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May the Lord draw you to Him today. He is the only Way to have peace and purpose.
- dr joe
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Food for Thought...
I believe our nation is headed for very hard, even disastrous times. I do not believe politics will fix our economy - it's too far gone - too much debt to ever pay back. We depend completely on our fragile technological infrastructure for food, water, shelter, transportation, and entertainment. Any number of events could cause a sudden collapse of our system e.g., electric grid collapse from terrorism, natural event like solar flare, simple breakdown from lack of modernization, or Israel attacks Iran and the price of oil skyrockets, or China stops buying our treasury bonds. I am feeling called to prepare for such disaster by working to be less dependent and more self-sufficient. If you have interest in or questions about this line of thinking, please e-mail me by replying to this e-mail. Below are some of my favorite links:
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Matthew 9:5-6
5 Which is easier: to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Get up and walk'? 6 But I want you to know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins." So he said to the paralyzed man, "Get up, take your mat and go home."
It's easy to tell someone his sins are forgiven; it's a lot more difficult to reverse a case of paralysis! Jesus backed up his words by healing the man's legs. Jesus' action showed that his words were true; he had the power to forgive as well as to heal. Forgiveness is a tough subject. None of us deserve to be forgiven. It's also difficult to forgive those who have hurt us, especially if they don't seem sorry. I think a big part of it is leaving justice and vengeance to God. Letting Him deal with the other person. We need to concentrate on getting closer to Him and asking His forgiveness for our own sin. Talk is cheap, but our words lack meaning if our actions do not back them up. We can say we love God or others, but if we are not taking practical steps to demonstrate that love, our words are empty and meaningless. How well do your actions back up what you say?
Verse and commentary above is copied from the Life Application Study Bible Reading Plan on YouVersion. Check it out at: http://www.youversion.com/ .
Any Dr JOE comments will be in BLUE :0)
Acts 8:26-40
26 Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road-the desert road-that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." 27 So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch ( a eunuch is a man who has been castrated. They did this to slaves or servants to prevent them from being "distracted" by the women in the royal court. They often rose to high standing in the government.), an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means "queen of the Ethiopians"). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship,28 and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet.29 The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."
30 Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. "Do you understand what you are reading?" Philip asked.
31 "How can I," he said, "unless someone explains it to me?" So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him.
32 This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading:
"He was led like a sheep to the slaughter,
and as a lamb before its shearer is silent,
so he did not open his mouth.
33 In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.
Who can speak of his descendants?
For his life was taken from the earth."[b]
34 The eunuch asked Philip, "Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?" 35 Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.
36 As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, "Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?" 38 And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea.
Few people today knowingly see or hear from angels. I think we probably wouldn't believe our eyes. However, that does not stop God from communicating with us using the ears we have to hear. I have felt the Holy Spirit nudge me to talk to a person about God. Sometimes it's more of a kick in the butt. How do I know it's God speaking to me and not my own thoughts. I often don't know for sure, but if it's helping or loving or talking about Jesus, it's Him cause I don't "naturally" think of those things. Try to be sensitive to God's communicating with you. He'll do it through the Bible, through people, and through thoughts that seem to not come from yourself.
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Questions?
Please email me with any questions about today's scripture message or anything related to the Bible or Christianity.
I might not know the answer but I'll try real hard to find it.
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