Topic: The Mystery of His Love [Billy Graham Devotional 14 February 2019]
I have loved thee with an everlasting love . . . — Jeremiah 31:3
No human experience can fully illustrate the imputed righteousness of God, as conceived by His infinite love. It is a mystery-incomprehensible and inexplicable. Like the mystery of the sun’s heat and light, we cannot measure it or explain it, and yet we could not live without it. Writing of the mystery of completed righteousness, Paul said, “We speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God ordained before the world unto our glory. . . . But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him” (1 Corinthians 2:7, 9). What God has wrought in us is wonderful.
But His work has just begun. He has a wonderful, exciting, thrilling future for all of His believing children.
Prayer for the day: My finite mind cannot grasp all there is in store for those of us who love You—but this does not take away the joy and expectation all Your love has prepared—everlastingly!
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.
Tom Brady Says Wife, a ‘Good Witch,’ Helps Him Win with Altars, Stones, Mantras
Quarterback Tom Brady has led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships during his unprecedented career, but he says some of the credit goes to his wife, Gisele Bundchen, who performs witchcraft to assist him.
Brady made the comments last week during an event sponsored by Gillette in Boston. They first were reported by CBS Boston.
“You know I’ve learned a lot from my wife over the years,” Brady said, leaning back in a barber’s chair. “She’s so about the power of intention and believing things that are really going to happen.
“She always makes a little altar for me at the game, because she just wills it so much. So she put together a little altar for me that I can bring with pictures of my kids, and I have these little special stones and healing stones and protection stones, and she has me wear this necklace, and take these drops she makes, and I say all these mantras, and I stopped questioning her a long time ago. I did. I just shut up and listen.”
At first, Brady said, he thought it was “kinda crazy.”
“And then about four years ago, we were playing the Seahawks and she said to me, ‘You better listen to me. This is your year. But this is all the things you’re going to have to do to win.’ And I did all those things and … it worked.”
The Patriots beat the Seahawks that year in Super Bowl 49.
New Technological Developments Are Rapidly Expanding the Bible’s Global Reach
New developments in technology have been rapidly expanding the reach of the Gospel around the world.
The Bible translation software, “Paratext” – used by Wycliffe Bible Translators – has been recently adapted to a mobile-friendly version called “Paratext Lite.” This enables missionaries all over the world to use the technology in more remote contexts where the equipment needed to translate God’s word is harder to access or maintain, Christian Post reports.
ParaText is a leading software application used to produce, check and revise Bible translation texts. The Lite version enables teams to centralize their work and collaborate more effectively.
Not only does this technology make translation work more efficient, but also more accessible. Now, local partners and members of the native population can participate and take a lead in more of the process, changing the role of Western foreigners who come in to translate the Bible into indigenous languages.
“And that’s the exciting thing that we’re seeing is this shift over the last seven to 10 years where nationals, indigenous people are wanting to do the work themselves,” said Doug Hennum, Wycliffe’s chief innovation and information officer to Christian Post. “They are beginning to say, instead of just us helping you white Westerners do this, we want to do it; help us learn how to do…
The Bishop of Rochester was admitted by Medway NHS Foundation Trust in Kent for a bowel procedure.
Rt Rev James Langstaff revealed that a tumour was removed from the upper rectum area on Friday.
In a message posted on Twitter, the Anglican leader expressed gratitude to his surgeon, anaesthetists and the team High Dependency Unit team.
Rt Rev Christine Hardman, the Bishop of Newcastle, responded: “Prayers of thanksgiving and prayers will continue for the journey to full recovery.”
Home 3 days after removal of tumour in upper rectum at @Medway_NHS_FT. Hugely grateful to surgeon Will Garrett, @anaesthetistSB and team; also Dr Hettirachchi and all in HDU.
Pro-Life Group to Show Live Third-Trimester Ultrasounds in Time Square
On a mission to show people that the unborn are human beings, Focus on the Family is taking to New York to displayed live ultrasounds on monitors and screens in Time Square.
According to CBN News, Focus on the Family – a global Christian ministry that works to help families thrive – is holding a live ultrasound viewing in response to New York’s new Reproductive Health Act and the proposed abortion bill in Virginia that would have allowed women to have an abortion while in labor.
In an interview with CBN News, Focus on the Family President Jim Daly said, “I think really what’s happened in New York and in Virginia has prompted a response.”
The May 4 event will be filled with, speakers, music and 4-D footage of live third-trimester pregnancy ultrasounds.
Daly said, “And with the 4-D technology that we have, it looks like a picture of a 1-year-old.”
“There is no way a person is going to be able to say, ‘That is not a child.’ It is a child and we want everybody to see it,” he added.
Daly said his organization chose Time Square so that they can have an open dialogue with as many people as possible. He told CBN News, “Well, [Time Square’s] the epicenter of everything. I think if you talk to anyone in Manhattan, Times Square is…
Open Heaven 14 February 2019 Thursday Daily Devotional By Pastor E. A. Adeboye – United in Rebellion?
Topic: United in Rebellion? (Open Heaven 14 February 2019)
Memorise: “Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.”- Proverbs 11:21
Read: Genesis 11:1-6 (KJV)
1 And the whole earth was of one language, and of one speech.
2 And it came to pass, as they journeyed from the east, that they found a plain in the land of Shinar; and they dwelt there.
3 And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.
4 And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.
5 And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.
6 And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.
Bible in One Year: John 11, Isaiah 39:1-40:8
Open Heaven 14 February 2019 Thursday MESSAGE:
While it is good to walk in unity with others through any venture in life, any form of unity that runs contrary to the perfect will of God is counterproductive. Because of this truth, whenever there is a call to unite over anything, you must first find out what type of cause it is and what kind of unity is being called for. Uniting with people blindly can cause you untold agony. This is what happened to King Jehoshaphat who formed an unholy alliance with the idolatrous King Ahab (1 Kings 22). It was only the mercy of God that spared Jehoshaphat from becoming a victim of the untimely death that was reserved for another man. When people unite to actualize anything that is contrary to the will of God, it is a rebellious alliance. The unfortunate thing about rebellious alliances of the ungodly is that they will always end in frustration and shame, just as it happened at the Tower of Babel. God’s mandate to mankind was to replenish the whole earth and subdue it (Genesis 1:28, Isaiah 45:18), but they chose at that point to build a city and a tower with a motive that was contrary to God’s mandate for them. Hear what they said to themselves in Genesis 11:4:
“And they said, Go to, let us build us a city and a tower, whose top may reach unto heaven; and let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.”
They united to rebel against the divine purpose and God had to intervene so that His original plan could be achieve. This is why their unitary language had to be confounded.
The example of the Tower of Babel teaches us a good number of lessons, first of which is that whenever people gather to rebel against God and godliness, God always knows about it. I pray that the Almighty God will always reveal the evil plans of your enemies to you in Jesus’ Name. Secondly, God does not only expose evil conspiracies, He also acts against them. I decree that those who are united against the purpose of God for your life shall be confounded and their purpose shall be defeated in Jesus’ Name. One example of evil conspiracy is the alliance of Ahithophel and Absalom against David (2 Samuel 15:12). David prayed that God should overturn Ahithophel’s evil counsel, and He did (2 Samuel 15:31; 2 Samuel 17:23). A third lesson for us is that when God arises to foil the plans of those who diabolically unite against Him and His people, the enemies are left confused and in disarray. Beloved, are you uniting in rebellion with others? Please stop it. Never align yourself with rebels. Let these words of Proverb 1:10 guide you in this regard:
“My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not.”
Open Heaven 14 February 2019 Thursday Action Point:
Examine the company you keep. If their activities are rebellious, part ways with them and keep company with the people of God.
Open Heaven 14 February 2019 Thursday Hymn 3: Trust and Obey
1. When we walk with the Lord In the light of His word What a glory He sheds on our way! While we do His good will, He abides with us still, And with all who will trust and obey
Chorus:
Trust and obey,
For there’s no other way
To be happy in Jesus,
But to trust and obey.
2. Not a shadow can rise, Not a cloud in the skies, But His smile quickly drives it away; Not a doubt nor a fear Not a sigh nor a tear, Can abide while we trust and obey.
3. Not a burden we bear, Not a sorrow we share But our toil He doth richly repay; Not a grief nor a loss, Not a frown nor a cross, But is blest if we trust and obey.
4. But we never can prove The delights of His love Until all on the altar we lay; For the favour He shows, And the joy He bestows, Are for them who will trust and obey.
5. Then in fellowship sweet We will sit at His feet, Or we’ll walk by His side in the way; What He says we will do Where He sends we will go Never fear, only trust and obey.
Open Heaven 14 February 2019 Thursday 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 14 February 2019 Thursday Daily Devotional.
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Anthony Idris Jata’u was taken on Thursday night in the northwestern state along with his wife, three children and two sisters-in-law.
Jata’u, from South Kaduna, had studied at the Crowther Graduate Theological Seminary in Abeokuta, in Ogun State, before his ordination. He was on his way to a new posting in Katsina State when he was attacked by armed men.
His body was discovered by the side of a road on Saturday.
An anonymous source told Nigeria’s Punch Newspaper: “The bandits shot at the car he was driving and dragged him and the occupants out as the vehicle skidded off the road.
“His body was recovered two days later, but his family members were taken away.
“Everybody is sad at the moment and afraid for the lives of his family members still in the custody of the bandits. The church doesn’t have such money but it’s hoping to raise a substantial sum to secure the release of the victims.”
The source added that the kidnappers have demanded a £21,500 (N10m Nigerian Naira) ransom.
No official confirmation of the reports has been made.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has expressed his sadness over news of the clergyman’s death.
Deeply distressed and saddened to hear this. We pray with great urgency that God draws near the family of Revd Anthony Idris Jata’u, who grieve even as they remain in captivity. May God bring freedom and justice, may Christ light the path towards…
Man Regrets Transgender Surgery and Life as Women, Says Media ‘Misled’ Him
A man who formerly lived as a transgender woman and who had sex-reassignment surgery is speaking up about how he regrets the changes he made.
Many other people like him exist, he says, but their voices are not given a platform.
“Had I not been misled by media stories of sex change ‘success’ and by medical practitioners who said transitioning was the answer to my problems, I wouldn’t have suffered as I have,” Walt Heyer writes in a column on USA Today’s website. “Genetics can’t be changed. Feelings, however, can and do change. Underlying issues often drive the desire to escape one’s life into another, and they need to be addressed before taking the radical step of transition.”
Heyer, who heads SexChangeRegret.com, says he met and married a woman in his early 20s. They had two children, but he eventually began identifying as a woman himself. Those feelings, he says, were sparked by a grandmother who dressed him like a girl when he was four years old. An uncle sexually abused him, too. A medical professional him that his “childhood events were not related” to his “current gender distress.”
He started taking female hormones at age 42. He had breast implants and genital reconfiguration surgery. He and his wife split.
“My childhood dream was realized, and my life as a woman began,” he writes.
Francis’s predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, beatified Cardinal Newman during a visit to Britain in 2010.
In the Catholic Church’s saint-making process, one miracle is necessary for beatification, and a second miracle, occurring after the beatification ceremony, must be certified byVatican experts for sainthood to be conferred.
The Vatican did not give details in announcing Francis’s approval of this second miracle.
But Catholic media last year reported that a pregnant woman’s recovery, with no scientific explanation, from a life-threatening illness had been confirmed by church officials and attributed to Cardinal Newman’s intercession.
London-born Cardinal Newman, who died in England in 1890, had been hailed by Benedict as a model for ecumenism.
Cardinal Newman renounced an illustrious academic career at Oxford University to convert to Catholicism in 1845, convinced that the truth he sought could no longer be found in the Church of England.
Anglicans split from Rome in 1534 when the English monarch Henry VIII was denied a marriage annulment.
No date was immediately announced for a sainthood ceremony.
The Vatican also said that Francis had approved the “heroic virtues of God’s servant” Hungarian Cardinal Jozsef Mindszenty, a staunch foe of Communism who spent more than seven years in prison in his homeland and several…
‘We’re Not Allowed to Print Anything’ about Jesus, Chinese Print Shop Tells Church
Christians in China’s Henan province hoping to celebrate the new year with Christ-centered calendars learned in recent days that such items are prohibited.
A member of De’en Church in the district of Xigong told Bitter Winter that his congregation prepared a calendar for members but was told by a local printer that faith-based calendars are banned by the government.
Bitter Winter, which follows stories about the persecuted church in China, visited two print shops. Both said they would not print Christian material.
“A desk calendar or a picture to hang on the wall — we’re not allowed to print anything if it has any content related to Jesus,” the owner of the small print shop told Bitter Winter.
Government officials from the Bureau for Industry and Commerce “frequently” visit the shop, the owner said.
“They have always prohibited us from printing such things,” the owner said. “If they discover that we have printed religion-related items, the government will punish us according to the quantity printed. Now, the control is even stricter. If anyone dares to print religious materials secretly and is caught, in minor cases, they will be fined, and their shops will be closed down; in severe cases, they will face the prospect of being detained.”
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