn truth that he went home and immediately studied the lesson. “I was totally blessed by the information in this guide,” he tells. “It helped me to understand the Bible in a way I had never understood before. And it was so plain!”

When the Bible worker showed up at Brian’s house the following week, they reviewed the first lesson and then she gave him the next lesson titled, “Did God Create the Devil?” That title alone got him fired up about studying this topic. “I knew I would finish this lesson in one day, so I asked if she would leave me more.” She hesitantly left five or six more lessons. Most people would be overwhelmed with these many lessons, so it’s better to leave just a few.

But not Brian!

Reflect: Do you have a hunger for the Word of God? If not, perhaps it is because you might be partaking of things of the world that dull your appetite.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Matthew 5:6

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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BRIAN BEYOND A SHADOW OF A DOUBT, PART 2

 

Brian wanted to know the truth about the mark of the beast. A Bible worker was leading him through the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides. He was eating them up! Then he discovered the lessons were available online at amazingfacts. org. “In less than a week,” he shares, “I completed the entire set of 14 lessons.”

The Bible worker continued to study with Brian, and he was always on top of the lesson. Then he learned there was an advanced set of lessons. Bible workers are trained to carefully hand out a few lessons as people are ready. But the enthusiasm and interest in Brian must have changed her mind. “I praise God that she listened to the Holy Spirit because of my great interest in learning about all these wonderful truths in the Bible,” he shared.

Finally, the day came when Brian opened up Study Guide #20, “The Mark of the Beast.” As he studied this lesson, his heart throbbed with joy to finally learn from the Bible about the mark of the beast and that it revolves around a day
of worship.

“I praise God for answering my prayers and leading me to the Amazing Facts Bible Study Guides in my search for truth,” Brian relates. “And to add icing to the cake, I not only discovered I could also review these lessons online (amazingfacts.org) but was able to hear a sermon on each topic by Pastor Doug Batchelor. As I listened to him teach each lesson and give his testimony,
I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that God is real and that the Bible is the inspired Word of God!”

Brian was baptized and is now active in sharing his faith with others. He explains, “Everything that once confused me in the Bible has now been clearly answered.” Brian understands that a public series of meetings helps many people discover Bible truth, “But for me, I needed to study my way into the church through the Bible. What brought me light were these study guides. Now I clearly know what the Bible teaches, beyond a shadow of a doubt.”

Reflect: Recall a time when you doubted something you heard. What removed all doubt? God’s Word can clear up all confusion.
KEY BIBLE TEXTS
If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. James 1:5

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

DIDN’T JESUS ASSURE THE THIEF ON THE CROSS THAT HE WOULD BE WITH HIM IN PARADISE THAT VERY DAY?

Some believe from this verse that people go to their reward immediately after death, a teaching that goes contrary to many other Bible texts. There are two main problems with this assumption. First, even though Jesus told the thief, “today you will be with Me in Paradise,” three days later He told Mary, “Do not cling to Me, for I have not yet ascended to My Father” (John 20:17).

Where is the Father, and where is paradise? The Bible tells us, “To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God” (Revelation 2:7). God’s throne is shown in Revelation 22:1, 2, to be in heaven near the tree of life.

The second problem comes from when Jesus and the thief died. When the soldiers came just before sunset to take the bodies off the crosses, Jesus was already dead (John 19:32–34). Since the thieves were still alive, the soldiers broke their legs to speed up their deaths. It is very possible they lived until past sundown and possibly longer. So how could Christ assure the thief of “being with Him” in paradise “that day” when they both did not die on “that day”?

The solution to this dilemma is most clearly resolved by studying what the Bible teaches about the state of the dead. I won’t take time to cover that topic here, but the Scriptures clearly state that until the coming of Christ, the dead are in their graves, not in paradise (see John 11:11–14; 1 Thessalonians 4:15, 16).

It’s also important to remember that uninspired men added punctuation to our English Bibles when they were translated. The commas in this verse were not in the original manuscripts. Someone simply placed a comma before the word “today” instead of after it. The verse is more clearly translated as, “I assure you today, you will be with Me in Paradise.”

 

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, To day shalt thou be with me in paradise.”
Luke 23:43

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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WILLIAM J. MURRAY THE ATHEIST “ROYALTY” MEMBER WHO FOUND JESUS, PART 1

During the 1960s and 1970s, a woman named Madalyn Murray O’Hair was something of a celebrity in the United States, appearing on television talk shows and popping up in newspaper articles on a regular basis.

O’Hair wasn’t a movie star or a soap-opera actress. Instead, the chain- smoking O’Hair was matriarch of a famous family of atheists, “royalty” among the non-believers, in particular her oldest son, William J. Murray, whose protest of prayer and Bible reading at a Baltimore, Maryland public junior high school led to the banning of such practices by the Supreme Court of the United States.

William J. Murray, about 14 when his mother’s lawsuit against the Baltimore schools began—educators had refused to exempt the boy from the schoolroom religious exercises—grew up in a home filled with strife. His father, a wealthy, already-married New Yorker who met Madalyn at the end of the Second World War, only saw the boy once. Madalyn had a second son, Garth, out of wedlock with yet another man. There was no Christian influence in the home to speak of, and Madalyn’s mother dabbled in the occult and claimed psychic powers.

The lawsuit brought by Madalyn and William J. Murray was consolidated with another case before the Supreme Court, Abington School District v. Schempp. On June 17, 1963, eight of the nine justices ruled in favor of the anti-religion plaintiffs. Only Associate Justice Potter Stewart supported the school boards.

Critics charged the ruling fueled an increased secularization of public education and a rise in unwanted behaviors. Atheists, and some others, cheered at the “eviction” of God from the nation’s classrooms.

But young William J. Murray had other things on his mind. He was in a science-oriented high school by the time of the court decision, still an atheist, and looking forward to the future. His mother had turned her anti-school prayer crusade into an organization, American Atheists, and donations poured in from across the land. The group rented an office, printed a magazine, and hired student William J. Murray to operate the printing press at a salary of $50 per week.

In less than 20 years after making history, however, William J. Murray’s life would turn in a totally different direction.

Reflect: Standing up for “principles” can have negative effects on a society, as well as positive ones. What principles are you willing to take a stand for—and have you weighed the consequences?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. Jeremiah 29:13

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[Berean]

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WILLIAM J. MURRAY THE ATHEIST “ROYALTY” MEMBER WHO FOUND JESUS, PART 2

On one level, William J. Murray had it made: For some time, his income was funded by American Atheists, the organization founded by his mother, Madalyn Murray O’Hair. Then, he got into airline work, rising into management positions where he could be more anonymous than his “atheist royalty” status might have suggested.

William, after all, had been a plaintiff in a Maryland lawsuit that led to the removal of Bible readings and prayers from the nation’s public schools. But years in the spotlight, and under the thumb of an abusive, erratic mother, took its toll on William. His first marriage ended in divorce, his daughter from that marriage adopted by Madalyn, who raised the child as an atheist. His second marriage was in trouble. And alcohol, which Murray once saw as a balm, took over his life with devastating consequences.

“I drank a quart of vodka a day and by the time I was thirty I had been married twice,” Murray would later recall. “I turned to a twelve-step program to stop the drinking and there found my first awareness of a loving God. Yet that God had no name,” he added.

Reading the Bible led him to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. On Mother’s Day in 1980, Murray came out publicly as a Christian, earning this rebuke from the mother he’d not spoken with in years: “I repudiate him entirely and completely for now and all times. He is beyond human forgiveness.”

As part of his new evangelism, Murray—who became a Baptist preacher— spoke out about his mother’s abuses and excesses, most notably in a memoir, My Life Without God, and by speaking across the country. When asked why he opposed her publicly, he said, “I soon found out it was impossible to tell the story without the truth.”

Sadly, Madalyn Murray O’Hair’s story did not end well: An employee of American Atheists kidnapped her, William’s daughter Robin, and his brother, Garth. After obtaining $500,000 in gold coins from the family, the employee and an accomplice killed all three.

Today, William J. Murray lives secure in God’s love, and works to guarantee religious freedom for persecuted Christians in other nations. He also lobbies to overturn the Bible-reading-in-school bans that his landmark case created.

Reflect: Finding God and receiving Jesus as Savior changed the course of William Murray’s life, and for the better. Do you have (or know of) a similar “radical” conversion story?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“And Azariah begat Amariah, and Amariah begat Ahitub,”
1 Chronicles 6:11

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

DAVID YOU ARE THE MAN, PART 1

At 25 years old, Stan Larkin lived for 555 days with a completely artificial heart while awaiting a donor transplant. His artificial device, called a “SynCardia,” even allowed Larkin to play basketball. But while an amazing feat of modern medicine, the SynCardia could never replace a real heart—especially the new heart that God desires to give to each one of us.

David was a man who desired a heart like God’s. As a youth, he loved the Lord and wanted to do His will. For this he was chosen by God to replace Saul as king of Israel and was anointed by the prophet Samuel when only a boy (1 Samuel 16:13).

But David’s ascent to the throne was not an easy road. His victories, starting with his defeat of Goliath, the Philistine giant, always seemed paired with great afflictions. One day esteemed by King Saul—his son-in-law even—and the next day he became a hunted fugitive. Though beloved by the people, he was persecuted by the king and separated from his family, his best friend, and his wife.

But it was because of these hardships that David leaned so much upon the will of God. He had nothing of his own, no home, no money. His only security was in God. While in rare times he showed flashes of impatience and vengeance, like during his encounter with Nabal (1 Samuel 25:12, 13), or fear and distrust, like when he defected to the Philistines (27:1), David primarily put his trust in God, and when he did so, he flourished.

Habitually asking the Lord’s counsel in battle, David gained multiple victories against Israel’s enemies. Yielding to God as the only righteous Judge, he mercifully spared Saul’s life twice over (24:4–7; 26:7–12). Faithfully waiting for years, at the age of 30, David was finally given the throne (2 Samuel 5:4).

His enemies nearly vanquished, his people unified, his kingdom prosperous, David finally settled into his long-awaited rule. Now, for the first time ever, he was at peace. He did not have to run; he did not have to fight. He was in need of nothing, so he thought. And in that moment David stepped away from God.

Reflect: Are you a person after God’s own heart? Do you want what God wants or what you yourself want? Trust in God’s ways for they are better than your own.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“But now thy kingdom shall not continue: the LORD hath sought him a man after his own heart, and the LORD hath commanded him to be captain over his people, because thou hast not kept that which the LORD commanded thee.”
1 Samuel 13:14

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

Hi to all

Here is the Daily Devotional

DAVID YOU ARE THE MAN, PART 2

 

On March 20, 1927, Ruth Snyder and her lover, Henry Judd Gray, murdered Ruth’s husband in a premeditated crime that resulted in a botched insurance policy, sensational publicity, and eventually a major motion picture. King David, at one time a man so entirely devoted to God, also claims a place among these ranks of infamy.

It was at the height of his glory that David, espying Bathsheba from his rooftop, made the fateful decision to send for her, after being made aware that she was the wife of one of his best warriors, Uriah the Hittite (2 Samuel 11:2–4). Upon discovering that Bathsheba had become pregnant from their tryst, David then attempted to cover up the deed.

David’s army had at this point laid siege to the Ammonites, preparing to deliver a crushing blow to their rebellion. But David had called Uriah from the battlefront and plied him with gifts in the hopes that the mighty man would return to his own home and particularly to Bathsheba (vv. 6–8). Perhaps then, thought David, the unborn child could be passed off as Uriah’s own, instead of the king’s bastard son.

Unfortunately for David, Uriah was too loyal and too conscientious to desert his fellow soldiers for the comforts of his wife and bed. Despite David’s multiple attempts, the Hittite remained dutiful to his post.

What was David to do? If his affair was discovered, he would be a disgrace. What would the populace think and say, they who thought so highly of him? What would Uriah do to him and Bathsheba? He might even lose his life. In that desperate mindset, thinking only of his own position and his own reputation, David devised a wicked plot. He would kill Uriah but make it look like an accident, and he would enlist the help of his captain, Joab, to do it. The cowardly murder was carried out, and Uriah died valiantly on the battlefield during the siege (v. 17).

In one final complicit act, David and Bathsheba married so that it would seem as though the baby had been conceived legitimately (v. 27).

And David then thought that he had washed his hands of the bloody affair. But how wrong he was.

Reflect: In times of idleness and ease, have you allowed your heart to stray from God? After giving in to one temptation, have you found yourself giving in to others more easily? Lean on the Lord’s strength and He will help you be an overcomer.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies:”
Matthew 15:19

From Amazing facts

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[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

 

DAVID YOU ARE THE MAN, PART3

In December 2003, serial killer Gary Ridgway sat expressionless in court as a barrage of victims’ family members hurled their pain, disgust, and fury at him. But then 63-year-old Robert Rule began to speak.

“Mr. Ridgway,” the white-haired father addressed him, “[y]ou’ve made it difficult to live up to what I believe, and what God says to do, and that is to forgive. And He doesn’t say to forgive certain people; He says to forgive all. So you are forgiven, sir.”

At that, the killer’s hard veneer cracked, and his eyes welled up with tears.

When Nathan, the prophet of God, visited David after the death of Uriah, he told the king a story of a rich man and a poor man whose only lamb was slain injudiciously by the former (2 Samuel 12:1–4).

Outraged, David pronounced sentence upon the rich man, “As the Lord lives, the man who has done this shall surely die!” (v. 5).

Immediately, Nathan retorted, “You are the man!” (v. 7). He went on to correspond David’s own conduct in his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his murder of Uriah with that of the rich man in the story.

David, shocked, suddenly realized his sin. The mirror had been held up; the hammer had struck. Horrified, he did not run nor did he deny it. Instead, he confessed, “I have sinned against the Lord” (v. 13).

And the Lord forgave him.

What miracles does forgiveness produce upon the human heart? Can it soften even the hardest of criminals?

David could have ranted, raged, rebelled. But he did not. When told that, because of his own actions, his child with Bathsheba would die and his family be torn apart, he appealed for the life of the child (vv. 10, 11, 14–16). How David must have wished that he could take back what he had done.

But when the child died (v. 18), he did not resist. Instead, he rededicated himself to God and accepted the consequences of his transgressions (v. 20). In Psalm 51, David wrote a prayer of repentance, pleading for a complete transformation of character. His heart had now returned to its humble state, “broken,” “contrite” (Psalm 51:17). Once more he became a man after God’s own heart.

Reflect: Have you ever been caught red-handed? What has been your reaction to your own guilt? God wants us to learn from our mistakes so we don’t repeat them.

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.”
Psalm 51:10

From Amazing facts

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[Nick]

None could enter the kingdom till Jesus died, was taken into glory and the Spirit poured out on his brothers and sisters.

 

[Berean]

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Here is the Daily Devotional

CORRIE TEN BOOM THE DEEPEST OCEAN, PART 1
J

 

“When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean.” It was a concept that Corrie ten Boom had advocated again and again to people all over the world, urging them to a life of reconciliation after the horrors of World War II. But did she truly believe it herself?

The ten Booms were a well-respected Christian family of watchmakers in the Netherlands. In the Second World War, the ten Booms became part of the Dutch underground, with Corrie eventually finding herself as one of its local leaders. In all, the ten Booms, through the use of a secret room constructed in their home, helped to save 800 Jewish lives and, additionally, countless other resistance fighters.

Then, on February 28, 1944, the family was betrayed by an informant and arrested by the Nazis. Several family members were soon let go, but Corrie’s father died in prison, and Corrie and her oldest sister Betsie were transferred twice, finally settling at Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women
in Germany.

Corrie was filled with hatred for Jan Vogel, the informant who had done this to her family. Without a doubt, she would have taken his life if given the opportunity. But when she brought up his name to Betsie, her sister felt quite differently.

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CORRIE TEN BOOM THE DEEPEST OCEAN, PART 1
July 30, 2023

Average reading time is about 5 and a half minutes

Click here to listen to the Daily Devotional Audio

“When we confess our sins, God casts them into the deepest ocean.” It was a concept that Corrie ten Boom had advocated again and again to people all over the world, urging them to a life of reconciliation after the horrors of World War II. But did she truly believe it herself?

The ten Booms were a well-respected Christian family of watchmakers in the Netherlands. In the Second World War, the ten Booms became part of the Dutch underground, with Corrie eventually finding herself as one of its local leaders. In all, the ten Booms, through the use of a secret room constructed in their home, helped to save 800 Jewish lives and, additionally, countless other resistance fighters.

Then, on February 28, 1944, the family was betrayed by an informant and arrested by the Nazis. Several family members were soon let go, but Corrie’s father died in prison, and Corrie and her oldest sister Betsie were transferred twice, finally settling at Ravensbrück, a concentration camp for women
in Germany.

Corrie was filled with hatred for Jan Vogel, the informant who had done this to her family. Without a doubt, she would have taken his life if given the opportunity. But when she brought up his name to Betsie, her sister felt quite differently.

Betsie thought only of Jan’s hard heart, the suffering he had inflicted upon himself through his heinous deed. He did not know the love of God; he did not know the merciful Savior. His was a life trapped in the devil’s game. He was the one who was really lost. Betsie was not like Corrie. She had no hatred in her heart for this man; instead, Betsie prayed for his soul.

It was one of the mysteries about her sister. On that first night of air raids, when the war had finally reached their country, Betsie had fervently prayed for the Germans as they dropped bombs on their heads. When they had first been imprisoned, Betsie had spoken with such compassion about the female guards and God’s ability to change their hearts.

Her sister, it seemed, could love even her most vile persecutor. And Corrie knew that was exactly what the Bible said to do. But how was it possible?

Reflect: Have you ever been betrayed by someone you trusted? What is God asking you to do about it?

KEY BIBLE TEXTS
“For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you:”
Matthew 6:14

From Amazing facts

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