Topic: Cultivate Healthy Relationships [Joyce Meyer’s Devotional Wednesday April 18, 2018]

…Love…is not touchy or fretful or resentful; it takes no account of the evil done to it [it pays no attention to a suffered wrong]. — 1 Corinthians 13:5

Everyone wants friends, and God wants us to have them. He encourages relationships throughout His Word, but it is important to have healthy, safe, and godly relationships.

Some relationships are not safe for us because we are being used, manipulated, and taken advantage of. God wants us to pray for and love everyone, even our enemies, but that doesn’t mean we should let people take advantage of us.

I personally am not interested in having what I call one-sided relationships in which I do all the giving and the other party does all the taking. God does use us at times in the lives of selfish, self-centered people, and we do make sacrifices, but there is a point at which we are hurting people if we let them manipulate us for their own pleasure.

Stand up for yourself and always be willing to confront unhealthy relationships. Speak the truth in love (see Ephesians 4:15). You are very valuable and entitled to have good friends who will respect and honor you properly.

Prayer Starter: Father, help me always be a good friend. I ask You for safe, healthy relationships in which I can flourish and grow. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Joyce Meyer Daily Devotional HERE’’

From Joyce Meyer’s Ministries.

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Topic: The Holy Spirit [Teens Open Heavens 18, April 2018]

Memorise: But the comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. – John 14:26

Read: Romans 8:26-27 (KJV)

26 Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

27 And he that searcheth the hearts knoweth what is the mind of the Spirit, because he maketh intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

Bible In One Year: 1 Samuel 25-26, Luke 16:19-31

MESSAGE:

The Holy Spirit is the best companion any child of God can have. Imagine having the greatest power in the universe living inside you, there are endless possibilities. In the Salvation process, the role of the Holy Spirit cam never be overestimated. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts an individual of his sins and leads him to confession. And when this individual confesses his sins and accept the Lord Jesus Christ into his heart, He will have God living on the inside.

The Holy Spirit is also the seal which preserves a Christian until the day of his redemption, and the day of redemption is the day of the Lord Jesus Christ comes for His own. Without the help of the Holy Spirit, a person cannot hope to make Heaven. It is the power that the Holy Spirit gives that enables a man to overcome all the wiles of the devil and stay righteous till the very end. This is why every Heaven bound Christian should always pray for an infilling of the Holy Spirit.

Prayer Point: Lord Jesus Christ please fill me with Your Holy Spirit.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Teen Open Heavens Daily Devotional by Pastor Adeboye’’ 

Hymn 14

1. O spread the tidings ’round,
Wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and
Human woes abound.
Let every Christian tongue
Proclaim the joyful sound:
The comforter has come!

Chorus:
The Comforter has come!
The Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heav’n,
The Father’s Promise giv’n,
O spread the tidings ’round,
Wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!

2. The long, long night is past;
The morning breaks at last;
And hushed the dreadful wail
And fury of the blast,
As o’er the golden hills
The day advances fast!
The Comforter has come!

3. Lo, the great Kings of Kings,
With healing in His wings,
To every captive soul a full
Deliv’rance brings;
And thro’ the vacant cells
The song of triumph rings;
The Comforter has come!

4. O boundless love divine!
How shall this tongue of mine
To wond’ring mortals tell
The matchless grace divine-
That I, a child of hell,
Should in His image shine?
The Comforter has come!

Daily Devotional for Teen’s 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.

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Topic: Divine Chastening [DCLM Daily Manna Wednesday April 18, 2018]

Text: Hebrews 12:5-13 (KJV)

Key Verse: “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons” (Hebrews 12:6,8).

MESSAGE:

Trials, stated Charles Spurgeon, make room for consolation. “There is nothing that makes a man have a big heart like a great trial. I have found that those people who have no sympathy for their fellows – who never weep for the sorrows of others – very seldom have had any woes of their own. Great hearts can only be made by great troubles. The spade of trouble digs the reservoir of comfort deeper and makes more room for consolation. God comes into the heart – He finds it full – He begins to break our comforts and to make it empty; then there is more room for grace. The humbler a man lies, the more comfort he will always have.”

Christians should welcome chastening from the Lord. Though the chastening may be presently unpleasant but afterwards will yield the peaceable fruit of righteousness. So, partakers are to make straight path for their feet; and allow those hands hanging down and the feeble knees get healed.

Challenges are tools in the refining process through which the Lord brings out the best in a Christian. These may come in the form of wrong accusation even from close associates, deprivation of lawful entitlements, discouragement, disagreements in marriage, church or home. God allows them so as to bring us to higher levels of usefulness and growth. He uses trials as an opportunity to prove to Satan, the world and ourselves, the depth of our commitment to Him.

As a partaker of His holiness, whatever you are experiencing might bring transient sorrow and heaviness of heart, but they are meant to refine, purge and purify you ultimately. Trials are part of the necessary training of legitimate children of God. Note that God’s best are often produced in the furnace of afflictions.

Thought For The Day: God brings men into deep waters, not to drown them but to cleanse them.

Bible Reading in one Year: Psalms 17; 35; 54; 63

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.

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Topic: The Danger Of Depression [Seeds of Destiny Wednesday April 18, 2018]

Scripture: It is enough; now, O LORD, take away my life; for I am not better than my fathers. 1 Kings 19:4.

Thought For The Day: Depression is the doorway to the destruction of destiny.

Depression is a state of mind producing long-term unhappiness or inability to visualize a happy future. It is a state of unhappiness or low morale.

The Scriptures make it clear that one of the things that hinder destiny fulfilment is depression. It was the spirit of depression that almost aborted the destiny of Elijah. After doing a great exploit of calling down fire from heaven to prove the reality of God on Mount Carmel and killing the false prophets of baal, he became depressed and discouraged in God because Jezebel threatened to kill him. According to our anchor Scripture, he told God that he wanted to die.

It is important to know that Elijah anointed Elisha; Elisha anointed Jehu, and Jehu killed Jezebel. This means, the anointing that killed Jezebel originated from Elijah, but he was running away from what he was anointed to slay. This is what depression does; it makes you run away from the problem you are wired to solve.

Now, what are the dangers of depression?
i) Depression is a major destroyer of destiny
A depressed man is on the pathway of destruction.

ii) Depression is a major sponsor of oppression
Depression opens the door for oppression. satan is at work where depression is.

iii) Depression is the doorway to destruction of destiny
People commit suicide because they are depressed. Depression is a major cause of many medical illnesses.

iv) Depression frustrates discretion
Depression affects reasoning. Whenever a man is depressed, his reasoning pathways are blocked; he lacks the capacity to find solution.

v) Depression decreases momentum
A depressed person is always tired; he sleeps tied, wakes up tired and too weak to work. A depressed person lacks momentum.

Beloved, my counsel is, by all means, avoid the life of depression. Decide to be happy always in the Lord regardless of what God has done or is yet to do. Deal with depression by the weapon of praise.

Remember this: Depression is the doorway to destruction of destiny.

Assignments:
1. Avoid the lifestyle of depression.
2. Decide to be joyful in the Lord always.

Prayer: O Lord, I reject every spirit of depression in my life. I ask that You decorate my life with the garment of praise, Lord, in Jesus’ Name.

FOR FURTHER UNDERSTANDING, GET THIS MESSAGE: DEADLY ENEMIES OF DESTINY (PART 2)

Daily Bible Reading: Joshua 16: 1 to 18:28, Luke 19:1 to 27, Psalm 87:1 to 7, Proverbs 13:11

Amazing Fact: All babies are colour blind at birth, they see only black and white.

Today In History: 18/04/1853 – The first train in Asia began running from Bombay to Tanna.

Quote: Victims of depression are never candidates of elevation. Culled from 30 SECRETS TO THE TOP by Dr Paul Enenche.

“If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to 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.

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Topic: Judging Origins [Our Daily Bread 18th Wednesday April, 2018]

Read: Judges 11:1–8, 29, Bible in a Year: 2 Samuel 3–5; Luke 14:25–35

The Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah. Judges 11:29

“Where are you from?” We often use that question to get to know someone better. But for many of us, the answer is complicated. Sometimes we don’t want to share all the details.

In the book of Judges, Jephthah might not have wanted to answer that question at all. His half-brothers had chased him out of his hometown of Gilead for his “questionable” origins. “You are the son of another woman,” they declared (Judges 11:2). The text says starkly, “His mother was a prostitute” (v. 1).

But Jephthah was a natural leader, and when a hostile tribe picked a fight with Gilead, the people who had sent him packing suddenly wanted him back. “Be our commander,” they said (v. 6). Jephthah asked, “Didn’t you hate me and drive me from my father’s house?” (v. 7). After getting assurances that things would be different, he agreed to lead them. The Scripture tells us, “Then the Spirit of the Lord came on Jephthah” (v. 29). Through faith, he led them to a great victory. The New Testament mentions him in its list of heroes of the faith (Hebrews 11:32).

God so often seems to choose the unlikeliest people to do His work, doesn’t He? It doesn’t matter where we’re from, how we got here, or what we’ve done. What matters is that we respond in faith to His love.

Prayer: Lord, we take great comfort knowing that You don’t show favoritism based on where we’re from. Our heritage is found in You. Thank You for adopting us into Your family.

Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first. Matthew 19:30

Insight:

The details of the story of Jephthah are unique, but the idea of an unlikely person being the hero of the story—well that’s the subtle plotline of the entire Bible. In fact, many times the person we might expect to be the hero—for example, the tall and broad-shouldered Saul—isn’t the hero at all. Disobedience to God led to Saul’s downfall, but it’s David, a young shepherd, whom God calls “a man after [my] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14).

What set apart those God used to do His work? Whether a prostitute (Rahab), a dreamer (Joseph), a young shepherd (David), a young virgin (Mary), or a former Pharisee (Paul), the common factor is how they responded to God. God uses those who listen to His calling and respond in faith. How might He use you? J.R. Hudberg

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

This message was written By Tim Gustafson [Our Daily Bread Ministries.]

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