Day 190 Bible Readings – Psalm 107: 9 (ESV)

2 Kings 18, 2 King 19: 1-13, Acts 27: 13-44, Psalm 107: 1-9

Psalm 107: 9 (ESV)

“For he satisfies the longing soul, and the hungry soul he fills with good things.”

The Israelites were often in physical and spiritual need throughout their history. They first wandered in the desert after the exodus from Egypt and were often in exile from their lands. Verse 9 from Psalm 107 tells us that Father-God provided for them always, meeting their physical and spiritual needs. And just as he provided for the children of Abraham, Father-God will continue to provide for us today. We can count on the blessings of Father-God for our physical needs, but not just for survival. Father-God will also bless us with good things because of his generosity, and we will experience abundance. But more importantly, only Father-God can satisfy our deeper spiritual longings. When we put our trust in Father-God, we can experience true contentment that we will always be provided for no matter what we are going through. Since I’ve put my full trust in Father-God’s blessings through the words in the Bible, I’ve come to realize that he has blessed me throughout my life. The doubts that I often experienced about whether I even mattered to the Lord have quieted in my mind. I know I matter to Father-God and I just to have remember all the blessings and miracles he’s done in my life.

If you enjoyed reading my thoughts on this Bible verse and you’d like to experience how much you matter to the Lord, please pray this prayer out loud:

Heavenly Father, I admit that I’ve sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Right now, I‘ve received forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. I am saved in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God! Do yourself a favor and find and join a Holy Spirit filled, full Gospel, Bible-based church where you can hear the word of Father-God preached and witness the signs, wonders, and miracles that believing in Jesus Christ can bring to your life.

Day 189 Bible Readings – Acts 26: 30-32 (ESV)

2 Kings 16-17, Acts 26: 24-32, Acts 27: 1-12, Psalm 106: 40-48

Acts 26: 30-32 (ESV)

“Then the king rose, and the governor and Bernice and those who were sitting with them. And when they had withdrawn, they said to one another, “This man is doing nothing to deserve death or imprisonment.” And Agrippa said to Festus, “This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.””

In verses 30 through 32 from Acts 26, we read about the conversation between King Agrippa, Festus and Berenice after listening to Paul speak during his hearing. They agreed that there was no evidence to support the accusations against Paul for death or imprisonment. Agrippa would have set Paul free had he not appealed to Caesar. After a casual reading of these verses, you might think that Paul committed a blunder by wanting to appeal to Caesar in Rome. But Paul was following Father-God’s plan for his life and the future of the faith. During his appeal to Caesar, Paul would be able to talk about this faith and conversion to the Roman emperor, which the Lord told him to do in Acts 23: 11 (“The following night the Lord stood by him and said, “Take courage, for as you have testified to the facts about me in Jerusalem, so you must testify also in Rome.”). Paul would spread the gospel to Rome, and in the future the faith of Jesus Christ would eventually become adopted by the Roman Empire under Emperor Constantine. These verses tell us as believers in Jesus Christ, that we need to follow the guidance of the Holy Spirit and Father-God’s plan for our life. Even if it seems our actions don't matter, we must trust they're part of Father-God’s greater plan.

If you enjoyed reading my thoughts on these Bible verses and you’d like to experience the presence of Jesus Christ in your life, please pray this prayer out loud:

Heavenly Father, I admit that I’ve sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Right now, I‘ve received forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. I am saved in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God! Do yourself a favor and find and join a Holy Spirit filled, full Gospel, Bible-based church where you can hear the word of Father-God preached and witness the wonders, signs, and miracles of the presence of Jesus Christ in your life.

Day 188 Bible Readings – Acts 26: 13-15 (ESV)

2 Kings 14: 23-29, 2 Kings 15, Acts 25: 23-27, Acts 26: 1-23, Psalm 106: 32-39

Acts 26: 13-15 (ESV)

“At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.”

In verses 13 through 15 in Acts 26, Paul recounts to King Agrippa how Jesus Christ revealed himself to him when he was on the road to Damascus. I love how Christ appeared to Paul as a bright light that was so bright it made him and his whole party fall to ground. Then Christ spoke to Paul in his own Hebrew language and asked him why Paul was persecuting him. Paul was so passionate in his ways and thinking that Christ could only appear to him in a supernatural way for him to be believe in Christ. Some folks are lucky because they don’t need a supernatural experience to believe. I find myself like Paul in that I need a supernatural and physical thing to happen to me before I believe it. In the past when I used to watch people fall after an evangelist or minister touched them, I thought it was staged or fake. It wasn’t until I was born again and had an impartation by an evangelist in May that I had a “supernatural experience” like Paul, where I felt things happening in my body that I couldn’t explain or deny. That experienced changed me to the point where I began to question everything I had been taught about religion and Jesus Christ. I'm still processing it, but I know it happened and that moment made Christ feel real to me, changing me forever. In whatever way for you Christ became alive and real in your life, you know what without a doubt you were changed and transformed like Paul.

If you enjoyed reading my thoughts on these Bible verses and you’d like to feel the presence of the still living and eternal Jesus Christ in your life, please pray this prayer out loud:

Heavenly Father, I admit that I’ve sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Right now, I‘ve received forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. I am saved in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God! Do yourself a favor and find and join a Holy Spirit filled, full Gospel, Bible-based church where you can hear the word of God preached and witness the wonders, signs, and miracles in your life of the very much alive and real Jesus Christ.

Day 187 Bible Readings – 2 Kings 13: 18-19 (ESV)

2 Kings 12-13, 2 Kings 14: 1-22, Acts 25: 1-22, Psalm 106: 16-31

2 Kings 13: 18-19 (ESV)

“And he said, “Take the arrows,” and he took them. And he said to the king of Israel, “Strike the ground with them.” And he struck three times and stopped. Then the man of God was angry with him and said, “You should have struck five or six times; then you would have struck down Syria until you had made an end of it, but now you will strike down Syria only three times.””

In verses 18 and 19 from 2 Kings 13, the prophet Elisha said to King Jehoash to strike the ground with the arrows. But Jehoash struck the ground only three (3) times, which reflected his lack of faith and commitment in Elisha’s authority. Elisha became angry and rebuked King Jehoash and said that because the king only partially obeyed him, then the king would only have limited victory or Syria. Had the King fully obeyed Elisha’s words, the King would have battled Syria until he had total victory. This Bible story tells us if we only have half-hearted faith and do not completely obey the guidance of Father-God and the Holy Spirit, then we will only have limited success. If we have limited faith we will restrict God’s work in our lives. We need to have complete faith and zeal in the guidance we receive even if it seems the things that Holy Spirit is asking us to do seem insignificant and do not make sense in the natural world.

I’ve had this experience myself where Holy Spirit guided me to do something that didn’t make too much sense for what I was praying for, but I did it anyway and it turned out to be the best advice and led to the thing that I wanted. We need to have faith that whatever we are being guided to do is crucial to Father-God’ plan. Father-God wants us to have complete victory in our lives but if we only half-heartedly obey his guidance, we will only have partial victories in our lives.

If you enjoyed reading my thoughts on these Bible verses and you’d like to have Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior so you can have victory in your life, please pray this prayer out loud:

Heavenly Father, I admit that I’ve sinned. I repent. I believe in my heart you raised Jesus from the dead. I confess with my mouth Jesus is my Lord and Savior. Right now, I‘ve received forgiveness by the blood of Jesus. I am saved in Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you prayed that prayer, welcome to the family of God! Do yourself a favor and find and join a Holy Spirit filled, full Gospel, Bible-based church where you can hear the word of God preached and witness the wonders, signs, and miracles of the Lord in your life.