FEAR NOT! -DEUTERONOMY 20:1-9 KEY VERSE: "And the officers shall speak further unto the people, and they shall say, What man is there that is fearful and fainthearted? let him go and return unto his house, lest his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart" (Deuteronomy 20:8). On Saturday the 28th day of May 2005, the British Guardian newspaper reported an almost unbelievable story. According to reports, two Japanese men, who were both in their 80s, had said they were soldiers of the Second World War, and had been hiding on the Island of Mindanao, which is 600 miles from Manila, in the Philippines. They had deserted their division who were fiercely devastated by the United States’ forces. They had since remained in the jungle and mountains possibly unaware that the war had ended 60 years earlier. They also feared being court-martialled for possible desertion if they showed their faces again. Desertion is a serious crime in the military, usually punishable by death....

OPEN HEAVENS 2017 A FRUIT-BEARING TREE? – Sunday April 23rd 2017 Memorise : Every branch in me that beareth not fruit the taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit. John 15:2 Read:  Luke 13:6-9 (King James Version) 6 He spake also this parable; A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard; and he came and sought fruit thereon, and found none. 7 Then said he unto the dresser of his vineyard, Behold, these three years I come seeking fruit on this fig tree, and find none: cut it down; why cumbereth it the ground? 8 And he answering said unto him, Lord, let it alone this year also, till I shall dig about it, and dung it: 9 And if it bear fruit, well: and if not, then after that thou shalt cut it down. Bible in one year:  Number 14-15, Jeremiah 18:19-19:9, Hymn: Sing hymn 13 MESSAGE Fruit-bearing is a necessity for every child of God. When the Scripture in Deuteronomy 7:14 says none shall be barre...

The Shout of Victory Oclap your hands, all ye people; shout unto God with the voice of triumph (Psalm 47:1). Our opening verse is talking about the shout of victory. Some people shout out of fear, but in Christianity we shout in victory. We shout unto the Lord with the voice of triumph. It’s like the shout the children of Israel gave in conquering Jericho. As they journeyed to the Promised Land, they got to Jericho, but the city was shut with thick and imposing walls (Joshua 6:1). The Lord, however, gave Joshua the strategy to conquer Jericho. It was the “shout strategy”: “…And it shall come to pass, that when they make a long blast with the ram’s horn, and when ye hear the sound of the trumpet, all the people shall shout with a great shout; and the wall of the city shall fall down flat, and the people shall ascend up every man straight before him ” (Joshua 6:2-5). When the people did as the Lord instructed, the walls came down flat (Joshua 6:20). Some people don’t unders...

The Shrinking Piano Jennifer Benson Schuldt Philippians 1:1–11 He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.  Philippians 1:6 For three consecutive years, my son participated in a piano recital. The last year he played, I watched him mount the steps and set up his music. He played two songs and then sat down next to me and whispered, “Mom, this year the piano was smaller.” I said, “No, it’s the same piano you played last year. You’re bigger! You’ve grown.” Spiritual growth, like physical growth, often happens slowly over time. It is an ongoing process that involves becoming more like Jesus, and it happens as we are transformed through the renewing of our minds (Rom. 12:2). When the Holy Spirit is at work in us, we may become aware of sin in our lives. Wanting to honor God, we make an effort to change. Sometimes we experience success, but at other times, we try and fail. If it seems...

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...