Deliverance From Temptation

We face a very clear and present danger in our generation. Behind the scenes a battle is being fought for the very hearts and lives of men, women, and children across the planet. This invisible war is being waged between the forces of evil and the forces of good, between God Himself and a created being known as Satan.
We, as believers, are in this battle and we're in it to the very end. We are not tourists on a vacation in this world if we're following Jesus. We are soldiers on a mission for Him. And the only way to win this war is to prepare and to pray.
Jesus taught us to pray in order to overcome the temptation of the enemy. When we pray, we are protecting our faith, our future, and our families. In these times, we must remember that we are fighting a spiritual battle that can only be won with the spiritual weapons God has provided. God has promised deliverance for His children if we pray.
Maybe you're in the throes of temptation right now and you're tempted to compromise your purity. You're in a test of your faith. Perhaps you are tempted by unhealthy habits or to say words that are better left unsaid. What do you do? Turn to God for strength in times of temptation and realize that He understands the pressure you are experiencing. In a world filled with temptation, we have a stronghold against the enemy because our God is a deliverer.
Pray this day for the power of Jesus Christ in your life to deliver you and the ones you love from temptation.

Listen to prayer

Find peace, purpose and strength with Jesus in prayer.

Source: 30-Day Prayer Challenge, YouVersion Bible App.

PRAY FOR OTHERS

Perhaps one of the greatest ways to experience the power of prayer is through intercession - praying for others. Intercession is the graduate level of prayer.
The Bible names several specific groups of people for whom we are to pray.
Those in public leadership. This includes the President and Congress, our national leaders, our state and local government leaders, police officers, teachers, and others in authority. Whether or not we agree with their policies and opinions, we are to pray for them - that they would come to saving faith in Jesus Christ.
Our spiritual leaders. The devil aims his biggest guns at God's leaders, and today, many are discouraged, hurting, and even falling into sin. God's people need to pray for God's leaders. I ask you from the depths of my heart to pray for the pastors, missionaries, and Christian leaders in America and throughout the world.
The lost. Are you praying for those in your life who do not know Jesus? Prayer is the means by which we help point others to faith in Christ. You and I know people who have yet to receive God's gift of grace, and the first step we ought to take is to commit the matter to prayer. Only God, by His Spirit, can reach a neighbor, rescue a prodigal child, and turn a wayward heart toward Him.
Our country. We need to cry out to God and pray for our country. And if you love this country you will pray for God to revive His Church. Pray that God would renew our families and our communities. We need to pray for our fellow citizens and our neighbors, and turn our prayers to action. Psalm 33:2 says, "Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD." Let us join in prayer that our nation will return to its roots of honoring God.

Source: 30 Day Prayer Challenge, YouVersion App 

Yuuuuge! Trump hits ISIS with biggest U.S. non-nuke

President Trump told the American public Thursday that the U.S. military’s decision to drop a giant bomb – the largest non-nuclear device in the U.S. arsenal at 21,000 pounds – on ISIS in Afghanistan was a “another very, very successful mission.”
Officials announced the Massive Ordnance Air Blast, or MOAB – also known as the “mother of all bombs” – was dropped in Nangarhar Province near the Pakistan border.
It was the first time the weapon ever has been used in combat.
The president, addressing the media only briefly on the topic, said he had given U.S. military commanders in the Middle East region “total authorization.”
“That’s why they’ve been so successful lately,” he said.
His orders to the military comply with a campaign promise to bomb and destroy ISIS.
“We have an incredible military,” the president said. “Another very, very successful mission.”
What do YOU think? What are your thoughts on Trump dropping the Big One? Sound off in today’s WND poll!
Asked if bombing ISIS sent a message to North Korea, he responded: “I don’t know if this sends a message. Doesn’t make a difference if it does or not.”
He added, however: “I think China has been working very hard. I have gotten to like and respect President Xi. He’s a very special man. I think he’s going to try very hard.”

Read more at WND

A Hundredfold Return

He was brought up on one of the roughest estates in Manchester. His father was an alcoholic. He left school at fifteen. He ran away from home. He lived on the streets. He joined a gang. He got involved in crime and ended up in prison. When he came out he joined the army. He went through two divorces.

In 1994, he walked into HTB and did Alpha. He gave his life to Christ and was filled with the Holy Spirit. He started visiting prisoners. He joined the HTB staff to head up the work in prisons. He started an organisation to care for ex-offenders. He set up a homeless project. He started a course to help those with addictions and courses to help those struggling with depression and debt.

Under his leadership, Alpha for Prisons has spread through the prisons in the UK and seventy-six countries around the world. Thousands have come to faith in Jesus Christ. Hundreds of men and women have been placed in churches through the ministry of Caring for Ex-Offenders. The ministries he now heads up have the potential to touch millions of lives around the world.

Paul Cowley is an example of someone who was the good soil on which the seed fell. He has a noble and good heart. He heard the word, retained it and by persevering has produced a crop hundreds of times more than was sown (Luke 8:8,15). He encountered Jesus as his Saviour, Sower and Shepherd.

Ncky Gumbel
YouVersion, Bible App.

Traps, Tests and Temptations

Ajay Gohill was brought up as a Hindu and worked for the family business in a newsagent in North London. At the age of twenty-one he contracted erythrodermic psoriasis, a chronic skin disease. His weight dropped from 11.5 stone (73kg) to 7.5 stone (47.6kg). The disease was all over his body from head to toe. He lost all his friends. His wife and son left him. He wanted to die.


As Ajay lay dying in hospital he cried out to God. He looked in his locker and found a Bible there. He opened it at Psalm 38 – the psalm for today. Each and every verse seemed relevant to him. He prayed for God to heal him. He fell into a deep sleep. By the next morning he was totally healed. His skin was new like a baby’s and his life was turned around. He was reunited with his son. I interviewed him in one of the services at HTB. He said, ‘Every day I live for Jesus.’


Life is not all plain sailing. You will face many challenges. Whatever you are facing today, God is able to rescue you.

Nicky Gumbel,
YouVersion Bible App

Psalm 28:1-9

Develop a pattern of prayer

Prayer is a key way to develop a relationship with God by speaking with him. There is no set way to do this. There are hundreds of different prayers in the Bible. Sometimes, it is helpful to follow a pattern (such as the Lord’s Prayer). Another pattern that I have found helpful is using the mnemonic ‘ACTS’. These elements are often found in the prayers we see in Scripture.
The context of this psalm is fear – possibly the fear of premature death. David may be facing illness or deep despair. He fears that he might die in disgrace and go down ‘to the pit’ (v.1).
His prayer to God includes the following:

• A: Lord I adore you
  ‘Praise be to the Lord’ (v.6a); even in the midst of a difficult situation, David chose to praise God. Whatever the circumstances, praise God for who he is and what he has done. We see another example of this in the New Testament passage as the people worship Jesus (Mark 11:9–10).


• C: I confess
  ‘Hear my cry for mercy’ (Psalm 28:2a); ask God’s forgiveness for anything that you have done wrong. This is also a moment to forgive anyone you need to forgive. As Jesus says in todays’ New Testament passage, ‘When you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins’ (Mark 11:25).

• T: I will give you thanks
  ‘My heart leaps for joy, and with my song I praise him’ (Psalm 28:7c). Thank God for health, family, friends and so on. The importance of thanksgiving can also be seen in the Old Testament reading for today (see Leviticus 7:12–15).

• S: Hear my supplication
  ‘… as I call to you for help’ (Psalm 28:2a). Pray for yourself, for your friends and for others. Interestingly David says, ‘I lift up my hands’ (v.2b). This seems to be almost synonymous with prayer. Hands raised in worship is not a modern idea; it is actually one of the most ancient forms of prayer.

Lord, I adore you. I worship you today. Praise be to the Lord...
I confess my sins to you... Hear my cry for mercy and forgive my sins.
I will give thanks to you for you are good. Thank you, Lord, for…
Hear my supplication. Today I call on you for help…

Nicky Gumbel

YouVersion

 

God Multiplies

Hattie May Wiatt, a six-year-old girl, lived near Grace Baptist Church in Philadelphia, USA. The Sunday school was very crowded. Russell H. Conwell, the minister, told her that one day they would have buildings big enough to allow everyone to attend. She said, ‘I hope you will. It is so crowded I am afraid to go there alone.’ He replied, ‘When we get the money we will construct one large enough to get all the children in.’

Two years later, in 1886, Hattie May died. After the funeral Hattie’s mother gave the minister a little bag they had found under their daughter’s pillow containing 57 cents in change that she had saved up. Alongside it was a note in her handwriting: ‘To help build bigger so that more children can go to Sunday school.’
The minister changed all the money into pennies and offered each one for sale. He received $250 – and 57 of the cents were given back. The $250 was itself changed into pennies and sold by the newly formed ‘Wiatt Mite Society’. In this way her 57 cents kept on multiplying.
Twenty-six years later, in a talk entitled, ‘The history of the 57 cents’, the minister explained the results of her 57-cent donation: a church with a membership of over 5,600 people, a hospital where tens of thousands of people had been treated, 80,000 young people going through university, 2,000 people going out to preach the gospel – all this happened ‘because Hattie May Wiatt invested her 57 cents’.
The theme of multiplication runs throughout the Bible. What cannot be achieved by addition, God does by multiplication. We reap what we sow, only many times more. What we give to the Lord, he multiplies.

Nicky Gumbel

                                            

Judge wears 'pussy hat' in court, probe launched

(BREITBART) — A short investigation was launched after a Travis County judge wore a pink, knitted “pussy hat” in her courtroom late in January causing, some to doubt her impartiality from the bench.
Travis County Judge Sarah Eckhardt started her session on January 24 by putting on the pink knitted hat that has become associated with the Women’s March protests held the day after Donald J. Trump took the oath of office to become the 45th president of the United States.
The judge’s shocking partisanship was first noted by Reddit users and soon caused residents to quiz Texas authorities as to whether or not a sitting judge is allowed to wear partisan political paraphernalia on the bench.




Read more  here.

Syrian Arab women battle IS, social stigma

 

Though fighting the most-feared members of the militant Islamic State (IS) group in Syria, hundreds of Arab female fighters are also battling with the disapproval of their relatives and society.

"I braved my tribal clan, my father, my mother. Now I'm braving the enemy," says 21-year-old Batul, who is part of an Arab-Kurdish alliance battling to capture IS's Syrian stronghold of Raqqa.

She is one of more than 1,000 Arab women who have joined Kurdish male and female fighters in the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) alliance, according to a spokeswoman.

Read more: 'I joined the Afghan army to save lives'

Standing in the desert some 20 kilometres from Raqqa, Batul speaks passionately about her decision to fight IS, which holds the nearby village of Al-Torshan.

"My parents told me, 'Either you put down your weapons or we disown you'," she says, wearing an ammunition vest and a floral scarf around her shoulders.

Her parents have not spoken to her since.

 

 Batul, a 21-year-old female Arab fighter among the Syrian Democratic Forces, talks to a comrade of hers. ─AFP

 

Batul comes from the Al-Sharabiyeh tribe, one of the best-known of the Arab tribes of northeast Syria.

Her family views her as a rebel, who removed the headscarf worn by many Muslim women and refused her father's orders to pray in front of him.

But she is proud of the decision she took two years ago to join the Kurdish Women's Protection Units, more commonly known as YPJ, which is an all-female Kurdish military organisation and a key component of the SDF alliance.

Also read: Women soldiers: If the boot fits, why shouldn't they wear it?

"I joined the YPJ to liberate my homeland, but also to free women from slavery," she says.

"We must no longer remain cloistered behind four walls." 

Continued, here.

Why Does God Allow Suffering?

A one-year-old boy shattered his back falling down a flight of stairs. He spent his childhood and youth in and out of hospital. Gavin Read, the former Bishop of Maidstone, interviewed him in church. The boy remarked, ‘God is fair.’ Gavin stopped him and asked, ‘How old are you?’ ‘Seventeen,’ the boy replied. ‘How many years have you spent in hospital?’ The boy answered, ‘Thirteen years.’ Gavin asked, ‘Do you think that is fair?’ He replied, ‘God has got all of eternity to make it up to me.’
We live in a world of instant gratification that has almost entirely lost its eternal perspective. The New Testament is full of wonderful promises about the future: all creation will be restored. Jesus will return to establish ‘a new heaven and a new earth’ (Revelation 21:1). There will be no more crying, for there will be no more pain and suffering. Our frail, decaying mortal bodies will be changed for a body like that of Jesus’ glorious resurrected body.
Suffering is not part of God’s original created order (see Genesis 1–2). There was no suffering in the world before rebellion against God. There will be no suffering when God creates a new heaven and a new earth (Revelation 21:3–4). Suffering is, therefore, an alien intrusion into God’s world.
This, of course, is not a complete answer to the question ‘Why does God allow suffering?’ As we saw yesterday there is no simple or complete solution, but each of today’s passages gives us some further insight.

By Nicky Gumbel

YouVersion