Divine Nature

Photos and a handwritten note detailing the grisly discovery of Titanic’s last lifeboat will be auctioned in the U.K. later this week. The three photos were taken on May 13, 1912, almost a month after Titanic’s sinking, and show crewmembers from RMS Oceanic attempting to recover one of the doomed liner’s lifeboats. Inside the lifeboat, thought to be the last to leave the sinking ship, were the decomposing bodies of three Titanic passengers. One photo shows a boat from Oceanic being lowered, another shows the boat approaching the drifting lifeboat. A third picture shows Oceanic crewmembers on the Titanic lifeboat. Related: First letter written onboard the Titanic up for sale Titanic struck an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. ship's time on April 14 1912 and sank just over two hours later with the loss of more than 1,500 lives. Related Image TitanicOceanic2Expand / Contract A boat containing crewmembers from RMS Oceanic is lowered during the Titanic lifeboat recovery mission (Henry

There’re those who ask if it’s possible for people to sell their souls to the devil. No one can sell his or her soul to the devil; the reason being that all souls belong to God. How can Satan possibly pay for the soul of any human being and with what “currency” exactly? God paid for the soul of every man, woman, boy, and girl, with the precious blood of Jesus Christ (1 Peter 1:18-19). Satan lies to a whole lot of Christians, deceiving them to think he’s in charge of their lives somehow, whereas he doesn’t have such rights. Jesus bought the whole field and paid for everyman. So, you can’t sell your soul to the devil. Even if you stood in front of the devil and said to him, “I sell my soul to you.” He couldn’t buy it. Your soul neither belongs to you nor Satan; it belongs to God. Even when you give your heart to Jesus, you’re not “selling” your heart to Him either. The terminology of “giving your heart to Jesus” doesn’t really apply in the way we think a lot of times, as

God’s love is hard to understand Written by Lois on 26/04/2016 Series: Weekly Devotional Tags: Enemies, Forgiveness, Love, God, Mercy …may you, having been deeply rooted and securely grounded in love, be fully capable of comprehending…the width and length and height and depth of the love of Christ, fully experiencing that amazing, endless love… Ephesians 3:17-19 AMP The love of Christ is so great it can even save His enemies. God’s love reaches out to the whole world and continues through the entire length of our lives. His love is so deep, it can reach you in discouragement and depression. He even reached Lazarus after he had been in His grave four days. This is the Savior’s love. God is Love The Bible tells us that if a person knows nothing about love, they can’t know God, because God is love. Jesus displayed His love for His enemies as He was dying. While Jesus was on the cross, He was praying for those who placed the nails in His hands and feet. Is there anyone else who

Nothing sabotages your productivity quite like bad habits. They are insidious, creeping up on you slowly until you don’t even notice the damage they’re causing. Bad habits slow you down, decrease your accuracy, make you less creative, and stifle your performance. Getting control of your bad habits is critical, and not just for productivity’s sake. A University of Minnesota study found that people who exercise a high degree of self-control tend to be much happier than those who don’t, both in the moment and in the long run. “By constant self-discipline and self-control you can develop greatness of character.” –Grenville Kleiser Some bad habits cause more trouble than others, and the nine that follow are the worst offenders. Shedding these habits will increase your productivity and allow you to enjoy the positive mood that comes with increased self-control. Impulsively surfing the Internet. It takes you 15 consecutive minutes of focus before you can fully engage in a task. Once yo

As a child of God, there’s an anointing on your life; it’s a divine enablement. Many mistake the anointing for the Spirit, but the anointing isn’t the Spirit. The Spirit gives the anointing; the anointing is a divine power. It’s that power of God that heals, delivers, removes burdens, and causes you to prosper. It brings you victory. It opens doors for you. It uplifts you, and causes you to fulfil the will of the Father. It accomplishes works beyond your human ability. Another beautiful thing is that the anointing on your life can increase. Sometimes, people want to do more; they want to make more impact with the Gospel by reaching more people. Yes; that’s possible and commendable, but you need increased grace. God will have to increase the authority given to you; but first, you must be faithful with what you already have. If you’re faithful in using what you currently have, then He’ll cause a new anointing to come on you. If you’re a leader in the house of God, for ins

You might want to ask, “If someone who’s born again realizes that he has hatred, anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy, pride, etc., in his heart, how should he get rid of them? Should he pray to God to take them away?” First, you need to know who a Christian is; he’s someone whose spirit has been recreated by God; and the recreated human spirit has certain distinct features, such as love, joy, peace, patience, gentleness, goodness, and faith. Hatred, anger, bitterness, jealousy, envy and pride aren’t features of the recreated human spirit; so, refuse to harbour them. Look into your spirit and bring forth love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith. You have these beautiful features in your spirit. You may call them the “produce” of your human spirit, because you’re a tree of righteousness. The Bible says the love of God is shed abroad in your heart by the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5); this means there’s no room in your heart for hatred, bitterness, jealousy,

Too many people are tossed back and forth in life; they’re as unstable as water. That’s not God’s desire for you. He wants you steadfast, stable, consistent, always abounding in the work of the Lord. He wants you firm and stable in your faith. And the Word of God is what brings that balance and stability into your life. To become a stable person, you have to become stable in the Word. Some people are easily moved and dissuaded from the faith by what they see and hear; they run their lives on the basis of their emotions and experiences. Every little thing shakes their faith. Never find yourself in that class. Believe with all your heart that the Scriptures will give you light, and direction, and that it holds the solution to every problem. Therefore, irrespective of the troubles, adversities and challenges, remain steadfast. Be unshakable. Trust the Word. Put your faith in it; believe it; be firm with the message of the Gospel. Become so inundated with the Word until th

One reason some of God’s children find themselves in unpalatable situations is that they don’t submit to the leading of the Spirit. The Holy Spirit leads us through the Word. Any counsel you receive that’s contrary to what the Word says isn’t from the Holy Spirit. Some people pray about something, then an idea comes to them, and they say, “Well, God is leading me to do such-and-such.” If you were to ask them, “Why do you believe it’s God that’s leading you in that direction?” they’d say, “because I prayed about it.” The fact that you prayed about it isn’t enough! What did the Lord say to you after you prayed? Did He tell you expressly to go ahead and do whatever it is you think He’s leading you to do? Is the idea you got in sync with God’s Word? Is it consistent with the scriptures? His Word is His will expressed. In yielding to the Spirit, to be led by Him, you yield to the Lordship, supremacy, and guidance of the Word. This is why knowing the Word for yourself is abso

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Someone once asked, “Does God bless borrowed money, including borrowed money given to Him as offerings and seed?” There’s nothing wrong if you borrow money, but make sure you pay back; otherwise, God doesn’t like it. The Bible says, “The wicked borroweth and payeth not again.” God describes the one who doesn’t pay his or her debt as wicked. God wants you to serve Him with wholehearted devotion, and willingness of mind, but at the same time, with honesty. Your integrity should be impeccable. There’re people who don’t have credibility, and don’t care about their integrity. When they owe, they refuse to pay, and start praying for debt cancellation. Others deliberately stay away or hide from their creditors. This is wrong; it’s the way of the wicked. The word “wicked” in our opening verse describes one whose ways are perverse; someone who isn’t walking in the light of God; and that shouldn’t be you. If you owe any debt, don’t let it linger; pay promptly. Most people who d

How To Share Your Faith With Your Friends : Do you really love your friends if you don’t tell them about Jesus? So I tell you today that I am not guilty if any of you don’t believe. I haven’t let anyone keep me from telling you everything God wants you to do. Acts 20:26-27 My little daughter’s friend was playing at our home one day. Suddenly, I shouted “no!” and she burst into tears. Why? She was about to put a fork into a nearby electrical outlet. I hated to upset her, but her little life was too precious to risk, and her parents trusted me to protect her. Are your friends precious to you? Do you know that God holds us responsible for one another? He tells us, “If I warn the wicked, saying, ‘You are under the penalty of death,’ but you fail to deliver the warning, they will die in their sins. And I will hold you responsible for their deaths.” (Ezekiel 3:18) If worries are keeping you from sharing your faith with your friends, these simple ideas can help overcome those fears: Be P

When you’re born again, you’re a mystery to the world, because you’re born of the Spirit. The Natural man can’t understand you. By the Spirit, David said, “I am as a wonder unto many…” (Psalm 71:7). That’s what God has made everyone that’s born of the Spirit. However, some Christians don’t know this; so, they live ordinary lives. You’re not ordinary; you’re not of this world. You belong in, and function from, a different realm: the realm of the Spirit. The Lord Jesus, in our opening text said, “The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.” In other words, those who are born again live by the Spirit. And the Spirit, like the wind, is always moving. Jesus didn’t tell us that the Spirit is like air; He said it’s like the wind. Wind is moving air. So the Spirit, like the wind, can’t be conditioned in one place. Wind is air in motion. In the same

Jesus Christ has become your righteousness. That’s why in Christianity, we don’t walk in our righteousness; rather, we declare and boldly affirm that He’s become our righteousness. We stand in the presence of God with the righteousness of Jesus Christ; and we walk in the light of that righteousness. It’s like hiding in His glory or being covered in His glory; you’re not seen. It’s His light that’s seen; it’s His glory that’s seen. It’s His power that’s made manifest, as you walk in His righteousness. His own righteousness is what’s demonstrated in your life. That’s Christianity. It’s a walk in His righteousness. 2 Corinthians 5:21 tells us, “For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.” Now, you’ve become a demonstrator of His righteousness, because He manifests His righteousness through you! He’s the righteousness of the one who believes in Jesus. It’s part of what we affirm when we take the Holy Comm

The Lord Jesus was a master of words; He had, and spoke, wisdom all the time. He was wisdom personified. He knew exactly the right words to say in every situation, to everyone, and concerning everything. His words were filled with inspiration, healing, comfort, hope, love, and power. He had words for everything. Imagine what transpired in Luke 7:11-17. He was on a journey to the city of Nain, and as He arrived at the gate of the City, He saw a funeral procession of a young man, who happened to be the only son of a widow. Moved with compassion, He touched the casket and said, “…Young man, I say unto thee, Arise. And he that was dead sat up, and began to speak. And he delivered him to his mother” (Luke 7:13-15). He raised the dead body of that young man back to life with words! Once, His disciples were startled amidst a raging tempest. Terrified, they cried out to Him, “…Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38). What He did was remarkable: “…he arose, and re

Getting to Know Jesus : Making Following Jesus a Personal Pursuit  :  Nothing in all the world can be hidden from God. He can clearly see all things. Everything is open before him. And to him we must explain the way we have lived..With Jesus as our high priest, we can feel free to come before God’s throne where there is grace. There we receive mercy and kindness to help us when we need it. Hebrews 4:13,16 “Know the Lord” is a simple way to describe faith in Jesus. But even after you “know Him” in that way, do you really feel like you “KNOW” Jesus? When you imagine your first meeting with Him in heaven, is it a reunion with a beloved and familiar friend? Or more like meeting a stranger you know lots of facts about? Here are three practical ways you can become more familiar with your Savior: 1. Find out what pleases the Lord - and really do it. (Ephesians 5:17, Romans 12:2) Christians say we “follow Jesus” or that we “walk with the Lord.” But we don’t actually see Him walking wit

Even though many use these terms synonymously, there’s a big difference between the Holy Communion and the Lord’s Supper. They’re not the same. What some celebrate as the Lord’s Supper is the Passover meal; the last meal the Lord shared with His disciples. That’s like the Love Feasts we have in our cell or church groups today; we come together once in a while and eat together. Paul referred to similar feasts in 1 Corinthians 11:20-22 where he rebuked some people for not waiting for their brethren, but over-ate till others had nothing to eat. He said to them, “If you can’t be kind to one another during love feasts, then eat at home before coming.” This definitely wasn’t the Holy Communion. On the night Jesus was betrayed, as He ate the Passover meal with His disciples, He took bread separately, broke it, and gave it to them to share (Matthew 26:26). He said, “This is my body.” This is different from the meal (the meal was His “last supper” with the disciples). He also