Love in Action By Billy Graham   •   April 21   •   Topics: Love, Missions & Service Home Daily DevotionLove in Action guys huddling and praying Be full of love for others, following the example of Christ . . . —Ephesians 5:2 (TLB) There is no doubt that we need social reform. If success is ever to be realized, our generations must work together and listen to each other, which is one of the first requirements of cooperation. At this point, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is relevant as the great reconciler. The Apostle John, in his first epistle, declared, “To you, young men, I have written,” and, “To you, fathers, I have written.” This is to the young activists and to the old guard, “It is by this that we know what love is: that Christ laid down His life for us. And we in our turn are bound to lay down our lives for our brothers. But if a man has enough to live on, and yet when he sees his brother in need shuts up...

Decide to Believe by Joyce Meyer - posted April 21, 2017 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations. Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience. But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing. —James 1:2-4 Too often people stare at me with a blank look when I urge them to decide to believe. It’s as if I’m asking them to do something they can’t do. Faith comes from hearing the Word of God (see Romans 10:17), but it also involves a decision. We enter into a relationship with God through believing in Jesus Christ, but that’s only the beginning. Believing doesn’t end there. As I understand the realm of the Spirit, if we follow the Lord, we live with a...

The Key to Radical Love Devotional by John Piper “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” (Matthew 5:11–12) One of the questions I posed while preaching on loving our enemies from Matthew 5:44 was, How do you love the people who kidnap you and then kill you? How can we do this? Where does the power to love like this come from? Just think how astonishing this is when it appears in the real world! Could anything show the truth and power and reality of Christ more than this? I believe Jesus gives us the key to this radical, self-sacrificing love, described in Matthew 5:44, earlier in the very same chapter. In Matthew 5:11–12, he is again talking about being persecuted, just like he was when he said in Matthew 5:44, “Love your enemies and pray for those who persec...

REDUCE TO WRITING -PROVERBS 25:1-15 KEY VERSE: "These are also proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out" (Proverb 25:1). Can you imagine a world without history, without writing and without documentation? Most important events and persons would have been lost forever! Today’s text starts with the introduction of how the entire chapter 25 of Proverbs came to be. It was copied out by the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah. The basic difference between divinely inspired truth and mere history is that all divine truths started out with the glory of God in mind and God was involved in moving men to write. Though most historical writings are at best to preserve knowledge, divinely inspired truths are well beyond history. The entire verses of this chapter are laden with eternal truths that are still relevant to us. Verses 2 to 7 speak about relationships with God and leadership. We are taught both spiritual truths and intellectual insights as to how ...

OPEN HEAVENS 2017 CURE FOR BACKSLIDING – Friday April 21st 2017 Memorise:  Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, when the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord; Acts 3:19 Read:  Jeremiah 3:11-15 (KJV) 11 And the Lord said unto me, The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than treacherous Judah. 12 Go and proclaim these words toward the north, and say, Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith the Lord; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you: for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep anger for ever. 13 Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. 14 Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am married unto you: and I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion: 15 And I will...

RHAPSODY OF REALITIES FRIDAY, 21ST APRIL. HE'S BROUGHT YOU INTO “A LARGE PLACE”. He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me (Psalm 18:19). “A large place” means a wealthy place; being born again, you’re the seed of Abraham, and a joint heir with Christ. Effectively, this means the whole world belongs to you. It’s too late for you to be poor or be counted as the poor. The only way you can be poor is by choice or ignorance, because God has already brought you out of poverty into your wealthy place. 2 Corinthians 8:9 says, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.” Notice that it doesn’t say, “…so that ye might pray to be rich,” no; He’s already done it. In Christ Jesus, you’ve been made rich. The Holy Spirit, writing to the Church through Paul, dec...

The Gift of Giving Tim Gustafson Luke 3:7–14 Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion.  2 Corinthians 9:7 A pastor breathed life into the phrase “He’d give you the shirt off his back” when he gave this unsettling challenge to his church: “What would happen if we took the coats off our backs and gave them to the needy?” Then he took his own coat and laid it at the front of the church. Dozens of others followed his example. This was during the winter, so the trip home was less comfortable that day. But for dozens of people in need, the season warmed up just a bit. When John the Baptist roamed the Judean wilderness, he had a stern warning for the crowd that came to hear him. “You brood of vipers!” he said. “Produce fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:7–8). Startled, they asked him, “What should we do then?” He responded with this adv...