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Thursday, January 31, 2019

Luke 12:6-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/31/2019)...

“When you start seeing your worth, you’ll find it harder to stay around people who don’t.”
Unknown Author

Luke 12:6-7 (NLT) What is the price of five sparrows—two copper coins? Yet God does not forget a single one of them. And the very hairs on your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are more valuable to God than a whole flock of sparrows.

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Wednesday, January 30, 2019

1 Thessalonians 5:11-23 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/30/2019)...

ENCOURAGER'S CHECKLIST (edited from Life Application Bible Notes)...The command to "encourage" others is found throughout the Bible. In 1 Thessalonians 5:11-23, Paul gives many specific examples of how we can encourage others.
- Build each other up (11)
- Honor leaders (12)
- Show leaders great respect (13)
- Live in peace (13)
- Warn the lazy (14)
- Encourage the timid (14)
- Help the weak (14)
- Be patient (14)
- Resist revenge (15)
- Be joyful (16)
- Pray continually (17)
- Give thanks (18)
- Do not stifle the Holy Spirit (19)
- Do not scoff at prophecies (20)
- Avoid every kind of evil (22)

1 Thessalonians 5:11-23 (NLT)...
11. So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. 
12. Dear brothers and sisters, honor those who are your leaders in the Lord’s work. They work hard among you and give you spiritual guidance. 
13. Show them great respect and wholehearted love because of their work. And live peacefully with each other. 
14. Brothers and sisters, we urge you to warn those who are lazy. Encourage those who are timid. Take tender care of those who are weak. Be patient with everyone. 
15. See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. 
16. Always be joyful. 
17. Never stop praying. 
18. Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus. 
19. Do not stifle the Holy Spirit. 
20. Do not scoff at prophecies, 
21. but test everything that is said. Hold on to what is good. 
22. Stay away from every kind of evil. 
23. Now may the God of peace make you holy in every way, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.


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Tuesday, January 29, 2019

Romans 8:18-19, 26-28 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/29/2019)...

“Sometimes when we are suffering heartbreak, tragedy, disappointment, frustration, and bereavement, we wonder what good can come out of it....Our lives are not controlled by impersonal forces such as chance, luck, or fate, but by our wonderful, personal Lord, who is ‘too loving to be unkind and too wise to err.”
Wm McDonald (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

Romans 8:18-19, 26-28 (NLT) Yet what we suffer now is nothing compared to the glory he will reveal to us later. For all creation is waiting eagerly for that future day when God will reveal who his children really are.
And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will. And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.



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Monday, January 28, 2019

1 Timothy 4:7-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/28/2019)...

THE SEVEN SOCIAL SINS
1. Wealth without work.
2. Pleasure without conscience.
3. Knowledge without character.
4. Commerce without morality.
5. Science without humanity.
6. Worship without sacrifice.
7. Politics without principle.
Gandhi (“The Young India” newspaper, October 22, 1925)

1 Timothy 4:7-10 (NLT) Do not waste time arguing over godless ideas and old wives’ tales. Instead, train yourself to be godly. “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.” This is a trustworthy saying, and everyone should accept it. This is why we work hard and continue to struggle, for our hope is in the living God, who is the Savior of all people and particularly of all believers.



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Friday, January 25, 2019

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/25/2019)...

“The early bird gets the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese.”
Author Unknown

Ephesians 5:15-20 (NLT) So be careful how you live. Don’t live like fools, but like those who are wise. Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days. Don’t act thoughtlessly, but understand what the Lord wants you to do. Don’t be drunk with wine, because that will ruin your life. Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts. And give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.



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Thursday, January 24, 2019

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (The Message)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/24/2019)...

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”
Charles Schulz

1 Thessalonians 5:1-11 (The Message) I don’t think, friends, that I need to deal with the question of when all this is going to happen. You know as well as I that the day of the Master’s coming can’t be posted on our calendars. He won’t call ahead and make an appointment any more than a burglar would. About the time everybody’s walking around complacently, congratulating each other—“We’ve sure got it made! Now we can take it easy!”—suddenly everything will fall apart. It’s going to come as suddenly and inescapably as birth pangs to a pregnant woman.

But friends, you’re not in the dark, so how could you be taken off guard by any of this? You’re sons of Light, daughters of Day. We live under wide open skies and know where we stand. So let’s not sleepwalk through life like those others. Let’s keep our eyes open and be smart. People sleep at night and get drunk at night. But not us! Since we’re creatures of Day, let’s act like it. Walk out into the daylight sober, dressed up in faith, love, and the hope of salvation.

God didn’t set us up for an angry rejection but for salvation by our Master, Jesus Christ. He died for us, a death that triggered life. Whether we’re awake with the living or asleep with the dead, we’re alive with him! So speak encouraging words to one another. Build up hope so you’ll all be together in this, no one left out, no one left behind. I know you’re already doing this; just keep on doing it.


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Wednesday, January 23, 2019

Job 37:15-18 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/23/2019)...

“The latest authority among men of science says that little is known of the causes which balance the clouds in the air. They are formed of water, and water, however minutely divided or blown into bubbles, is always heavier than the air. And yet these flying fountains of all the rivers of earth, these armed and thundering legions of the storm, that beat down the forests with hail and bury the mountains in snow, and flood the plains with water, go floating over us at vast heights with all their mighty magazines when all our philosophy would require them to sink to the earth.”
Daniel March, "The Balancings of the Clouds (1869)

Job 37:15-18 (NLT) Do you know how God controls the storm and causes the lightning to flash from his clouds? Do you understand how he moves the clouds with wonderful perfection and skill? When you are sweltering in your clothes and the south wind dies down and everything is still, he makes the skies reflect the heat like a bronze mirror. Can you do that?

Psalms 104:1-9 (NLT) Let all that I am praise the Lord. O Lord my God, how great you are! You are robed with honor and majesty. You are dressed in a robe of light. You stretch out the starry curtain of the heavens; you lay out the rafters of your home in the rain clouds. You make the clouds your chariot; you ride upon the wings of the wind. The winds are your messengers; flames of fire are your 
servants. 
You placed the world on its foundation so it would never be moved. You clothed the earth with floods of water, water that covered even the mountains. At your command, the water fled; at the sound of your thunder, it hurried away. Mountains rose and valleys sank to the levels you decreed. Then you set a firm boundary for the seas, so they would never again cover the earth.



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Tuesday, January 22, 2019

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/22)2019)...

“Life laughs at you when you are unhappy. Life smiles at you when you are happy. But, Life salutes you when you make others happy.” Charlie Chaplin

1 Thessalonians 5:15-18 (NLT) See that no one pays back evil for evil, but always try to do good to each other and to all people. 
Always be joyful. 
Never stop praying. 
Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.”



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Monday, January 21, 2019

Psalm 34:12-14 (NLT)

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/21/2019)...

“Although time seems to fly, it never travels faster than one day at a time. Each day is a new opportunity to live your life to the fullest. In each waking day, you will find scores of blessing and opportunities for positive change. Do not let your today be stolen by the unchangeable past or the indefinite future! Today is new day ! Good Morning ” 
Steve Maraboli

Psalms 34:12-14 (NLT) Does anyone want to live a life that is long and prosperous? Then keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies! Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.



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Friday, January 18, 2019

Proverbs 16:16 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/18/2019)...

“When a person with money meets a person with experience, the one with experience ends up with the money and the one with money leaves with experience. Experience isn’t always fun, but it can be valuable.”
John Maxwell (Doing Big Things For God, 1993)

Ecclesiastes 7:11-12 (NLT) Wisdom is even better when you have money. Both are a benefit as you go through life. Wisdom and money can get you almost anything, but only wisdom can save your life.

Proverbs 16:16 (NLT) How much better to get wisdom than gold, and good judgment than silver!



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Thursday, January 17, 2019

Luke 14:7-11 (The Message)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/17/2019)...

“One nice thing you can say about egotists: They don’t talk about other people.”
Unknown Author

Luke 14:7-11 (The Message) He (Jesus) went on to tell a story to the guests around the table. Noticing how each had tried to elbow into the place of honor, he said, “When someone invites you to dinner, don’t take the place of honor. Somebody more important than you might have been invited by the host. Then he’ll come and call out in front of everybody, ‘You’re in the wrong place. The place of honor belongs to this man.’ Red-faced, you’ll have to make your way to the very last table, the only place left.
When you’re invited to dinner, go and sit at the last place. Then when the host comes he may very well say, ‘Friend, come up to the front.’ That will give the dinner guests something to talk about! What I’m saying is, If you walk around with your nose in the air, you’re going to end up flat on your face. But if you’re content to be simply yourself, you will become more than yourself.”



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Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Romans 12:2 (The Message)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/16/2019)...


“When you say yes to one thing, that means you say no to something else. You can’t do everything.”

Pam Tillis


Romans 12:1-2 (The Message) So here’s what I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what he wants from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you.



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Tuesday, January 15, 2019

2 Corinthians 11.3 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/15/2019)...


“If you see a snake, just kill it. Don’t appoint a committee on snakes.”

Ross Perot


“When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble.


2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT) But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent.


Proverbs 4:12, 14-17 (NLT) Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers. Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way. Turn away and keep moving. For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day. They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble. They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!



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Monday, January 14, 2019

Psalm 90:12 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/14/2019)...


“Birthdays are nice to have, but too many of them will kill you.”

Unknown Origin


Psalms 90:12 (NLT) Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.



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Friday, January 11, 2019

John 3:16-17 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/11)2019)...


“God proved His love on the Cross. When Christ hung, and bled, and died. It was God saying to the world, ‘I love you.’”

Billy Graham


John 3:16-17 (NLT) For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.


Romans 5:8-11 (NLT) But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.



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Thursday, January 10, 2019

John 3:16 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/10/2019)...


O, Jesus if I die upon

A foreign field someday,

'Twould be no more than love demands,

No less could I repay,

"No greater love hath mortal man

Than for a friend to die"

These are the words He gently spoke to me,

"If just a cup of water

I place within your hand

Then just a cup of water

Is all that I demand."

But if by death to living

They can Thy glory see,

I'll take my cross and follow close to Thee.

by Ira F. Stamphill (1953) “Follow Me”


Galatians 2:20 (NLT) My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.



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Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/9/2019)...


"I work so hard for Jesus," 

I often boast and say,

"I've sacrificed a lot of things

To walk the narrow way,

I gave up fame and fortune;

I'm worth a lot to Thee,"

And then I hear Him gently say to me,

"I left the throne of glory

And counted it but loss,

My hands were nailed in anger

Upon a cruel cross, 

But now we'll make the journey

With your hand safe in Mine,

So lift your cross and follow close to Me."

by Ira F. Stamphill (1953) “Follow Me”


Matthew 16:24-26 (NLT) Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will save it. And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul? Is anything worth more than your soul?”



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Tuesday, January 8, 2019

John 19:16-17 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/8/2019)...


I traveled down a lonely road

And no one seemed to care,

The burden on my weary back

Had bowed me to despair,

I oft complained to Jesus

How folks were treating me,

And then I heard Him say so tenderly.

"My feet were also weary, 

Upon the Calvary road;

The cross became so heavy,

I fell beneath the load,

Be faithful, weary pilgrim,

The morning I can see,

Just lift your cross and follow close to me.”

by Ira F. Stamphill (1953) “Follow Me”


John 19:16-17 (NLT) Then Pilate turned Jesus over to them to be crucified. So they took Jesus away. Carrying the cross by himself, he went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew, Golgotha ).


Matthew 27:32-33 (NLT) Along the way, they came across a man named Simon, who was from Cyrene, and the soldiers forced him to carry Jesus’ cross. And they went out to a place called Golgotha (which means “Place of the Skull”).



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Monday, January 7, 2019

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/7/2019)...


“Bad habits are the unlocked door to failure.”

Oh Mandino 


1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT) Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.



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Thursday, January 3, 2019

Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/3/2019)...


NEW YEAR THOT...


“If you read history you will find that the Christians who did most for the present world were just those who thought most of the next … Aim at Heaven and you will get earth 'thrown in': aim at earth and you will get neither.”

—C. S. Lewis (1898–1963) “Mere Christianity”


Hebrews 12:1-4 (NLT) Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith. Because of the joy awaiting him, he endured the cross, disregarding its shame. Now he is seated in the place of honor beside God’s throne. Think of all the hostility he endured from sinful people; then you won’t become weary and give up. After all, you have not yet given your lives in your struggle against sin.



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Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Psalm 16:1-2, 7-8, 11 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY’S READING (1/2/2019)...


NEW YEAR THOT...


“If you knew success was a certainty, what would you attempt to do?”

Unknown Origin


Psalms 16:1-2, 7-8, 11 (NLT) “Keep me safe, O God, for I have come to you for refuge.” I said to the Lord, “You are my Master! Every good thing I have comes from you.”

I will bless the Lord who guides me; even at night my heart instructs me. I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me.

You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.



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