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Showing posts from June, 2021

How Blaming Harms Everyone

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It's no way to live. Written by  Lynelle Watford  on 16/03/2021 Series:  Weekly Devotional Tags:  Forgiveness ,  Tragedy ,  Trust ,  Blame ,  Gods Character Forgive, and you will be forgiven. Luke 6:37 If God had brought some good influences into my son’s life, this tragedy would not have happened. I blame the youth pastor for my loss. He failed my son. If I had affirmed my son more, he would not have taken his life. Those were my blame statements. Some of them anyway. I blamed God, others, and myself.  Blaming God God’s sovereignty (which means all things are under His control) and power usually encourage the believer. When we add the fact that God loves us, we can rest in His care. But when life is difficult, the once-comforting truths become painful. Why didn’t You stop this disaster?  we ask God. Questions can lead us away from God and our faith if our attitude is accusing and not humble. When my 20-year-old son died by suicide, I questioned God. Some days I stopped asking ques

What Is God Really Like?

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Get to know the creator of the universe. Written by  Gary Fleetwood  on 15/06/2021 Series:  Weekly Devotional Tags:  Character ,  Gods Character ,  Identity ,  God Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable. Psalm 145:3 How does the Bible describe God to us? The first words of the Bible in  Genesis 1:1  state,  "In the beginning God…"  It just assumes that God is and that God exists and that God was the Creator and then moves forward. The Bible does not argue or defend the existence of God but declares it. There is no preliminary introduction to God that tries to establish that He exists.. Genesis does not start by saying, "By the following proofs we establish the existence of God and that He created all things." Not at all, never! Just  "In the beginning God…".  God's name appears 28 times in  Genesis 1  — God did this or God did that, yet not a single sentence is devoted to identifying Him or defining Him. Nothing

‘You are good, and what You do is good!’

  Verse:    Psalm 119:68 ‘You are good, and what You do is good!’ - The Lord is always good. - He will be good to you even during the storms of life. - He is a Good, Good Father Who loves and cares for you. - So believe in His goodness and accept His goodness and kindness towards you. PRAYER:  Lord, I declare that You are good! You are my Good, Good Father. Your very nature and Your very character is goodness and this goodness is something I can experience in my life today. I receive Your goodness and favour on my life right now. Amen. Have a blessed Tuesday.

Who was Cain’s wife?

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  The Bible does not specifically say who Cain’s wife was. The only possible answer is that Cain’s wife was his sister or niece or great-niece, etc. The Bible does not say how old Cain was when he killed Abel ( Genesis 4:8 ). Since they were both farmers, they were likely both full-grown adults, possibly with families of their own. Adam and Eve surely had given birth to more children than just Cain and Abel at the time Abel was killed. They definitely had many more children later ( Genesis 5:4 ). The fact that Cain was scared for his own life after he killed Abel ( Genesis 4:14 ) indicates that there were likely many other children and perhaps even grandchildren of Adam and Eve already living at that time. Cain’s wife ( Genesis 4:17 ) was a daughter or granddaughter of Adam and Eve. Since Adam and Eve were the first (and only) human beings, their children would have no other choice than to intermarry. God did not forbid inter-family marriage until much later when there were enough peop

here is your word for today

Verse:    Joshua 1:9 ‘Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.’ - The Lord is always with you. - Life can lead in many directions, but no matter where the path may lead, He is with you. - Right now, He is with you. - So don’t be afraid or discouraged, the Lord will continue to be with you. PRAYER:  Lord, thank You that right now You are here with me. I have nothing to fear or doubt, because You will never let go of me. You will always be there and You will always be with me. Amen. Have a great weekend.

How did Cain die? What happened to Cain?

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The Bible does not tell us how  Cain  died. After killing Abel, Cain was cursed to be a restless wanderer away from God’s presence and was unable to work the ground as he had before, since the ground would no longer yield him crops ( Genesis 4:11–12 ). Fearful of being killed by others, Cain complained to God that “my punishment is more than I can bear” ( Genesis 4:13 ). God granted Cain  a mark  that would protect him from being murdered by another and stated that “if anyone kills Cain, he will suffer vengeance seven times over” ( Genesis 4:15 ). Some rabbinical commentators, such as Rashi, have presented some theories about how Cain died. According to an extrabiblical midrash,  Lamech , who was blind at the time, killed Cain accidentally while hunting with his son. In this legend, Cain’s mark was a horn, and so Lamech’s son mistakenly thought Cain was an animal and led his father to shoot Cain. Lamech ends up killing both Cain and his own son, which this legend states accounts for La

"Is Christianity a religion or a relationship?"

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Religion is “the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods.” In that respect,  Christianity  can be classified as a religion. However, practically speaking, Christianity has a key difference that separates it from other belief systems that are considered religions. That difference is relationship. Most religion, theistic or otherwise, is man-centered. Any relationship with God is based on man’s works. A theistic religion, such as Judaism or Islam, holds to the belief in a supreme God or gods; while non-theistic religions, such as Buddhism and Hinduism, focus on metaphysical thought patterns and spiritual “energies.” But most religions are similar in that they are built upon the concept that man can reach a higher power or state of being through his own efforts. In most religions, man is the aggressor and the deity is the beneficiary of man’s efforts, sacrifices, or good deeds. Paradise, nirvana, or some higher state of being is man’s rew

here is your word for today

Verse:    Philippians 2:4 ‘Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.’ - Our lives can have a great and a positive influence when we help others. - Selfishness stops the flow of blessing and favour in our lives. - As we are kind and considerate to others, kindness will flow towards us. - Don’t be hesitant to be a blessing, your efforts will be rewarded. PRAYER:  Lord, I choose to be a blessing to those around me. Help me to take an interest in what others are facing and going through. Help me to be a help to others. You are the One Who rewards us for what we have done. Amen. Have a wonderful Wednesday.

Manage your social media tasks and reduces the time you have to spend to literally 30 minutes a day.

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How do we know when the books of the Bible were written?

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We have a few basic ways of knowing when the individual books of the Bible were written: a combination of internal and external evidence and, particularly in the Old Testament, traditional accounts. Internal evidence might consist of the style of writing and mentions of people or places who can be more precisely dated. For example, while the book of Ruth is set during the time of the judges, scholars place the literary style as that of the time of the Israelite monarchy—the Kings—based on other writings more accurately dated to that time. The mention of David ( Ruth 4:17 ,  22 ) also implies a date some time after David’s reign. Another example: the book of Daniel uses a literary style and specific Persian and Greek words that place it around the time of Cyrus the Great (ca. 530 B.C.). Linguistic evidence from the Dead Sea Scrolls gives us authentically dated examples of Hebrew and Aramaic writing from the second and third centuries B.C., when some claim Daniel was written, and it does

here is your word for today

Verse:    2 Thessalonians 3:13 ‘And as for you, believers, do not grow tired or lose heart in doing good.’ - We are called to be active in our faith and to do good. - Let us be people who step forward to make a difference and be a blessing. - Let us look for opportunities to show kindness and not become inactive. - Don’t allow your hands to become idle, but let God use your life. PRAYER:  Lord, thank You that each day brings the opportunity to be used by You to do good and to be a blessing to those around me. Help me not to miss the opportunity, but give me the courage to step up and make a difference. Amen. Have a blessed Tuesday.

Who wrote the Bible?

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  It is accurate to say that God wrote the Bible. According to  2 Timothy 3:16 , Scripture is  “breathed out” by God . Throughout the Bible, it is obvious that God is being quoted: over 400 times in the Bible, we find the words “thus says the Lord” (NKJV). The Bible refers to itself as the Word of God dozens of times (e.g.,  Psalm 119 ;  Proverbs 30:5 ;  Isaiah 40:8 ;  55:11 ;  Jeremiah 23:29 ;  John 17:17 ;  Romans 10:17 ;  Ephesians 6:17 ;  Hebrews 4:12 ). The Bible is said to proceed from the mouth of God ( Deuteronomy 8:3 ;  Matthew 4:4 ). However, saying that God wrote the Bible does not mean He took pen in hand, grabbed some parchment, and physically wrote the text of Scripture. His “writing” of Scripture was not a physical action on His part. Rather, God’s authorship was accomplished through the  process of inspiration , as human writers wrote God’s message. So, it is also accurate to say that  inspired men of God wrote the Bible . The doctrine of the inspiration of Scripture es