Topic: Practice the Fruits of the Spirit [Billy Graham Devotional 26 February 2019]
But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control . . . —Galatians 5:22,23 (TLB)
Christ can rid you of inner conflict. Man without God is always torn between two urges. His nature prompts him to do wrong, and his conscience urges him to do right. Antagonistic desires and crossed-up emotions keep him in a state of personal instability. Medical men have almost concluded that this conflict is the basis of much physical breakdown and nervous collapse. Many doctors now believe that among the contributing causes of the common cold are stress, tension, and inner conflict. Paul must have been in the midst of such a personal civil war when he cried, “O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” Then he answered his own question when he said, “I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
Prayer for the day: Only Your Holy Spirit, Lord, can control my innermost feelings. Help me to be conscious of Your presence this day.
Written by Billy Graham, Founder of Billy Graham Evangelistic Association(BGEA). BGEA exists to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by every effective means and to equip the church and others to do the same.
Constitutional Amendment Ends Abortion in Pro-Life States
Pro-life supporters and pro-life state and national leaders say state amendments recently passed in Alabama and West Virginia may be a way for states to deny abortions if Roe v. Wade is overturned in the future.
In November 2018, Alabama and West Virginia passed state constitutional amendments that deny the right to an abortion.
“It is the public policy of this state to recognize and support the sanctity of unborn life and the rights of unborn children, most importantly the right to life in all manners and measures appropriate and lawful,” Alabama’s state amendment says.
The Alabama amendment passed with some 60 percent of voters.
In West Virginia, a similar amendment passed with 52 percent of votes in favor.
“Victories in West Virginia and Alabama show that putting life right on the ballot and letting voters decide can be a valuable means of achieving greater protections for the unborn,” said Mallory Quigley of the national pro-life group, The Susan B. Anthony List.
Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Rhode Island and Tennessee all have state constitutional amendments denying the right to abortion.
Other states may also be looking to pass similar state amendments.
“Other states will likely consider similar measures, particularly Iowa, where a one-sentence neutrality amendment has already been introduced, and Kansas, in the event the state supreme court recognizes…
Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Born Again for a Purpose
Topic: Born Again for a Purpose (Open Heaven 26 February 2019)
Memorise: “As they ministered to the Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them.”- Act 13:2
Read: Acts 9:1-6 (KJV)
1 And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest,
2 And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem.
3 And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven:
4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?
5 And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks.
6 And he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do? And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the city, and it shall be told thee what thou must do.
Bible in One Year: Acts 12-13, Isaiah 48
Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday MESSAGE:
Our God is a God of purpose, and everything He does fits into a grand purpose He has at the back of His mind. For this reason, He has both a general and a specific purpose for the life of everyone who becomes adopted into His family by being born again (Ephesians 1:5 & 11). “Purpose” is used here to mean the reason for which a thing is done or created, or the reason why something exist. According to the word of God, we are born again for the general purpose of manifesting and proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to all the nations of the world (1 Peter 2:9). We are also born again for a specific purpose that is revealed to each of us in the course of time (2 Timothy 1:9, Acts 26:16). It is also true that we are saved for the purpose of worship and service.
While it is great to have and discover one’s purpose, it is much more important to have the ability and resources to fulfill this purpose. Every human being seems to have some awareness of their abilities and limitations. When a person has the ability to undertake an assignment, he or she will respond to the assignment with confidence, but when confronted with a purpose that is beyond our capability, our natural response is fear and anxiety. Truthfully, God’s purpose for us will always be beyond what our own abilities can handle. However, we need not be discouraged by our inadequacies and personal weakness because our weakness is not an obstacle before God. He can accomplish His purpose, “whether with many, or with them that have no power:”(2 Chronicles 14:11).
God’s purpose will be accomplished in any situation regardless of personal weakness or limitations. He has chosen to work in this manner because He does not want anyone to glory in His presence, nor does He share His glory with anybody (1 Corinthians 1:27-29, Isaiah 42:8). He therefore specializes in using physically weak and inadequate people to confound and dispossess giants, formidable enemies and great armies. He used young David, a first-timer at the war front, to overcome Goliath, the enormous champion of the Philistine army (1 Samuel 17). He used four unarmed leprous men to put to flight the whole Syrian army which had besieged Samaria for months (2 Kings 7:3-11). He also used ordinary people to dispossess the giant occupants of Canaan of their land (Deuteronomy 3:12-13). All these examples were made possible because God’s purpose is always carried out by the power of His Spirit, and this power is made perfect in human weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9). The power of God will work through you to accomplish the purpose of God in this generation in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday Prayer Point:
Father, please use me to accomplish great things in this generation in Jesus’ Name.
Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday Hymn 4: Take My Life, And Let It Be
1.Take my life and let it be
Consecrated, Lord, to Thee.
Take my moments and my days,
Let them flow in endless praise,
Let them flow in endless praise.
2.Take my hands and let them move
At the impulse of Thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
Swift and beautiful for Thee,
Swift and beautiful for Thee.
3.Take my voice and let me sing,
Always, only for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
Filled with messages from Thee,
Filled with messages from Thee.
4. Take my silver and my gold, Not a mite would I withhold. Take my intellect and use Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose, Every pow’r as Thou shalt choose.
5. Take my will and make it Thine, It shall be no longer mine. Take my heart, it is Thine own, It shall be Thy royal throne, It shall be Thy royal throne.
6. Take my love, my Lord, I pour At Thy feet its treasure store. Take myself and I will be Ever, only, all for Thee, Ever, only, all for Thee.
Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday 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. Open Heaven 26 February 2019 Tuesday Daily Devotional
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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.
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Pharrell Williams Quotes 1 Corinthians 13:11 During Oscars, Sparks Debate
Pharrell Williams sparked a social media discussion by wearing a camouflage-print jacket and matching shorts during his Oscars presentation Sunday night, but his quoting of a Bible verse was also debated.
Williams and actress Michelle Yeoh presented the award for Best Animated Feature, and Williams began by quoting 1 Corinthians 13:11.
“The Bible says, ‘When I was a child I spoke as a child. I understood as a child. I thought as a child. And when I became a man, I put away childish things,’” Williams said.
Yeoh said, “When we move to adulthood, we look back fondly” on the childhood years and the “creativity exhibited.”
The nominees for Best Animated Feature, Williams said, “possess the ability to move us all.” There’s “no need to put things away but instead embrace and enjoy a shared experience,” he said.
On social media, the reaction to the presentation was mixed.
“@Pharrell quoting holy Bible on the #Oscars2019 !! Glory to God!” one person wrote on Twitter.
Another person wrote, “Love a good Scripture reference at the #AcademyAwards.”
Some said the verse was used out of context. Others saw irony in the presentation: “Pharrell saying the ‘when I was a child’ Bible verse WHILE wearing shorts is rich.”
Michael Foust is a freelance writer. Visit his blog, MichaelFoust.com
The 18th century bells at St Paul’s Church in Starcross have been restored thanks to a £10,000 grant from the Environment Agency (EA), and additional money raised by the community could mean they now ring out an SOS peal in the event of a flood.
The contingency method, suggested by the Flood Action Group and local wardens, will only be used if the EA’s traditional electronic method of warning, and all other forms of communication, have failed.
Churchwarden Tim Miles told Premier: “I shall be ringing the bells at a set pattern of rings just to alert them to look at their mobile phones, look at the news, listen to the radio to find out what is going on.”
Church bells have a long tradition of warning of hazards and were set to be used in the event of a German invasion during the Second World War.
Jane Fletcher-Peters, flood resilience officer at the EA, said: “Starcross is very much a boating community so it made sense that if the church bells were sounded to warn of flood, ringers would adopt an SOS peal familiar to residents.”
Tim Miles told Premier: “We’ve got the two bells and I suspect we will do a certain number of rings on one bell, a certain number of rings on the other bell continuously for as long as it takes, basically.”
He said everybody has worked together on the project: “It’s been such a good partnership between the Environment Agency, the church, the…
In a column for The Christian Post, John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Christian Worldview, and G. Shane Morris, a writer with the Colson Center, write that scientists can’t use natural selection to explain beauty in nature.
“The wings of a bird, the colors of a butterfly, and the patterns on a seashell defy the theory of Darwinian evolution. Many of us intuit, simply by looking at the splendor that permeates the natural world, that there must be some agent involved other than blind mutations or mere survival-of-the-fittest mechanisms.”
Stonestreet and Morris pointed to an article by Ferris Jabr in The New York Times, where Jabr cited a Yale ornithologist who said that “elaborate plumage and outrageous mating displays of many birds confer no obvious survival advantage. Instead, they often put these birds at a disadvantage, wasting precious energy and making them stand out to predators.”
In their Christian Post piece, Stonestreet and Morris say that traditionally, beauty in animals has been explained to show attractiveness to mates, but scientists are challenging the “good genes” theory.
“I’m glad some Darwinists are recognizing that survival alone can’t account for the art gallery we call the natural world, but is it really a…
Ask God for help from any area you PERSONALLY need help. Ps. 108:12
Ask God to help you to draw closer to Him in all areas of your Christian living.
Lord, in this month and the throughout this year, grant me favour to have a breakthrough in my prayer life.
O Lord, manipulate all my manipulators and deal with all the enemies of my soul. This month, create in me, a heart and all enablement to become agents of transformation.
O Lord, impact my life with your Life. Uphold me with your free Spirit and strengthen me for the journey ahead.” Isa. 40:29-31
O Lord, accelerate my progress in every aspect of my life.
Let God arise and let all those contending with me be frustrated. Ps. 35:1.Ask God to use you for His glory and be a blessing to healing the sick, raising the dead; open the blind eyes, making the lame to walk, etc. Act: 10:38
Ask God to help you to arise and Shine forth His glory and make you a blessing to the whole world. Gen.12:2-3
Pray that you shall not be barren. Exo 23:26. Ask that God to show all your mockers proof.
Ask God to part every river Jordan before you and remove everything that is blocking the way to your destiny. Matth.7:7
Ask that every curse in your family, town and everywhere change to blessings. Exo. 28:1-1
RCCG Fasting Prayer Points for 26 February 2019 – Day 47: Personal Prayers
Organisers say 74 people have accepted Jesus as their Saviour since the programme was translated into Albanian and launched in the country.
Ian Roberts of Christianity Explored said: “We’ve been thrilled to hear how well received Christianity Explored has been by the Albanian church.
“It’s less than a year since we were over in Tirana [Albania’s capital, pictured below] launching the course, and already plans to print Discipleship Explored as a follow on are almost finalised.
“We thank God for the team who’ve made this happen and the people who have heard the gospel through their endeavours.”
Since the launch in May last year, the number of churches and local Christians having access to Christianity Explored in Albania has almost doubled – to 84.
Almost 3,000 Christianity Explored workbooks have been distributed, while 300 pastors and small group leaders have been taught how to use them.
One of the poorest countries in Europe, Albania was communist until 1991. Approximately 20 per cent are Christians – largely a mix of Orthodox and Catholic.
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Christians Deliver Hope as Syrian Civilians Risk Lives to Flee Last ISIS Stronghold
The remaining ISIS stronghold is crumbling, and Syrian families are fleeing what remains of the Islamic State of Iraq’s dwindling territory. As women and children suffer on the road, the Christian group, Free Burma Rangers, have met them with aid and a message hope.
The Islamic terror group has been cornered in the village of Baghouz by US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF), CBN News reports. 12,000 people, many being ISIS families, have escaped the village and embarked on the road to the nearest refugee camp, several miles away.
Kurdish forces from the SDF have assisted with the evacuation, sending cattle trucks to Baghouz and transporting refugees to a collection point, where families are screened and former ISIS fighters are imprisoned. The rest are sent to the Al-Hol refugee camp.
The trek is dangerous. In recent weeks, 69 people, mostly children, have died on the way to the Al-Hol camp, according to the International Rescue Committee. The journey involves a walk of dozens of miles in the Syrian desert without food, water, or shelter. Former ISIS fighters continue to pose a threat as well.
The terror group is doing what it can to prevent Syrian families from leaving the conflict, closing off a pathway from which nearly 40,000 have been able to escape since December, a spokesman for the SDF told the Associated Press.
Rhapsody of Realities 26 February 2019 By Pastor Chris Oyakhilome – Jesus Is God’s Blessing
Topic: Jesus Is God’s Blessing
Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities (Acts 3:26).
The Lord Jesus came as a blessing to the world, to save men and bring them into fellowship with Himself, but the people of the world didn’t accept Him. Even the Jews, through whom He came, didn’t accept Him, because He came as a man. He wasn’t what they expected; they weren’t expecting someone that looked as ordinary as themselves. But Jesus is by no means ordinary; He’s Himself God. Be that as it may, He didn’t come to the world as God.
Philippians 2:6-8 says, “Who, being in the form of God…made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.” They expected a ruler, but because they were spiritually blind, they didn’t realize that the one who walked amongst them was the ruler of heaven and earth; the Monarch of the universe. They expected a Messiah, and He was the Messiah.
Jesus is all that the Jews and the world were looking for and more, packaged in one divine personality, but they didn’t recognise Him. He wasn’t packaged the way they expected, so they killed Him. The Bible says, “He came unto his own, and his own received him not” (John 1:11). But thanks be unto God! The ensuing verse 12 says, “But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.”
If you’ve never been born again, it means you’ve not received Him; you’ve not accepted God’s blessing. Jesus is all the blessings of heaven personified; to have Him is to have everything. It makes no difference what you’ve been searching for in life; what you’ve been in need of; receive Jesus and your search, thirst, and pursuit of happiness, will be over. He’s the one-stop shop for everything divine; everything sublime; everything transcendent that you could ever need. He’s your life, your peace, your salvation, your prosperity, your wisdom, your righteousness, and your everything! He’s God’s blessing to you! Hallelujah!
CONFESSION Blessed Jesus, you’re the lover of my soul, and the personality of my deepest affection; you mean more than the world to me. I acknowledge you as God’s ultimate blessing to me, and I walk in the light of all that I am in, and to you. Amen.
FURTHER STUDY: Matthew 1:20-21; John 17:3; Philippians 2:9-11
1 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Mark 7:24-8:1-13 & Numbers 1-2
2 YEAR BIBLE READING PLAN: Matthew 18:1-11 & Exodus 7
Rhapsody of Realities 26th February 2019 Devotional was written by Pastor Pastor Chris Oyakhilome (D.Sc., D.D.). President of Loveworld Inc. aka Christ Embassy Int’l.
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