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DAILY PROMISE

Daily Blessing
Sunday April 6, 2025

Today's Promise:
   And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart.

DAILY DEVOTION

C.H. Spurgeon's Evening Devotional
Sunday April 6, 2025

"In the name of the Lord I will destroy them."-Psalm 118:12
    
    Our Lord Jesus, by His death, did not purchase a right to a part of us only, but to the entire man. He contemplated in His passion the sanctification of us wholly, spirit, soul, and body; that in this triple kingdom He Himself might reign supreme without a rival. It is the business of the newborn nature which God has given to the regenerate to assert the rights of the Lord Jesus Christ. My soul, so far as thou art a child of God, thou must conquer all the rest of thyself which yet remains unblest; thou must subdue all thy powers and passions to the silver sceptre of Jesus' gracious reign, and thou must never be satisfied till He who is King by purchase becomes also King by gracious coronation, and reigns in thee supreme. Seeing, then, that sin has no right to any part of us, we go about a good and lawful warfare when we seek, in the name of God, to drive it out. O my body, thou art a member of Christ: shall I tolerate thy subjection to the prince of darkness? O my soul, Christ has suffered for thy sins, and redeemed thee with His most precious blood: shall I suffer thy memory to become a storehouse of evil, or thy passions to be firebrands of iniquity? Shall I surrender my judgment to be perverted by error, or my will to be led in fetters of iniquity? No, my soul, thou art Christ's, and sin hath no right to thee.
    
    Be courageous concerning this, O Christian! be not dispirited, as though your spiritual enemies could never be destroyed. You are able to overcome them-not in your own strength-the weakest of them would be too much for you in that; but you can and shall overcome them through the blood of the Lamb. Do not ask, "How shall I dispossess them, for they are greater and mightier than I?" but go to the strong for strength, wait humbly upon God, and the mighty God of Jacob will surely come to the rescue, and you shall sing of victory through His grace.
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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, April 6, 2025
Paul is Seized by the Mob, then Arrested
Acts 21:18 to Acts 23:10
Standing on the stairs above the crowd, Paul speaks to the people in Hebrew.
YEARS HAD PASSED since the wicked Herod had tried to kill Peter, and during those years the church in Jerusalem had grown into a multitude. Some of the enemies who had killed Jesus were yet alive, and they hated the Christians. But they had ceased persecuting them as bitterly as in the first days of the early church.

    Paul had met with multitudes of believers in the churches of other lands. But these in Jerusalem were all Jews, and many of them looked with displeasure upon the people of other nations.

    They had not yet learned how God's love reaches out to all men. And because they had heard much about Paul's missionary labors among the Gentiles they felt unwilling to approved of his work.

    The leaders in the church at Jerusalem understood how God had chosen Paul to be a missionary to the Gentiles. They rejoiced to know that even the Gentiles might be saved by faith in Jesus. But they understood also the feelings of many who worshiped in their services, so they warned Paul about these Jewish believers.

    They said, "These men have heard that you do not keep the law of Moses, but that you teach the Gentiles to forsake the law." And they urged Paul to show these believers that he did not despise Moses' teachings, as they supposed.

    To please these men Paul visited the temple and performed the ceremony of cleansing, according to Moses' law. Almost a week passed by, then one day while he was in the temple some Jews from Asia Minor came to worship there.

    Seeing Paul, they recognized him at once, for he had taught in their synagog concerning Christ. And they had not accepted his teaching. They hated him because he taught that Gentiles as well as Jews might become the people of God. They became excited when they saw him worshiping in the Jewish temple, and they cried out against him.

    Soon the old enemies of Jesus heard about the excitement, and they rushed in to seize Paul. A crowd quickly gathered, and they pulled Paul out of the temple and shut the doors. Not waiting to drag him outside the city, they began beating him at once, and would have killed him had not the Roman captain arrived with soldiers to investigate the trouble.

    Supposing Paul must be a desperate fellow, the captain commanded that he should be bound with two heavy chains. Then he asked what Paul had done. But some cried one thing and some another, and he could not hear in the noise of the angry mob what offenses Paul was guilty of committing. So he led Paul away to the castle where prisoners were kept.

    The mob followed, crying, "Away with him!" And the soldiers, fearing the people would tear Paul in pieces, picked him up and carried him on their shoulders to the castle stairs. As they went Paul asked to speak to the captain. At this, the Roman captain was surprised, for he did not know Paul could speak his language. He gave Paul permission to speak to the mob when they reached the stairs.

    Then, standing on the stairs above the heads of the excited followers, Paul beckoned to them with his hand, and they grew quiet. He began at once to talk to them in the Hebrew language, which the Romans could not understand. This language the Jews love, and they listened attentively to him while he told them about his early life and training.

    He reminded them of his student-life in their city, where he became a Pharisee. He reminded them also of his former hatred toward the believers in Jesus, and of his bitter persecutions against them. Many who stood in the crowd below had not forgotten the Saul who tried to break up the early church in Jerusalem.

    Paul then told about his journey to Damascus, where he intended to persecute the Christians. He told about the vision that came to him on the way, and about the voice that spoke to him from heaven. He even told how he had been baptized in the name of Jesus, and how when he had come to Jerusalem to worship God showed him in a vision in the temple that he must go to Gentile countries and there preach the gospel.

    But when Paul began speaking about preaching to the Gentiles, then no longer would the people listen to his speech. Their hatred of Gentiles stirred their hearts to cry out once more against Paul, and now they even cast off their cloaks and threw dust into the air, shouting aloud, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! He is not fit to live!"

    The Roman captain and his soldiers did not understand what Paul had spoken to the angry people, and they supposed he must be a dangerous fellow. They therefore brought him into the castle and determined to learn the nature of his crime.

    Bringing out cruel instruments of torture, they began to bind Paul. But Paul knew the law of the Romans, that it did not permit a Roman citizen to be punished in this manner, so he spoke to a soldier who stood near by and told him he was a Roman.

    This soldier hurried away to tell the chief captain, who came quickly and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman?"

    Paul answered, "I am."

    This frightened the men who were preparing to torture Paul. Even the chief captain was frightened, for he had given the command that Paul should be bound and punished.

    Still the Romans were puzzled about their prisoner. They could not understand what terrible thing he had done. On the next day they called the chief rulers of the Jews to assemble together, and brought Paul before them. While Paul spoke the chief captain saw that even these Jewish rulers were not agreed what to do with him. Some wished to set him free, while others insisted on putting him to death.

    Then the captain sent his soldiers to take Paul away from their midst, fearing they might kill him.

Tomorrow: Paul in Chains, Brought Before Felix, and Left in Jail

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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

Tiding over the waters

A boy was sitting on a park bench with one hand resting on an open bible. He was loudly exclaming his praise to GOd. ''hallelujah! hallelujah!! God is great!'' he yelled without worrying whether anyone heard him or not.
shortly after, along came a man who had recently completed some studies at a local university. Feeling himself very enlightened in the ways of truth and very eager to show this enlightenment, he asked the boy about the source of joy.
''hey'' asked the boy in return with a bright laugh, ''Don't you have any idea what God is able to do? I just read that God opened up the waves of the Red sea and led the whole nation of israel right through the middle.''
The enlightened man laughed lightly, sat down next to the boy and began to try to open his eyes to the ''realities'' of the miracles of the bible. ''That can all be very easily explained. Modern scholarship has shown that the red sea in that area was only 10 inches deep at that time. It was no problem for the Israelites to wade across.''
The boy was stumped. His eyes wandered from the man back to the Bible laying open in his lap. The man, content that he had enlightened a poor naive young person to the finer points of scientific insight, turned to go.
Scarcely had he taken two steps... when the boy began to rejoice and praise louder than before. The man turned to ask the reason for this resumed jubilation. ''wow!'' exclaimed the boy happily, ''God is greater than i thought! Not only did he lead the whole nation of israel through the red sea, he topped it off by drowning the whole Egyptian army in 10 inches of water!''
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