Joshua 24:14-18 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/29/2015)...

"It is never to late to be what you might have been."

- George Eliot

Joshua 24:14-18 (NLT) ""So fear the LORD and serve him wholeheartedly. Put away forever the idols your ancestors worshiped when they lived beyond the Euphrates River and in Egypt. Serve the LORD alone. But if you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.” 

The people replied, “We would never abandon the LORD and serve other gods. For the LORD our God is the one who rescued us and our ancestors from slavery in the land of Egypt. He performed mighty miracles before our very eyes. As we traveled through the wilderness among our enemies, he preserved us. It was the LORD who drove out the Amorites and the other nations living here in the land. So we, too, will serve the LORD, for he alone is our God.””

John 14:1-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/28/2015)...

"If you don't know where you're going, you might not get there."

- Yogi Berra

John 14:1-7 (NLT) ""Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. And you know the way to where I am going.” 

"No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 

Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. If you had really known me, you would know who my Father is. From now on, you do know him and have seen him!””

Psalm 26:2 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/24/2015)...

“God never measures the mind…He always put His tape measure in the HEART”

- Corrie ten Boom

Psalms 26:2 (NLT) Put me on trial, LORD, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.

John 14:15 (NLT)..;

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/23/2015)...

“Don’t bother to give God instructions; just report for duty.”
- Corrie ten Boom

  John 14:15 (NLT) “If you love me, obey my commandments.”

John 15:14 (NLT) “You are my friends if you do what I command.”

Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/22/2015)...

"Sometimes the actions of God's government may appear to move slowly, but sooner or later they are sure. Often-times this is overlooked. [People] take too short a view...It is in sequel that God is vindicated. History in fragments denies God, but history as a whole is seen to be His story."

- Arthur Pink (Gleanings In Genesis)

Ecclesiastes 8:9-13 (NLT) “I have thought deeply about all that goes on here under the sun, where people have the power to hurt each other. I have seen wicked people buried with honor. Yet they were the very ones who frequented the Temple and are now praised in the same city where they committed their crimes! This, too, is meaningless. When a crime is not punished quickly, people feel it is safe to do wrong. But even though a person sins a hundred times and still lives a long time, I know that those who fear God will be better off. The wicked will not prosper, for they do not fear God. Their days will never grow long like the evening shadows.”

2 Corinthians 5:10 (NLT) "For we must all stand before Christ to be judged. We will each receive whatever we deserve for the good or evil we have done in this earthly body.”

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/21/2015)...

Love gives.

Lust takes.

Love waits.

Lust won't.

Love is patient.

Lust is pressure.

Lust says now.

Love says no.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NLT) Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Romans 8:38-39 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/18/2015)...

“Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day. You shall begin it serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense.”

- Ralph Waldo Emerson

Romans 8:38-39 (NLT) "And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

James 1:12-15 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/17/2015)...

“I generally avoid temptation unless I can't resist it.”

- Mae West

James 1:12-15 (NLT) God blesses those who patiently endure testing and temptation. Afterward they will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him. And remember, when you are being tempted, do not say, “God is tempting me.” God is never tempted to do wrong, and he never tempts anyone else. Temptation comes from our own desires, which entice us and drag us away. These desires give birth to sinful actions. And when sin is allowed to grow, it gives birth to death.

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/16/2015)...

“I'd rather be a 'could-be' if I cannot be an 'are' because a 'could-be' is a 'maybe' who is reaching for a star. I'd rather be a 'has-been' than a 'might-have-been' by far; for a 'might-have-been' has never been, but a 'has' was once an 'are.”

- Milton Berle

Ephesians 3:20 (NLT) "Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.”

Romans 5:3-4 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/15/2015)...

“If you have made mistakes, even serious mistakes, you may have a fresh start any moment you choose, for this thing we call "failure" is not the falling down, but the staying down."

- Mary Pickford (Actress and co-founder of United Artists)

Romans 5:3-4 (NLT) We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.

Galatians 5:13-15 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/14/2015)...

"The vulture that was eating his vitals was raised in his own nest."

- R. Kent Hughes (Genesis, Beginning and Blessing)

Galatians 5:13-15 (NLT) "For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.”

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/9/2015)...

I've got all the money I'll ever need, if I die by four o'clock.

- Henny Youngman

1 Timothy 6:6-10 (NLT) “Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth. After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it. So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 

But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.”

James 4:13-15 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/8/2015)...

I knew I was going to take the wrong train, so I left early.

- Yogi Berra

James 4:13-15 (NLT) Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.””

Romans 12:6-11 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/7/2015)...

Life is like a ten-speed bicycle. Most of us have gears we never use.

- Charles Schulz

Romans 12:6-11 (NLT) In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you. If your gift is serving others, serve them well. If you are a teacher, teach well. If your gift is to encourage others, be encouraging. If it is giving, give generously. If God has given you leadership ability, take the responsibility seriously. And if you have a gift for showing kindness to others, do it gladly. 

Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. Never be lazy, but work hard and serve the Lord enthusiastically.

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

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/4/2015)...

"Our greatest fear should not be of failure, but of succeeding at things in life that don't really matter."

- Francis Chan

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.”

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/3/2015)...

"We are all faced with a series of great opportunities brilliantly disguised as impossible situations."

- Chuck Swindoll

2 Corinthians 12:7-10 (NLT) ...So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud. Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

John 16:33 (NLT)...

FROM TODAY'S READING (9/1/2015)...

An obstacle is often a stepping stone.

- William Prescott

John 16:33 (NLT) I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows. But take heart, because I have overcome the world.

1 John 5:4 (NLT) “For every child of God defeats this evil world, and we achieve this victory through our faith.”