A String of Pearls: A Collection of Bible Verses for Those Who Are Hungry

By A. Ward

While the Bible has been documented to be the most-published and most-sold book ever, how many people actually take the time to open, read, and study this precious gift? If we truly believe this Book is from God Himself and contains the Way of salvation, shouldn't we cherish It as the most valuable treasure we could possibly possess? With the help of the Holy Spirit, shouldn't our lives reflect the passion of these priceless Words? My granddaughter likes to wear a necklace to church, so I gave her a necklace of pearls that my wonderful son-in-law had given me upon returning from the Philippines on business. I explained to her that one day this necklace of pearls would belong to her, making them very special because they came from her Daddy. This book contains a few of the verses I love to ponder, share, and cherish. They are Pearls that my Heavenly Father gave to me, to you, and to the entire world as a message of His love and forgiveness. I want to share several of these priceless Pearls and share what each means in my life hoping to encourage you to develop your own string of Pearls. May a true passion inspire each of us not only to collect these Pearls but also to share them with the people in our lives who are in need of help and healing. By the power of the Holy Spirit, may our string of Pearls grow into a necklace of Pearls that will sustain our faith now and throughout eternity. By the grace of God, may we pass on this priceless necklace of Pearls to future generations that they may hold God's love letters, the Bible, close to their heart resting secure in His promises now and throughout eternity.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.
• Release date: Sep 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645156093

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A String Of Pearls

A.W. Ward

Copyright © 2019 by A.W. Ward

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods without the prior written permission of the publisher. For permission requests, solicit the publisher via the address below.

Christian Faith Publishing, Inc.

832 Park Avenue

Meadville, PA 16335

www.christianfaithpublishing.com

Scripture quotations taken from the New American Standard Bible® (NASB)

Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation

Used by permission. www.Lockman.org

Printed in the United States of America

Table of Contents

In the Beginning

A Time to Conquer

Reigning Kings

Rebuilding

Poetry at Its Best

The Awesome Prophets

Jesus in the Gospels

Building God’s Church

Paul’s Letters

Other Epistles

God’s Church Triumphant

What Makes the Difference?

To my grandchildren.

May they always know the love and forgiveness of Jesus

and share it with their children and grandchildren.

I would like to acknowledge not only the encouragement but also the technical support from

Joel, Jennie, Patti, and Linda.

Special thanks to my husband, David,

for his love and patience.

Thanks be to God for His holy Word that became alive in Christ (John 1:14).

Soli Deo Gloria

Author’s Note

I am thankful to use the New American Standard Bible translation on this project. I believe it is the most accurate and true to the original Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek—next to the Interlinear. So if you are planning to buy a new Bible or just want to update your edition, I would suggest you consider the NASB.

Where there is an actual quote from the Old Testament, the NASB capitalizes those words in the New Testament.

I have used parenthesis () to make any clarification regarding the speaker, especially when the previous verse is not included.

Preface

What would you do if you saw that your neighbor’s children were starving? You could quickly do a couple of things to resolve the problem. You could take food to them. You might simply report the situation to the authorities.

What if all the children in your entire neighborhood were starving? How would this change your neighborhood? You might see a lot of children begging in the streets as you stand watching out your window. You might see children selling everything they have, exchanging their prized possessions for the much-needed food. At night, you might see children sneaking through the streets trying to steal food or anything that could be used to barter. You might see gangs forming to attack the bread trucks or anyone with food in their possession. You might even see children armed with knives, killing and fighting for control of the food supply.

The first thought you might ask yourself is, Where are the parents? I know they both have good jobs. You might even organize a neighborhood group to monitor such behavior. You might feel this is a problem for the government to handle.

What if your children are starving? Are you even aware of it? What if someone comes to your door to try to help? Do you respond by saying, It’s none of your business! or They can eat the garbage I put in front of them! or They receive free lunch at school. That’s all they need, or I don’t want them eating the meat and potatoes you bring!

How do you know they are starving? Do you celebrate Thanksgiving with a large feast? Do you give thanks to God in prayer? Do you celebrate Christmas talking about the Christ child or are the gifts they open from Santa? Do you celebrate Easter watching the Christ of the cross and sharing His love? Or is this a time of spring break, egg hunting, and bunnies?

Look around your neighborhood, and listen to how quiet it is on Sunday morning. Maybe everyone just needs to rest after that big game yesterday and the great party before, during, and after the game.

Look around our nation, and examine the curriculum in some of our public schools. You can teach students about the Muslim religion; but don’t mention Christ, don’t try to pray at lunch, and don’t bring your Bible to share with others before or after classes. Look around our nation, and see the bullies found in almost every school. Watch the growth of gangs and mobs as the weak are used to gain power. Even parts of our government use the poor and minorities to form paid mobs to protest anything and everything that takes their votes and power away.

Stop and read what the Lord says about the fat cows who oppress the poor and crush the needy in Amos 4:1–2. Watch out for the fishhooks. What about the judges who have turned justice into poison found in Amos 6:12? What will our nation look like after this generation and the next starve their children from the Bread of Life? The moral deterioration, the legalizing of sin, and the crumbling churches all around show the famine in our land. Rejection of the God of the Bible does have consequences from generation to generation. Read of the famine to come in Amos 8:11–12. We must open our Bibles and feed our children or prepare for separation from God in hell. Share the love letters from God with your children and grandchildren. If we fail, the consequences are eternal. Open it, read it, believe it, and share it!

Introduction

When I was a child, I believed my parents were the smartest people on the earth and they knew everything. I could ask them any question, and they had the answer at their fingertips. Today, children ask no questions, for they already know everything. Sadly, it is the parents who ask questions. There are adults who aren’t even sure of their gender. If I’m not male or female, I will just make up a new word. Should I upgrade my iPhone or feed my children? After all, they receive free breakfast and lunch at school. Why shouldn’t I drag that coworker through the mud after what she said about me? Since it is my body, why can’t I abort? Did you see the way he cut me off in traffic? Why shouldn’t I have a little fun with my boss since my husband ignores me? How am I supposed to go on with my life after what he did to me? I will show them who is smarter. I will show him with my gun!

Many times when we ask a question, it’s just a rhetorical question. We really don’t want an answer. We have already made up our mind. Even Christians ask in prayer and don’t even wait for an answer from our God Who knows everything and is in control of all. Too often, when we are not sure of the truth, we just make up something convenient to fit our narrative. Too often, the truth is not important. Words no longer mean what they once did—marriage, cell, gay, etc. Even in a court of law, people don’t even know what is is. People become a victim to bring vengeance on someone they want to hurt even if there is no evidence—no truth.

In this day of fake news, when neither evidence nor truth are necessary, the news is no longer believed nor watched. People no longer know fact from fiction, up from down, right from wrong. We have a world full of Pilates. Remember in John 18:37–38, when Jesus said that everyone on the side of truth listens to Him? Pilate asked, What is truth? Pilate should have listened to his wife (Matthew 27:19). So this fake news is not new. Those who hate the truth will simply accuse Christians and other truth-ers to be haters and pull a sack over their heads when the facts are laid before them.

Jesus talks about those who refuse to listen to His Word in John 8:42–47. Those who refuse Christ and His love, Jesus calls the children of the devil. The devil is the father of lies, and his children want to carry out their father’s desires. If you believe the devil is just a fabrication of a bunch of frightened Christians, read the 1965 transcript of Paul Harvey’s If I Were the devil. (I refuse to capitalize the devil’s name.) See if you can refute the fact that it is still happening over fifty years later.

Jesus stated in John 14:6, I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but through Me. So when it comes down to it, Pilate was really the one on trial, as are we; and we have been found guilty! Our sins, following the lies of the devil, have imprisoned us. There is only one key and one door to that prison—Jesus Christ. In John 19:30, Jesus said, It is finished, which in Greek means paid in full. There we were pronounced NOT GUILTY. But no one is going to force you to leave your prison even when the door is already open. Second Thessalonians 2:9–12 states that they will perish because they refused to love the truth and be saved.

If you want truth, open your Bible. Don’t take my word or anyone else’s. Take God’s Word. Find the gift of God in Ephesians 2:8. Journey to Bethlehem and travel to the cross with Christ, the Savior of the world. Take this priceless gift—this pearl of LOVE; and never fear death, hell, nor the devil. Christ has won the victory for you and for me!

An Appetite for Pearls

How is your appetite? Most of us have no problem with our appetite—except controlling it—unless, of course, your appetite is stifled from chemo treatments or maybe you’re suffering from bulimia. Sometimes, we might find our appetite nonexistent if going through a depressing challenge in our lives. This might also occur when the hours are too short and there is time only for work or running to the next ball game or dance class. But most of the time it’s, Bring on the burger and fries. I’m starved.

Have you ever heard a young teenager ask, How do I know if it is really true love? Or maybe you are wondering whether your marriage will survive the decades. Love just doesn’t seem to be as profound as it once was.

In the epic movie, Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye, a poor Jewish milkman living in Russia, questioned his relationship with his wife, asking his wife in the middle of her frantic workday, Do you love me? After pausing to give him a have-you-gone-mad look, her reply was, I wash your clothes and make your bed, clean your house and cook your food and gave birth to your five daughters. I guess that means—I love you.

C. S. Lewis also spoke of a love relationship. After spending most of his youth rejecting God, his discovery and description of God’s love was unique. For he became so joyous that to him the only word he could find to describe his love for the Lord was APPETITE. He developed an appetite for the Lord. To be in God’s house, to read God’s Word, to talk with God in prayer were his way to satisfy his great appetite for the Lord.

To love something or someone is to want to have it (them) close, to cherish it (them), to feast upon it (them). To love is picking up the dirty socks day after day because you have an appetite to be with the person who belongs to those dirty socks. True love is to persevere when all seems hopeless because your appetite cannot be satisfied by anyone else (1 Corinthians 13).

Pearls

A pearl is not just an expensive jewel but an intricately formed stone. A stone formed of layers of shell originating from a small irritation within a clam shell. The irritation most often is a minute grain of sand. The clam combats this massive intruder by coating it with a mantel of shell until it becomes bigger and bigger as each shell layer is added painstakingly, forming a beautiful jewel. We hold it close to us wearing it around our neck. One pearl would be nice, but a string of pearls—WOW!

When a young man is off to war and separated by an ocean from his loving bride, pictures are held near, and letters are cherished. There is a hunger and thirst to read and reread each valued pearl eagerly awaiting the mail call to soak in every cherished word of his beloved.

What are the pearls in your life that you cherish and hold near and dear to your heart? In a country where we have so many freedoms and so few restrictions, very often, we find ourselves so captivated with activities that we seldom have time to see the pearls around us. How easy it is to overlook the pearls given to us by God—His Words of love sitting on the coffee table or on the bookshelf collecting years of dust. What makes it so difficult to open the Bible to read the letters telling us how much He loves us? Maybe it is the massive task of seeing those sixty-six books, hundreds of chapters and thousands of verses as one—not knowing where to begin. Sometimes, when a task seems too large, we don’t know where to begin, and there is never time to take the first step.

When cleaning a closet that I know is going to take all day Saturday, I never seem to find a free Saturday to even begin. Just put it off until the spring cleaning, then the summer vacation, then the fall. If I would commit to just one hour each Saturday and work in sections—sort clothes on the first Saturday, shoes and jeans the next, drawers and boxes the following—within a month of Saturdays, I would be finished.

So, too, by starting with one Pearl of Scripture each day, one by one, we could have a string of thirty Pearls read by the end of the month. These are priceless Pearls that can never be stolen nor destroyed. These are priceless Pearls to use and share in your life every day. These are priceless Pearls you can take with you into eternity.

I.M.A. CHRISTIAN 2

This is not a book of doctrine nor an interpretation of the Scripture. This is simply a presentation of a few of the Pearls that Scripture holds. Not all the Pearls are included but maybe enough to whet your appetite for more Pearls. This is a book not to replace your Bible but to help you open your Bible so you will hunger and thirst for those Pearls.

This is a book that could be written by any Christian. Here is the Word of God—the Priceless Pearls; and in italics are just my thoughts, what God’s Word says to me. You can write down what God’s Word is saying to your heart also.

What is a Christian? Very simply, a Christian is a sinner. I could replace St. Paul, who proclaimed himself the chief of sinners, in 1 Timothy 1:15. Just as a person who is well needs neither a doctor nor medicine, so, too, does someone who is not a sinner needs neither a Savior nor His forgiveness. I, as a sinner, need a Savior. My name, Christian, proclaims Christ is my Savior. Christ died that I may live now and into eternity. I no longer need to fear sin, death, or hell (1 John 4:18). As a baptized Christian, I awake each morning knowing for certain that God will not leave me nor forsake me (Hebrews 13:5). Whatever may go wrong this day or whatever wrong I do, God still loves me. Christ put His seal on me at my Baptism and told the devil, Hands off! This one is Mine! Because of the great price Jesus paid when He died on the cross to remove my sins, I know God will hang on to me. No matter how difficult the fight, no matter how hard the struggle to keep my head above water, or no matter how heavy the burden, God will take me home every night—if not here, then THERE with Him.

A big problem this Christian has is knowing that I am saved by God’s Grace—not by my good deeds or bad deeds. In believing this completely, why not stop striving to do good and sin all the more, since Christ removed all my guilt and bore all the punishment for my sins Himself? No! says Luther. That he calls CHEAP GRACE! If I love God and am truly thankful and value the price Christ paid for my salvation on that cross, how can I but struggle with my every sin and strive with all my heart to follow His commands—always trying to do my best, even though daily I fail?

SOS

As a Christian, it is very important that I distinguish the difference between God’s LAW and God’s GOSPEL. Without knowing that the LAW Shows Our Sins and the GOSPEL Shows Our Savior, I comingle the two and end up trying to save myself by my good works, thus becoming my own savior—leaving Christ out of the picture.

The Law is most easily seen in the Old Testament where God demands His people, Israel, to be holy, just as He is holy (Leviticus 19:2). Now, try to replace Israel with the word ‘us’. Because, when the Children of Israel (us) went the opposite direction as God had commanded, God punished them, sending them into exile. In reading the Old Testament, it seems during that four-thousand-year period that no matter