Back in Old Testament times, there were many outward signs of one's repentance and grief. For example, tearing of one’s clothes was an ancient tradition among the Jews, and it is associated with mourning, grief, and loss. But God was, and is, more interested in the content of our hearts, as in “love God with all your heart, mind and soul.” Scripture is replete with this, as in Joel, Isaiah and other books of the bible. Examples are: (parenthesis mine) Don’t tear (rend) your clothing in your grief, but tear (change from a thorny heart to one of flesh) your hearts instead. Return to the LORD your God, for he is merciful and compassionate, slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love. He is eager to relent and not punish. Joel 2:13, and also: Inasmuch as these people draw near with their mouths And honor Me with their lips, But have removed their hearts far from Me, And their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment of men…” Is 29:13 The scriptures which you received by email were referring to this. The point is that it is not the outward, public, performances that dictate how sincere a person’s faith is, but what’s in the heart. I have no idea why someone would sent you these passages. I hope it was for an attempt to try to edify and uplift you.
Of course, if you didn’t read the scriptures then how could you have been uplifted in any way Lon? In short, you do not need a Bible to look up those scriptures as you well know. Just punch the scriptures into your search engine and read away but you knew that didn’t you. Now, if you choose to do that do understand that there are some very convicting elements attached to those scriptures and whether you’re a believer or not they remain as a bit of wisdom that no man should be without.
I get a prayer every morning in my email and have no idea who sends it or why. I have no way to look it up and do not understand it.
I assume you got on a list somehow. You should be able to determine who is sending it from the address of the sender. If you don't know who that is, copy the address into a search engine. It may be able to tell you who is sending the messages.
I get quite a bit of Junk Mail, on a daily basis. Sometimes I even get X-rated ones from females. I don't open the e-mail, but have shown my wife. She can get the same kind of junk mail also. We simply delete it all every time it shows up. I would suspect that someone got your e-mail address and thinks you need religion in your life. Just a hunch, but..........
You don’t understand who sent it and how to find out or you don’t understand the prayer? At the top of the email it should say From and To. Punch on the From and follow the yellow brick road via Google like @Don Alaska wrote. If you can’t understand the prayer itself, if it isn’t in a foreign language then understanding it should be a snap.
You don't need hard copy to look things up. -Highlight the scripture reference -Right-click -There will be some "Search the internet" option Or just Search as you do other stuff. I'll get you started on the result for Luke 5:1-11 **************************************************Jesus Calls His First Disciples 5 One day as Jesus was standing by the Lake of Gennesaret,a]">[a] the people were crowding around him and listening to the word of God. 2 He saw at the water’s edge two boats, left there by the fishermen, who were washing their nets. 3 He got into one of the boats, the one belonging to Simon, and asked him to put out a little from shore. Then he sat down and taught the people from the boat. 4 When he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into deep water, and let down the nets for a catch.” 5 Simon answered, “Master, we’ve worked hard all night and haven’t caught anything. But because you say so, I will let down the nets.” 6 When they had done so, they caught such a large number of fish that their nets began to break. 7 So they signaled their partners in the other boat to come and help them, and they came and filled both boats so full that they began to sink. 8 When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, “Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!” 9 For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, 10 and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners. Then Jesus said to Simon, “Don’t be afraid; from now on you will fish for people.” 11 So they pulled their boats up on shore, left everything and followed him. ************************************************** I then searched on "Explanation of Luke 5:1-11" and found this analysis among a bunch of other links. Since someone is sending you these anyway, and you express curiosity, and you got a blot in your schedule that might need filled, you may as well spend 10 minutes each day so you can ask more directed questions. It ain't like someone's gonna throw you on a bus, take you to the compound, take all your money, and make you work the fields. You enter & exit freely...or not at all. Whether you "believe" or not, Jesus was an historical person, arguably having an impact on the world unlike any other.
I received another prayer this morning which means nothing to me and hope it is of benefit to Christian members that understand it.
I just looked up the passage. You can google it. It is the story of how Jesus cured a deaf man and a blind one. If I were to hazard a guess, this is a suggestion to you to find Jesus. Some believe, if you TRULY come to seek, find, believe and ask he can cure you. I guess it is nice if you thought you were passing on prayers to others. But prayers are not something to just re-gift.
If this was a prayer, it was offered for a purpose; for you. If you then want to pray for the group, you certainly may. Let us say you were an alcoholic. And I said a prayer for you to be healed. You would not pass it on to tea total-ers or unrelated people. I did not see this as a prayer and I don't remember the first bible quote. It seems more of a suggestion for you. Prayers are not re-gifted. As They are not from you. As such. YOU may pray for us all, of course. And yourself, for that matter. Try the Lord's Prayer to see how it goes? Or for more help, you might try pondering a verse or two of the New Testament a day.
Some proselytizing group is probably sending these out in spam mail. Have you looked at the headings? They may tell you. If you don't want them, just block the sender; you don't need to know who that is to do it.