Daily Dose of God’s Glorious Love

February 25, 2018 Sunday “And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again. He spoke this word openly. And Peter took Him aside and began to rebuke Him. But when He had turned around and looked at His disciples, He rebuked Peter, saying, “Get behind Me, Satan! For you are not mindful of the things of God, but the things of men.” When He had called the people to Himself , with His disciples also, He said to them, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. “For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? “Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul? “For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him the

February 24, 2018 Saturday “‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul s

February 23, 2018 Friday ““And you shall say to them, ‘This is the offering made by fire which you shall offer to the LORD: two male lambs in their first year without blemish, day by day, as a regular burnt offering. ‘The one lamb you shall offer in the morning, the other lamb you shall offer in the evening, ‘and one-tenth of an ephah of fine flour as a grain offering mixed with one-fourth of a hin of pressed oil. ‘ It is a regular burnt offering which was ordained at Mount Sinai for a sweet aroma, an offering made by fire to the LORD. ‘And its drink offering shall be one-fourth of a hin for each lamb; in a holy place you shall pour out the drink to the LORD as an offering. ‘The other lamb you shall offer in the evening; as the morning grain offering and its drink offering, you shall offer it as an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD.” (Numbers 28:3-8 NKJV)             Reading this passage to many may seem like just another in the list of sacrifices where m

February 22, 2018 Thursday “Then God spoke to Noah and to his sons with him, saying: “And as for Me, behold, I establish My covenant with you and with your descendants after you, “and with every living creature that is with you: the birds, the cattle, and every beast of the earth with you, of all that go out of the ark, every beast of the earth. “Thus I establish My covenant with you: Never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood; never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” And God said: “This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you, and every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations: “I set My rainbow in the cloud, and it shall be for the sign of the covenant between Me and the earth. “It shall be, when I bring a cloud over the earth, that the rainbow shall be seen in the cloud; “and I will remember My covenant which is between Me and you and every living creature of all flesh; the waters shall never aga

February 21, 2018 Wednesday “«  A Psalm of David. » To You, O LORD, I lift up my soul. O my God, I trust in You; Let me not be ashamed; Let not my enemies triumph over me. Indeed, let no one who waits on You be ashamed; Let those be ashamed who deal treacherously without cause. Show me Your ways, O LORD; Teach me Your paths. Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation; On You I wait all the day. Remember, O LORD, Your tender mercies and Your lovingkindnesses, For they are from of old. Do not remember the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions; According to Your mercy remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O LORD. Good and upright is the LORD; Therefore He teaches sinners in the way. The humble He guides in justice, And the humble He teaches His way. All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth, To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.” (Psalm 25:1-10 NKJV)             In a world where often want to believe everyone is good and they

We live in times when it seems we are surrounded by enemies and we if we are not careful our hearts become fearful as we begin to look at these problems and quit looking to God who is our hope for the victory of good.             We may think arrogantly that our problems are like no other time but as you read this prayers for the Confederate Soldier Prayer Book you will see we are not so different. A PRAYER FOR OUR ENEMIES.         O GOD, we beseech Thee, forgive and pardon our enemies, and give us that measure of Thy grace, that for their hatred we may love them; for their cursing we may bless them; for their injury we may do them good; and for their persecution we may pray for them. They have laid a net for our steps, and they have digged a pit before us; Lord, we desire not that they themselves should fall into the midst of these, but we beseech Thee keep us out of them, and deliver, establish, bless and prosper us for Thy mercy's sake in Jesus Christ our Saviour, to

February 20, 2018 Tuesday “For Christ also suffered once for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh but made alive by the Spirit, by whom also He went and preached to the spirits in prison, who formerly were disobedient, when once the Divine longsuffering waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was being prepared, in which a few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water. There is also an antitype which now saves us — baptism (not the removal of the filth of the flesh, but the answer of a good conscience toward God), through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, angels and authorities and powers having been made subject to Him.” (1Peter 3:18-22 NKJV)             In an older version of the Apostle’s Creed there is an additional line which comes from this verse.   Some may not see the importance of this line or this passage but notice the importance in that not

February 19, 2018 Monday “It came to pass in those days that Jesus came from Nazareth of Galilee, and was baptized by John in the Jordan. And immediately, coming up from the water, He saw the heavens parting and the Spirit descending upon Him like a dove. Then a voice came from heaven, “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Immediately the Spirit drove Him into the wilderness. And He was there in the wilderness forty days, tempted by Satan, and was with the wild beasts; and the angels ministered to Him. Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.”” (Mark 1:9-15 NKJV)             Mark is full of immediates and coming to pass.   There is an energy and almost an emergency to Mark’s writing of what many believe is the first Gospel written for a rapidly growing and expanding Church.             “It cam

February 18, 2018 Sunday “Then He took the twelve aside and said to them, “Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man will be accomplished.” (Luke 18:31 NKJV)             As we begin Lent we start our journey to Jerusalem and the cross just as Jesus and the twelve did year ago.   This journey must be made!   There is no way to get to redemption and glorification without traveling through the time of Lent.             Do not waste your time arguing just get started on your journey, for we do not want to be late for our own cross which leads to more than we could ever hope or dream for! Lent Often seen as a time to Leave behind or quit Is really a time forward Recovering loving God It is a time of preparation It is a time of anticipation It is a time of participation It is a time for glorification A journey of relenting Giving up all that is past Giving up to God’s

February 17, 2018 Saturday “And He entered the synagogue again, and a man was there who had a withered hand. So they watched Him closely, whether He would heal him on the Sabbath, so that they might accuse Him. And He said to the man who had the withered hand, “Step forward.” Then He said to them, “Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to kill?” But they kept silent. And when He had looked around at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, He said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” And he stretched it out, and his hand was restored as whole as the other. Then the Pharisees went out and immediately plotted with the Herodians against Him, how they might destroy Him.” (Mark 3:1-6 NKJV)             There is so much sadness in this passage on so many different levels it becomes a pain within a pain.   There is so much hurt of which most is intentional that is more striking coming from “religious” people.             Fir

February 16, 2018 Friday “Now it happened that He went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and as they went His disciples began to pluck the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to Him, “Look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?” But He said to them, “Have you never read what David did when he was in need and hungry, he and those with him: “how he went into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest, and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him?” And He said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. “Therefore the Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.”” (Mark 2:23-28 NKJV)             Many times when people challenged or questioned Jesus the response was a quote from scripture.   It is amazing that Jesus (the Living Word of God) who had all authority should choose to quote the Bible (the written word of God) as His authority.         

February 15, 2018 Thursday “Then He went out again by the sea; and all the multitude came to Him, and He taught them. As He passed by, He saw Levi the son of Alphaeus sitting at the tax office. And He said to him, “Follow Me.” So he arose and followed Him. Now it happened, as He was dining in Levi’s house, that many tax collectors and sinners also sat together with Jesus and His disciples; for there were many, and they followed Him. And when the scribes and Pharisees saw Him eating with the tax collectors and sinners, they said to His disciples, “How is it that He eats and drinks with tax collectors and sinners?” When Jesus heard it , He said to them, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners, to repentance.” The disciples of John and of the Pharisees were fasting. Then they came and said to Him, “Why do the disciples of John and of the Pharisees fast, but Your disciples do not fast?” And Jesus sa

Today I heard about the shooting in Florida at a school.   The death and violence happens so much we are no longer as shocked or as frightened by it.   That is so sad.             After a shooting that took place when I was still in the pastoral ministry people asked me if God cares about these shootings.   “Does God not care that these kids die?”             As I said before I want to say for others to hear, God does care! How can you know God cares?             Every pain experienced by everyone involved in the shooting in Florida, even the shooter, was paid for by Jesus on the cross.   And not just this act of evil but every act ever done, every act being done now and every act that will be done in the future!             On the cross as the nails pierced the flesh of Jesus, as the blood flowed and pain screamed from the lashes on His broken body, as the horrific thorns ripped at His scalp and skull every sin, every shooting, every victim, every criminal and every grie

February 14, 2018 Wednesday ““Take heed that you do not do your charitable deeds before men, to be seen by them. Otherwise you have no reward from your Father in heaven. “Therefore, when you do a charitable deed, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory from men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But when you do a charitable deed, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, “that your charitable deed may be in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will Himself reward you openly. “And when you pray, you shall not be like the hypocrites. For they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by men. Assuredly, I say to you, they have their reward. “But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place ; and your Father who sees in secret will reward