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247th Week Leviticus Intro - Chapter 4 (Click on Title for Video Introducction)

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Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Leviticus Intro Leviticus Intro Tanya Ruden THOUGHT I am going to just do a short little introduction to the book of Leviticus including a couple of fun facts.  The word holiness is used the most in this book of the Bible than any other. What a great reminder this is to us.  Sometimes this is a quality of God we may overlook.  We think more of His power and knowledge, but it is good to remember his ultimate holiness. Also this book is about worship. Moses and his gang hung out under Mt. Sinai for two years, and this book is about their stay there, their worship in the tent, sacrifices and other experiences. Something I read mentioned that this book also has celebrations in it, feasts they had and fun worship experiences which I am excited about finding out more. Worship can be a celebration.  It is not something I often associate with the Old Testament, but it will be fun to get that perspective. PRAYER Jesus, I pray that You wi...

246TH Week, Psalm Chapters 87-89 and Jude Intro - Chapter 1 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

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  Click on title for Video Intro Monday, Psalm Chapter 87 Psalm 87 Verse 1 Jane Jones Verse 1:  He has set his foundation on the holy mountain; THOUGHT This Psalm looks ahead to the Holy City of God. The honor of living there will be granted to all whose names are recorded in the Lamb’s book of life. It is God’s grace that forms and sustains this wonderful community. How could anyone refuse God’s offer to be part of this celebration? It is the perfect time of year to start focusing on our lives if we are truly preparing for the celebration of going home. In Revelation we read in 21:23 that the city we will be going to does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it.  The Glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp.  Wow!! I can only imagine. Let’s work on getting our names written in the Lamb’s book of life. Let’s be the hands and feet of Jesus. PRAYER We thank You, Lord, for Your grace. We thank You, Lord, that You are preparing a place for us on the Holy...

245th Week, Psalm Chapters 82-86 (Click on title for Video Intorduction)

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  Click on Title for Video Introduction Monday, Psalm Chapter 82 Psalm 82 Verses 3-4 Delores Little Verses 3-4:  Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed. Rescue the weak and needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked. THOUGHT This passage reminds me of what Jesus said in Matt. 25:31-40.  When Christ drew us to Him, and we accepted Him, we have these calls on our life to do what His Word tells us to do. Last Tuesday one of the men from our church who helps at Open Doors told us that for the Thanksgiving meal alone they need over 1,000 or more turkey’s to feed the people who come there for meals.  The count of needed meals is in the thousands.   We are to reach out to the weak and fatherless, poor and oppressed, weak and needy. Truly it is more blessed to give than to receive. PRAYER Father, there are so many needy families and people in our world.  We ask You by the Holy Spirit to help us be those ...

244th Week, Psalm Chapters 77-81 ( Click on Title for Video Introduction)

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  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Psalm Chapter 77 Psalm 77 Verse 14 Jeanie Boldt Verse 14:  You are the God who performs miracles,                You display your power among the peoples. THOUGHT This verse is referring to the miracle that the Lord did by parting the Red Sea. If you remember, God kept the people waiting by the Red Sea. It was nighttime, and the deliverance came just in the nick of time. The people were afraid and certain that God had forgotten them, but He showed His power and humiliated the enemy.  I am sure that each of you have a miracle of your own that you could share. Last week our friend Rich was very anxious and worried about his father who was having open heart surgery. It was quite critical, and his father knew that there was a chance that he would not make it. There were prayer groups all over Omaha.  Rory and I, Mom and Jane had been praying for him for about 2 weeks. The day, Halloween, cam...

243rd Week, Proverbs 27-31 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

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  Click on Title for Video Introduction Monday, Proverbs Chapter 27 Proverbs 27 Verse 19 Tanya Ruden Verse 19:  As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.   THOUGHT Enough said.  Just kidding.  Isn’t it true; our actions reflect who we are more than our name, our family tree, our job?  They explain a little about where we come from or a little about our personality, but they aren’t who we truly are.  We can break free of stereotypes due to things like our name through our actions/our heart.  We become known by our actions and the reasons behind those actions.  Are we self-serving or serving others and God?  The neat thing I like about the verse is that if Jesus lives in your heart and your heart reflects ‘the man’, then you are reflecting Jesus, in whose likeness we were made.  Neat – Enough said.   PRAYER Dear Jesus, You live in us and shine a light so bright no darkness can overcome it.  You l...

242nd Week, Proverbs chapters 22-26 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

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  Click on Title for Video Intro Monday, Proverbs Chapter 22 Proverbs 22 Verse 2 Mindy Strayer Verse 2:  The rich and the poor have a common bond; the Lord is the maker of them all. THOUGHT I have a story to tell that I think helps to illustrate this. I work with a nurse named B. She was telling me a story at lunch one day about how her and another nurse I work with, S, became friends. I’ll paraphrase B’s words but put them in quotes as if you were hearing her tell the story. To put this into context, B is an African American woman, and S is a Vietnamese woman. “Well, S and I didn’t get along when she first came to Harbor View. Oh no, we did not. No, I didn’t like S. You see I had a Vietnamese man assault me when I was younger, and I had a prejudice against the Vietnamese that I thought was justified. I didn’t like the way she looked, the way she spoke, the way she carried herself, or the way she approached nursing. I gave her a hard time. If she did something in a way that I ...

241st Week, II Chronicles Chapters 34-36 & Proverbs Chapters 20 & 21 (Click on Title for Video Introduction)

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  Click on title for Video Intro Monday, II Chronicles Chapter 34 II Chronicles 34 Verse 31 Jeanie Boldt Verse 31:  The king stood by his pillar and renewed the covenant in the presence of the Lord - to follow the Lord and keep his commands, regulations and decrees with all his heart and all his soul, and to obey the words of the covenant written in this book. THOUGHT When Josiah read the book that Hilkiah discovered, he responded with repentance and humility and promised to follow God’s commands as written in the book. The Bible is God’s Word to us “LIVING AND ACTIVE”.  We cannot know what God wants us to do if we do not read it.  We then must be willing to do what it says. Let’s devote our thoughts to God’s Word today. FIND THE BOOK:  The greatest treasure you have is not money but the Word of God, which too often is “lost” amid the “rubbish” you can easily accumulate. Do you treasure God’s Word? Is it buried somewhere? READ THE BOOK: God’s Word is not a relic...