Topic: Serve Continually [Our Daily Bread 27 August 2018 Devotional]

Read: Daniel 6:10–22, Bible in a Year: Psalms 120–122; 1 Corinthians 9

Has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you? Daniel 6:20

When educational psychologist Benjamin Bloom, researching how to develop talent in young people, examined the childhoods of 120 elite performers—athletes, artists, scholars—he found that all of them had one thing in common: they had practiced intensively for long periods of time.

Bloom’s research suggests that growing in any area of our lives requires discipline. In our walk with God, too, cultivating the spiritual discipline of regularly spending time with Him is one way we can grow in our trust in Him.

Daniel is a good example of someone who prioritized a disciplined walk with God. As a young person, Daniel started making careful and wise decisions (1:8). He also was committed to praying regularly, “giving thanks to God” (6:10). His frequent seeking of God resulted in a life in which his faith was easily recognized by those around him. In fact, King Darius described Daniel as a “servant of the living God” (v. 20) and twice described him as a person who served God “continually” (vv. 16, 20).

Like Daniel, we desperately need God. How good to know that God works in us so that we long to spend time with Him! (Philippians 2:13). So let us come every day before God, trusting that our time with Him will result in a love that will overflow more and more and in a growing knowledge and understanding of our Savior (1:9–11).

Prayer: Father, I thank You for the privilege of serving You. Help me to spend regular time with You in order to grow in my knowledge of You.

Time with God transforms us.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Our Daily Bread Devotionals HERE”

This message was written By Keila Ochoa [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

Topic: Not of This World [Kenneth & Gloria Copeland 27 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

Whatever is born of God is victorious over the world; and this is the victory that conquers the world, even our faith. – 1 John 5:4, The Amplified Bible

Years ago the devil started a rumor. He told a few Christians that as long as they lived in the world, they had to suffer as the world did. He told them they had to share the diseases and the defeat, the poverty and the failure of those around them.

It was a crafty lie—and it worked. Believers accepted it and began to spread it among themselves. You may have even heard it yourself. If so, I want to help you put that rumor to rest today. I want to help you get the facts straight once and for all.

You see, despite what you may have heard, health, prosperity and victorious living aren’t concepts some comfort-hungry believer selfishly dreamed up. They are God’s ideas.

You may say, “That sounds good, Gloria, but we’ve got to be realistic. We live in a world that’s full of problems. And as long as we live in this world, it seems to me we’re going to have our share.”

Yes, that’s true. Even Jesus said, “In the world you have tribulation and trials and distress and frustration.” But notice, He didn’t stop there! He went on to say, “But be of good cheer [take courage; be confident, certain, undaunted]! For I have overcome the world. [I have deprived it of power to harm you and have conquered it for you]” (John 16:33, The Amplified Bible).

Most believers don’t have any trouble believing the first part of that verse. They know all too well how many tribulations, trials, distresses and frustrations surround them. But they’re less certain about the last part. They haven’t yet experienced for themselves exactly what Jesus meant when He said He had deprived those things of power to harm them.

Why not?

Because they’re still living as though they’re part of the world.

But, listen. Jesus said you and I are to be “sanctified,” or separated from the evils of this world. How? Through the Word of God (John 17:17)!

The Word of God will separate you from the world. His Word will set His dream for victory into motion in your life. If you’ll receive it and believe it, speak it and act on it, that Word will set you apart from those around you. It will take you from trouble to triumph again and again.

Scripture Reading: John 17:1-17

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Kenneth and Gloria Copeland’s Daily Devotional Here’’

This message was written by Kenneth and Gloria Copeland, the leader of the Kenneth Copeland Ministries (www.KCM.org) that specializes in teaching principles of bible faith – prayer, healing, salvation and other biblical topics.

Topic: While Its Last! [DCLM Daily Manna 27 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

Text: Mark 10:46-52 (KJV)

Key Verse: “And Jesus stood still, and commanded him to be called. And they call the blind man, saying unto him, Be of good comfort, rise; he calleth thee” (Mark 10:49).

MESSAGE:

Many people miss great opportunities because they are not careful enough to notice it or they undermine such opportunities, thinking another time would come. Blind Bartimaeus was not a person who would allow a great opportunity to slip out of his hand.

Bartimaeus was by the roadside begging when he heard the movement of crowd. He heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth passing by. He began to cry unto Him to have mercy on him. Though the crowd tried to shout him down, he cried the more and Jesus heard him. His cry made Jesus stand still and commanded him to be called. Immediately, he threw off all disturbing things around him and ran to Jesus. Jesus asked what he wanted Him to do for him. Immediately he shouted: “That I might receive my sight”. He was made whole instantly!

Whosoever Jesus called by His grace should be of good comfort. Such should be rest assured that it was the love of God that made them to be chosen and see themselves as being predestinated of God’s redemptive plan for the world. Moreso, there is the great opportunity of having eternal life with God at the end of this present world.

We should not be satisfied with having ephemeral things such as healing, riches, wealth, education or worldly possessions which cannot take us beyond the Pearly Gate. Our satisfaction should hinge on the fact that we have eternal abode with Him on the last day. Today may be your last opportunity. If blind Bartimaeus could interpret the tide at his time and grab such opportunity, why won’t you?

Thought For The Day: Opportunities do not last forever. Grab them while you can.

Bible Reading In One Year: Ezekiel 1-4

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Deeper Christian Life Ministry, DCLM Daily Manna HERE

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.

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.

Topic: The Spell of Visionlessness and Aimlessness [Seeds of Destiny 27 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

Scripture: And the Lord answered me, and said, Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry. Habakkuk 2:2-3.

Thought For The Day: A man without vision is at ease because he has no sense of urgency; and a man at ease is under a curse.

Our God is a God of vision and purpose; He created the heaven and the earth by the power of vision and purpose. There is a purpose for every creature He made on the earth; there is a purpose for man (Genesis 1:1, 28). There is a purpose for your life.

However, satan’s utmost desire is to make man not to become what God created him to be. One of his strategies of achieving this is to cast the spell of visionlessness or lack of vision on man.

Visionlessness is a situation where one does not know what to do with one’s life; a visionless person does not know in which direction to pour the energy of his life.
I would like you to take note of the following:

i) A life of no vision is a life of no future
Visionlessness equals futureless-ness; having no vision equals having no future. God told Abraham that as far as Abraham’s eyes could see, God would give unto him (Genesis 13:14); so, to see nothing is to get nothing. Your future is connected to your vision.

ii) The lack of vision equals the lack of a sense of urgency
When you see someone without vision, he has no sense of urgency. He is not in a hurry about anything; he may sit to watch television for hours aimlessly. A man without vision is at ease because he has no sense of urgency; and a man at ease is under a curse (Amos 6:1).

Beloved, my counsel is, avoid the spell of visionless and aimless existence by all means.

Remember this: A man without vision is at ease because he has no sense of urgency; and a man at ease is under a curse.

Assignments:
1. Avoid the spell of visionless-ness and aimlessness in life.
2. Ask God to show you why you are alive. Discover the reason for your existence and doggedly pursue it.

Prayer: O Lord, I ask that You deliver me from the spell of visionless-ness and aimlessness. Reveal to me Your purpose for my life, Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: DEADLY ENEMIES OF DESTINY (PART 5).

Daily Reading: Job 23:1 to 27:23, 2 Corinthians 1:12 to 2: 11, Psalm 41:1 to 13, Proverbs 22:5 to 6

Amazing Fact: During sneezing, irritants (that cause sneezing) are expelled at a speed of 100 miles per hour.

Today In History: 27/08/1989 – The first U.S. commercial satellite rocket was launched. A British communications satellite was on board.

Quote: Vision is insight into God’s plan for man’s life. Culled from 10 PRINCIPAL SECRETS OF PRINCIPAL PEOPLE by Paul Enenche.

Don’t Forget To Attend: The Healing and Deliverance Tomorrow by 9:00am. Come with your friends and loved ones to experience the yoke-destroying power of God.

Also Read: Seeds of Destiny by Pastor Paul Enenche

Today’s devotional was written by Pastor Paul Enenche of the Dunamis International Gospel Centre (DIGC), headquartered at Abuja, Nigeria, with Pastor Paul and Becky Enenche, as the Senior Pastors. It is a power-packed arena where God’s Presence, Principles and Power are at work for the salvation, healing and restoration of human destinies and dignities

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.

Topic: There is No Shortage in God [TREM 27 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

“But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus”. Philippians 4:19

There is no shortage in God. He has in abundance of everything. He has abundant supply of everything we will need in life. Not just money; He is more than anything! Some of us function with the idea that God is in heaven and He is in a sort of panic mode because of the events happening right now. And so He is wondering, what am I going to do next! Beloved, the last time I checked, He is sitting down and laughing. He is not repeating himself.

When God finished the work of creation, He sat down. Finished does not mean that He was tired; it means He has finished everything He needed to do. There is no need that comes that doesn’t have supply, no matter what it is. The needs of the whole world have already been provided for in anticipation by God. That is why it is already done. God is not going to be scratching His head and say now that the devil has pulled a fast one, what am I going to do again? He has abundant grace, abundant mercy, abundant faithfulness and abundance of joy and peace to give. He has abundance of everything. The fall of man has made man to develop a shortage mentality. The fall of man has made us to see things in shortage.

We must get rid of shortage mentality because it is contrary to the new creation reality. And you are a new creation. You function from heaven. There is no lack in heaven at all. There is no shortage in heaven. God is not lacking in anything that has to do with godliness and all the good things of this life. It is all provided for! Praise God

Further Reading: Ephesians 3:20, 2 Corinthians 9:8

Daily Bible Reading: Morning- Psalms 120-122; Evening- 1 Corinthians 9

“If you missed yesterday devotional click HERE to read TREM Daily Devotional by Dr. Mike Okonkwo’’

Written by Dr. Mike Okonkwo; Is the Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM); a versatile man of God with over 30 years of dedicated service unto the Lord.

Topic — Love: A Principal Ingredient in Marriage (Part 3)

Dear Reader,

Marriage built on anything less than mutual love and respect cannot weather the storms of life. Paul writes: Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church (Ephesians 5:25). Likewise, he instructed Titus saying, Train the young women to love their husbands, to love their children (Titus 2:4). This week, I will be sharing with you on mutual submission.

Submission has to be done in love. When submission is rooted in love, it is perfect and brings God’s presence down in the home. Even if a woman has an unbelieving husband, if her submission to him is absolute, she will wake up one day to see the man ready and eager to follow her to church. I saw from 1 Peter 3:1 that a woman does not need words to win her unsaved husband to Christ. Her actions can perform the miracle.

Note that the submission I am talking about is not slavery, but submission in love. God’s Word says: That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed(Titus 2:4-5).

What does God expect of women in this area? First of all, we must understand that submission is an attitude and not just an action. Submission begins in the heart. There is a story about a little boy that was instructed by his teacher to sit down and be quiet. Because of his rebellious nature, he did not want to do this, but was forced to by his teacher. Later, the children in the class were chiding him by saying, “Boy, you really sat down and shut up when the teacher approached you with the paddle.” The rebellious boy replied, “I may have been sitting down on the outside, but I was still standing up on the inside.”

Many times, women who claim to be submissive are only outwardly going through the motions of submission, while inwardly they are still resenting their position in life.

On the other hand, the husband must consciously ignore the negative, unattractive things about his wife and say the positive. He must express his love through the things he says about and to his wife. He must always tell her how much he loves her, how much she means to him, how he loves the way she does certain things, etc. With time, he will discover that she begins to measure up to his expectations. If he calls her a virtuous woman, she will long to live up to that title. The faith she needs to become all the things he says she is, comes as she constantly hears them (Romans 10:17).

Express your love, be concerned about her welfare, notice new things about her and buy her gifts from time to time. In essence, cherish her, nourish her and ravish her with your love. It is not unmanly to demonstrate your love in your actions and attitudes. Don’t criticise or ridicule her; don’t make her feel there is nothing she knows how to do. Encourage and motivate her to be her best for God.

As husband and wife, you must make sure you learn to speak one another’s love language. If your spouse responds to physical touch, caress him or her, touch him or her. If he likes words of encouragement, speak encouragement often to him or her. If he or she is the type that responds to acts of service, then be pro-active and do things for your mate.

Likewise, if it is quality time, spend the time and lastly if he or she responds best to giving gifts, make sure you surprise him or her often with gifts. In time, he or she will inevitably reciprocate the same to you. This is how you make each other feel good.

Love is something we choose to do. Choosing to love means:

• I choose to Love my husband/wife
• I choose to be patient with my mate
• I choose to be kind to my mate
• I choose to please my mate
• I choose to forgive my mate
• I choose to honour my mate
• I choose to trust my mate
• I choose to be understanding to my mate
• I choose to grow with my mate
• I choose to encourage my mate
• I choose to help my mate
• I choose to be truthful to my mate
• I choose to be faithful to my mate
• I choose to be unselfish with my mate
• I choose to be hopeful with my mate
• I choose to speak in love to my mate
• I choose to be my spouse’s mate the rest of my life!

What “Choice” have you made today?

Even if you are troubled in your marriage or your partner is not responding as you would like, you must still make the choice first. Do not let your heart become hardened. Ask God for the strength for you to choose to “love” today. Expecting nothing in return, open your heart to the gift of God’s Love.

To be able to benefit from what has just been discussed, you need to become a bonafide child of God. You become a child of God by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. If you are already born again, rejoice because your case is settled. If you are not yet born again and you desire to do so right now, please pray this prayer with faith in your heart: Dear Lord Jesus Christ, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins and cleanse me with Your Blood. I accept You as my Lord and personal Saviour. Make me a child of God today. Thank You for delivering me from sin and satan to serve the living God and thank You for accepting me into Your Kingdom.

Congratulations! If you prayed this simple prayer of faith with me, you are now born again and a child of God. He loves you and will never leave you. Read your Bible daily, obey God’s Word and seek Christian fellowship (John 14:21).

With this, you are guaranteed all-round rest and peace in Jesus’ Name! Call or write to share your testimonies with me through [email protected], 07026385437 OR 08141320204.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Marriage Covenant, Making Marriage Work, Building a Successful Home and Success in Marriage (Co-Authored).

“Please click HERE to read other inspiring articles by Pastor Faith Oyedepo”

Pastor Faith Oyedepo is the wife of Bishop David Oyedepo, the founder of the Living Faith Church Worldwide a.k.a. Winners’ Chapel, and Senior Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria.

Topic: Minister God’s Love [Andrew Wommack 27 August 2018 Daily Devotional]

Luke 19:8 “And Zacchaeus stood, and said unto the Lord; Behold, Lord, the half of my goods I give to the poor; and if I have taken any thing from any man by false accusation, I restore him fourfold.”

Text: Luke 19:1-8

Zacchaeus was rich but Jesus made no demands for him to give away all his goods to the poor as He did with the rich young ruler. Zacchaeus had already repented and money was no longer his god, as was revealed by his actions. It seems that Zacchaeus was going above and beyond the requirement of restitution as stated in Mosaic law by offering to give half of his goods to the poor and to repay fourfold for his theft.

Publicans were hated by their fellow Jews. They were especially despised by the religious Jews as the epitome of sinners and Jewish religious laws prevented devout Jews from keeping company with any publican. To eat with a publican was unthinkable as the Jews considered this actually partaking of the publican’s sins. This is why the people reacted so adversely to Jesus eating with Zacchaeus.

Jesus did not eat at Zacchaeus’ house to participate in his sin but to extend mercy and forgiveness to him. This is always the criterion whereby we can judge whether or not we should be involved in a certain situation. We must not participate in other men’s sins, but the Lord doesn’t want us to retreat to monasteries either. We are the salt of the earth (Mt. 5:13), and to do any good, we have to get out of the “salt shaker.” If we can be in control and minister the love of God, then we are right to associate with sinners. But when we are being controlled by the ungodliness of sinners, we need to take control or withdraw.

Also Read: Andrew Wommack Daily Devotional

This message was written by The Association of Related Ministries International (ARMI) is an extension of Andrew Wommack Ministries (AWM). ARMI is a unique partnership committed to providing resources to help like-minded ministers succeed in a spirit of excellence and to draw from the experience and expertise of both the AWM and Charis Bible College staff. (www.awmi.net).

Topic: The Secret of Surrender [Billy Graham Daily Devotional 27 August 2018]

Just as you used to be slaves to all kinds of sin, so now you must let yourselves be slaves to all that is right and holy. — Romans 6:19 (TLB)

We have heard the modern expression, “Don’t fight it-it’s bigger than both of us.” Those who are meek do not fight back at life. They learn the secret of surrender, or yielding to God. He then fights for us! Instead of filling your mind with resentments, abusing your body by sinful diversion, and damaging your soul by willfulness, humbly give all over to God. Your conflicts will disappear and your inner tensions will vanish into thin air. Then your life will begin to count for something.

You will have the feeling of belonging to life. Boredom will melt away, and you will become vibrant with hope and expectation. Because you are meekly yielded, you will begin to “inherit the earth” of good things, which God holds in store for all who trust Him with their all.

Prayer for the day: Let me yield to You this day, Father, all my innermost thoughts. I cannot hide from You.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read Billy Graham’s Daily Devotional HERE

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.