Open Heavens 9 April 2018 Monday — Wonders Of Divine Blessings IV

Topic: Wonders Of Divine Blessings IV [Open Heavens 9 April 2018, Monday]

Memorise: “Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered.” – Psalm 32:1 (Scroll down for Open Heavens Hymn)

Read: Luke 7:37-48 (KJV)

37 And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,

38 And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment.

39 Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.

40 And Jesus answering said unto him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, say on.

41 There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.

42 And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?

43 Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.

44 And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.

45 Thou gavest me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet.

46 My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed my feet with ointment.

47 Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.

48 And he said unto her, Thy sins are forgiven.

Bible in One Year: Joshua 12-14, 1 Thessalonians 4.

MESSAGE:

The greatest of all the wonders of divine blessings comes from the blessings of salvation. What does it mean to be saved? What are the blessings that accrue from salvation? All these are pertinent questions that we will be considering today. To be saved is to escape eternal damnation which comes as a result of since. The Righteous God of heaven has declared every man born of a woman guilty of sin. He made His verdict known in Romans 3:23 which says,

“For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;”

Not only has mankind been declared guilty of sin, the punishment that awaits him due to this verdict has also been revealed in Revelation 21:8:

“But the fearful, and unbelieving, and the abominable, and murderers, and whoremongers, and sorcerers, and idolaters, and all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death.”

To be delivered from this declared eternal damnation is nothing short of a wonder of divine blessings. Luke 7:37-48 tells the story of the wonder of divine blessings in the life of a forgiven sinner. A woman considered to be a sinner came to acknowledge the saving grace of Jesus Christ, and she did all she could humanly do to express her gratitude to the Saviour of the world, who came to pay the supreme price. The Pharisees were full of indignation because of the act of this woman. They could not understand what it means to be forgiven or what it means to escape from eternal damnation. They could not see through what prompted David to pen Psalm 32. The Lord Jesus Christ tried to open their blind eyes of understanding by giving a voice to the actions of this woman. Luke 7:47 says,

“Wherefore I say unto thee, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.”

Beloved, if you desire the wonders of divine blessings, the most profound of them all comes through the blessing of forgiveness. When you give your life to Christ, what the Lord said to the woman in today’s Bible reading, He will say to you:

“Thy sins are forgiven.” Luke 7:48b

Whoever wants to enjoy the wonders of divine blessings that last forever must plug himself or herself into the blessedness of forgiveness through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer Point: Father, I thank You for the forgiveness I received when I confessed my sins and gave my life to Your Son, Jesus Christ. Please don’t let me be like a dog that returns to its vomit.

If you missed yesterday devotional, please click to read “Open Heavens 8 April 2018 Sunday — Wonders Of Divine Blessings III’’

Hymn 3: What Can Wash Away My Sins

1. What can wash away my sin?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus;
What can make me whole again?
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

Chorus:
Oh! precious is the flow
That makes me white as snow;
No other fount I know,
Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

2. For my cleansing this I see
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
For my pardon this my plea
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

3. Nothing can my sin erase
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
Naught of works, ’tis all of grace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

4. This is all my hope and peace
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!
This is all my righteousness
Nothing but the blood of Jesus!

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: Please do not prolong your salvation if you have not repented. Many are going home daily and tomorrow maybe too late…There is still hope, JESUS LOVES YOU!

The post Open Heavens 9 April 2018 Monday — Wonders Of Divine Blessings IV appeared first on Flatimes.

Billy Graham’s Devotional 9 April 2018 – Do Not Trust Your Heart

Topic: Do Not Trust Your Heart [Billy Graham’s Devotional Monday April 9, 2018]

And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him . . . — Luke 23:33

One of the ironies of human nature is that it often has a way of rejecting the best and accepting the worst. Why did the crowd ask for the release of Barabbas and the crucifixion of Jesus? The answer is in the biblical statement, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” Jesus is just as divine today and just as much alive as He was on that first Good Friday. Yet millions today don’t accept Him. His goodness is still a rebuke to our badness; His purity still shows up our impurities; His sinlessness still reveals our sinfulness; and unless we allow Him to destroy the evil within us, the evil within us still wants to destroy Him. This is the conflict of the ages.

Prayer for the day: Lord Jesus, when I reflect upon the agony of Your death at Calvary, my heart is once again humbled at the magnitude of Your love for all mankind.

“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.

The post Billy Graham’s Devotional 9 April 2018 – Do Not Trust Your Heart appeared first on Flatimes.

Orthodox Christians Observe Easter with Candles, Prayers, and Political Messages

Orthodox Christian believers are observing Easter, a week later than the religious holiday was celebrated this year by Western churches.

In Russia, about 4.3 million people took part in an Orthodox Easter event, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. President Vladimir Putin and Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev attended Easter services at Christ the Savior Cathedral, Moscow’s largest church.

Serbia celebrated the day in a highly charged atmosphere over Kosovo, the former Serbian province whose predominantly ethnic Albanian people declared independence from Serbia a decade ago.

Kosovo is considered by Serbia’s nationalists as the cradle of the Balkan state’s statehood and religion. Messages from priests during liturgies included political messages.

In Kiev, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko attended Orthodox Easter services at the Volodymyrskiy Monastery.

SOURCE: AP

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Pentecostal Revival, Black Church Founding, NRB

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Finding a Delightful and Unusually Named Church on the Road Less Traveled

(PHOTO: DENNIS LENNOX)The Church of King Charles the Martyr in Shelland, England.

Driving the back roads on my way from the quaint Suffolk village of Lavenham to Norwich in the neighboring English county of Norfolk I came across a small and rather unusual countryside church.

I wouldn’t have stopped in tiny Shelland (population 100 or less for most of the last 340 years) had it not been for the dedication of the parish church, the Church of King Charles the Martyr.

King Charles the Martyr is better known as Charles I, the English monarch beheaded in 1649 during the English Civil War. Just how unusual is the dedication? Only six churches contemporary to the 17th century in the entire Church of England have this dedication, according to a listing kept by the Society of King Charles the Martyr.

What makes it even more unusual, at least historically speaking, is the fact that Suffolk wasn’t a county whose sympathy was with the royalists, as Charles I’s forces in the English Civil War were called.

The Shelland parish was given its King Charles the Martyr dedication during the interregnum — the period between Charles I’s execution and the restoration of the monarchy — by Thomas Cropley, the local squire who also held the advowson, which was the perpetual right to select a parish’s clergyman. (As recently as 1896 the advowson for Shelland…

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N.T. Wright Explains Why The Apostle Paul Is So Misunderstood, Yet So Extraordinary (Interview)

(Photo: Courtesy of Harper Collins)N.T. “Tom” Wright, author of Paul: A Biography.

New Testament scholar and retired Anglican bishop N.T. “Tom” Wright, 69, has a new book, Paul: A Biography, which aims to help readers wrestling with the words of the Apostle by highlighting his distinctly Jewish roots.

When Christians engage the life and writing of the Apostle Paul, their assumptions and conclusions are all too often misplaced.

But that is because the man best known for his lofty epistles to churches in Rome, Greece, and Asia Minor has been divorced from his Jewish heritage and way of thinking over the centuries of Gentile Christianity. 

Paul never abandoned his Jewishness even as his ministry mostly occurred among Gentile believers, Wright argues; choosing to ignore or erase the Jewish significance to Paul’s words is to disregard something profoundly important, rendering portions of the Scripture only partially understandable.

Wright’s previous scholarship on Paul’s theology and writing includes Paul and the Faithfulness of God (2013), Paul: In Fresh Perspective (2009), and The Climax of the Covenant: Christ and the Law in Pauline Theology (1991/1992).

But biographers ask different sorts of questions, Wright notes in the preface, inquiries that search for “the man…

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Nothing justifies use of chemical weapons in Syria

The Pope referred to news of dozens killed, including many children and women, in a suspected poison gas attack on a rebel-held town near the Syrian capital.

He offered prayers for the dead and the families that are suffering.

 

“There is not a good or a bad war, and nothing can justify such instruments that exterminate defenceless people and populations,” Francis said.

“Let’s pray that the responsible politicians and military leaders choose another path: that of negotiations, the only one that can bring peace.”

Earlier, in a Mass focused on mercy, a signature theme of his papacy, Francis urged the faithful to not give up on the sacrament of reconciliation, especially those who continue to backslide.

He urged the faithful to continue to seek reconciliation, or confession, because “every time we are forgiven, we are reassured and encouraged”.

The divine mercy Sunday celebration was established by Pope John Paul II, and this year kicks off a four-day meeting of Francis’s Missionaries of Mercy, formed during the recent Holy Year of Mercy to promote confession.

On Tuesday, the missionaries are due to have an audience with Francis, followed by a special Mass with him at St Peter’s Basilica.

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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Prince Charles reunited with fan at church who made headlines for giving him a kiss

Leila Sherwood first met the heir to the throne in 1979 as a 14-year-old, when she skipped school to see him at Cairns Airport.

“I broke through a barrier and jumped out in front of him.

“I said ‘Charles, may I kiss you?’ He said ‘yes, all right then’, so I pecked his cheek. I was all over the TV afterwards.”

 

Greeting the prince once again outside St John the Evangelist Church on Sunday, the now 54-year-old showed him a newspaper clipping from the time.

She said: “He held my hand and said ‘bless you’ – I didn’t want to let go of his hand!”

The Prince of Wales hailed the “remarkable” Flying Doctors service as he visited the Cairns base – and said he was “very proud” to be its patron.

On a tour of the base, the prince chatted to staff about their work in giving urgent medical help to people in rural areas of Queensland, and was given a demonstration of how to treat a snake bite.

He also had the chance to speak to people who rely on the service, before formally naming the newest addition to the Flying Doctors fleet, uniquely configured as an ‘intensive care unit of the sky’, as the Outback Angel.

He said: “I’m very proud to be patron of the Flying Doctors. It’s a remarkable operation.”

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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China Bans All Online Sales of the Bible

China is putting the clamps on the distribution of the Bible, by having the biggest online retailers remove the holy book from their websites. Officials were also conducting inspections on Christian bookstores, and in some cases, have warned that “foreign” Christian books published from outside China should no longer be sold.

The biggest e-commerce sites in China will sell anything and everything, from gadgets to fashion items to dubious personal services. The one thing users won’t find there, however, is the Bible.

Pixabay/congerdesignSearching for “the Bible” on chinese online marketplaces kike TaoBao and Amazon.cn no longer leads to listings of the holy book itself.

Searching for “the Bible” on Taobao, Dang Dang, or even Amazon’s Chinese website, Amazon.cn, no longer shows the usual Bible editions for sale. Instead, the sites are now just showing some related items like Bible study aids, according to the South China Morning Post.

This new policy has been silently implemented by the retail giants, with neither Taobao or JD.com offering a statement on the apparent ban on online sales of the Bible.

The Bible has been under the category of “for internal distribution” in China, which means that the holy book can only be officially distributed by the government-approved…

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