Open Heavens 7 July 2018 – Satanic Delicacies

Topic: Satanic Delicacies [Open Heavens 6th July 2018, Saturday Daily Devotional]

Memorise: Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour: – 1 Peter 5:8

Read: Luke 4:1-8 (KJV)

1 And Jesus being full of the Holy Ghost returned from Jordan, and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness,

2 Being forty days tempted of the devil. And in those days he did eat nothing: and when they were ended, he afterward hungered.

3 And the devil said unto him, If thou be the Son of God, command this stone that it be made bread.

4 And Jesus answered him, saying, It is written, That man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word of God.

5 And the devil, taking him up into an high mountain, shewed unto him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time.

6 And the devil said unto him, All this power will I give thee, and the glory of them: for that is delivered unto me; and to whomsoever I will I give it.

7 If thou therefore wilt worship me, all shall be thine.

8 And Jesus answered and said unto him, Get thee behind me, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.

Bible in One Year: 2 Chronicle 7-8, Acts 23:12-35

Open Heavens 7 July 2018 MESSAGE:

Delicacies are rich, luxurious or expensive food enjoyed by royals and the wealthy. Satanic delicacies symbolize worldly goodies and pleasures that appeal to the eyes and are deemed good for the body, which Satan and his agents craftily offer in exchange for a man’s soul. Such delicacies could be anything that feeds the ego, such as fame, power and access to wealth. They are labeled “satanic” because the Bible contains several instances of the devil using them as bait while tempting children of God. For example, Adam and Eve fell because the devil convinced them that the forbidden fruit was delicious, beautiful to behold would inspire knowledge and wisdom (Genesis 3:4-6). In the same way, the devil offered beautiful women to Samson in exchange for his great anointing, and unfortunately he fell for it (Judges 16:18-20). Similarly, the man of God from Judah was tempted to eat bread and drink water, in direct disobedience of God’s directive, and this ended his ministry abruptly (1 Kings 13:11-22). In today’s Bible reading, the devil offered tantalizing delicacies to our Lord Jesus Christ, but glory be to God, He triumphed over the devil by the power in the word of God. I pray that you will not become a victim of satanic delicacies in Jesus’ Name.

Satanic delicacies are often offered in attractive packages to simple minded people. However, full disclosure on the true contents of such packages and the consequences of accepting them are usually withheld. The same scenario plays out in every temptation- a person will only discover the consequences of his or her choices when it is virtually too late. I pray that you will not discover the truth about the satanic delicacies that are set before you when it is too late in Jesus’ Name. The good news is that despite the craftiness and deceptive schemes of the devil, the Bible has provided the means to overcome his wicked devices. Watchfulness, intensive prayers, total submission to God and resisting the devil are all key elements of this provision (Matthew 26:41, James 4:7). Abstaining from all appearances of evil is another effective means of overcoming satanic delicacies (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Satanic delicacies are usually offered to seduce, persuade or cajole gullible people into sin. A Christian should never fall for this old trick or agree with the devil under any circumstance. Proverbs 1:10 says:

“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”

Above all, the Bible tells us that victory is assured because the devil is only fighting a lost battle (1 John 4:4). I pray that you will never lose the victory that Christ has won for you in Jesus’ Name.

Action Point: Think over any satanic delicacy that is set before you and apply the appropriate divine provisions to overcome them.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click HERE to read Open Heavens 6 July 2018 – Functioning As Light

Hymn 18: Conqueror And Overcomers Now Are We

1. Conquerors and overcomers now are we,
Thro’ the precious blood of Christ we’ve victory
If the Lord be for us we can never fail,
Nothing ‘gainst His mighty power can e’er prevail.

Chorus
Conquerors are we, thr’o the blood of Jesus
God will give us victory, thro’ the blood of Jesus
Through the Lamb for sinners slain,
Yet who lives and reigns again,
More than conquerors are we,
More than conquerors are we.

2. In the name of Israel’s God we’ll onward press,
Overcoming sin and all unrighteousness;
Not to us but unto Him the praise shall be,
For salvation and for blood bought victory.

3. Unto Him that overcometh shall be given,
Here to eat of hidden manna sent from Heaven,
Over yonder He the victors palm shall bear,
And a robe of white, and golden crown shall wear.

Open Heavens Daily Devotional guide was written by Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, one of the largest evangelical church in the world and also the President of Christ the Redeemer’s Ministries. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.

Flatimes Notice Board: Until you are born again, God ever abiding presence will never be with you. You must be born again to enjoy continuous victory. Please say the displayed prayer below in faith:

Lord Jesus, come into my life. I accept You as my Lord and Personal Saviour. I believe in my heart You died and rose from the dead to save me. Thank You Lord for saving me, in Jesus name Amen.

If you just prayed the prayer of salvation online please send your testimonies and prayer request to [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

The post Open Heavens 7 July 2018 – Satanic Delicacies appeared first on Flatimes.

Enrollment Trends of Christian Colleges and Universities in Last 30 years

Joshua Rainey Photography / Shutterstock.comEUGENE, OR: Sign for Northwest Christian College next to the University of Oregon.

As overall college enrollment declines for a sixth straight year, Christian colleges and universities have continued pitching potential students with a faith-based education that aligns with their professional goals and personal values. Public institutions and non-faith-based private schools are increasingly becoming known for their hostility toward biblical principles, and many Christian students are gravitating toward a college experience that equips them with a foundation for their faith, whether they are preparing for ministry or the marketplace.

Many of the trends in higher education as a whole also impact Christian universities, including rising tuition rates and the shift toward online education. Shifts in higher education are not the only changes in society Christian colleges and universities must understand. Because of their unique offering of a faith-based education, the schools must also observe the role religion plays in the lives of young people and how it will impact their decision. Pew Research Center reported that in 2014 “only about four-in-ten Millennials [said] religion is very important in their lives,” fewer than any…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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Israel Carries Out Mysterious Missile Test – Urban Christian News

The IDF deployed several Iron Dome batteries in southern Israel Thursday following a situational assessment, the military told The Jerusalem Post.

“The IDF is prepared for several scenarios and ready to defend the citizens of the State of Israel and its sovereignty,” the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said.

On Thursday, an IDF drone fired “a missile at a motorcycle” east of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip, official Palestinian news agency Wafa reported, adding that while there were no injuries the motorcycle was destroyed.

The IDF has been carrying out strikes in the Gaza Strip against vehicles used by terrorist cells who launch incendiary aerial devices into Israel. The Hamas terrorist group in turn has launched mortar shells towards southern Israeli communities.

On June 20, Hamas, along with Islamic Jihad, launched a barrage of 45 mortars shortly after IAF jets struck three targets in the Strip in response to incendiary kites and explosive balloons launched towards southern Israel.

Seven of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system and another three fell inside the Strip. Four were found inside communities in the Eshkol Regional Council, causing damage to nearby homes and cars. One landed in the yard of an empty kindergarten.

A week later, at least 13 mortars were fired from the Gaza Strip after the IAF struck a vehicle said to have been heavily involved helping in Palestinians in launching incendiary devices into Israel. Two of the mortar shells were intercepted by the Iron Dome system over the city of Sderot.

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Urban Christian News

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Derren Brown and Richard Coles discuss whether Christianity or atheism is the path to happiness

Their discussion is the third episode of The Big Conversation, a unique online video series from the Unbelievable? faith debate show. The two well-known media figures address the increase in people in the West who identify as ‘nones’ (having no religious commitments) and where they can find meaning. Derren Brown draws on his recent book Happy: Why more or less everything is absolutely fine to promote a Stoic approach to finding contentment while Rev Richard Coles draws on his own conversion experience of “meeting the resurrected Christ” as a “life changing” moment.

Brown, who requested Coles as his discussion partner having met each other before, has seen his own journey of faith go in the opposite direction to the TV Vicar. The illusionist lost his Christian faith as a young adult and became an atheist following his entry into the world of magic performance. In contrast Richard Coles, after a successful and hedonistic pop star career in the 1980s, converted from atheism to Christianity through a profound religious experience which led to him becoming an Anglican priest.

Their conversation reflects these opposing positions. When asked by host Justin Brierley if he had an existential crisis after abandoning his Christian faith as a young man, Derren Brown says, “I had one moment waking up feeling down, and had that moment of realising that I don’t have that…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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General Synod schedule amended to allow clergy to watch England World Cup game

Premier learned on Friday how one member of the Church’s governing body – General Synod – intended to table a motion calling for a pause in proceedings, hours before kick-off at the Samara Stadium in Russia.

Canon Jonathan Alderton-Ford said he suspected General Synod seminars coinciding with the match on Saturday afternoon would be “very lightly attended”.

 

Nearly 480 members – including bishops, clergy and lay people – are attending the five-day summit in York.

The minister in charge of Bury St Edmunds Christ Church said he planned to ask leaders, “could we have a variation of business to allow us to participate in this historic and significant spiritual event?”

Pressed on why the game was a “spiritual event”, he answered that there was a “sad” phenomena of the outcome of World Cup matches impacting people’s “wellbeing”.

Manager Gareth Southgate has been preparing his squad for the most important World Cup fixture for England since the 2006 World Cup.

General Synod February 2018

 

Items on the agenda for the General Synod meeting include how the Church has responded to abuse allegations made against clergy, and how relationships between the Church and black-majority churches might be strengthened.

Meanwhile, the Swedish Church in London is urging members of its congregation to bring friends to a screening of Saturday’s knock out clash.

Rector, Rev…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Resigning after ‘Unrelenting Attacks’

EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt Resigning after ‘Unrelenting Attacks’



EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt is resigning from the post after what he called “unrelenting attacks” on him and his family.


Pruitt was criticized for some of his behavior and spending while working as the EPA administrator. Some of those expenses included: travel expenses, where he flew first class; and a $43,000 phone booth in his office.


He also rented an apartment below market value from the wife of an energy lobbyist and reportedly tried to use his influence to secure a Chick-fil-A franchise for his wife.


Pruitt said the complaints against him are “unprecedented and have taken a sizable toll on all of us,” referring to his family.


EPA Deputy Administrator Andrew Wheeler has been appointed new EPA administrator in Pruitt’s place. He takes the post Monday.


“Within the Agency, Scott has done an outstanding job, and I will always be thankful to him for this,” President Donald Trump tweeted following the announcement of Pruitt’s resignation.


“There was no final straw,” Trump later told reporters. “Scott is a terrific guy. He came to me and he said, ‘Look, I have such great confidence in the administration. I don’t want to be a distraction.’”


During his time as EPA administrator, Pruitt helped the U.S. pull out of the Paris climate accord, ended President Barack Obama’s Clean Power Plan and cut out government red tape within his…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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Megachurch Pastor Dean Curry Removed as Life Center Leader After He Is Accused of Sexual Misconduct

(Photo: Facebook)Dean Curry, lead pastor of Life Center Assembly of God in Tacoma, Wa., has been fired over allegations of “adultery.”

After 14 years at the helm of the multi-campus Life Center Assembly of God church in Tacoma, Washington, Pastor Dean Curry has been removed from his position due allegations of physical misconduct with a former church employee, church officials announced on Sunday.

Curry denied the claim in a report from The News Tribune and told his church that it would make him an adulterer if it were true. He insists that he has never been unfaithful to his wife.

“My relationship with Assembly of God has been fractured,” Curry, 50, told church members at a “family meeting” Sunday. “This woman accused me of behavior that would have amounted to adultery if it were true.”

He refused to identify his accuser to the congregation but said leaders at the Assemblies of God’s Northwest District Council did not give him an opportunity to defend himself and remains confident that an ongoing investigation of the claim would prove that “I have been falsely and wrongly accused.”

Greg Stern, senior director of operations and finance with the Assemblies of God’s Northwest District Council and who is authorized to discuss Curry’s removal, was not immediately available…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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New Wine Church announces death of senior minister

He passed away on Friday, 6th July after a battle with illness.

 

In a statement, the church said: “Pastor Michael was a visionary leader who led New Wine Church with tremendous grace, passion, integrity and above all a strong devotion to God and love for people.
He was also a wonderful husband to his wife, Ayo and exemplary father to his children.

“Whilst we mourn the passing of our beloved Pastor, we are assured that he is at home with Jesus, his Lord and Saviour whom he loved with all his heart and served with all his might. We are also confident that through the unceasing grace and power of God, the legacy and vision of a thriving church that he left with us will continue to grow and be a blessing to many more lives.

“New Wine Church and the family would like to express our gratitude to all well-wishers for your prayers and support and request that the privacy of the family are respected at this time.”

The church has said further information will be released in due course.

Pastor Michael took over the running of New Wine Church following the passing of founder Pastor Tayo Adeyemi in 2013.

Stay up to date with the latest news stories from a Christian perspective. Sign up to our daily newsletter and receive more stories like this straight to your inbox every morning.

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Premier Christianity News.

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Is the Blood Moon on July 27 a Prophetic Sign?

Pixabay/KBOutdoorsThe July 27 Blood Moon will be visible in certain parts of the world but not in North America

Later this month, people in certain parts of the world will be able to see the Blood Moon.

On July 27, people in Africa, the Middle East and South Asia will be able to watch the Blood Moon. Unfortunately, people in the United States will have to rely on webcasts to see the Blood Moon, because it will still be daytime when it shows up, according to Space.com.

The Blood Moon will hang in the sky for nearly two hours.

There are passages in the Bible referring to the Blood Moon and some Christian believe it’s a sign of the Lord’s imminent return to the world, CBN News reports. 

So is the July 27 Blood Moon a sign from God about Jesus’ second coming?

As Got Questions.org notes, the Blood Moon portending the return of the Lord is only a theory, and cautioned against attempts to make such predictions, because not even Jesus knows the date of His return. “The Bible warns against: setting dates for the coming of the Lord. ‘About that day or hour no one knows” (Mark 13:32).'”

“References to a moon like ‘blood’ are found in two passages of the Bible. Joel 2:30–31 says, ‘I will show wonders in the heavens and on the earth, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord.’

“In Revelation 6:12, John describes one of the seal judgments of the Tribulation: ‘I watched as he opened the sixth seal. There was a great earthquake. The sun turned black like sackcloth made of goat hair, the whole…

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Click Read More to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – The Christian Post.

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Survey: Theology Plays Central Role in Decision to Leave a Church

Survey: Theology Plays Central Role in Decision to Leave a Church



Many churches spend a large amount of time and energy on making their services appealing to their congregations and potential churchgoers. According to a new study, however, a perfectly in tune praise band or a preacher who uses engaging sermon illustrations are not the primary things that keep people coming back.


What the LifeWay Research study found was that churchgoers stay with a church ultimately based on the church’s theology.


According to the study, more than half of the 1,010 Protestant churchgoers who were surveyed said they would consider leaving their church if the church’s core beliefs changed.


Despite the tensions that issues like worship music, style of preaching, and the structure of the service can create, the biggest factor in a churchgoer’s decision to leave a church was not one of these issues.


The survey also found that the majority of churchgoers stay at their church for an extended amount of time, despite laments about church-hopping in today’s culture.


Thirty-five percent reported being at their church between 10 and 24 years, 27 percent reported attending their church for 25 years or more, 21 percent reported attending their church less than five years, while 17 percent said they have been at their church between five and nine years.


“Most church members have been at their church longer than their pastor,” said Scott McConnell,…

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Click here to read the rest of the story from our content source/partners – Christian Headlines.

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