Daily Dose of God’s Glorious Love

This lesson 12 of the Study The Upside World of Theology. Chapter Eleven Hope is a four-letter word everyone can use. “ 16 Therefore it is of faith that it might be according to grace, so that the promise might be sure to all the seed, not only to those who are of the law, but also to those who are of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all 17 ¶ (as it is written, "I have made you a father of many nations") in the presence of Him whom he believed—God, who gives life to the dead and calls those things which do not exist as though they did; 18 who, contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, "So shall your descendants be."” (Romans4:16-18 NKJV)             I love the phrase “ contrary to hope, in hope believed”   as Paul, who knew the sufferings of Jesus in his own body, tells us the story of Abraham who held on to God in what has to have been one of the longest waited for

November 28, 2017 Tuesday 22Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of Us, to know good and evil. And now, lest he put out his hand and take also of the tree of life, and eat, and live forever”— 23therefore the LORD God sent him out of the garden of Eden to till the ground from which he was taken. 24So He drove out the man; and He placed cherubim at the east of the garden of Eden, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life.   Genesis 3:22-24 NKJV             So many see this as part of the curse and miss the expression of God’s love.   Remember that we had eaten of the Tree of the Knowledge of good and evil and therefore in our sin we starting dying until we die.   We started the process of slowly dying and getting older and weaker until we die.             If we had eaten of the Tree of Life we would never die yet get older and weaker and be susceptible to diseases.   Could you imagine if we just got older, weaker

November 27, 2017 Monday 13And the LORD God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” 14So the LORD God said to the serpent: “Because you have done this, You are cursed more than all cattle, And more than every beast of the field; On your belly you shall go, And you shall eat dust All the days of your life. 15And I will put enmity Between you and the woman, And between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, And you shall bruise His heel.” Genesis 3:13-15 NKJV             Why would God offer His “only begotten Son” for people such as us?   I believe the answer is found in the scripture above.   God “put” a battle between the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman.   In the Bible seed comes from the male so here we have a unique seed of the woman.   Jesus came from the Virgin Mary and so was the only person who was born of the seed of the woman.   And Jesus was crucified to death by the seed of the

November 26, 2017 Sunday 5“Look among the nations and watch— Be utterly astounded! For I will work a work in your days Which you would not believe, though it were told you. Habakkuk 1:5 NKJV             This is the day we celebrate the Resurrection Jesus and the hope of our new Life, “let us rejoice and be glad in it!”               This is also Christ the King Sunday and we REMEMBER that Jesus is not only King of Kings but is also our King and Lord!   During our devotion from Near to the Heart of God we read this hymn by William Cowper.   The author said that Cowper had written this hymn after being saved from a suicide attempt! God moves in a mysterious way His wonders to perform;   He plants His footsteps in the sea And rides upon the storm.   Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; The clouds ye so much dread   Are big with mercy and shall break In blessings on your head. Judge not the Lord by feeble sense, But trust Him for His grace;   Behind a frown

November 26, 2017 Ephesians 1:15-23 Tithing grace 25 th Sunday after Pentecost      How can you tithe on God’s love for you?   How can you show gratitude? Psalter Reading Psalm 100:1-5   A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; a We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:1-5 NKJV “ 15 ¶   Therefore I also, after I heard of your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, 16   do not cease to give thanks for you, making mention of you in my prayers: 17   that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you the spirit of wisdom and rev

Chapter Ten Faith is not what we live for, but what we are willing to die for. The history of the Christian Church has been consistently punctuated with martyrs and martyrdom.   For about 2,000 years people have given their lives for the Lord Who gave His life for them.   Jesus warned that those who followed Him would face persecution and warned about our response to that persecution. “"For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, of him the Son of Man will be ashamed when He comes in His own glory, and in His Father’s, and of the holy angels.” (Luke 9:26 NKJV) One of the earliest stories of the Church is of the first Martyr as Stephen is killed while Saul, who would later give his life as a Martyr stood by in approval. “ 58 and they cast him out of the city and stoned him . And the witnesses laid down their clothes at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 And they stoned Stephen as he was calling on God and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit."

November 24, 2017 Friday 1Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; 3but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ ”   Genesis 3:1-3 NKJV We have celebrated Thanksgiving and this Sunday is Christ the King Sunday and then we will begin our journey through Advent to Christmas where we celebrate the first Gift of Christmas.   But before we get to Christmas we must understand why we need Christmas.             God created everything good and all combined to be “very good”.   But like children with new toys on Christmas morning we broke God’s gift as we broke faith with God.             One of the striking things about this part of the story of the Fall

November 23, 2017 Luke 17:11-19 Lacking    Thanksgiving Day We enjoy not because we are not thankful!   We lack because we lack gratitude! 11Now it happened as He went to Jerusalem that He passed through the midst of Samaria and Galilee. 12Then as He entered a certain village, there met Him ten men who were lepers, who stood afar off. 13And they lifted up their voices and said, “Jesus, Master, have mercy on us!” 14So when He saw them, He said to them, “Go, show yourselves to the priests.” And so it was that as they went, they were cleansed. 15And one of them, when he saw that he was healed, returned, and with a loud voice glorified God, 16and fell down on his face at His feet, giving Him thanks. And he was a Samaritan. 17So Jesus answered and said, “Were there not ten cleansed? But where are the nine? 18Were there not any found who returned to give glory to God except this foreigner?” 19And He said to him, “Arise, go your way. Your faith has made you well.” Luke 17:11-19 (

November 23, 2017 Thanksgiving Day! A Psalm of Thanksgiving. Make a joyful shout to the LORD, all you lands! 2Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing. 3Know that the LORD, He is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; a We are His people and the sheep of His pasture. 4Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name. 5For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting, And His truth endures to all generations. Psalm 100:1-5 NKJV Happy Thanksgiving!   Sitting here is terrible pain and unable to do so many things I used to some may think I find it hard to be thankful.   But they would be wrong! I am thankful for a God who gave Himself for me, I am thankful for a family who has stood by me and love me and I am thankful for the Church who continues to bless me. I am even thankful for all the pain and loss because I have come to know my God and My Love in so much of a deepe

November 22, 2017 18Let this be written for a future generation, that a people not yet created may praise the LORD: 19“ The LORD looked down from his sanctuary on high, from heaven he viewed the earth, 20to hear the groans of the prisoners and release those condemned to death.” 21So the name of the LORD will be declared in Zion and his praise in Jerusalem 22when the peoples and the kingdoms assemble to worship the LORD. Psalm 102: 18-22 NIV             My Love may my praise and worship be passed on to future generations so You will continue to be praised and worshipped on earth as You are in heaven!   For You heard and still hear our cries My Love and You weep for us and You reach to us enough though we do not listen or reach out for You!             Over the last weeks my God, My Love, has led me to pray for so many places and for so many people.   Each day and night it is like travelling the world even though I never leave my home even though disabled and shut-in.   I ex

Here is the tenth part of the study The Upside Down World of Theology. Chapter Nine Committees are formed so we can say we did something without having to do anything.             Over my years in so many churches in so many places a constant thread is that when we realize we should do something but don’t want to be the one to do it we will set up a committee to “look into it”.             After a series of meetings with deep discussion we will come up with a plan of action and absolutely nothing happens!   At first I thought this was just an odd occurrence but over time I have come to realize it is a plan that we understand but do not talk about.             As I look at this Theology it calls me to understand just what human leadership should look like.   Read the following Scriptures and think about them for a little while before going on. “ 8 ¶ The four living creatures, each having six wings, were full of eyes around and within. And they do not rest day or ni

November 20-21 Monday and Tuesday Psalm 100 A psalm. For giving grateful praise. 1Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. 2Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. 3Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, e and we are his1; we are his people, f the sheep of his pasture. 4Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. 5For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. NIV             Over the last months I have tried to chronicle God working in and through me in times of great pain and loss.   I usually began with my condition and then showed God’s grace in glory in the midst.   But I want to change that and begin with God’s glory from now on.             Psalm 100 has always been a favorite of mine as it is such a beautiful time of praise.   I find when I want to praise God it can help to begin with a Psalm which get me started.  

November 19, 2017 Sunday             I slept better last night so we were able to attend Worship.   It was a wonderful service going through the Christian year. It was both beautiful and meaningful.   With each major season there was an explanation, a scripture and a hymn.             Couldn’t stay for Sunday school since I felt so bad and then I rested all afternoon.

November 18, 2017 Saturday             Last night I was not able to sleep and got up and didn’t get to sleep until about 5AM and woke up about 6AM.   This gave me a good time to pray and to relax some.   When I woke up my eyes were twitching so I had uncontrollable blinking.   This made it hard to walk and I was a little confused.             Resting today hoping I can go to worship tomorrow.   I am so weary and feel so bad from the bad day and week.   I have got into the routine of watching college football on Saturday.   The college sports are more enjoyable and have less of the “political” touch to them.   And it seems a little confusing that people can get paid so much for playing a kids game!   Just like actors get paid so much pretending to be someone they aren’t.             Sorry about the rant but I guess I am still a preacher.   My Love still gives me sermons which I share with you.

November 17, 2017 Friday             This was a very bad day and I spent the day in bed and in a lot of pain.   I felt so weak and weary from the pain and from the twitching and the jerking in most parts of my body.   My muscles were tight most of the day and that makes me very weary and weak.

November 19, 2017 Matthew 25:31-46 Seeing Jesus 24 th Sunday after Pentecost   We see Jesus everyday in the face of those deeply in need. Psalter Reading Psalm 123:1-4 1 Unto You I lift up my eyes, O You who dwell in the heavens. 2Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, As the eyes of a maid to the hand of her mistress, So our eyes look to the LORD our God, Until He has mercy on us. 3Have mercy on us, O LORD, have mercy on us! For we are exceedingly filled with contempt. 4Our soul is exceedingly filled With the scorn of those who are at ease, With the contempt of the proud.      Psalm 123:1-4 NKJV 31“When the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the holy angels with Him, then He will sit on the throne of His glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them one from another, as a shepherd divides his sheep from the goats. 33And He will set the sheep on His right hand, but the goats on the left. 34Then the King

November 16, 2017 Thursday             This morning I awoke feeling more rested than I have in a long while.   Thanks My Love for the rest!   When I got up My Love asked me to pray for the children of the Philippines again.   It seems more and more God asks me to lift up the children around the world who suffer so much.   In so many places children are sold to molesters and into slavery, at times even by their parents.   Some Muslims do horrendous things to little girls and their mothers even help.             So often when we think of God we think of Him as judging or so kind.   But I have experienced My Love and seen His love and the tears He cries for those who are hurting!   In the Psalms it says that God has numbered my tears!   Isn’t that amazing!   I can’t remember my tears, but God knows them and has numbered them! God cries for the children who suffer so much and He also weeps for those who hurt them!   Celebrate God’s love by lifting up those He cares for! www.da

November 15, 2017 Wednesday             Was in bed by 8PM and didn’t get out of bed until 7AM but still feel weary. Still not hungry but ate an orange so I can take my meds.   Bonnie is in Kodak with her friends from McKendree and I pray she is having a good time.   Though I do believe it is impossible not to!             The day was a weary one though I was able to get my weekly chores done.   I try to wash our sheets each week.   Bonnie has to take them off so I can wash them.   This gives me a sense of doing something and that I can help Bonnie.             Lately I have been spending much of my prayer time in worship and praising God!   I can spend a lot of time just praising My Love.   Sometimes I wake up and will spend an hour just praising God!   This time has become the highlight of my days!

Here is the ninth part of The Upside Down World of Theology.  Once again please use this study in any way it is helpful to you and brings a smile to God. Chapter Eight Love is decision not a feeling.             “ 4 ¶   Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5   does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6   does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7   bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 ¶   Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.” (1Corinthians 13:4-8 NKJV)             Love is usually seen as an emotional or physical attraction or attachment between two people.   I remember this young couple who went through pre-marital counseling with me.   Both of their families didn’t want them to get marrie