TRUE REPENTANCE REQUIRED -EXODUS 8:1-15 KEY VERSE: " But when Pharaoh saw that there was respite, he hardened his heart, and hearkened not unto them; as the LORD had said" (Exodus: 8:15). God is too just to overlook sin and take remorse for repentance. In His justice, He warns before bringing judgment. The only response He expects from man is repentance, which is total turning away from sin. In His judgment, He always shows mercy to whosoever is truly penitent. Pharaoh was warned to expect the epidemic of frogs if he refused to let Israel go and serve the Lord. On Pharaoh’s willful refusal, Moses and Aaron, with outstretched rod, performed the miracle of judgment. It was a plague of frogs that came from the streams, the rivers and the ponds throughout the land of Egypt. Frogs invaded the houses, the ovens, the kneading troughs of both the king and his subjects. Pharaoh’s magicians, in their folly, conjured more frogs with their enchantments. At this stage, ...

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES MONDAY, 10TH APRIL.  YOUR CONFESSION ESTABLISHES IT. We having the same spirit of faith, according as it is written, I believed, and therefore have I spoken; we also believe, and therefore speak (2 Corinthians 4:13). For your faith to produce results, not only must you know the Word and have it in your consciousness, you must speak it forth. The power is in affirmation. This is where some Christians have missed it; they “confess” the Word to “bring it into being.” They’re trying to get God to do something by their confession, but it doesn’t work that way. The Word of God is truth; you must acknowledge it to be so, and have it in your consciousness through meditation, then your confession establishes it. That’s what we read in our opening verse: if your faith is alive, talk! Your mouth establishes the Word of God in your life. Jesus said in Mark 11:23, “…whosoever shall say unto this mountain, Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the sea; and...

THE KING IS COMING – Monday April 10th 2017 Memorise : For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: 1st Thessalonians 4:16 Read: Acts 1:9-11 (KJV) 9 And when he had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven. Bible in one year: Leviticus 19-20, Jeremiah 10:17-11:8, Hymn: Sing hymn 6 MESSAGE: One of the reasons why there is spiritual decadence in the Church today is the loss of focus on the second coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus knew this would happen and for this reason, He gave us the...

What Is Most Important? By Billy Graham   •   April 10 Home Daily Devotion What Is Most Important? hands on casket For if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ must still be dead. And if he is still dead, then all our preaching is useless and your trust in God is empty, worthless, hopeless. . . . The fact is that Christ did actually rise from the dead . . . —1 Corinthians 15:13,14,20 (TLB) I was invited to have coffee one morning with Konrad Adenauer before he retired as the Chancellor of Germany. When I walked in, I expected to meet a tall, stiff, formal man who might even be embarrassed if I brought up the subject of religion. After the greeting, the Chancellor suddenly turned to me and said, “Mr. Graham, what is the most important thing in the world?” Before I could answer, he had answered his own question. He said, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ. If Jesus Christ is alive, then there is hope for the world. If Jesus Christ is in the grave, then I ...

Our Best Friend James Banks Hebrews 10:19–23 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.   John 1:12 When I was twelve years old our family moved to a town in the desert. After gym classes in the hot air at my new school, we rushed for the drinking fountain. Being skinny and young for my grade, I sometimes got pushed out of the way while waiting in line. One day my friend Jose, who was big and strong for his age, saw this happening. He stepped in and stuck out a strong arm to clear my way. “Hey!” he exclaimed, “You let Banks get a drink first!” I never had trouble at the drinking fountain again. Jesus understood what it was like to face the ultimate unkindness of others. The Bible tells us, “He was despised and rejected by mankind” (Isa. 53:3). But Jesus was not just a victim of suffering, He also became our advocate. By giving His life, Jesus opened a “new and living way” for us to enter into ...

A Shepherd for Life Keila Ochoa Genesis 48:8–16 God . . . has been my shepherd all my life to this day.   Genesis 48:15 When my son changed grades in school he cried, “I want my teacher for life!” We had to help him realize that changing teachers is a part of life. We may wonder: Is there any relationship that can last a lifetime? Jacob, the patriarch, found out there is one.  After living through many dramatic changes and losing loved ones along the way, he realized there had been a constant presence in his life. He prayed, “May the God . . . who has been my shepherd all my life to this day . . . bless these boys” (Gen. 48:15–16). Jacob had been a shepherd, so he compared his relationship to God as that of a shepherd and his sheep. From the time a sheep is born through its growth to old age the shepherd cares for it day and night. He guides it during the day and protects it during the night. David, also a shepherd, had the same conviction, but he highligh...

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES SUNDAY, 9TH APRIL.  KEEPING THE WORD IN YOUR CONSCIOUSNESS. Meditate upon these things; give thyself wholly to them; that thy profiting may appear to all (1 Timothy 4:15). Meditating on God’s Word helps to bring the Word to your consciousness. For example, Psalm 1:1-3 says, “Blessed is the man that walketh not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful. But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water, that bringeth forth his fruit in his season; his leaf also shall not wither; and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper.” Meditating on the verses above will get you conscious of, and walk in the light of the blessings therein. Recall what God said in Joshua 1:8: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to...