Topic: Comfort in Mourning [Sunday June 18, 2017]
What a wonderful God we have . . . who so wonderfully comforts and strengthens us . . . — 2 Corinthians 1:3,4 (TLB)
The Bible teaches unmistakably that we can triumph over bereavement. The Psalmist said, “Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.” Self-pity can bring no enduring comfort. The fact is, it will only add to your misery. And unremitting grief will give you little consolation in itself, for grief begets grief. Sorrow, or mourning, when it is borne in a Christian way, contains a built-in comfort. “Happy are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.” There is comfort in mourning, because we know that Christ is with us. He has said, “Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world.” Suffering is endurable if we do not have to bear it alone; and the more compassionate the Presence, the less acute the pain.
Prayer for the day: Thank You, loving heavenly Father, for the promise that when we mourn You will comfort us. I have felt the healing of Your consolation in the past and know You will never fail me.
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.
Billy Graham’s daily devotional June 18, 2017 – Comfort in Mourning
Effective Minister
| Author: Emode Victor |
A Promise For You From Bible Promises:
Topic: Effective Minister [17/06/17]
Moreover he must have a good report of them which are without; lest he fall into reproach and the snare of the devil. 1 Timothy 3:7. Read: 1 Tim 3:1-13
The twenty first century is the most blessed century with preachers who are eloquent in speeches and organized in presentations. It’s blessed with Churches with great edifices and dotted on every nook and cranny of the society yet we have more problems to deal with than the past centuries. You wonder why this is so. The Bible says, he that breaks the edge, the serpent will bite. Once the laid down rules are disobeyed, ministry ineffectiveness is inevitable.
From our Bible reading, the Holy Spirit through Paul outlined many qualities that qualifies a man to assume the post of a deacon. Yes, it’s God that qualifies the unqualified yet if we must be effective ministers in ministry, the above laid down rules must be adhered to strictly. Among others, the most powerful way to be an effective minister is to be the epistle and the Bible men read. 2 Cor 3:2. You must have a good report within (among your immediate family, friends, colleagues at your place of work) and without (strangers). When the above rules are strictly followed, we’ll be good ministers drawing men to God’s kingdom by our lifestyle.
#BiblePromisesThought
* Stop crucifying Jesus the second time with your lifestyle, rather, let your life be the one that draws men to God’s presence daily.
David Abioye's Daily Devotional June 17, 2017 – Sit Down First
Topic: Sit Down First [Saturday June 17, 2017]
In Luke 14:28, Jesus spoke emphatically on the necessity of planning and also gave us an insight into the process of planning when He said, “…Which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost …” This is where many people miss it. At the instance of a challenge, they act before they think. But, the procedure is “Sit down first.” We have had things mixed up and that is why we have failed so many times. Your rising begins with your sitting down first. Until you sit tight, you cannot rise high. That is to say if you do not have a good base you cannot gain a great height.
The reason for so many unfinished projects, unfulfilled vows, grounded destinies, bankrupt businesses, and aborted purposes is failure to plan. People fail to sit down first and count the cost before they start off. You can save yourself from such disappointments by having a clear programme of action before taking the first step into any venture. The anecdote to shame is “Sit down first!” The tower of your dreams can be built. Your expectations can be realised. All things are possible. Even if you don’t possess all that is required to accomplish your dream presently, it can be done! You simply have to place the goal before you and begin to devise a programme of action to make it a reality – that is what planning is all about.
Sit down first and plan otherwise, you will have to re-sit. You know, when you are asked to re-sit in the academic circle, it is a polite way of telling you that you have failed and the reason is because you didn’t sit well the first time.
Meditate on these: Job 23:4, 1 Cor. 14:40
Joyce Meyer's daily devotional June 17 2017 – From the Pit to the Palace
Topic: From the Pit to the Palace [Saturday June 17, 2017]
And Pharaoh said to Joseph, Forasmuch as [your] God has shown you all this, there is nobody as intelligent and discreet and understanding and wise as you are. You shall have charge over my house, and all my people shall be governed according to your word . . . Only in matters of the throne will I be greater than you are. — Genesis 41:39-40
A pit is a ditch, a trap, or a snare. It refers to destruction. Satan always wants to bring us into the pit.
Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers. They actually threw him into a pit and intended to leave him there to die, but God had other plans. Joseph ended up being sold into slavery in Egypt, where he was thrown in prison for refusing to compromise his integrity. Yet everywhere Joseph went, God gave him favor. Ultimately, Joseph was promoted to the palace, second in command to Pharaoh.
How did Joseph get from the pit to the palace? I believe it was by remaining positive, refusing to be bitter, and choosing to boldly trust God. Even though it looked like he was defeated on many occasions, he refused to give up on trusting God.
Joseph had a right attitude. He knew God was in control even when it looked like the circumstances of his life were spinning out of control. The same is true in your life. If you’ll keep a positive attitude, knowing that God is in control, He can take you from the pit to the palace in ways you never imagined.
No matter where you started, you can have a great finish!
Open Heavens 17 June 2017: Saturday daily devotional by Pastor E. A. Adeboye – Sin: So Destructive
Topic — Sin: So Destructive [Saturday 17, June 2017]
Memorise: There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death. – Proverbs 14:12
Read: John 5:2-14 (KJV)
2 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches.
3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.
5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.
10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.
11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.
12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?
13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.
14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.
Bible in One Year: Judges 5-6, Jeremiah 50:4-16, Hymn: Sing hymn 11
MESSAGE:
As harmless as sin may appear sometimes, we should not be deceived, knowing how destructive it can be. Every act of sin comes with a sentence of death (Romans 6:23). If you do not want to die through separation from God, sin is something you must flee from. 2 Timothy 2:19 says,
“Nevertheless the foundation of God standeth sure, having this seal, The Lord knoweth them that are his. And, Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
If you are living in sin, God cannot call you His. If you want Him to identify with you, then you must deliberately separate yourself from sin. If you are truly born again, you cannot continue in sin (Romans 6:1-2). Sin is not as trivial as people suggest; it is deadly! May God completely deliver you from the reins of sin!
Moreover, sin is a carrier of death (1 Corinthians 15:56). If you live in sin, death sets in. The death that sin brings can affect every facet of your life. Take for instance the impotent man who had been sick for 38 years, who was kept by the sheep market pool. During his second encounter with Jesus, after he had been healed, the Lord told him something fundamental in John 5:14:
“Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.”
From this statement, we know that the sin(s) this man committed brought on the paralysing sickness he suffered for 38 years. He contacted this illness as a result of sin and had to relocate from his house, family and friends to live in a colony of the sick. He tried 38 times to receive his healing, without success. Sin, through this sickness, devoured his life. Assuming he was meant to live for 70 years, what would be left after losing 38 years to sickness? Sin separated him from what God had originally planned for his life and made him completely useless to himself and everyone else. He was stagnant and in bondage for 38 years! As a result of his sin, he was forsaken by his friends and loved ones. Sin is so terrible!
Do you know that many believers are in a mess today, but instead of first looking inwards to discover if they caused it by their sins, they begin to look out for external culprits: an enemy, witch or wizard that may not even exist. Are you in a terrible state? Examine yourself and find out if your sin is the cause; thereafter turn to God, repent and surrender your life to Jesus.
Action Point: Examine every long-running issue in your life to determine if sin is the cause and take appreciate action on it.
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.
iOpenHeavens is the electronic version of the Hard Copy. The Open Heavens devotional application is available across all mobile platforms and operating systems: iOS, Android, Blackberry, Nokia, Windows Mobile and PC.
Billy Graham’s daily devotional June 17, 2017 – Fully Surrender
Topic: Fully Surrender [Saturday June 17, 2017]
Those who still reject me are like the restless sea. . . . There is no peace, says my God, for them! — Isaiah 57:20,21 (TLB)
Faith has legs . . . I heard about a man some years ago who was rolling a wheelbarrow back and forth on a tightrope across Niagara River. Thousands of people were shouting him on. He put a 200-pound sack of dirt in the wheelbarrow and rolled it over, and then he rolled it back. He turned to the crowd and asked, “How many of you believe that I can roll a man across?” Everybody shouted! One man in the front row was very excited in his professed belief. The man pointed to this excited professor and said, “You’re next!” You couldn’t see that man for dust! He didn’t actually believe it. He thought he believed it—but he was not willing to get in the wheelbarrow. Just so with Christ. Many people say they believe on Him, they say they follow Him. But they never have stepped into the wheelbarrow. They actually never have committed and surrendered themselves wholly, 100 percent to Christ.
Prayer for the day: Loving Lord Jesus, it was only when I surrendered everything to You that I knew the ultimate joy and peace that had always escaped me.
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.
Prominent Pastor Begs Forgiveness After Caught in Prostitution Sting
A prominent Massachusetts pastor was arrested in a prostitution sting recently and charged with one count of soliciting a prostitute.
“Governor Baker is saddened by this news and is confident the courts will examine the facts and reach an appropriate decision,” says Gov. Baker’s communications director Lizzy Guyton. “The Baker-Polito Administration has made combating human trafficking a priority by working across state government to enact anti-trafficking policies and proposing legislation to give law enforcement more tools to crack down on trafficking related crimes.”
An undercover detective posed as a woman selling herself for $130-$200, the Boston Globe reports.
“Grace Church of All Nations stands with Archbishop A. L. Foxworth and family and remain prayerful,” according to a statement. “As we work to strengthen and support our internal leadership, we ask our local community and friends to continue to lift us up in prayer … read more
7,000 Churches Fasting, Praying Over Terrifying New Persecution Law
This was reported last year, but we want you to be aware of this development
Chrisma report – Russian President Vladimir Putin signed an anti-terrorism law, but for the country’s many churches, the signature sparked a demand for prayer and fasting.
The bill toughens punishment for acts deemed to be terrorism and for the organization of “mass unrest,” according to the Los Angeles Times. It would also introduce prison sentences of up to a year for those who fail to report such crimes.
Furthermore, Great Commission Ministries Chairman Hanny Haukka tells Charisma News the law entails:
- Foreign guests are not permitted to speak in churches unless they have a “work permit” from Russian authorities
- If a friend or relative from outside Russia wishes to share his/her faith in your home the guest will be fined and expelled from Russia.
- Any discussion of God with non-believers is considered missionary activity and will be punishable.
- Missionary activity will be permitted by special government permission. Example: If one traveling on a train shares his faith without written permission the offender will be taken into police custody for the duration of the journey and will be fined 50,000 rubles ($1,000).
- Offenders from the age of 14-years-old will be subject to prosecution
- Religious activity is no longer permitted in private homes. Most churches in Russia meet in homes.
- Every citizen is obligated to report religious activity of neighbors to the authorities. Failure to be an informant is punishable by law.
- One may pray and read the Bible at home but not in the presence of a non-believing person. You will be breaking the law and be punished.
- If the church has purchased property it cannot be converted into a place of worship.
- In church buildings, it is not permitted to invite people to turn to God. Worship services are permitted but making a non-believer a follower of Christ is against the law.
In response, thousands of churches across the country have come together to cry out to God.
“The church is appalled at the news of the new law. About 7,000 evangelical/protestant churches are in fasting and prayer at the moment over the news,” Haukka tells Charisma News via email.
Churches aren’t the only residents enraged by the law.
American refugee Edward Snowden tweeted: “#Putin has signed a repressive new law that violates not only human rights, but common sense. Dark day for #Russia.”
What’s more, critics are now declaring the Yarovaya laws, aka the “Big Brother,” laws, as a sign of the end times:
If these amendments come into force, prison sentences for certain non-violent “extremist” crimes will potentially be twice as long as, for example, murder committed in the heat of passion, which carries a maximum sentence of three years.
Despite receiving nearly unanimous support in parliament, the Yarovaya laws have triggered a flood of apocalyptic commentary. Many wonder why Russia’s already excessively harsh criminal laws are being made harsher.
The only official criticism of the legislation, however, has come from the Presidential Human Rights Council, which has highlighted ways in which the proposed amendments directly contradict the Constitution and existing laws. This criticism has been almost entirely ignored.
The Duma has already passed a number of laws that have harshened Russian law in the name of fighting terrorism and extremism. It criminalized “public calls for the violation of territorial integrity” and “rehabilitation of Nazism,” a direct affront to the freedom of speech. In 2013, it passed a law that allowed the state to confiscate property from individuals affiliated with terrorists, including their relatives.
The government has long used the “fight against terrorism and extremism” to justify repressive laws, no matter how obviously senseless they may be. As a result, Russia’s statutory framework can now be effectively used to target not only credible extremist threats, but also political opponents of the state. A large group of prominent Russian lawyers decried this problem in an open letter in 2013, saying that the “parliament’s legislative work has acquired a distinctly prohibitive and repressive character.”
In response, Haukka pleads with believers around the world to join with Russian churches in prayer and fasting. … read more
Female Serial Killers Targeting Unmarried Christian Men Thwarte
Chrisma reports – Dressed in pink, Naila smiles, but is this the face of a murderer?
The corpse of a young man who was missing for 40 days was discovered in a field in Sialkot, Pakistan. After pressure from a solicitor hired by the BPCA, a police investigation began, leading to the discovery of a murder plot linking the family of a girl named Naila Khalid Masih (26 years) who was involved in a relationship with the murder victim, Sharoon Bhatti (21 years). Although initially the murder was assumed to be an honor killing, further investigation elucidated a long-term scheme to extract money from young men through romantic seduction and murder.
Around 2 1/2 years ago (late 2014), Sharoon Bhatti, who lived in Gujaranwala, met a young woman named Naila Khalid Masih through Facebook. Naila lived in Sialkot, which was two hours away. The two of them started an online friendship that blossomed, and Naila shared with Sharoon Bhatti that she worked as a travel agent. Sharoon himself at the time was a student nurse and completed his course seven months later, by which time the two were very close friends.
Eventually, they shared telephone numbers and could be heard calling each other regularly as they developed a romantic relationship and started seeing one another when Sharron traveled to Sialkot. However, after completing his studies, Sharoon was placed at a hospital in Karachi for a male nurse training placement. Every semester, Sharoon would visit his family and stop to see Naila for a few days before he went home.
Naila’s family had two homes, one in Islamabad and one in Sialkot, and Sharoon would visit both locations to see her. After completing his two training placements, Sharoon came home to live with his family in October 2016. While there, he asked for 300,000 rupees (2224 pounds) from the family savings from an import and export business and the money came from a shared pot. Sharoon told his family that he was traveling to Dubai to start a new import and export business based on precious stones in Dubai. Later, the family discovered that Sharoon had actually simply use the money for the holiday with Naila after police found photos.
After four days, Sharoon returned home and stated that he started the business and brought back a few letterheads business cards as proof. His family trusted Sharoon, who up until this point had been a reliable and trustworthy son. Soon after Dubai (October – December 2016), he went back to his college at Sindhu Hospital Karachi to complete an internship that had been offered. Sharoon told his family that the internship required him to travel to Islamabad and Sialkot, but the travel to these locations was later discovered to be romantic trysts with Naila, during which it was believed he spent the remainder of the money he had taken from his family. The family also later uncovered that he had never begun the internship offered to him at Karachi.
On Dec. 29, 2016, Sharoon returned home and was found to be agitated and requested further funds of 600,000 rupees (4448 pounds), which his mother agreed to give him. He explained to his mother that he was going to Australia to live with Naila and start a professional career in nursing. He then drove away with the money, a laptop, a Samsung Galaxy Notepad smart phone and the family car, amounting to a loss of around 11,000 pounds. That was the last time any family member saw Sharoon alive.
On Dec. 30, Sharoon called his siblings in Thailand and sounded very tense. To his brother Moon Bhatti, he said:
“I am not marrying Naila, I have discovered something very bad about her.” Sharoon kept getting interrupted by Naila, who could be heard in the background shouting and trying to grab the phone.
“I can’t talk at the moment,” Sharoon said, “but I will tell you later because she is standing here before me causing problems.”
The phone call was terminated, and despite several attempts by the brothers to call back the phone remained unresponsive.
For the whole of January, no contact was received from Sharoon. Then on Feb. 1, 2017, Moon received a message from Sharoon’s Skype account in which was written: “I am very frightened I have killed the son of a Member of National Assembly (MNA) and right now I am in a internet cafe and I have sold my car in fear that I will be caught.”
Moon asked Sharoon to call him. No call was received, but Moon was prompted to chat via Skype messaging.
A further response was written that said: “To escape the heat, Naila and I will be travelling to Karachi and from Karachi, we travel by ship to Turkey.”
After two or three days ,Moon received a Skype message which read as follows: “Send me a telephone number and I will call you.”
Moon sent his number, and the next day, an unknown person from Turkey called Moon and stated that a young woman and man had been found dead after jumping off a ship, in what he reported looked like a suicide incident. When Moon asked how the man found his number, he was advised by the passenger that he had been residing in a room next to Naila and Sharoon and had found the number in their room after the incident.
On March 1, Moon Bhatti (27 years) returned to Pakistan along with his sister Mehwish (25); he had been residing in Thailand. They took over the search for their missing brother and immediately set about calling Naila Khalid’s family. To their increasing anxiety, they discovered that the family was not responding to their numerous calls.
On the evening of March 11, the family was visited by local police officials, who advised them that a dead body had been found and was suspected to be that of Sharoon Bhatti (21 years). The family were asked to identify the corpse which had been found in some fields within Pasrur Sialkot and left immediately for Sialkot.
After identification of Sharoon’s corpse, the family was provided with a death certificate that estimated the date of death as Feb. 1, 2017. The post-mortem report established three minor injuries on the neck of Sharoon and a fracture on his left ankle. It was surmised that Sharoon was killed by strangulation that resulted in restriction of the windpipe. The post-mortem had been conducted in the District Headquarters, Sialkot. The family immediately pursued an FIR against Naila Khalid and her family at Pasrur Police station.
Police raided Naila home in Sialkot on the same day and arrested her mother Rubina Masih (52 years) and her sister Shumaila Masih (27 years). Naila’s father, Mr. Khalid Masih (55 years), and brother Babar (30 years) escaped.
During a search of the Naila family home, local police found a marriage certificate of Naila Khalid and Sharoon, which was later found to be a fake. Sharoon’s bank statement was found at Naila’s home, as was his luggage and one broken mobile phone which they believed belonged to Sharoon. After inspection, all the items were handed over to Sharoon’s family.
Despite police insouciance, the family, now supported by the British Pakistani Christian Association, paid for the phone to be repaired and discovered the phone had belonged to Naila. When Mehwish Bhatti, our lead officer in Pakistan, and the family looked through messages and images, they were flabbergasted by the contents. Images within the phone indicated that Naila had two passports, one that gave her a Christian identity and the other older one registered her with an alternative name, Sana Zaman, and Muslim faith.
Is Naila Khalid Masih Christian?
Or is her real name Sana Zaman, and is she Muslim?
Several conversations also revealed that Naila was seducing another Christian man on Facebook and enticing him with a similar hoax of settling abroad … read more
David Abioye's Daily Devotional June 16, 2017 – The Place of Planning
Topic: The Place of Planning [Friday June 16, 2017]
One way to embrace your future and ensure that you make the most of it is by planning for your future. No doubt, you have great expectations for the year 2012. God also has great blessings in store for you but you can’t just assume that things will happen on their own accord, it is your result oriented planning that commits God to direct you to your expected end (Prov. 16:9). That is what enables you to set your priorities; programming the things to be done now, those to be left till next week and those for next month, for a phase by phase achievement of your goal.
That means spreading out your objective, so that it can be achieved without stress or strain. So, don’t let life take you unawares! Plan; determine what must be done at every point so that you can get to the next point, because there are some things that must happen to make room for others. With this approach, you will be amazed at your achievements by the end of this year.
