42: When someone is in need, Jesus says we should give to them. No one should be rejected because we don’t happen to like that person. We are not to lend with a view to profiting by it. But, we are to lend to all, even those we may dislike.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 49:1-54:7

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:5 “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not.“

Daily Tidbit: A platypus can stay in cold water for extended periods of time. Its diving suit insulates it better than the fur of a polar bear.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your patience with us. Your truth is all around us, and yet so few recognize it. We often forget Your glory, and neglect to sing Your praises. You alone are worthy of our praise. Help us to spend less time glorifying ourselves, and more time glorifying You.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a missionary family trying to secure paperwork for their children.

Personal Journal Entry #12174

41: Roman officers had the right to impress persons into service. If they had an especially large load to carry, they would make Jewish men walk for a mile with them to carry the load. The Jews would normally try to escape such treatment as soon as possible. Servile work, under the authority of a Roman, was especially embarrassing to a Jew.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 44:1-48:14

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:5 “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not.”

Daily Tidbit: Pangolins are anteaters with scale armor kind of like and armadillo.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for this day and Your blessings! You are the Source of the best things in our lives. Family is Your gift, and friends are in Your hand. Help us to be as kind to each other as You are to us. Sharing Your blessings is a blessing in itself. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a lady with a blood clot.

Personal Journal Entry #12173

40: According to the law, if one was sued and made to relinquish the ‘coat’, he had the right to retain the ‘cloak’ in every case. In other words, for one to allow the the cloak to go for security as well, one would have to give up their personal rights. Thus, Jesus is teaching us not to be constantly seeking our own retribution.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 38:1-43:5

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:5 “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once new this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not.”

Daily Tidbit: Hammerhead sharks are very interesting. There is actually a species of hammerhead called the winghead shark. This variety has such a large ‘hammer’ that it is almost half as wide as the shark is long!

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for being immutable! Everything changes so fast, it is good to know that You are always the same. I can always depend upon You to be Who You are all of the time. You don’t stop being good, wonderful, holy, faithful, loving, etc. That is a great comfort to me. No matter how much growing I need to do, You will always stay right by me and help me. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a family that just lost a loved one today.

Personal Journal Entry #12172

39: Jesus tells his hearers that they should not take personal revenge. A saint should not be a brawler. This does not mean that self-defense is a sin. Force is not to be used for personal affronts. Those who would deliver the type of blow Jesus here referred to were not trying to deliver bodily harm as much as shame and offense. This would be closely akin to not retaliating when someone spits in your face. They have no intention to kill you, or even maim you. They just want to rile you. Personal revenge for this is wrong.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 36:1-37:40

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:5 “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterwards destroyed them that believed not.”

Daily Tidbit: I saw some penguins yesterday. I noticed that, when they cam out of the water, they would stand and hold their wings out for a while. The attendant told me that they were drying off that way. Fascinating!

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your wisdom and truth. It is good to have a foundation for our lives. You give us a starting point for our understanding of the world. You are so intelligent and skilled! Give us truth for our daily lives that will inspire us to live for Your purposes. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a man looking for a new home. Pray for two families that just lost loved ones. Pray for a man dying of cancer.

Personal Journal Entry #12171

38: This concept of retribution did not come from the law of Moses directly. It had become popular in the Eastern countries. Jesus mentions it because it was common practice in his day. Throughout this passage, Jesus deals with the present interpretation of the law, and points out the right interpretation.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 31:1-35:28

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:5 “I will therefore put you in remembrance, though ye once knew this, how that the Lord, having saved the people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed them that believed not.”

Daily Tidbit: The alligator snapping turtle is a wonderful example of Almighty God’s ingenuity in creation. This turtle hunts for its food by lying motionless in the water. It keeps its mouth, which is camouflaged, wide open. The end of its tongue is shaped like a worm. The turtle can wiggle this appendage. Thus, it literally ‘fishes’ for its food like a professional angler.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for family and friends. Your blessings on us are too many to count. It is so good to know that You are always aware of where we all are, what we are doing, and if we need help. You immediately know if we are in trouble, or if we are crying out to You. It is so good to have an ear to talk to that can actually do something about the situation. I am glad that You take an interest in our lives. Thank You for Your blessed intervention and Providential care. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for four older couples that have health needs.

Personal Journal Entry #12170

37: This is Jesus conclusion on the matter of promises, or oaths. When you say something, mean what you say. This is, in essence, the same as saying that everything you say is a promise. In other words, Jesus is saying that our word should be worth something. We should have no need to make promises because people should know that we mean what we say.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 25:1-30:12

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained to this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.“

Daily Tidbit: Lion behavior is actually quite different from what one would expect. The female lions (without the mane) do most of the hunting. Lions are inactive for a vast majority of the day. They only are active in short bursts of energy. Their hearts are fairly small in relation to the rest of their bodies. It is amazing how God Almighty has made these creatures. They are the top predators, and yet, the just sit around and do nothing most of the time.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, You are a wonderful mystery. You have revealed to us what we need to know for life and godliness. But, Your motives are inscrutable to us. How You could love us as much as You do is a beautiful mystery to us. Thank You for being so mysteriously good and wonderful to us. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for the lost.

Personal Journal Entry #12169

36: It had become a custom to swear an oath by a person’s head. Jesus condemned this as well. He showed, by pointing out our lack of control over our hair’s color, that this is also the same as swearing by God’s name because God is ultimately in charge of your head.
In each of these instances, then, though the Jews sought to swear by something less than God in order to lessen their guilt, they failed completely.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 19:1-24:10

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Daily Tidbit: In the Old Testament, only three men are referred to specifically as ‘the servant of the Lord’. These are Moses, Joshua, and David.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for the leadership of others in our lives. You always seem to bring people into our lives to influence us for good. We know that You work out everything for good for those who love You, but we don’t always remember that. Thank You for working our lives out according to Your plan. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for a lady with a blood clot. Pray for a man having trouble with his heart. Pray for the family of a man who committed suicide. Pray for a young boy with terminal cancer.

Personal Journal Entry #12168

35: Swearing oaths by things that we think are somehow less important than God will not keep us from being guilty when we break our promise. It is far better to just do what we should, instead of making endless promises.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 11:1-18:50

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Daily Tidbit: Lasciviousness means lewdness, wantonness, or an inclination to lust. Obviously, this should never be associated with the grace of God.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for Your mercy and grace. Help us to truly understand the nature of Your grace and allow it to make our lives better. You are so gracious! In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for the family and friends of a man who just died suddenly.

Personal Journal Entry #12167

34: Jesus encourages genuineness. It is not necessary to go around promising to be holy all the time. The simple actions of our lives will speak for themselves. Heaven is in God’s control. There is no reason to swear by it if one is not going to simply obey the God of it.

Daily Bible Reading: Psalm 5:1-10:18

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Daily Tidbit: Many new home computers today have one terabyte hard drives. The next big thing after the terabyte (one thousand gigabytes, or one million megabytes), will be the petabyte. A petabyte is one thousand terabytes, or one million gigabytes. It is estimated that our brain can hold around two-and-a-half petabytes worth of memories. See this encyclopedia article for more info http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petabyte.

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for each day that You give to us. We so easily forget the little things that You do for us. Every day You supply little blessings out of Your great love for us. Thank You for loving us so much that You sent Jesus to die for us. His intercession for us even now is a constant blessing. We know that You have made the way clear to Yourself if we will just look for it. Thank You! In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for the spiritual condition of our nations leaders. Pray for the Middle East. Pray for missionaries all over the world.

Personal Journal Entry #12166

33: Many things have been done throughout history by those wanting to appear to make a promise, and yet not be bound by it. Though crossing one’s fingers might be seen as childish, such childish means have often been used to avoid the guilt associated with a broken promise.
As a result of this phenomenon, the Jews of Jesus’ day had taken to swearing oaths by things, instead of by God. In this way, they sought to allow themselves room to break their oaths without being too terribly bad. Thus, for one to take an oath by the name of the Lord was serious business.

Daily Bible Reading Job 41:1-Psalm 4:8

Daily Memory Verse: Jude 1:4 “For there are certain men crept in unawares, who were before of old ordained unto this condemnation, ungodly men, turning the grace of our God into lasciviousness, and denying the only Lord God, and our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Daily Tidbit: Those who attend collage at a private non-profit institution generally take less time to earn a degree that those who go to a public institution. Those who attend a private for profit institution take almost twice as long to earn a degree as either one. What does that tell us?

Praise Journal: Heavenly Father, thank You for being our strength when we are so weak. Thank you for not looking at our pitiful condition and leaving us to fall apart. Thank You for caring enough to pick us up and help us to higher ground. Thank You for Christ in our heart and life. Thank You for the strength we can enjoy in him. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ I pray and praise You, Amen.

Prayer Journal Highlights: Pray for two ladies with unspoken requests. Pray for the family of a man who just died unexpectedly. Pray for a lady recovering from surgery. Pray for a man with cancer.

Personal Journal Entry #12165