So we keep on praying for you, asking our God to enable you to live a life worthy of His call. May He give you the power to accomplish all the good things your faith prompts you to do. - 2 Thessalonians 1:11 NLT #verseoftheday

Christians, you don't need this:

Horoscopes, crystals, enneagrams, yoga, psychics, smudging, chakras, astrology, or tarot cards.

You need:

Jesus, salvation, repentance, Bible study, prayer, obedience, discipleship, trusting and obeying God.

There is a goodness from God towards all people, but also a peculiar goodness for “those who fear him.” Psalm 31:19

Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father.

Matthew 7:21

The severest eternal punishment, is reserved for those who never believed, but just associated with Christ.

God is holy, holy, holy.

All have sinned and fall short of His glory.

The wages of sin is death.

Jesus Christ died for sinners.

He paid the penalty for sins on the cross.

He was buried and rose on the 3rd day.

Repent and trust in Him alone.

Christ is King!

🙏 As April closes,

DECLARE: Our love will RISE, our unity will STAND, our witness will SHINE!

‘Thanks be to God, who gives us the victory’ (1 Cor 15:57).

Will you pray this declaration with your spouse tonight?

#StrongMarriage #April

My times are in Your hands, deliver me from the hands of my enemies, from those who pursue me.

Psalm 31:15

'My times are in Your hands'

O Lord, never let this be said of us!

“You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God.” Mark 7:9

One of the biggest things missing in the modern church is discipleship. We need to train one another in the faith, and in turn, those people will train others.

"And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
- 2 Timothy 2:2

Penal substitutionary atonement is one of the most essential, foundational, and non-negotiable doctrines of Christianity.

"Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God."

- Romans 5:9, ESV

One day, all 8 billion people on earth will know the Bible is true.

Many Christians today feel spiritually weak.

Not because the Gospel has lost its power.

But because we have quietly replaced spiritual disciplines with constant distraction.

May 1: Who Will Fight for Us?

#Devotional

Judges 1:1–2:10; Philippians 1:1–11; Psalm 61:1–62:12

“Who will go up first for us against the Canaanites to fight against them?” (Judg 1:1).

I’ve felt this way before—wondering who will be my advocate in my time of need. It’s ironic that we are surrounded by people, and we have constant access to communication, and yet we can still feel alone. In a world of ambient noise, we’re often left feeling that no one is there to come to our aid. Most of us do have people to help us; it’s just that we’re not willing to ask for help. At all times, we have someone who will be our guide in times of distress.

Paul tells us that it is Christ
“who began a good work in you [and He] will finish it until the day [He returns]” (Phil 1:6).
In essence, the story of Paul and the Philippian believers’ struggles is really the same story told in the book of Judges. God’s people are at war against powers seen and unseen (Phil 3:1–4; compare Col 1:16). They feel lonely and wounded, but when they search their hearts, they see that God really is rising up to defend them. In Judges, He sends His people great advocates who go out before them in battle. In Philippians, we see Paul telling his story to a church in need of a leader so they can look to his example (e.g., Phil 1:12–25; 3:1–21). We also see Paul, time and time again, point to the greatest example: Christ (e.g., Phil 1:9–11).

In the humility of his situation, Paul sees God at work (Phil 2). When God’s people found themselves in dire circumstances, being opposed by outside forces, they saw God come to their aid (e.g., Judg 4). Christ is our advocate before God the Father, and He is our guide in this life, which can often be confusing and disheartening. God’s faithfulness in guiding and loving His people remains the same today as yesterday, but now we see an even greater manifestation of that love in Jesus.

What humbling situation are you going through? How can you hand it over to God and trust in His providence?

May 1 - Jesus on God’s Love: For Persecutors

#LifeOfChrist

“‘Pray for those who persecute you’” (Matthew 5:44).

Throughout the centuries the worst kinds of persecutions against Jesus’ followers have come from religious people. Persecution has been so strong against believers because they uphold God’s standards, which indict the sin and corruption of false religion. God’s Word unmasks hypocrisy in a most crucial area—humanity’s propensity for self-justification.

Knowing that persecution would be the world’s response to the Father’s truth, Christ assures us that we will be persecuted, just as He was (John 15:20). Thus His command that we pray for our persecutors is one every faithful believer will have some opportunity to obey, not just those who live in countries where Christianity is illegal or severely restricted.

The best way to have agape- love for those who persecute us is to pray for them. We might sense their sinfulness and intense hatred and ridicule of us. Those traits make it impossible to love the persecutors for what they are, but we must love them for who they are—sinners in need of God’s forgiveness and His saving grace. So we need to pray for them that they will repent and turn to Him for salvation, as we have already done.

Bear in mind, though, that persecutors will not always and only be unbelievers. Those professing to be fellow believers can give saints real grief and difficulty, too, but—as in every case—the first step in making right those situations is prayer. Jesus knew that prayer for persecutors can begin to knit our hearts with God’s in the matter of loving our enemies.

Ask Yourself

Which has been the hardest for you to deal with—persecution from without or from within the family of God? Why is prayer such a powerful tool in combating the hard feelings this dredges up in you?

DAY 1: Contrast the pagan god of the Philistines and the living God.

https://telegra.ph/DAILY-BIBLE-05-01

“Fill their faces with shame,
that they may seek your name, O Lord.” Psalm 83:16

There is a holy, hopeful kind of shame.

Give yourself to prayer, to reading and meditation on divine truths: strive to penetrate to the bottom of them and never be content with a superficial knowledge.

David Brainerd

“‘Lord, how can I save Israel? Behold, my clan is the weakest, and I am the least in my father’s house.’ And the Lord said to Gideon, ‘But I will be with you.’” Judges 6:15–16

“…they are weak, but he is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me…
The Bible tells me so.”

So encourage each other and build each other up, just as you are already doing. - 1 Thessalonians 5:11 NLT #verseoftheday