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DAILY PROMISE

Daily Blessing
Sunday July 20, 2025

Today's Promise:
   God resisteth the proud, and giveth grace to the humble. Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.

DAILY DEVOTION

C.H. Spurgeon's Morning Devotional
Sunday July 20, 2025

"The earnest of our inheritance."-Ephesians 1:14
    
    Oh! what enlightenment, what joys, what consolation, what delight of heart is experienced by that man who has learned to feed on Jesus, and on Jesus alone. Yet the realization which we have of Christ's preciousness is, in this life, imperfect at the best. As an old writer says, "'Tis but a taste!" We have tasted "that the Lord is gracious," but we do not yet know how good and gracious He is, although what we know of His sweetness makes us long for more. We have enjoyed the firstfruits of the Spirit, and they have set us hungering and thirsting for the fulness of the heavenly vintage. We groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption. Here we are like Israel in the wilderness, who had but one cluster from Eshcol, there we shall be in the vineyard. Here we see the manna falling small, like coriander seed, but there shall we eat the bread of heaven and the old corn of the kingdom. We are but beginners now in spiritual education; for although we have learned the first letters of the alphabet, we cannot read words yet, much less can we put sentences together; but as one says, "He that has been in heaven but five minutes, knows more than the general assembly of divines on earth." We have many ungratified desires at present, but soon every wish shall be satisfied; and all our powers shall find the sweetest employment in that eternal world of joy. O Christian, antedate heaven for a few years. Within a very little time thou shalt be rid of all thy trials and thy troubles. Thine eyes now suffused with tears shall weep no longer. Thou shalt gaze in ineffable rapture upon the splendour of Him who sits upon the throne. Nay, more, upon His throne shalt thou sit. The triumph of His glory shall be shared by thee; His crown, His joy, His paradise, these shall be thine, and thou shalt be co-heir with Him who is the heir of all things.
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I am a christian

When I say ...'' I am a christian
I am not shouting '' I AM CLEAN LIVING''
I'M whispering '' i was lost''
Now I'M found and forgiven.

When I say ...'' I'M Christian''
I don't speak of this with pride
I 'M CONFESSING THAT I STUMBLE
and need christ to be my guide.

When I say ...'' I'M a christian"
I'M not trying to be strong
I'm professing that I'M WEAK
AND NEED HIS STRENGTH TO CARRY ON

When I say...'' I'M a christian"
I'M not bragging of success
I'M admitting I have failed
And need God to clean my mess

When I say...'' I'M a christian ''
I'm not claming to be perfect
My flows are too visible far
But,God believess I am worth it

When I say ...'' I'M a christian''
I still feel the sting of pain
I have my share of heartaches
so I call upon His name

When I say...'' I'M a christian''
I 'M not holier than thou
I'M just a simple sinner
Who recieved God's good grace, SOMEHOW..

DAILY BIBLE STORY

Bible Stories
Today's Bible Story
Sunday, July 20, 2025
Jesus Tells Parables of the Kingdom of Heaven
Matt. 13:1-53; Mark 4:1-34
Jesus told His disciples a parable of a Sower who went out to scatter seeds in his field.
ONE DAY JESUS went out of Capernaum with his disciples and walked by the seaside. Great crowds followed along the beach; for they thought he might be going away from their city again, and they wished to go with him. They pressed so close behind that Jesus stepped into a boat at the water's edge and sat down to teach them, while they stood listening on the shore.

    Jesus began to teach them by parables. These parables were short stories which he told to show them truths of the gospel. While he sat in the boat he told them four parables. The first one was about the man who went out to scatter seeds in his field. Jesus called him a sower. And here is the story:

    "One day a sower went out to the field with a bag of grain and began to scatter the seeds upon the ground. The breeze caught each handful he threw while walking to and fro, and helped to scatter the grain. But some of the seeds blew upon the roadside. The birds flying overhead saw them lying uncovered on the ground, so they flew down and ate the seeds.

    Other seeds fell upon stony places, where the soil was so shallow they could take no deep root, and soon they withered after they had sprouted and begun to grow. Still other seeds fell in thorny places, and the thorns grew so fast that they choke out the good seed and it died.

    "But not all the seed was wasted; for some of it fell into good ground, and there it sprouted and sent its roots down deep into the rich soil. By and by it grew up into stalks of grain that yielded many times more seeds than were first scattered on the ground."

    The disciples wondered what this story might mean. They did not know why Jesus was telling stories instead of preaching sermons that people could understand. So they came to Jesus in the boat and asked, "Why are you teaching the people with these parables?"

    Jesus answered, "Because I know you will seek to understand the meaning of them, for it is given to you to know the meaning of the deep truths of the kingdom of heaven. Others who hear the stories will not seek to understand the meaning of them, for they are not careful to prepare their hearts to receive the forgiveness of their sins. The prophet Isaiah spoke of them when he said, 'By hearing ye shall hear and not understand; and seeing ye shall see and not know.' Their eyes are closed, so they can not see the salvation God has sent into the world; and their ears are stopped, so they can not hear the good news of salvation and receive it into their hearts. But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and blessed are your ears, for they hear."

    Then Jesus explained to the disciples the meaning of the story about the sower and his seed.

    "The sower," he said, "is the one who speaks the word of God, and the different kinds of soil are the different conditions of the hearts of people who hear the word of God spoken. Those who hear the word but do not seek to understand it, are like the roadside by which the seeds fell. Just as the birds flew down and ate those seeds, so the evil one comes by and causes those people to forget the truths they have heard from God's word.

    "Those who gladly hear the word of God, but do not continue to obey it, are like the stony places, where the seeds fell but could not grow because they could not take deep roots in the stony soil.

    "Those who hear and receive the word of God into their hearts, but afterwards allow cares and troubles or riches and pleasures to crowd out the good truths, are like the soil where thorns sprang up and choked out the good seed.

    "But those who hear and who obey the word of God are like the good ground, where some of the seeds fell and sprouted and grew into stalks that bore much grain."

    Afterwards Jesus told another story to the people. This time he said: "The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seeds in his field; but while men slept an enemy came to the field and scattered bad seeds everywhere. These bad seeds are called tares. By and by the good seeds and the bad seeds both began to grow.

    And after they became stalks, and heads of grain appeared, the servants of the man came to him and asked, 'Did you not sow good seeds in your field? How then are these tares growing everywhere beside the stalks of wheat?' The man answered, 'An enemy has sown the tares.' Then the servants asked, 'Shall we gather out the tares?' but the master said, 'Wait until the time for harvest, lest while you pull up the tares you also pull up stalks of wheat. When all are ripened together, I will send reapers to first gather out the tares and tie them into bundles to be thrown into the fire. Then they will gather the wheat and put it into my barn.'"

    The third story Jesus told was about a grain of mustard seed. He said the kingdom of heaven is like such a tiny grain, which, after it was sown quickly grew into a bush so large that even the birds could sit in the branches of it.

    Then he said, "The kingdom of heaven is also like leaven, or yeast, which a woman put into her dough when she was mixing bread. The yeast soon worked through all the dough and caused it to rise light and make good bread." Perhaps the women who heard this story wondered how the kingdom of heaven could really be like yeast.

    When Jesus finished all his stories he sent the people away, and afterwards he left the boat and also returned to the city. Then the disciples asked him to explain the meaning of the story about the tares. Jesus said: "The good seed are the people of God; the field is the world; and the man who sowed the good seed is the Son of man. The bad seed, or tares, are the people of the wicked one, and the enemy is Satan.

    The harvest is the end of the world, and the reapers are the angels. Just as the tares are gathered in bundles and thrown into the fire, so the wicked people will be separated from the good people at the end of the world. Then the good people will shine as brightly as the sun in the kingdom of God, their Father."

Tomorrow: Jesus Calms the Sea, and Makes a Wild Man Well

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WHAT IS PRAYER?

Prayer is basically talking with God. It is simply expressing your heart and spending time with Him. It is not a one way activity, God speaks, we listen, we speak and God listens to our hearts. Prayer can be exciting, powerful and fulfilling.

I am going to be focusing mostly on intercession, but I also wanted to provide an overview on other types of prayer that will hopefully inspire you to pursue your own personal study on this subject.

Types of Prayer

A. Thanksgiving
B. Petition
C. Prevailing
D. Intercession
A. Thanksgiving - Giving thanks to God for all things in your life. We are commanded to give thanks in all circumstances. Being thankful is being grateful for his protection, provision, blessing, and most of all for his Son.

B. Petition - We ask God for the specific things we need in our life. Give us our daily bread. Give us the things we need to survive, a roof over our heads, employment etc. Petitions are usually self orientated, presenting our personal needs to our Heavenly Father, in trust that He will provide. Be specific in your petitions, pray in details and not in generalities.

C. Prevailing Prayer - fervent consistent insistent prayer until a breakthrough takes place, whether in your personal life, or for someone else (intercession). Example Believing for emotional or physical healing.

Biblical Example: Luke 18:1-8.(NIV) Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up. He said: "In a certain town there was a judge who neither feared God nor cared about men. And there was a widow in that town who kept coming to him with the plea, `Grant me justice against my adversary.' "For some time he refused. But finally he said to himself, `Even though I don't fear God or care about men, yet because this widow keeps bothering me, I will see that she gets justice, so that she won't eventually wear me out with her coming!'" And the Lord said, "Listen to what the unjust judge says. And will not God bring about justice for his chosen ones, who cry out to him day and night? Will he keep putting them off? I tell you, he will see that they get justice, and quickly. However, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?"

D Intercession - Love on its knees in prayer, for others. Pleading on behalf of the needs of someone else. Standing in the gap, that is, praying prayers of repentance, etc., identifying yourself with the sins of those for which you are in prayer.

Biblical Example: Nehemiah, a godly man, identified with the sins of his people, praying prayers of repentance, asking the Lord to forgive and to have mercy and to raise up once again the nation of Israel.

Confirmation of Conversion

Reading: John 3:1-16

"If any one is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things

have passed away; behold, all things have become new" (2 Cor 5:17)

Can we identify a genuine experience of salvation? Surely yes!

First of all, there will be the true peace and joy through the Holy Spirit in the heart! When we make peace with God we have the peace of God. Jesus called it the peace the world cannot give (Jn 14:27). The burden of sin is rolled away! Guilt is gone! The converted man is overflowing with gratitude to God. He shouts with exuberance, "Thank you, Lord, thank You!" If over one sinner who repents there is great joy among the angels "in Heaven," will the angels "on earth" around him stay unmoved (Lk 15:10)?

Secondly, the converted man begins to hate sin and the evil ways of the world. The sinful acts he was indulging in during the past so willingly appear obnoxious to him now. The joy of the Lord has replaced the silly pleasures of sin. This does not mean he will never ever commit any sin. Before getting saved he was like a pig; he would be wallowing in the mire! Now he is a lamb. Even if someone pushes the lamb into the mire, it will atonce jump out and not stay there. Have you understood the difference? A child of God will not "live" in sin!

Thirdly, the saved man begins to love Bible meditation, prayer and fellowship of God's children. It is no more the routine of reading the Bible for a few minutes as a religious custom, but a delightful desire to spend hours in meditating it (Psa 1:2). Prayer becomes his very breath. Earlier he had not known God. But now he knows God as his Father. Hence this longing to speak to Him! He begins to feel and appreciate the love of God who has redeemed him (1 Jn 3:1). Fellowship with saints is necessary to comprehend the width, length, depth and height of that love (Eph 3:18).

Fourthly, those who are saved will walk in love with others (1 Jn 3:14). They will restitute matters with the wronged (Mt 5:23,24). Loving the enemies, the persecutors and the opposers is a proof of our being children to a God of love (Mt 5:43-48).

Fifthly, the saved man will just be anxious to share his new-found joy with others (Jn 4:28,29; Mk 5:19). "Let the world get the joy I got!"- This will be his motto.

More about Jesus would I know,

More of His grace to others show;

More of His saving fullness see;

More of His love-who died for me!

(Eliza E. Hewitt, 1851-1920)

Letter From Hell. - Scary but true

God has a plan for every man

We are his workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works,which God prepared beforehand so that we should walk in them.Ephesians 2:10
God may have designed u to be someone great or planned for u to be a regular guy.Becoming the latter may not sound very inspiring but an ordinary man serving God is extraordinary indeed.God often uses common people to achieve mighty things.The work of God has in mind for u may run the gamut from everyday good deeds to outstanding great works.Its all important to God.Any life lived for His purpose is highly significant.
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