How can a young man keep his way pure? By living according to Your word. I seek You with all my heart, do not let me stray from Your commands. I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against you…
With my lips I recount all the laws that come from Your mouth. I rejoice in following Your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. I meditate on Your precepts and consider Your ways. I delight in Your decrees, I will not neglect Your word… Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. In the night I remember Your name, O Lord, and I will keep your law. …If Your law had not been my delight, I would have perished in my affliction. I will never forget Your precepts, for by them You have preserved my life. Save me, for I am Yours, I have sought out Your precepts. …Your promises have been thoroughly tested, and Your servant loves them. …Trouble and distress have come upon me, but Your commands are my delight. – Psalm 119:9-11, 13-16, 54-55, 92-94, 140 & 143.
Everybody thinks that memorizing Bible verses is too hard for them, too much trouble. Forget that.
You’re going to be memorizing something. Either it’s song lyrics, or Oscar nominations, or how many baskets Stephen Curry makes this season. You’re going to be paying enough attention to some interesting aspect of life that the minutest details will become common knowledge to you.
Know what, though? This time next year, you’ll have a hard time remembering who even played in the last 3 Super Bowls, though at the time they seemed so important. You’ll forget who your state senator beat in the previous election, though at the time you devoured every article on the race. You’ll lose track of the TV story line that used to keep you awake nights trying to figure out what was going to happen next week.
“But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.” – John 14:26
If, instead of filling your mind with forgettable facts, you load up on the words of life, you place within constant retrieval the right word for every situation.
“One of the primary reasons for studying the Bible is to provide Him with the Word to bring to our remembrance- when we need it” – Evelyn Christenson
Don’t just read the Bible, Study it! There’s a difference.
Next up:
Right along with letting the Bible become a staple in your daily diet, prayer will open your life to ongoing fellowship with God. And keep you going all day long.
But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on His own; He will speak only what He hears, and He will tell you what is yet to come.He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you.
The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God.For who among men knows the thoughts of a man except the man’s spirit within them? In the same way no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. We have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught us by human wisdom but in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual truths with Spirit words.The man without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them because they are spiritually discerned.The spiritual man makes judgments about all things, but he himself is not subject to any man’s judgments.
(John 16:13-14; 1 Corinthians 2:10b-15)
When the Spirit of the living God dwells inside you, you’re a whole lot smarter than you think.
That ocean of relief and refreshment that you felt as you turned your back on sin and turned your life over to Jesus Christ’s control was the Holy Spirit of God rushing into your heart, filling you with the raw power of everlasting life. The Bible says: “Having believed, you were marked in Him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing out inheritance.” (Ephesians 1:13b-14) Sort of like earnest money on the house God’s building you in heaven. Once we get there, we’ll understand all that our salvation means. We’ll see why we had to go through some of the tough times we faced on earth. Maybe we’ll even find out how God pulled off that Red Sea thing, or why He thought it best to put our big nose right in the middle of our face. But until then, God has given us His Spirit, so that we don’t have to rely on our own vague observations and knowledge about spiritual things in order to do what He wants, to understand His plans for us, to put ourselves into position to serve Him with power and freedom.
“There is no one who magnifies Christ as the Holy Spirit does. His most intense desire is to reveal Jesus Christ to men.” – R. A. Torrey
Tomorrow’s Reading: Oh, by the way, along with the gift of the Holy Spirit comes your own custom made package of spiritual gifts, which can take you far beyond your natural abilities.
Celebrate the 4th of July with Video Gaming’s Finest Fireworks!
During the American Revolution, the legal separation of the Thirteen Colonies from Great Britain occurred on July 2, 1776, when the Second Continental Congress voted to approve a resolution of independence that had been proposed in June by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia declaring the United States independent from Great Britain rule. After voting for independence, Congress turned its attention to the Declaration of Independence, a statement explaining this decision, which had been prepared by a Committee of Five, with Thomas Jefferson as its principal author. Congress debated and revised the wording of the Declaration, finally approving it on July 4. A day earlier, John Adams had written to his wife Abigail:
The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival. It ought to be commemorated as the day of deliverance, by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forever more.
Adams’s prediction was off by two days. From the outset, Americans celebrated independence on July 4, the date shown on the much-publicized Declaration of Independence, rather than on July 2, the date the resolution of independence was approved in a closed session of Congress.
Historians have long disputed whether Congress actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4, even though Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Benjamin Franklin all later wrote that they had signed it on that day. Most historians have concluded that the Declaration was signed nearly a month after its adoption, on August 2, 1776, and not on July 4 as is commonly believed.
Fantavision (PS2)
In 1777, thirteen gunshots were fired in salute, once at morning and once again as evening fell, on July 4 in Bristol, Rhode Island. Philadelphia celebrated the first anniversary in a manner a modern American would find quite familiar: an official dinner for the Continental Congress, toasts, 13-gun salutes, speeches, prayers, music, parades, troop reviews, and fireworks. Ships were decked with red, white, and blue bunting.
In 1778, from his headquarters at Ross Hall, near New Brunswick, New Jersey, General George Washington marked July 4 with a double ration of rum for his soldiers and an artillery salute (feu de joie). Across the Atlantic Ocean, ambassadors John Adams and Benjamin Franklin held a dinner for their fellow Americans in Paris, France.
In 1779, July 4 fell on a Sunday. The holiday was celebrated on Monday, July 5.
In 1781 the Massachusetts General Court became the first state legislature to recognize July 4 as a state celebration.
In 1783, Moravians in Salem, North Carolina, held a celebration of July 4 with a challenging music program assembled by Johann Friedrich Peter. This work was titled “The Psalm of Joy.” This is recognized as the first recorded celebration and is still celebrated there today.
In 1791 the first recorded use of the name “Independence Day” occurred.
In 1870, the U.S. Congress made Independence Day an unpaid holiday for federal employees.
In 1938, Congress changed Independence Day to a paid federal holiday.
Boom Boom Rocket (Xbox 360)
But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ. Philippians 3:20
Every year on July 4th America remembers its freedom from British rule, but as citizens of heaven who are only incidentally American citizens, we daily have a more significant liberty to celebrate.
What freedom do citizens of heaven have to celebrate?
Freedom from bondage
Luke 4:18 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed,
Freed by Christ
John 8:32-36 Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
Freedom is universally desired
Heb 2:15 and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.
2 Pet 2:19 They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves of depravity–for a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.
Freed from the law of sin and death
Rom 8:2 because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Freed from the bondage of satisfying God’s law
1 Cor 9:21 To those not having the law I became like one not having the law (though I am not free from God’s law but am under Christ’s law), so as to win those not having the law.
Gal 2:4 This matter arose because some false brothers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves.
Gal 4:22-23 For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by the slave woman and the other by the free woman. His son by the slave woman was born in the ordinary way; but his son by the free woman was born as the result of a promise.
Gal 4:30-31, 5:1 But what does the Scripture say? “Get rid of the slave woman and her son, for the slave woman’s son will never share in the inheritance with the free woman’s son.” Therefore, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.
Freed from the sins committed under the first covenant
Heb 9:15 For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance–now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant.
Freed from our sins by his blood
Rev 1:5 and from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood,
Freed from accusation
Col 1:22 But now he has reconciled you by Christ’s physical body through death to present you holy in his sight, without blemish and free from accusation–
Freed from the power of sin
Rom 6:7, 18, 20, 22 because anyone who has died has been freed from sin … You have been set free from sin and have become slaves to righteousness … When you were slaves to sin, you were free from the control of righteousness … But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life.
Caution: Do not think your freedom is permission to sin
1 Pet 2:16 Live as free men, but do not use your freedom as a cover-up for evil; live as servants of God.
Gal 5:13 You, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love.
Free to approach God with confidence
Eph 3:12 In him and through faith in him we may approach God with freedom and confidence.
Freed from spiritual blindness
2 Cor 3:16 But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.
Freed from the curse of a decaying body
Rom 8:21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.
1 John 3:2 Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when he appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.
Free to be a slave to others
1 Cor 9:19 Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a slave to everyone, to win as many as possible.
1 Cor 10:29 the other man’s conscience, I mean, not yours. For why should my freedom be judged by another’s conscience?
Caution: Don’t let your freedom from the law lead others to violate their consciences
1 Cor 8:9 Be careful, however, that the exercise of your freedom does not become a stumbling block to the weak.
Freed by the law of love
James 1:25 But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it–he will be blessed in what he does.
James 2:12 Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom
For I received from the Lord that which I also delivered to you: that the Lord Jesus on the same night in which He was betrayed took bread; and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, “Take, eat; this is My body which is broken for you; do this in remembrance of Me.” In the same manner He also took the cup after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in My blood. This do, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of Me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death till He comes.
[Examine Yourself]
Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. For this reason many are weak and sick among you, and many sleep. For if we would judge ourselves, we would not be judged. But when we are judged, we are chastened by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
Therefore, my brethren, when you come together to eat, wait for one another. But if anyone is hungry, let him eat at home, lest you come together for judgment. And the rest I will set in order when I come.
– 1 Corinthians 11:23-34
I was raised in a church, when they broke bread, (the bread they broke had no yeast in it. Yeast represents sin. Jesus had no sin.)
Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that His hour had come that He should depart from this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end.
And supper being ended, the devil having already put it into the heart of Judas Iscariot, Simon’s son, to betray Him, Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come from God and was going to God,rose from supper and laid aside His garments, took a towel and girded Himself. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet, and to wipe them with the towel with which He was girded. Then He came to Simon Peter. And Peter said to Him, “Lord, are You washing my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.”
Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”
Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”
Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”
Jesus said to him, “He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean; and you are clean, but not all of you.”For He knew who would betray Him; therefore He said, “You are not all clean.”
So when He had washed their feet, taken His garments, and sat down again, He said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you?You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am.If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet.For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you.Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him.If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them. – John 13:1-17
World Cup is like the Super Bowl and all other sports’ championship game to win the big prize. Have you ever pondered on this, does God have a big prize for us? Yes, matter of fact, He does. First off, if you repent (of your sins) and turn to Jesus alone, you will spend eternity in heaven with Him. That is a huge prize itself.
John 14:6 says, “Jesus answered, “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”
John 3:3 says, “Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again,you cannot see the kingdom of God.””
Just by these 2 scriptures, clearly says if you don’t have Jesus, your not going to heaven. Don’t fool yourself, because this verse in Matthew 7:21 speaks of true disciples. “Not everyone who calls out to Me, ‘Lord! Lord!’ will enter the kingdom of heaven. Only those who actually do the will of My Father in heaven will enter.” And how do you truly see if a brother is legit for Christ? By the fruit we leave behind, is it good or bad fruit?
Okay, so you don’t have a real relationship with Jesus? Then what? Yes, your on your way to hell, but since your reading this, who still have time to get right with God. Matthew 10:33 says, “But everyone who denies Me here on earth, I will also deny before my Father in heaven.”
Okay, you have a real relationship with Jesus? Is that it? Your done? NO! Matthew 28:19 says, “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations,baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.”
We do this as a command, out of love, but the cool thing is. We can get crowns in heaven! So, going after a worldly World Cup isn’t much. You can’t take that to heaven or hell. 1 Corinthians 9:25 says, “All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize.”
There are five heavenly crowns mentioned in the New Testament that will be awarded to believers. They are the imperishable crown (1 Corinthians 9:24, 25), the crown of rejoicing (1 Thessalonians 2:19), the crown of righteousness (2 Timothy 4:8), the crown of glory (1 Peter 5:4), and the crown of life (Revelation 2:10).
So are you going to win a crown or crowns? These crowns are for eternity! Whatever you do here on earth, you will get these when you enter heaven.
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