A Study You Can Take to heart!

You can learn some interesting and useful things by doing a simple word study. I’m not talking about knowing Hebrew or Greek but simply noting how an English word is used in Scripture. All you need is a notebook and concordance. If you don’t own a concordance, there are free ones online (example). 

So let me suggest that you do a word study on the word “heart” because I've done it in the past and found it fun and helpful.

How many references you find will depend on the translation you use. For example, there are 725 results in the NIV. 

Take time to check out one or two each day during your quiet time. No need to rush. The first reference to heart in the Old Testament is Genesis 6:5, an especially sad verse. The first New Testament occurrence is in Matthew 6:21, an important truth for Christians to grasp.

You may need to check out the historical and chronological context to understand the verse, especially in the Old Testament. And it can also be helpful to understand when and why a New Testament was written. If it’s not obvious to you, you can use a commentary.

But don't make it difficult for yourself and don't get hung up on the details. Do it for enjoyment!

To give you a taste of what this simple kind of word study is like, check out the verses below which I've linked in the NIV, ESV, KJV, NKJV, and NASB, and consider how they speak to you:

2 Thessalonians 2:16-17

Hebrews 4:12

I also encourage you to read Spice Up Your Quiet Time and Pieces Parts Doesn't Work for Scripture.

Free Subscription to 1-Minute Bible Love Notes. Have a one-minute devotion like this one delivered to your email each weekday.

10 Reasons You'll Love the book Wisdom for Life. A collection of 100 one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs and a great gift for people who love God's Word.

Full description of the book Lies in Disguise. A much needed book to uncover half-truths that misuse Scripture and weaken Christian faith.

 

Trusting God in the Dark Tunnels of Life

“When a train goes through a tunnel and it gets dark, you don’t throw away the ticket and jump off. You sit still and trust the engineer.” ― Corrie ten Boom

The young Joseph had a dream of leading his family, but he became an Egyptian slave and was imprisoned by a lying woman (Genesis 39).

The young Moses thought he could rescue his people from slavery, but he became a fugitive from the law (Exodus 2:11-15).

Daniel hoped to be a witness for God in the Babylonian court, but at one point he became the menu for a group of lions (Daniel 6).

All three men eventually realized their purposes, but only after going through a dark tunnel, wondering where the Engineer of their lives was taking them.

God could make our paths smooth and easy, but He rarely does.

And He has good reasons for everything He plans or allows (Jeremiah 29:11; Romans 8:28).

Thinking God will make life easy and understandable is perhaps the greatest hindrance in our walk with the Lord because “faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see” (Hebrews 11:1).

Are you in a tunnel right now?

Sit still and trust the Engineer, trusting Him “with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

For more encouragement in this area, see Why Did God Allow This to Happen? And be sure to check out today's Bite Size Bible Study to do a short Bible study on this devotion. 

Free Subscription to 1-Minute Bible Love Notes. Have a one-minute devotion like this one delivered to your email each weekday.

10 Reasons You'll Love the Book Wisdom for Life. A collection of 100 one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs and a great gift for people who love God's Word.

Full description of the Book Lies in Disguise. A much-needed book to uncover half-truths that misuse Scripture and weaken Christian faith.

 

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Why Common Sense Is Uncommon

Are you surprised by the increase of stupidity in our world? Perhaps we should change the term common sense to uncommon sense because people so rarely think logically.

Most people claim that biblical creation is an unbelievable fairytale, so they create a ridiculous sci-fi story claiming the beauty and design of our world is an accident (2 Peter 3:3-7). 

Many believe you can change your gender even though God, science, and experience disprove it (Genesis 1:27). 

 

Organizations that protect pregnant and nursing whales are applauded (source), but attempts to save human babies from torturous deaths are mocked and despised.

  

Worldly stupidity even finds its way into the church:

 

Christ “committed to us the message of reconciliation” (2 Corinthians 5:17-21), but many who share the gospel of reconciliation refuse to seek personal reconciliation with friends and family (Boundaries).

2 Timothy 4:2 says, “Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction.” Yet many Christian pastors and teachers avoid Bible passages that offend the world.  

Jesus calls us to self-sacrifice, explaining, “Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:38). Yet many Christians insist they can’t be happy if they aren’t esteemed and appreciated.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction.” Proverbs 1:7

 

Stupidity is growing in our world. Let's refuse to conform and be transformed instead (Romans 12:2). 

 

See Who Is Truly On the Wrong Side of History? and 3 Ways to Identify a Fool.

 

One reason I wrote Lies in Disguise is that half-truth foolishness is overtaking many areas of life and Christianity. Be prepared to respond and refute Satan's stupid lies: Lies in Disguise (chapter titles and reviews). Available on Amazon and CLC-US, CLC-UK, EDEN-UK. And Bible Love Notes subscribers are eligible to receive a free PDF Lies in Disguise study guide: HERE.

 

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Evolution Is Fiction, Not Fact (Part 4)

 

These devotions will encourage you with insights into the truths of creation and into the propaganda of evolution. 

 
Some Seek Truth. Some Suppress It.
Scripture says anyone who rejects Christ has "no excuse." This one-minute devotion explains.

We Can't Shut Up!
The staff of the Smithsonian Natural History Museum wanted our guide to shut up! This is a five-minute devotion instead of the usual one-minute. 

 

The Motive Behind Evolution

This one-minute devotion explains why evolution is more an ideology than a scientific belief.

 

 

Can You Give Me Your Card?

In 19th-century France, an older gentleman and a young college student met on a train. Historic, enlightening, and humorous.

Why Evolution Doesn't Cut It With Christians

Evolution and Christianity are not compatible. This devotion explains how Scripture clearly refutes evolution. It also has a Bite Size Bible Study: Creation and Evolution Don't Mix.

 

 

For more one-minute devotions on evolution/creation, see:

Recognizing Evolution as Nonsense (Part 1)

Evolution is a Lie in Disguise (Part 2)

Recognizing Evolution as a Theory (Part 3)

 

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Christ's Important Message About Persecution

Modern culture is rapidly declining, approving sins that break God’s heart, and we’re seeing this bleed into the church. Don’t get me wrong. I think genuine Christians, often called “remnant Christians,” are growing stronger and more faithful, preparing themselves in God’s Word, persevering when rejected for their faith, and standing strong.

But in the last few years, there has been a huge shift in the values of many “professing Christians.” Many who call themselves Christians have given up Christian values to fit in with culture.

True Christianity is counter-cultural. 

“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.” John 15:18-19 

That’s why we’re seeing an increase in hatred toward remnant Christians, even from “professing Christians.”  

Scripture promises hatred for faithful Christians: Luke 21:17; Matthew 5:11-12; Matthew 10:22; Mark 13:13; Luke 6:22; John 17:14; 2 Timothy 3:12; 1 John 3:13.

So let’s share God’s truth patiently and graciously, knowing we'll be rewarded for sharing truth even when we're hated (Matthew 5:11-12).

See Never Popular, Always Wonderful and “Dead” People Expect Persecution.  

Free Subscription to 1-Minute Bible Love Notes. Have a one-minute devotion like this one delivered to your email each weekday.

10 Reasons You'll Love the Book Wisdom for Life. A collection of 100 one-minute devotions from Psalms and Proverbs and a great gift for people who love God's Word.

Full description of the Book Lies in Disguise. A much-needed book to uncover half-truths that misuse Scripture and weaken Christian faith.

 

 

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Being an Internet "Missionary"

If you'd like to know if Bible Love Notes profits from our social media sites, please read the note at the bottom. Thanks! 

God doesn't call everyone to foreign missions, but God calls every Christian to share our faith.

Let me suggest some opportunities you might have overlooked:
 

1. Email Mission Field—friends and family 
Be deliberate about sending encouraging emails and letting others know you're praying for them. If you're a subscriber and enjoy a particular Bible Love Note, forward it to a friend and include this link that tells them how to get a free subscription.

2. Facebook Mission Field—3 billion active monthly users 
If you're on Facebook, share Scriptures on your wall and message friends to offer prayer and encouragement. Follow the Bible Love Notes main page, our Psalms and Proverbs page, and our Doors of Joy page.  Each page posts devotions and images that can help you share Christ on your personal page. 

3. Pinterest Mission Field—631 million monthly users 
While you're pinning your favorite recipes or crafts, take time to pin links to Christian devotions and images. Create a board for that purpose, and follow the Bible Love Notes Pinterest page for great things to share. 

 

4. YouTube—2.5 billion monthly users 

The Bible Love Notes YouTube site offers videos of our daily devotions. If you follow the page and give a thumbs up to the videos you watch, they go out to more people.

I encourage you to take advantage of these simple ways to share your faith, making social media more Christ-centered!

The internet can be used for great evil, but let's use it to serve the Lord (Colossians 3:23)!

P.S. Bible Love Notes is also on X and Instagram.

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Note: Bible Love Notes is not a profit-making ministry, so whenever you recommend or share Bible Love Notes images and devotions on a social network, you don't need to worry about advertising or requests for donations. We do feature Gail's books at the bottom of many devotions, but we don't do pop-up ads, we don't accept donations, and we never ask for money. Gail makes approximately 12% of the selling price for each book she sells, and that doesn't begin to cover the costs of the email service, image costs, domain name costs, costs of our International Bible Love Notes blogs, etc. So when we ask you to like and share things on social media, it isn't about making money—we're seeking to get God's Word out to more people. We feel blessed to be able to offer Bible Love Notes subscriptions free of charge at a time when many sites are charging for that service.

 

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The Development or Destruction of Our Conscience

Everyone is born with a conscience, helping them recognize God as their Creator and the source of truth: 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.” Romans 1:18-20
 

Romans 2:13-16 also explains that all people (saved and unsaved) have “the requirements of the law…written on their hearts.” 

 

We can reinforce and develop our conscience with biblical truth or corrupt it with worldly lies. 

 

When we follow Christ, we reinforce our conscience by understanding God's Word, and the Holy Spirit warns (convicts) us of unhealthy, soul-damaging things like lying, deception, stealing, dishonoring parents, sex outside of marriage, abortion, LGBTQ lifestyles, gluttony, etc.

 

Unsaved people may not accept everything evil, but they pick and choose to believe what works for them. 

 

Christians can also violate their conscience, causing them to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Ephesians 4:30). If this continues, they eventually “sear” (burn, desensitize) their knowledge of right and wrong (1 Timothy 4:1-2).
 

Our conscience is a wonderful gift from God, helping us understand and obey His loving commands. Let’s continually strengthen it in God’s Word.

 

For more on this subject:

The Rise of Mini-Crimes Among Middle-Class Americans and What's Your "Achilles' Heel"? 

 

Half-truth teachings damage our conscience and distort our understanding of God and His Word.

 

That's why I wrote my book, Lies in Disguise, and I highly recommend that you check it out: Lies in Disguise. 

 

 

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It's Quizzical - Don't Be Taken Captive - Col. 2:8

I was amused by a Facebook post about the illogical spelling of “queue” (“q” followed by four silent letters). It means people standing in line, waiting for something.

It piqued my interest in another “q” word: “quiz.” And I discovered an interesting legend:

A man in Dublin made up the meaningless word “quiz” and bet his friend that he'd have Dubliners saying it within 48 hours. He hired people to scribble it on walls, doors, and windows, and the rest is history. (source)

True or not, this legend is possible because human beings are easily misled, especially when we hear something repeated often.

Joseph Goebbels, the evil head of Nazi propaganda, admitted that he could make people believe a complete lie by repeating it often. (source)

And a number of studies show “that humans are remarkably resistant to changing their minds – even when faced with contradictory evidence.” (source) 

There are many lies scribbled on the walls of our culture. But even more serious are the half-truths scribbled on modern church walls.

In Galatians 1:6-9, Paul is astonished that some of the Christians are being thrown into confusion by people “trying to pervert the gospel of Christ.” 

The same thing happens today, so let's “see to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the elemental spiritual forces of this world rather than on Christ” (Colossians 2:8). 

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This human weakness is the basis for my book Lies in Disguise. It addresses half-truths that have been repeated so often that many Christians feel defensive when they realize these popular beliefs are not scriptural. It's one way you can help avoid “hollow and deceptive philosophy.”

 💙 Currently available from the publisher with a discount: CLC publishers. Also available on Amazon and CBD. And in the UK: CLC-UK or Eden UK.

 

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Consistency and Depth Rescue Us from Lies

Consistency and depth are key ingredients in Christian growth. 

 

If we’re too busy to spend regular, consistent time in God’s Word, we’re going to remain immature in our faith. But growth requires more than consistency. If we spend time in God’s Word, but never go beyond the basics, we’ll remain baby Christians. 

 
One reason genuine believers are taken in by “lies in disguise” (half-truths) is that they have consistency, but they aren't growing deeper. 

 
Besides letting God’s Word guide our thoughts and behavior, we need to study it so we can understand how to address the false teachings so prevalent in our culture.

 

Some lies have been around for centuries, such as claims that the Bible is full of errors, claims that Jesus isn’t God, or claims that everyone will be saved. And we need to know how to address them. 

 
But our current culture challenges us even more with lies about homosexuality and abortion that we didn't have to face 75 years ago.

 

The Apostle Paul admitted that he would continue growing in his faith as long as he was alive (Philippians 3:12-14). And that's what we should be doing as well.    

 

“Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity.” Hebrews 6:1

See also Hebrews 5:12-14.

 

For more encouragement to grow in Christ, see 3 Aspects of Our Transformation and Transformed or Conformed?

 

💙One thing that can help both your consistency and depth is a free subscription to Bible Love Notes one-minute devotions.  Find out how to have them delivered to your email each weekday: Stay Connected. If you're already a subscriber, please tell your friends and family to sign up too!

 

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Recognizing Evolution as a Theory (Part 3)

These devotions will help you see the propaganda behind the claims of evolution.

The Honest See

Two atheists are confronted with truth. Two different outcomes, but both prove God's existence. This one-minute devotion explains their true stories.

How Coke Evolved from a Rock!!  
You have to read it before making up your mind. It's actually similar to the theory of evolution.

4 Reasons Evolution Never Happened  
Some Christians believe in theistic evolution, but these four things prove that you can't believe Scripture and believe in evolution. 

 
Use Your Brain – Rude Atheist Arguments

The atheist told me he knew God doesn't exist and I should use my brain. This one-minute devotion explains who first made that argument.

 

 

For more one-minute devotions on evolution/creation, see:

Recognizing Evolution as Nonsense (Part 1)

Evolution is a Lie in Disguise (Part 2)

Evolution is Fiction, Not Fact (Part 4) 

 

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