April 25, 2018

Better than "The Ultimate Gift" by Gary Rose


Yesterday afternoon, I watched one of the very best movies I can remember. With a title like "The Ultimate Gift" the movie could have been just about money and of course money was involved. I won't tell you the plot, but I can tell you that it was rated PG and was worth every single minute of the time I spent watching it!!!

I thought: Is there anything better than the ultimate gift? My answer to this question is found in the book of Luke...


Luke, Chapter 2 (World English Bible)
  1 Now in those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be enrolled.
  2 This was the first enrollment made when Quirinius was governor of Syria.
  3 All went to enroll themselves, everyone to his own city.
  4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to David’s city, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and family of David;
  5 to enroll himself with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him as wife, being pregnant. 

  6 While they were there, the day had come for her to give birth.
  7 She gave birth to her firstborn son. She wrapped him in bands of cloth, and laid him in a feeding trough, because there was no room for them in the inn.
  8 There were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.
  9 Behold, an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.
  10 The angel said to them, “Don’t be afraid, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be to all the people.
  11 For there is born to you today, in David’s city, a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
  12 This is the sign to you: you will find a baby wrapped in strips of cloth, lying in a feeding trough.”
  13 Suddenly, there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly army praising God, and saying, 

  14 “Glory to God in the highest, 
on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

  15 When the angels went away from them into the sky, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem, now, and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has made known to us.”
  16 They came with haste, and found both Mary and Joseph, and the baby was lying in the feeding trough.
  17 When they saw it, they publicized widely the saying which was spoken to them about this child.
  18 All who heard it wondered at the things which were spoken to them by the shepherds.
  19 But Mary kept all these sayings, pondering them in her heart.
  20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, just as it was told them. 



OK, this tale has been told countless times, but the thing is: Jesus came into the world to save everyone. This includes every single person who every lived. Sounds hard to imagine, but its true! Everyone! 

So, what do I do? Believe God's Good News, repent of sins, confess Jesus as the LORD of your life and follow HIM faithfully for as long as you are on this earth! Don't try to do it alone, find other Christians that use the Bible as their one and only guide to reproducing the church of the first century and faithfully worship in spirit and truth.

Don't take my word for it- open your Bible and read for yourself. Here are some verses to get you started... Acts 2:14ff; 1Corinthians 15:1-4; John 8:24; Luke 13:1-5; Matthew 10:32f.; Acts 2:38-41, 22:16; Romans 6:1-6; 1 Corinthians 12:13; Galatians 3:23-28; John 4:24; Hebrews 3:6; Revelation 2:8-11.

I know, looking up all those verses is a lot of work, but finding something better than "The Ultimate Gift" is well worth your time!!!

Bible Reading April 25-26 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading April 25-26
World English Bible

Apr. 25
Deuteronomy 5, 6

Deu 5:1 Moses called to all Israel, and said to them, Hear, Israel, the statutes and the ordinances which I speak in your ears this day, that you may learn them, and observe to do them.
Deu 5:2 Yahweh our God made a covenant with us in Horeb.
Deu 5:3 Yahweh didn't make this covenant with our fathers, but with us, even us, who are all of us here alive this day.
Deu 5:4 Yahweh spoke with you face to face on the mountain out of the midst of the fire,
Deu 5:5 (I stood between Yahweh and you at that time, to show you the word of Yahweh: for you were afraid because of the fire, and didn't go up onto the mountain;) saying,
Deu 5:6 "I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Deu 5:7 You shall have no other gods before me.
Deu 5:8 "You shall not make an engraved image for yourself, nor any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Deu 5:9 you shall not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them; for I, Yahweh, your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, and on the third and on the fourth generation of those who hate me;
Deu 5:10 and showing loving kindness to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.
Deu 5:11 "You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain: for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Deu 5:12 "Observe the Sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Yahweh your God commanded you.
Deu 5:13 You shall labor six days, and do all your work;
Deu 5:14 but the seventh day is a Sabbath to Yahweh your God, in which you shall not do any work, you, nor your son, nor your daughter, nor your male servant, nor your female servant, nor your ox, nor your donkey, nor any of your livestock, nor your stranger who is within your gates; that your male servant and your female servant may rest as well as you.
Deu 5:15 You shall remember that you were a servant in the land of Egypt, and Yahweh your God brought you out of there by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Yahweh your God commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Deu 5:16 "Honor your father and your mother, as Yahweh your God commanded you; that your days may be long, and that it may go well with you, in the land which Yahweh your God gives you.
Deu 5:17 "You shall not murder.
Deu 5:18 "Neither shall you commit adultery.
Deu 5:19 "Neither shall you steal.
Deu 5:20 "Neither shall you give false testimony against your neighbor.
Deu 5:21 "Neither shall you covet your neighbor's wife; neither shall you desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his male servant, or his female servant, his ox, or his donkey, or anything that is your neighbor's."
Deu 5:22 These words Yahweh spoke to all your assembly on the mountain out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. He wrote them on two tables of stone, and gave them to me.
Deu 5:23 It happened, when you heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that you came near to me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
Deu 5:24 and you said, Behold, Yahweh our God has shown us his glory and his greatness, and we have heard his voice out of the midst of the fire: we have seen this day that God does speak with man, and he lives.
Deu 5:25 Now therefore why should we die? for this great fire will consume us: if we hear the voice of Yahweh our God any more, then we shall die.
Deu 5:26 For who is there of all flesh, that has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of the fire, as we have, and lived?
Deu 5:27 Go near, and hear all that Yahweh our God shall say: and tell us all that Yahweh our God shall tell you; and we will hear it, and do it.
Deu 5:28 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, when you spoke to me; and Yahweh said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people, which they have spoken to you: they have well said all that they have spoken.
Deu 5:29 Oh that there were such a heart in them, that they would fear me, and keep all my commandments always, that it might be well with them, and with their children forever!
Deu 5:30 Go tell them, Return to your tents.
Deu 5:31 But as for you, stand here by me, and I will tell you all the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which you shall teach them, that they may do them in the land which I give them to possess it.
Deu 5:32 You shall observe to do therefore as Yahweh your God has commanded you: you shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.
Deu 5:33 You shall walk in all the way which Yahweh your God has commanded you, that you may live, and that it may be well with you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you shall possess.

Deu 6:1 Now this is the commandment, the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh your God commanded to teach you, that you might do them in the land where you go over to possess it;
Deu 6:2 that you might fear Yahweh your God, to keep all his statutes and his commandments, which I command you, you, and your son, and your son's son, all the days of your life; and that your days may be prolonged.
Deu 6:3 Hear therefore, Israel, and observe to do it; that it may be well with you, and that you may increase mightily, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has promised to you, in a land flowing with milk and honey.
Deu 6:4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:
Deu 6:5 and you shall love Yahweh your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might.
Deu 6:6 These words, which I command you this day, shall be on your heart;
Deu 6:7 and you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.
Deu 6:8 You shall bind them for a sign on your hand, and they shall be for symbols between your eyes.
Deu 6:9 You shall write them on the door posts of your house, and on your gates.
Deu 6:10 It shall be, when Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land which he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give you, great and goodly cities, which you didn't build,
Deu 6:11 and houses full of all good things, which you didn't fill, and cisterns dug out, which you didn't dig, vineyards and olive trees, which you didn't plant, and you shall eat and be full;
Deu 6:12 then beware lest you forget Yahweh, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage.
Deu 6:13 You shall fear Yahweh your God; and you shall serve him, and shall swear by his name.
Deu 6:14 You shall not go after other gods, of the gods of the peoples who are around you;
Deu 6:15 for Yahweh your God in the midst of you is a jealous God; lest the anger of Yahweh your God be kindled against you, and he destroy you from off the face of the earth.
Deu 6:16 You shall not tempt Yahweh your God, as you tempted him in Massah.
Deu 6:17 You shall diligently keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, and his testimonies, and his statutes, which he has commanded you.
Deu 6:18 You shall do that which is right and good in the sight of Yahweh; that it may be well with you, and that you may go in and possess the good land which Yahweh swore to your fathers,
Deu 6:19 to thrust out all your enemies from before you, as Yahweh has spoken.
Deu 6:20 When your son asks you in time to come, saying, What mean the testimonies, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which Yahweh our God has commanded you?
Deu 6:21 then you shall tell your son, We were Pharaoh's bondservants in Egypt: and Yahweh brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand;
Deu 6:22 and Yahweh showed great and awesome signs and wonders on Egypt, on Pharaoh, and on all his house, before our eyes;
Deu 6:23 and he brought us out from there, that he might bring us in, to give us the land which he swore to our fathers.
Deu 6:24 Yahweh commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear Yahweh our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as at this day.
Deu 6:25 It shall be righteousness to us, if we observe to do all this commandment before Yahweh our God, as he has commanded us.

Apr. 26
Deuteronomy 7, 8

Deu 7:1 When Yahweh your God shall bring you into the land where you go to possess it, and shall cast out many nations before you, the Hittite, and the Girgashite, and the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, seven nations greater and mightier than you;
Deu 7:2 and when Yahweh your God shall deliver them up before you, and you shall strike them; then you shall utterly destroy them: you shall make no covenant with them, nor show mercy to them;
Deu 7:3 neither shall you make marriages with them; your daughter you shall not give to his son, nor shall you take his daughter for your son.
Deu 7:4 For he will turn away your son from following me, that they may serve other gods: so the anger of Yahweh would be kindled against you, and he would destroy you quickly.
Deu 7:5 But you shall deal with them like this: you shall break down their altars, and dash their pillars in pieces, and cut down their Asherim, and burn their engraved images with fire.
Deu 7:6 For you are a holy people to Yahweh your God: Yahweh your God has chosen you to be a people for his own possession, above all peoples who are on the face of the earth.
Deu 7:7 Yahweh didn't set his love on you, nor choose you, because you were more in number than any people; for you were the fewest of all peoples:
Deu 7:8 but because Yahweh loves you, and because he would keep the oath which he swore to your fathers, has Yahweh brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you out of the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.
Deu 7:9 Know therefore that Yahweh your God, he is God, the faithful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with them who love him and keep his commandments to a thousand generations,
Deu 7:10 and repays those who hate him to their face, to destroy them: he will not be slack to him who hates him, he will repay him to his face.
Deu 7:11 You shall therefore keep the commandment, and the statutes, and the ordinances, which I command you this day, to do them.
Deu 7:12 It shall happen, because you listen to these ordinances, and keep and do them, that Yahweh your God will keep with you the covenant and the loving kindness which he swore to your fathers:
Deu 7:13 and he will love you, and bless you, and multiply you; he will also bless the fruit of your body and the fruit of your ground, your grain and your new wine and your oil, the increase of your livestock and the young of your flock, in the land which he swore to your fathers to give you.
Deu 7:14 You shall be blessed above all peoples: there shall not be male or female barren among you, or among your livestock.
Deu 7:15 Yahweh will take away from you all sickness; and none of the evil diseases of Egypt, which you know, he will put on you, but will lay them on all those who hate you.
Deu 7:16 You shall consume all the peoples whom Yahweh your God shall deliver to you; your eye shall not pity them: neither shall you serve their gods; for that will be a snare to you.
Deu 7:17 If you shall say in your heart, These nations are more than I; how can I dispossess them?
Deu 7:18 you shall not be afraid of them: you shall well remember what Yahweh your God did to Pharaoh, and to all Egypt;
Deu 7:19 the great trials which your eyes saw, and the signs, and the wonders, and the mighty hand, and the outstretched arm, by which Yahweh your God brought you out: so shall Yahweh your God do to all the peoples of whom you are afraid.
Deu 7:20 Moreover Yahweh your God will send the hornet among them, until those who are left, and hide themselves, perish from before you.
Deu 7:21 You shall not be scared of them; for Yahweh your God is in the midst of you, a great and awesome God.
Deu 7:22 Yahweh your God will cast out those nations before you by little and little: you may not consume them at once, lest the animals of the field increase on you.
Deu 7:23 But Yahweh your God will deliver them up before you, and will confuse them with a great confusion, until they be destroyed.
Deu 7:24 He will deliver their kings into your hand, and you shall make their name to perish from under the sky: there shall no man be able to stand before you, until you have destroyed them.
Deu 7:25 You shall burn the engraved images of their gods with fire. You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them, nor take it for yourself, lest you be snared in it; for it is an abomination to Yahweh your God.
Deu 7:26 You shall not bring an abomination into your house, and become a devoted thing like it. You shall utterly detest it, and you shall utterly abhor it; for it is a devoted thing.

Deu 8:1 You shall observe to do all the commandment which I command you this day, that you may live, and multiply, and go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers.
Deu 8:2 You shall remember all the way which Yahweh your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, to prove you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments, or not.
Deu 8:3 He humbled you, and allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna, which you didn't know, neither did your fathers know; that he might make you know that man does not live by bread only, but by everything that proceeds out of the mouth of Yahweh does man live.
Deu 8:4 Your clothing didn't grow old on you, neither did your foot swell, these forty years.
Deu 8:5 You shall consider in your heart that as a man chastens his son, so Yahweh your God chastens you.
Deu 8:6 You shall keep the commandments of Yahweh your God, to walk in his ways, and to fear him.
Deu 8:7 For Yahweh your God brings you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of springs, and underground water flowing into valleys and hills;
Deu 8:8 a land of wheat and barley, and vines and fig trees and pomegranates; a land of olive trees and honey;
Deu 8:9 a land in which you shall eat bread without scarceness, you shall not lack anything in it; a land whose stones are iron, and out of whose hills you may dig copper.
Deu 8:10 You shall eat and be full, and you shall bless Yahweh your God for the good land which he has given you.
Deu 8:11 Beware lest you forget Yahweh your God, in not keeping his commandments, and his ordinances, and his statutes, which I command you this day:
Deu 8:12 lest, when you have eaten and are full, and have built goodly houses, and lived therein;
Deu 8:13 and when your herds and your flocks multiply, and your silver and your gold is multiplied, and all that you have is multiplied;
Deu 8:14 then your heart be lifted up, and you forget Yahweh your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage;
Deu 8:15 who led you through the great and terrible wilderness, in which were fiery serpents and scorpions, and thirsty ground where there was no water; who brought you forth water out of the rock of flint;
Deu 8:16 who fed you in the wilderness with manna, which your fathers didn't know; that he might humble you, and that he might prove you, to do you good at your latter end:
Deu 8:17 and lest you say in your heart, My power and the might of my hand has gotten me this wealth.
Deu 8:18 But you shall remember Yahweh your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth; that he may establish his covenant which he swore to your fathers, as at this day.
Deu 8:19 It shall be, if you shall forget Yahweh your God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that you shall surely perish.
Deu 8:20 As the nations that Yahweh makes to perish before you, so you shall perish; because you wouldn't listen to the voice of Yahweh your God.
 
Apr. 24, 25
Luke 14

Luk 14:1 It happened, when he went into the house of one of the rulers of the Pharisees on a Sabbath to eat bread, that they were watching him.
Luk 14:2 Behold, a certain man who had dropsy was in front of him.
Luk 14:3 Jesus, answering, spoke to the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?"
Luk 14:4 But they were silent. He took him, and healed him, and let him go.
Luk 14:5 He answered them, "Which of you, if your son or an ox fell into a well, wouldn't immediately pull him out on a Sabbath day?"
Luk 14:6 They couldn't answer him regarding these things.
Luk 14:7 He spoke a parable to those who were invited, when he noticed how they chose the best seats, and said to them,
Luk 14:8 "When you are invited by anyone to a marriage feast, don't sit in the best seat, since perhaps someone more honorable than you might be invited by him,
Luk 14:9 and he who invited both of you would come and tell you, 'Make room for this person.' Then you would begin, with shame, to take the lowest place.
Luk 14:10 But when you are invited, go and sit in the lowest place, so that when he who invited you comes, he may tell you, 'Friend, move up higher.' Then you will be honored in the presence of all who sit at the table with you.
Luk 14:11 For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted."
Luk 14:12 He also said to the one who had invited him, "When you make a dinner or a supper, don't call your friends, nor your brothers, nor your kinsmen, nor rich neighbors, or perhaps they might also return the favor, and pay you back.
Luk 14:13 But when you make a feast, ask the poor, the maimed, the lame, or the blind;
Luk 14:14 and you will be blessed, because they don't have the resources to repay you. For you will be repaid in the resurrection of the righteous."
Luk 14:15 When one of those who sat at the table with him heard these things, he said to him, "Blessed is he who will feast in the Kingdom of God!"
Luk 14:16 But he said to him, "A certain man made a great supper, and he invited many people.
Luk 14:17 He sent out his servant at supper time to tell those who were invited, 'Come, for everything is ready now.'
Luk 14:18 They all as one began to make excuses. "The first said to him, 'I have bought a field, and I must go and see it. Please have me excused.'
Luk 14:19 "Another said, 'I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I must go try them out. Please have me excused.'
Luk 14:20 "Another said, 'I have married a wife, and therefore I can't come.'
Luk 14:21 "That servant came, and told his lord these things. Then the master of the house, being angry, said to his servant, 'Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in the poor, maimed, blind, and lame.'
Luk 14:22 "The servant said, 'Lord, it is done as you commanded, and there is still room.'
Luk 14:23 "The lord said to the servant, 'Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.
Luk 14:24 For I tell you that none of those men who were invited will taste of my supper.' "
Luk 14:25 Now great multitudes were going with him. He turned and said to them,
Luk 14:26 "If anyone comes to me, and doesn't hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can't be my disciple.
Luk 14:27 Whoever doesn't bear his own cross, and come after me, can't be my disciple.
Luk 14:28 For which of you, desiring to build a tower, doesn't first sit down and count the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it?
Luk 14:29 Or perhaps, when he has laid a foundation, and is not able to finish, everyone who sees begins to mock him,
Luk 14:30 saying, 'This man began to build, and wasn't able to finish.'
Luk 14:31 Or what king, as he goes to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and consider whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand?
Luk 14:32 Or else, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends an envoy, and asks for conditions of peace.
Luk 14:33 So therefore whoever of you who doesn't renounce all that he has, he can't be my disciple.
Luk 14:34 Salt is good, but if the salt becomes flat and tasteless, with what do you season it?
Luk 14:35 It is fit neither for the soil nor for the manure pile. It is thrown out. He who has ears to hear, let him hear."

Apr. 26, 27
Luke 15

Luk 15:1 Now all the tax collectors and sinners were coming close to him to hear him.
Luk 15:2 The Pharisees and the scribes murmured, saying, "This man welcomes sinners, and eats with them."
Luk 15:3 He told them this parable.
Luk 15:4 "Which of you men, if you had one hundred sheep, and lost one of them, wouldn't leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness, and go after the one that was lost, until he found it?
Luk 15:5 When he has found it, he carries it on his shoulders, rejoicing.
Luk 15:6 When he comes home, he calls together his friends and his neighbors, saying to them, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep which was lost!'
Luk 15:7 I tell you that even so there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, than over ninety-nine righteous people who need no repentance.
Luk 15:8 Or what woman, if she had ten drachma coins, if she lost one drachma coin, wouldn't light a lamp, sweep the house, and seek diligently until she found it?
Luk 15:9 When she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors, saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the drachma which I had lost.'
Luk 15:10 Even so, I tell you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner repenting."
Luk 15:11 He said, "A certain man had two sons.
Luk 15:12 The younger of them said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of your property.' He divided his livelihood between them.
Luk 15:13 Not many days after, the younger son gathered all of this together and traveled into a far country. There he wasted his property with riotous living.
Luk 15:14 When he had spent all of it, there arose a severe famine in that country, and he began to be in need.
Luk 15:15 He went and joined himself to one of the citizens of that country, and he sent him into his fields to feed pigs.
Luk 15:16 He wanted to fill his belly with the husks that the pigs ate, but no one gave him any.
Luk 15:17 But when he came to himself he said, 'How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough to spare, and I'm dying with hunger!
Luk 15:18 I will get up and go to my father, and will tell him, "Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight.
Luk 15:19 I am no more worthy to be called your son. Make me as one of your hired servants." '
Luk 15:20 "He arose, and came to his father. But while he was still far off, his father saw him, and was moved with compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
Luk 15:21 The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven, and in your sight. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.'
Luk 15:22 "But the father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe, and put it on him. Put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet.
Luk 15:23 Bring the fattened calf, kill it, and let us eat, and celebrate;
Luk 15:24 for this, my son, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.' They began to celebrate.
Luk 15:25 "Now his elder son was in the field. As he came near to the house, he heard music and dancing.
Luk 15:26 He called one of the servants to him, and asked what was going on.
Luk 15:27 He said to him, 'Your brother has come, and your father has killed the fattened calf, because he has received him back safe and healthy.'
Luk 15:28 But he was angry, and would not go in. Therefore his father came out, and begged him.
Luk 15:29 But he answered his father, 'Behold, these many years I have served you, and I never disobeyed a commandment of yours, but you never gave me a goat, that I might celebrate with my friends.
Luk 15:30 But when this, your son, came, who has devoured your living with prostitutes, you killed the fattened calf for him.'
Luk 15:31 "He said to him, 'Son, you are always with me, and all that is mine is yours.
Luk 15:32 But it was appropriate to celebrate and be glad, for this, your brother, was dead, and is alive again. He was lost, and is found.' "