❤️HOW TO KNOW GOD'S WILL FOR IMPORTANT DECISIONS IN YOUR LIFE. Part 2 of 6. God’s Basic Will for Every Christian. Continued. The Holy Spirit is for the purpose of enabling us to become “fruitful in every good work” (Col. 1:10), and this Jesus said, comes not by "doing," but by "dying." Until we learn this lesson, we may work our heads off in religious efforts and still never really be fruitful. God does not call us merely to do "good works" – every Christian is capable of this– but His will for us is that we should become fruitful in every good work. We can do good works and still not be moving in His will. Good works are acceptable in the sight of God only to the extent they are in harmony with His will and under His direction. The case of Saul is a perfect example of this fact. God had sent King Saul against the Amalekites commanding him to destroy utterly both man and beast because the Amalekites had ruthlessly attacked Israel when she had first come out of Egypt. In disobedience Saul spared King Agag alive and kept the best of the sheep and oxen for the purpose of offering sacrifices unto the Lord. Now, God had commanded the Israelites through Moses to worship Him with sacrifices and burnt offerings as King Saul well knew. Certainly Saul's intentions were good in his desire to offer sacrifices unto the Lord, but God rejected him from the kingship of Israel nevertheless, saying, through Samuel, "Has the Lord as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the Lord? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams ... Because you have rejected the word of the Lord, he has also rejected you from being king" (1 Sam. 15:22-23). In Matthew 7:21 Jesus declared, "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven; but he that does the will of my Father which is in heaven." He then makes clear His meaning in verses 22-23 stating that many who are engaged in performing "good works," will, nevertheless, be rejected at the return of Christ because they were not doing the "will of God." A good deed does not necessarily make one acceptable to God merely because it results in good being done to someone else; our works are acceptable to God only to the extent they are in harmony with the will of God and a fulfillment of His purpose. God has not called us merely to do good works, but to do His will and move under the direction of His Spirit. We must be willing to resign from the delusion of religious commotion and be still, patiently waiting upon Him as He teaches us how to become sensitive to His voice, in order that He might make us to be "fruitful in every good work." The Spirit is calling us to be crucified with Christ, for it is on the cross that He teaches us how to grow quiet in order to hear His voice; and it is here that He rids our hearts of all the wrong notions about God's will for our lives and how He intends to fulfill His greater purpose through the Body of Christ in this end of the age. It is upon the disciple's return to Calvary, when he has been crucified with Christ, that the Spirit will then begin to teach him how to- 3. Speak to the Mountain. And on the morrow, when they were center from Bethany, he was hungry: And seeing a tree afar off having leaves, he came, if happily He might find something therein: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it; No man eat fruit of you hereafter forever. And his disciples heard it. And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. And Peter calling to remembrance saith unto him, Master, behold, the fig tree which you cursed is withered away. And Jesus answering saith unto them, Have faith in God. For truly I say unto you, That whosoever shall say unto this mountain, be removed, and be cast into the sea; and shall not doubt in his heart, but shall believe that those things which he says shall come to pass; he shall have whatsoever he says. Therefore I say unto you, What things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them (Mark 11:12-14, 20-24). The importance of faith in the life of the Christian is emphasized again and again in God's Word, for we are told that "without faith it is impossible to please him" (Heb. 11:6), and "whatsoever is not of faith is sin" (Rom. 14:23). The Christian has been called to walk by faith and to live a life of total trust in God. Sadly, however, the faith of the average Christian rises little above that of the world generally. Doubt and unbelief in the life of a Christian constitutes disobedience to the revealed will of God Who commands us to have faith and to trust Him implicitly in all things without reservation. Christians have an abundant inheritance provided for them by Christ's redemption. They are rich spiritually, materially, and physically, but too few are aware of this fact, believing instead that they are not to receive any of their 'inheritance now, or benefit from it in the present life, but only in the world to come. The Scriptures, on the contrary, declare that our inheritance belongs to us now, for God has promised that "all things are yours... whether the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come; all are yours" (1 Corinthians 3:21-22). Healing, for example, has been provided for the believer and promised to him in God's Word (Isa. 53:4-5; Mt. 8:16-17; Mk. 16:18, James 5:14-15). It should be obvious that such a promise has no meaning unless it is valid here and now, for the believer will not need healing in the hereafter, inasmuch as he will not be subject to sickness. And so it is with almost all God’s promises-they are for the present, for it is now, in this life, that we have need of food, clothing, shelter, healing, health, protection, deliverance from fear, oppression, and so on. The Scriptures are filled with divine assurances, rights, privileges, blessings, and promises given to the believer whereby God has made provision for our every spiritual, physical, and material need, as well as for the accomplishment of the work He has commissioned His Church to do in the fulfillment of His will. All these provisions and blessings are available to the extent that we are willing to press through by faith and appropriate them. Moreover, if we are willing to meet the conditions, then we do not have to beg or persuade Him to fulfill His promises to us, for God assures us that He has already said "yes" to every promise He has made (2 Cor. 1:20), and that He does not go back on His word (Num. 23:19). It is sad to see some Christians who have accepted this deeper message who, nevertheless, have no real faith to sustain them in it, teaching the same errors as the institutional churches that an important part of our crucifixion is the absence of material blessings and the acceptance of sickness and pain. Such a view is completely out of harmony with the Word of God, for healing and the promise of the supply of all our needs have been provided in the atonement, and promised again and again in the scriptures. They are to be appropriated by faith as a part of our inheritance. Failure to ask for healing when one is sick, and to believe for God's daily provision for our temporal needs, is to ignore His promises, frustrate His will and purpose for our lives, and make Christ's sufferings and death at Calvary to provide us these blessings all in vain. The crucifixion the Christian is called upon to experience is not that of physical sickness, pain, and poverty, but the crucifixion of self. One may give up all his possessions and still not lose his affection for these things. In giving up the self-life one loses his affection for material things as ends in themselves, and as a result God can, with confidence, bless him abundantly just as He has promised in Philippians 4:19, where the Apostle Paul declares that "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus." Note carefully that God promises here to bless us richly by Christ Jesus which clearly means that all our needs (temporal as well as spiritual) were provided for in Christ's atonement, for all that we receive from God comes to us only as a result of Christ's work at Calvary (cf. 2 Cor. 1:20). Likewise, to contend that God sometimes uses sickness to make the believer more spiritual, or allows us to suffer occasionally in order to draw some lost or backslidden member of our family to Him, is in effect saying that we must add our suffering to that of Christ at Calvary. But the Scriptures plainly declare that "Surely he (Christ) has carried away our diseases, and borne our pains and with His stripes we are healed" (Isa. 53:4-5 Matt 8:17) Moreover, God draws your unsaved and backslidden loved ones to Him by the sufferings of Christ, not yours! Jesus' words in John 12:32-33 forever settle this fact: "And I, if I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all men unto me". This he said, signifying what death he should die." Only the Christian that refuses to accept sickness and poverty, knowing that they come from the hand of Satan (Jn. 10:10, Acts 10:38), and who walks in total faith in God in these matters, can fulfill God's perfect will in his life. Otherwise, he will find that he spends a good part of his time disabled with sickness and unable to serve the Lord as he should. Furthermore, much time is wasted in concern for supplying his temporal needs, instead of seeking first the Kingdom of God and allowing Him to provide these things as He promises in His Word (Matt. 6:19-34; Phil. 4:19). Thus, he must waste a good deal of his prayer time, which could be utilized for others, praying for, and concerned with, himself, instead of the work of the Kingdom. Very obviously "self" is not crucified when one spends so much time ministering to itself. It is only by walking in total faith, appropriating God's provisions which He has promised, do we have the health, strength, time, and provisions to fulfill His will in our lives. Are you concerned with fulfilling God's will in your life? God's will can be accomplished in the life of the Christian onIy to the extent he is willing to trust Him. Did you know that God has pledged Himself to direct each step of your life? The condition, however, is faith - total trust in God in all things without reservation. The promise is found in Proverbs 3:5-8: Trust in the Lord with all your heart; and lean not unto your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct your paths. There are three conditions of faith in this promise which the Christian must meet if he expects such divine direction of his life: (1) total trust in the Lord ("Trust in the Lord with all thine heart"); (2) lack of trust in oneself ("and lean not unto thine own understanding"); and (3) a constant confession of these two facts ("in all thy ways acknowledge him"). (1) Total trust in the Lord. Many Christians today reveal their great lack of faith in that they have no real confidence in God to keep the promises He has made them. This is reflected in their unwillingness to ask in faith what He has provided for them and promised to them; or when they do ask Him to fulfill a promise to meet some need, they condition their prayers by saying, "Grant this request Lord if it be Your will." Prayer conditioned with "if" for something God has promised is not a prayer of faith, and is one's confession that he is not sure God will be faithful and fulfill what He has promised to do. It is a terrifying thought to most Christians to suggest that God expects them to trust Him alone for their health, healing, finances, employment, protection, and so on. As a result they carefully arrange their lives so that they will never have to suffer the embarrassment of having to depend solely on Him in case of accident, sickness, financial distress, or some other emergency. Unlike the saints of old, who had only God to rely on for their provision, deliverance, and protection, the pampered saints of our generation have surrounded themselves with many fleshly substitutes for faith, while the financial institutions, together with the medical and accident insurance companies, are growing rich as a result of their doubt, fear, and unbelief. The life of faith means simply to "trust in the Lord with all your heart." Faith knows nothing of alternatives, substitutes, helps, or exceptions. Total trust in the Lord is to confess with the Psalmist: "I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in Him will I trust" (Ps. 91:2.). Total trust in the Lord is based upon the confidence that God is faithful to do all He has pledged Himself to do; thus, the Scriptures encourage us to "hold fast to the confession of our faith without doubting; for he is faithful that promised" (Heb. 10:23). The lack of true faith among professing believers today stems largely from the fact that people have been taught so many wrong ideas about the Biblical promises concerning such things as divine healing, the baptism in the Holy Spirit, speaking in tongues, the presence and activity of demons, provision for our temporal needs, the miraculous and supernatural. So many half-truths have been taught about God's promises that Christians today do not know what to believe. The trouble with a half-truth is that people usually believe the wrong half. I have found in my ministry of teaching what faith is that before I can get Christians to the place that they can once more begin to appropriate the promises of God and start living on the level of their inheritance, I must first of all get them to see that there are certain things concerning the Christian faith which are just not debatable, and that the Word of God is clear on these things. Moreover, when human opinion contradicts the plain teaching of the Word, then we must flatly reject man's interpretation of God's promises and take a stand with the Word. His promises are generally clear enough and need no special interpretation or explanation, which often robs them of their validity and effectiveness for this day. When we are promised that "the prayer of faith shall heal the sick,” and that "My God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory," that "there shall no evil befall you, neither shall any plague come near your dwelling," that "if any two of you shall agree on earth as touching anything that they shall ask, it shall be done for them of my Father which is in heaven," that "what things soever you desire, when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you shall have them," and that God "forgives all your iniquities; (and) heals all your diseases," then the Word is clear enough and needs no interpretation, but is simply to be acted upon in faith. There are literally thousands of such promises in the Scriptures which may be appropriated by faith. We find that Christians today, who are willing to lay aside men's opinion concerning God's Word and trust in the Lord with all their hearts, discover that Jesus is indeed the same yesterday, today, and forever (Heb. 13:8), and that God will not fail to fulfill any promise which He has made (Num.23:19) (2) Lack of trust in oneself. The second condition to meet, if we are to expect divine direction for our lives, is stated thus: "lean not upon your own understanding." How many times have you prayed for guidance concerning God's will in some matter about which there was no specific revelation of His will in the Scriptures, but already had your mind made up as to what you desired to do and how you wanted God to answer your prayer? Do you at times, as you pray, wish to reserve the right to refuse the path God shows you in the event the cost seems too great, or in case His will is not in line with what you really wanted to do? In such instances are you not actually saying that you believe your wisdom and understanding concerning your need is greater than God's and is not such prayer in reality little more than an attempt to obtain God's approval on the course of action you have already decided to take? Again, we often see the substitution of human understanding for faith in God when a specific promise in His Word has been asked for, such as a promise of healing, provision of some special need, or the salvation or deliverance of a loved one. When the Christian is required to suffer a trial in connection with obtaining the answer, or when the circumstances seem to get worse for a time, then we find that many times he will begin to rely on his own wisdom in an attempt to "help" God provide the answer or solve the problem. So many are willing to trust God only up to a certain point, but then begin to panic if the symptoms become worse, or when the money they prayed for has not arrived by the deadline, or if the alcoholic husband or backslidden daughter they had prayed to the Lord for seems to be getting more hopeless daily. It is then that they will often seek to force open some door before it is God's time, or seek to change the adverse circumstance in some way. Leaning on one's own understanding results from a lack of trust in God, and invariably hinders Him in answering the prayer, often making it impossible for Him to help such individuals. We cannot expect divine direction of our lives unless we are willing to humble ourselves and admit that our fallible wisdom and intellect are incapable of solving the complexities of life or in fulfilling God's perfect will in our lives. (3) Constant Confession. The third condition for receiving divine direction for our lives is stated as follows: "In all your ways acknowledge him." This is the constantly saying that we are not leaning unto our own understanding, but are trusting the Lord in every detail of our lives. To acknowledge Himin all our ways means that we will speak God's blessing, protection, and guidance at all times, and not boast, as so many do, of our own achievements, nor say of how "fortunate" we were in receiving the unexpected raise in salary, or how "lucky" we were when no one was injured in the recent accident. Acknowledging God in all our ways is in reality a statement of faith in Him. If we genuinely believe that He is directing our every step, it will be reflected in our daily conversation. Sadly, Satan has somehow brought about the sad situation where we find that very often Christians seem to be acknowledging the enemy in all their ways, instead of the Lord. If you do not believe this, then just listen to the conversation and talking of the average Christian day to day. In reply to the simple, friendly greeting, "How are you today?" you may be surprised how often Christians immediately begin to confess that Satan has the victory over them. We hear such replies as, "Oh, I'm not feeling too well today," or "I believe I am trying to take the flu. "When asked to help in some aspect of the Lord's work, not infrequently Christians will decline, saying, "I would be afraid to attempt that," or "Perhaps you should ask someone else, as I am sure I would fail." Another laments, "If the cost of living keeps going up, I just don't know what I'm going to do. I suppose my wife will just have to go to work to help make ends meet." "I committed the problem in my marriage to the Lord several months ago," one discouraged wife tells another, "but the situation shows no marked improvement, and I must say that I am just about ready to give the whole thing up." Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

I am now back at work (since June 2nd) after 6weeks off due to a fractured 5th metatarsal. Had my last x-ray a fortnight ago and the hole is sealing up really well. I am only working 3 days a week as I have taken semi-retirement. I am now also over the flu which I had for 3 weeks. I would appreciate your prayers though; I have to go back to give some more blood next month as my liver and prostate counts are high. Otherwise, God is good all the time.

Declare July 14,2026 I will declare the decree :the Lord hath said unto me , Thou art my Son : this day have I begotten thee -Psalm 2:7. When something is decreed , it is written down ,and when it is declared , it is spoken .The psalmist David said that he would declare the decree of the Lord .In other words , he spoke out loud the Word of Gid over his life ,circumstances ,and friends and family .I do the same thing , and if you have never done it , I strongly encourage you to make a spiritual habit of doing so . Words have power she we should use them wisely .You might start a day like this :”I declare that I will ddd God’s goodness in my life today .i will be good to others and be obedient to God .My sins are forgiven .i receive God’s mercy and favor in my life today and every day .”. The Word of God is filled with promises , and you can declare any and all of them .Fill the atmosphere you dwell I. with the promises of God .it will encourage you and increase your faith . Be careful not to declare things over your life that you don’t want .For example :”I am afraid I will get that flu that is going around ,” or “ I ‘m probably going to lose my job .” Live in agreement with God and watch Him do wonders in your life .-Joyce Meyer

Hi team, Sorry I haven't been here in a while as I have been off work with a fractured foot and are now down with the Flu. God has been faithful with me through all this as I have reached out to others and shared ministry, prayer and experiences with them. I would like to leave you with this song by Brooke Ligterwood called 'Greatness' it a wonderful song about his greatness, friendship and goodness to us.

❤️BIBLICAL THINKING & CONFESSION. Part 3 of 4. Continued. You will reveal the nature and extent of your faith by what you say, because what you say is your faith speaking. Your talking will reveal whether your faith is strong, weak, great, or small. Since you generally receive what you say (Mark 11:23; Proverbs 18:21), if your speech agrees with the Word of God, you will receive what He has promised. A true statement of faith always agrees with God's Word. In fact, the literal meaning of the Greek term which is translated "to confess" in the New Testament is "to agree with," or "to speak the same language." If you say what the Word of God says about your sins (I John 1:9), you receive forgiveness. In the same manner, if you say and believe what His Word says about your diseases (Psalm 103:3; James 5:14-15), you will receive healing. The Scriptures declare that "by his stripes ye were healed" (I Peter 2:24). God's Word states, furthermore, that you are to believe that you have received the answer to your petition when you pray (Mark 11:24). Thus, any statements you make that do not harmonize with what the Scriptures say will invariably nullify the Word of God on your behalf. It is important to see that you will never rise above the level of what you say. Your condition or circumstances always tend to parallel your talking. Christians have been prayed for healing with identical illnesses, in which one would later receive the manifestation of his healing, while the other would not. As often as not the cause for failure was clear--either this individual's daily talking concerning his condition was not in agreement with God's Word, or else he did not maintain his statements of faith in the promises of God without doubting until the healing was seen. Some individuals who lack instruction in the scriptures concerning the importance of keeping their words in harmony with God's Word, even in the face of symptoms or contradictory circumstances, will ask, "But isn't it dishonest to say that I am healed when I still have my pain and symptoms?" Or they ask, "Isn't such talking just mental suggestion?" No. On the contrary, it is never dishonest to say about your condition what the Scriptures tell you to say. It's never wrong to say you are standing on the promises of God and He will bring it to pass just as He said. It honors God when you believe Him over symptoms and circumstances that are contrary to your faith. When necessary, make sure you let people know, while you cannot see or feel your answer yet, you have it by faith as Jesus said and it has to come to pass. Mark 11:24. It is not mere suggestion, but faith in the promises of God's Word when you say that God has heard and answered your petition when you pray (Mark 11:24; I John 5:14-15). The reason God requires us to say, not what we feel or see, but what His Word promises us, is that our condition and circumstances generally remain on about the same level as our speech , for "death and life are in the power of the tongue" (Proverbs 18:21). Mental suggestion is nothing more than denial of the reality or presence of the disease. As such, it cannot heal you, nor can it keep you from dying prematurely, should you have some terminal illness. However, countless instances where all kinds of sicknesses and diseases have been healed through biblical heart faith in healing based upon one of the promises in the Word of God (such as Exodus 15:26 and 23:25; Psalm 103;3; James 5:14-15; I Peter 2:24; and III John 2), then holding fast until it comes to pass. I always encourage people to believe and say what the Scriptures have to say about their condition or problem, in spite of what their feelings, symptoms, or the circumstances may imply to the contrary, for Satan's power to afflict or oppress increases or decreases in direct proportion to the nature of one's faith and staying in agreement with what God says. When an individual finds it difficult to understand how he can maintain faith in the promises of healing when he does not feel healed, and his symptoms seem to indicate the contrary, I remind him that after successful surgery, a patient's condition is medically cured, and although he is on the road to recovery, he never feels better for a few days after surgery, Nevertheless, he both believes and says what the doctors tell him about his condition, in spite of his contrary feelings, his pain and his symptoms. However, when the Heavenly Physician tells the average Christian to believe and say the same thing about his condition after prayer for healing, if his symptoms do not immediately improve, he will not only begin to say what he feels, but will also search the Scriptures for alleged proof-texts in an attempt to justify his sickness and pain. God clearly tells us in His Word what He will do for us, and from that point on He deals with us on the basis of what we say and do about His promises. If, after taking some promise in His Word, we begin to express doubt or being negative concerning the situation, this will nullify His Word on our behalf. The importance of what we say is to be seen in Jesus' warning that "by your words you shalt be justified, and by your words you shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37). Who do you think determines whether or not you can have the abundant life of health, prosperity, joy, victory, and fruitfulness which Jesus promised? Is it God? No. He tells you that with Him there is "no respect of person" (Romans 2:11), and that His promises and blessings are for every believer alike. Is it Satan? No. The Scriptures tell you to "resist the devil and he will flee from you," and that God has given His people power...over all the power of the enemy" (Luke 10:19). Moreover, God admonishes Christians, "Neither give place to the devil" (Ephesians 4;27). This means that Satan can have no place in your life unless you grant it to him. No, he is not the one who determines whether or not you have a victorious and abundant life, or whether you suffer adversity and failure. Is it your circumstances then which determine whether you will have victory or defeat? Again we answer, "NO," for your circumstances merely provide you with the opportunity to demonstrate the extent of your faith in the promises of God. Circumstances in themselves cannot cause victory or defeat, for Jesus promised that "if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, nothing shall be impossible unto you." Who then determines whether or not you enjoy the abundant life promised you? It is you yourself. Are you aware that as you begin each day it is you--and you alone--who will determine the nature of the day you will have, as well as its outcome? Are you aware that you have been given the choice of deciding whether or not you will be happy or sad, sick or well, worried or calm, victorious or defeated? I have never been able to understand why the majority of Christians will choose unhappiness, sickness, poverty, and trouble day after day--for these are the result of their own wrong thinking and talking about their circumstances. Yet God has promised to heal, protect, deliver, and provide all our needs abundantly, telling us again and again that the choice between blessing and adversity lies within our own grasp ("all things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive," Matthew 21:22). Every individual preconditions his life by what he thinks, believes and says. Insurance companies know, for example, that some people are poor insurance risks, because they are "accident prone." They fear that they may have an accident, then begin to express fears, and as a consequence they often experience what they believe and say. Most of the people who caught the flu last winter did so because they said that they would at the first sign of a symptom, saying, "I think I must be catching the flu." instead of believing the promises of God offered to us. Medical science informs us that a large percentage of all illness stems from emotional stress resulting from wrong attitudes, negative thoughts, and anxiety, as well as from negative speech concerning these things. Christians are often in poverty, or are financially burdened, because they are saying that they never really expect to get out of debt. Many Christians are sick and afflicted, some are neurotic, and others are suffering nervous collapse or heart failure, because they have never learned that "as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he," and that "death and life are in the power of the tongue." In Hebrews 3:1, Jesus is called the High Priest of our confession. This means that as our High Priest He can act in our behalf to save, bless, heal, protect, and deliver us, if we give Him a statement based on scripture, which is in harmony with the Word of God believing in our hearts. However, a statement of doubt or fear concerning our situation or need hinders His ministry on our behalf, and opens a channel of access for Satan to enter and oppress. "How are you today?" someone asks a fellow Christian as he enters the door of the church. "Oh, I don't feel too well," he replies. "I must be catching a cold. It seems I always do at the first opportunity." It is as though he is determined to allow Satan to afflict him if at all possible. The question "How are you?" is merely a friendly greeting, not an invitation to inform the inquirer of your symptoms and problems, or to say that Satan has the victory over you. The Scriptures show that sickness or health, prosperity or adversity, are directly related to what you say and believe. Therefore, it is important to know, especially when illness or other adversity strikes, that there are three factors to consider if Divine help is to be obtained: 1. What God says about our situation ("He heals all our diseases," Psalm 103:3). 2. What Satan says about the situation ("you are sick"; "you may die"; "don't be foolish and rely on prayer alone"; "this is serious--you better get to the doctor"). 3. What you say about your situation: what you say determines the outcome, for you have the choice of agreeing either with God or with your adversary, the devil. In Revelation 12:10 Satan is called "the accuser of the brethren," who stands before the throne of heaven accusing us day and night. Jesus, on the other hand, is designated as our Advocate (I John 2:1), and the High Priest of our confession (Hebrews 3:1), who pleads our case without ceasing before the Father. On what basis is Jesus pleading on our behalf? On the basis of two things: His blood, and our testimony. Satan, we are informed, is overcome by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11). As our High Priest Jesus is pleading our defense against Satan's accusations. He pleads not only with His precious blood, but also with our testimony (what we say). Thus, when you say, "I don't feel well; I must be coming down with something"; when you say, "I'm afraid I cannot do this or that, as I don't believe I have the ability"; when you say, "I won't be able to afford it"; when you say, "I have prayed for my healing, but I am beginning to wonder if I will ever get well"; when you say, "I've tried and tried, but I just can't seem to overcome this problem"; when you say, "this situation seems impossible," or "there is no hope for a solution"; then you have joined your speech with that of your Accuser, Satan. Jesus Christ cannot act as your High Priest on the basis of such negative talking of doubt, fear, or failure. He can only act as the High Priest of a good confession, which must be in harmony with the Word of God. A negative statement simply gives your accuser the fiery darts with which to wound you, for you will find that you have been "snared by the words of your mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). The victorious life is based upon knowledge of four Biblical truths. A Biblical affirmation of these facts will compel Satan to acknowledge your authority and victory over him. This in turn will have the effect of breaking the enemy's power to bind, hinder, and oppress you. God expects us to say; 1. What we are in Christ. 2. Where we are in Christ. 3. What we possess in Christ. 4. What we can do in Christ. 1. Believe and say what you are in Christ (your standing). What do the Scriptures say that we are in Christ? We are informed in II Corinthians 5:17 that "if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new." Now, when we are told that "old things are passed away," and that "all things are become new," we are not to limit this merely to the passing away of our sins, for the atonement includes also the removal of our diseases and pains, as well as deliverance from anxiety, worry, poverty, oppression, and defeat. Since God promises us that all things have become new, He expects us to state this fact--that we have been liberated and renewed in mind, body, soul, and spirit--for our circumstances and condition will never rise above the level of what we believe we are in Christ. The Scriptures declare that "you are complete in him" (Colossians 2:10), that you have been liberated from the "power of darkness" (Colossians 1:13), as well as from the effects of the curse (Galatians 3:13), and that you are now sons of God and joint-heirs with Christ (Galatians 4:67). The victorious life is based upon our continual statements in faith of our present standing in Christ. 2. Say where you are in Christ (your position). Many Christians are living a life of oppression and defeat at the hands of the enemy, because they do not know where they now are in Christ--their position in Him. They believe they have been crucified with Christ (Galatians 2:20); they believe they have died with Christ (II Corinthians 5:14); they believe that they have risen with Christ (Colossians 3:1); but they are unable to walk in victory as they should, triumphant over the powers of darkness, because they do not know that they have also ascended into the heavens with Christ, and are seated with Him "far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion" (Ephesians 2:5-6, with 1:20-21). God has not called us to contend with Satan for a place of victory, but to overcome him from our position of victory which we already have in Christ. Jesus tells us that He has given us authority over all the power of the enemy (Luke 10:17-19), and that all power in heaven and earth has been given unto Him, which He in turn has committed unto us (Matthew 28:18-20; Mark 16:17-20). Too many Christians today are like the elder brother in the Parable of the Prodigal Son who, ignorant of the significance of his position, says that he had nothing and that his wayward brother had greater rights and privileges than he. His father reminded him of his position as a son, and that all he had to do to obtain what he desired was to believe and say his position and claim his rights to whatever he desired. The prodigal son was more a son in actual practice than his elder brother, for he came to himself, rose up from his position of poverty where he was glad to eat the "husks," returned to his father, and was restored to his position as a son and heir. Believers today need to "come to themselves" and rise up from their position of defeat, where they are barely existing on the "husks" of religion, and return to their Father, once more claiming their position as the sons of God. Victory will not be yours until you believe it and say that it belongs to you. until you accept by faith the declaration in God's Word that you have also ascended with Christ and are now seated with Him in a position of power and authority, Satan will continue to exercise his power over your life. Boldly state that you no longer need to contend with Satan for a place of victory, but that you shall overcome him from a position of victory at the throne of God. The Christian has this authority by virtue of his relationship to Christ, but we must believe and speak our authority over Satan before we can effectively command him to obey. By virtue of our heavenly position, we have been authorized to put a bold resistance in the Name of Jesus Christ against the powers of darkness, and we have been assured that they must obey! 3. Say what you possess in Christ (your inheritance). Satan keeps most Christians in bondage, to some degree at least, because they do not know what belongs to them as the result of their inheritance in Christ. As a consequence they have allowed the Enemy to usurp their rights and privileges, and to rob them of their healing, health, joy, and peace. Christians are rich spiritually, materially, and physically, but too few are aware of this fact. Instead, they believe that they are not to receive any of their inheritance now, not to benefit from it in the present life, but only in the world to come. Scripture, on the other hand, declares that the believer's inheritance belongs to him now. God promises that "all things are yours: whether...the world, or life, or death, or things present, or things to come.(I Corinthians 3:21-22). God has given us all things in Christ now, as joint-heirs with Him (Romans 8:16-17). The Scriptures are filled with thousands of promises, whereby God had made provision for our every need, both spiritual and temporal, as well as for the accomplishment of the work he has commissioned His church to do. All these provisions and blessings are available to the extent that we are willing to press through by faith, believe and say that they are ours now. It is tragic that Satan is able to keep Christians in such bondage because they have not been taught what really belongs to them as joint--heirs with Christ. If the tax appraiser comes to their homes and asks them to declare what goods and personal property they own, they have no difficulty in stating what belongs to them. If a thief tries to steal their car or wallet, they immediately challenge him, saying, "You cannot take that--it is mine!" And yet they will allow Satan, whom Jesus describes as a thief and robber (John 10:10), to rob them of their rights and privileges, and they will not lift a finger to stop him! You must speak in faith that all those things which the Scriptures clearly state as belonging to you are actually yours now. Until you do, the Enemy will continue to keep you in spiritual, physical, and temporal bondage by robbing you of your inheritance and usurping your rights and authority. 4. Say what you can do in Christ (your empowering and ability). Frequently we hear Christians saying what they cannot do. We hear them say, for instance... I'm afraid I can't do that, as I lack the training. I've tried, but I can't overcome this problem. I'm afraid to testify in public. I've tried and tried, but I haven't been able to receive the baptism in the Holy Spirit. I just can't seem to receive my healing. I can't get out of debt, no matter how hard I try. I can't get along with my employer. I can't get out to the meetings this week. I get sick if I eat certain foods. I may have to leave the service early. I don't feel very good. I just can't get the victory in this matter. ...and so on. Sound familiar? It should, for this is all too often the way many Christians talk. One thing is certain: you will never be able to do more than you are willing to believe and say that you can do in Christ, for "you are snared with the words of your mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). To walk in victory, you should never say that you cannot do something, or that anything is impossible, for the Scriptures say that you should always say, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). When Moses insisted on saying that he could not speak to Pharaoh, then he could not, and God was compelled to send Aaron his brother for him (Exodus 4). Peter began to sink when he said that he could not stand on the very water upon which he had been walking, and the Israelites perished in the wilderness because they said that they would (Numbers 14:1-2; 28-29). It is a sin to limit God by speaking doubt as to your ability and power in Christ, for He clearly promises you that "these signs will follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover" (Mark 16:17-18). Jesus said, "He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do" (John 14:12), and He promised us, "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed...nothing shall be impossible unto you" (Matthew 17:20). Change your negative thinking and talking to what God says, know, believe and act on the Scriptures as Jesus did, and nothing will be impossible unto you just as He said. The Scriptures declare that you are snared by the words of your mouth (Proverbs 6:2), and that "by your words thou shalt be justified, and by your words you shalt be condemned" (Matthew 12:37). So it is important that we guard our lips as well as our minds from giving expression to anything negative, which is an open invitation to the enemy to oppress or to overcome us. The Six-fold Secret of a Biblical confession. God deals with us on the basis of what we say or confess, according to Matthew 12:34-37. In Mark 11:23 Jesus promises us that we shall receive whatsoever we say. We are informed in Romans 10:10 that confession is the means by which we obtain possession of that which we believe, while Proverbs 18:21 declares that "death and life are in the power of the tongue. If we pray concerning a need and then express doubt as the outcome, we will receive nothing. If we speak sickness when certain symptoms occur, we will be sick. If you need deliverance from some form of financial distress, and then express anxiety, or begin to consider what you will do in case the money does not come, instead of resting in the confidence that God will supply your needs according to His promise (Philippians 4:19), you nullify God's promise on your behalf. The Scriptures tell us that we can receive whatever we ask or say according to the word and will of God (1 John 5:14-15; Mark 11:23-24) therefore, if we desire to walk in victory 365 days a year, we must develop the habit of keeping our words and testimony in harmony with God's Word and what He tells us. Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

❤️BIBLICAL THINKING & CONFESSION Part 2 of 4. Continued. E. Finally, expect God to help you find a satisfactory solution. It is your attitude of faith at this time which will often spell the difference between victory and defeat. If you will believe that a solution can be found, and if you will spend sufficient time before the Lord, expecting Him to give you the necessary help and guidance, then no problem will defeat you, regardless of how it may appear at present. Here is the vitally important principle that we must see: when we actually expect God to help us solve the problem, without doubting (James 1:5-7), then by virtue of this faith, we bring all things into the realm of possibility. As Jesus promises, "If you can believe, all things are possible to him that believes" (Mark 9:23). "But you just don't know my problems," says some depressed soul. "They appear beyond solution. I am at my wit's end. I'm already at the bottom of the heap!" Is this your feeling, too? Then I would suggest that you begin praising the Lord, because if you are already at the bottom of the heap, the only way you can possibly go is--up! Start expecting things to improve. By your own admission they cannot get any worse. Your right attitude of faith will bring all things into the realm of possibility (Mark 9:23). 2. Saturate your thoughts with the promises of God. Remember, your thoughts are the seeds you plant in the garden of your mind which will produce the harvest that you will reap. Your mind can only give back what you put into it day by day. Picture your mind as a garden which will reproduce either wheat or tares, depending entirely upon the kind of seed you sow in it. Just as there are two aspects to successful gardening, so it is with developing the habit of right thinking. A. First, you must sow good thoughts. Form the habit of saturating your mind with the precious promises of God as you start each day, even before you get out of bed! I have found that Satan defeats many Christians somewhere between the bedroom and the breakfast table. He is able to do this by implanting negative thoughts of fear, worry, anxiety, doubt, and defeat in their minds as they awaken. The first thoughts that impress themselves upon your consciousness as you wake up each day are of vital importance, because these "seeds" of thought will affect your thinking the entire day. Therefore, if you are tempted to be depressed when you awaken, then before arising let your mind dwell for a while on such promises as "the joy of the Lord is my strength" (Nehemiah 8:10), or "this is the day which the Lord hath made; I will rejoice and be glad in it" (Psalm 118:24). If it is a time of trial and your enemies are opposing you, then allow the Holy Spirit to fill your mind and heart with the peace of God through such comforting promises as, "the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me" (Hebrews 13:6). Reassure yourself with God's promise to His children which says, "He shall call upon me, and I will answer him: I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him, and honor him" (Psalm 91:15). When a seemingly impossible situation is confronting you, remind yourself that God has said that "we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us" Romans 8:37). Say in faith, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13). If your trials seem particularly severe, and at times beyond your comprehension, let your thoughts rest on God's wonderful assurances in Romans 8:28: "We know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose." Remember, too, He has promised, "Fear thou not; for I am with you: be not dismayed; for I am your God: I will strengthen you; yes, I will help you; yes, I will uphold you with the right hand of my righteousness.... When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you: when thou walk through the fire, you shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon you" (Isaiah 41:10 and 43:2). These first impressions that you willingly entertain in your mind upon awakening will precondition and affect your thinking for the entire day. So begin each day by rejoicing in the promises of God's Word, especially those that minister directly to the particular needs you may have at the time. Begin to put this in practice and watch the dramatic change! B. Next, you must cultivate the garden of your mind. You must cultivate your mind every day by deliberately choosing scriptural thoughts and weeding out all the "tares," such as idle, critical, impure, and doubtful thoughts, as well as all those of a negative nature. Every thought is a seed sown, and will eventually produce some kind of fruit. If it is a good thought, then this seed must be nurtured by prayer and faith, while tares must be uprooted immediately, and good seeds sown in their place. Such uprooting is often painful, and you may find the flesh resisting such pruning and cleansing of the mind. It is for this reason that some individuals would rather keep their doubts and fears, as well as their wrong ideas and mixed-up thoughts. The cost involved in changing their thinking habits and replacing negative or critical thoughts with wholesome thoughts of faith, hope, love, and joy is greater that they are willing to pay. The Bible refers to this process of the cultivation of the mind as being "transformed by the renewing of your mind." Satan seems to have filled the minds of most Christians with thoughts of doubt, fear, inability, insecurity, worry, and defeat. This negativism must be flushed out, and the mind saturated with the precious Word of the Lord, before the Enemy can be forced to release his hold on the mind and thoughts. 3.Develop the ability to choose deliberately the thoughts you will allow into your mind. Like everyone else, you have spent years conditioning your mind to accept wrong thoughts--idle thoughts, negative thoughts, unwholesome thoughts, thoughts of sickness, doubt, fear, and failure, to say nothing about a good deal of religious error. The mind cannot be renewed from such thinking habits and errors in a moment, not without determination on your part to allow the Holy Spirit to have full control of all your thoughts and beliefs. This is the significance of God's admonition in Romans 12:2: "Be transformed by the renewing [a process] of your mind." As you begin to develop the ability to choose the thoughts that you allow into your mind, you will discover that you are actually engaged in spiritual warfare with the thought habits you have developed in your mind. At times your human reason or intellect may want to rebel, and Satan will accuse you of being a "hypocrite," or tell you that is all just "psychology" and "mental suggestion." But scriptural thinking is not mere mental suggestion; on the contrary, it means, just as medical science has also discovered, that "as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he." Christians who are walking in victory are those who are controlling their thoughts by emptying the mind of everything negative which Satan attempts to implant in it, and saturating their thinking with God's promises. The Word of God is clear on this point, admonishing us in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things." To heed this admonition we must deliberately empty our minds of everything negative concerning the person, problem, or situation confronting us, refusing Satan to take control of our thoughts. Victory or defeat lies in our own hands according to Proverbs 23:7. What you think about a situation has a definite effect upon the actual situation. If you allow your mind to accept weariness or sickness, your body mechanism will automatically respond to such suggestions accordingly, because your mind has direct control over your nervous system, glands, muscles, heart, blood pressure, and so on. Thus, how you think you feel has a definite effect upon how you actually feel. Medical science has demonstrated that generally it is not long hours or hard work that drain our energy so much as our wrong attitudes concerning our work. Mental attitude plays an important part in a person' s physical condition, his life span, his success or failure in his chosen profession, and his productivity and total well-being. If we learn to govern our thinking, and refuse to confess weariness, anxiety, doubt, fear, defeat, or the dislike of some situation, then we will find that it really does not matter too much how seemingly difficult the task, or how long we work at it. If you grow weary during your work, instead of complaining or confessing weariness or boredom, take mental and physical "break" for a few moments and rejoice in the refreshing promise that "the joy of the Lord is my strength," and "I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me." It is not long hours and hard work that drain one's energy so much--it is wrong attitudes. Developing the right attitudes toward work and your circumstances, as well as toward God, yourself, and others is the key. This prevents that energy loss which causes most people to be weary and ineffective, or bored and disinterested, all because of their negative attitudes. With God’s help, choose the thoughts that you will allow to occupy your mind. Empty your mind of all negative thoughts or suggestions the moment Satan seeks to implant them into your mind. Then allow the Holy Spirit to minister scriptural thoughts concerning the problem, person, or situation. As a result, you will find yourself experiencing the full joy of your salvation and walking in victory more and more, regardless of the circumstances. 4. Exercise total faith in God in every situation. What is the relationship between faith and right thinking? It is simply this: the extent of your faith and trust in the promises of God has a definite effect upon your attitudes and thinking. Tension, anxiety, emotional stress, and also many instances of physical and spiritual disintegration, result from a lack of inner harmony and peace of mind. In order to help yourself develop scriptural attitudes, there are three areas of your life in which you must learn to walk in total faith and dependence upon God. A. Right attitudes result when you extend your faith to include all that God has provided for you and promised to you. God expects us to exercise total faith, without reservation, that He will do for us all that He has pledged Himself to do. We are to have complete trust in the Lord to provide all our needs, as well as to heal, protect, and deliver us, just as He has promised to do, again and again, in His Word. This will have a powerful effect upon our attitudes: knowing by faith that God will do for us all that He pledges Himself to do, if we will only ask (Matthew 21:22). Why? Because total trust in the Lord for all things eliminates emotional stress, anxiety, worry, and fear. The insurance companies have grown rich on people's fears and anxieties resulting from a lack of trust in such promises of God as are found, for example, in Psalms 37, 91, and 121; Matthew 6:19-34 and 21:22; Philippians 4:19; James 5:14-16; and III John 2. These are only a few out of literally thousands of promises which God has given to the believer. Medical science insists that most illness is psychosomatic and is the result of emotional stress. Over half the beds in the hospitals are occupied by people who are physically and mentally sick due to emotional stress, worry, fear, and anxiety, "for as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he." People tend to become what they think; they precondition their lives by their attitudes; they receive largely what they expect. Physicians tell us that it is not so much what you eat that gives you ulcers; but it is what is eating you! Total trust in the Lord for all things will inspire in you a biblical attitude toward all circumstances of life, and will greatly help to eliminate emotional stress, fear, worry, and anxiety. B. Scriptural attitudes result from the assurance that you know God's will and are fulfilling it. Uncertainty about this causes multitudes of Christians to suffer confusion, doubt, insecurity, fear, and frustration. They exhaust themselves mentally, physically, and spiritually, running around in circles, as it were, bewildered and confused, seeking to know if they are in God's will. They find themselves wondering which course of action to take, and often worry whether or not they have made the right decision about some matter. Many pastors today find that they must function much of the time as religious psychiatrists, because their churches are filled with Christians who are going through life depressed, bewildered, and confused, without clear understanding of what God's will is for them. It is a great blessing to have peace of mind because you know that you are moving in God's will and are fulfilling His purpose for your life. It is reassuring to know how to receive His help and guidance when you face an important decision or problem for which you are seeking a solution. God has a plan for the life of every Christian; and it is His desire to reveal His will to you, help you solve your problems, and give you guidance in making important decisions. Many Christians seem to know nothing of the concept of a God-planned life. From their confusion and bewilderment, one would surmise that God has saved them only to forsake them, leaving them to struggle along in the world as best they can. Christians are everywhere who have lost their direction, who are in wrong occupations, who have made wrong choices and decisions, who are insecure, depressed, frustrated, discouraged by circumstances, and uncertain as to God's will for their lives. It is not God's will for any Christian to suffer such confusion and defeat. Why? Because He assures us in his Word that "the steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord" (Psalm 37:23). This means that we can find out what God's will is in the decisions which confront us. We can know His will for our lives, and know His guidance day by day, and thus put an end to our doubts, worries, and frustrations, which result from our inability to discern His will. The believer may be assured that there is no need to stumble through life bewildered and confused, for the Scriptures declare again and again, not only that God is willing to make His will known to us, but that He has also provided the means for us to find out what His will is. Right attitudes and thinking results from the assurance that we know God's will for us and are fulfilling it. C. Biblical attitudes and thinking result when you accept, without qualification, the divine assurance of Romans 8:28. The assurance that "all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose," will do much to eliminate worry, concern and anxiety about our circumstances and their effects upon our lives. When tempted to feel depressed or defeated because of adverse circumstances; when everything seems to "go wrong"; when there seems to be no immediate solution to a problem we are facing; when it is difficult to understand why we must at times suffer such trials and tribulations as we do; then the heavenly assurance given to us in Romans 8:28-39, if accepted in faith, will minister an inner peace and harmony which surpasses all human understanding. Those who rest by faith in the promise have the blessed assurance that not one thing can touch them which God does not either send or allow; that nothing happens in their lives by accident or chance; that their trials, problems, and experiences are related to God's divine purpose for their lives; and that every experience, pleasant or otherwise, is being directed by God for their ultimate good and for his glory. Such assurances enables us to develop and maintain a right attitude, whereby we cease despising our trial, we refuse to complain over things that try to irritate or upset us, and we can rejoice over adverse circumstances. We can rest in the knowledge that this is God's pruning work in us, in preparation for great blessing, both to ourselves and to others, when He has completed this work in us (Genesis 50:15-20; James 1:2-4). Because many Christians do not realize the divine purpose in their trials and unpleasant experiences, they tend to resist them. They complain, "Why does this have to happen to me?" and, as a result, the real value of their trials is lost upon them. God purposely does not always give us neat, precise reasons for our trials and tests. He leaves many of the mysteries and perplexities of our lives unanswered, so that we may develop a strong, enduring faith in Him and in His promise "that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are called according to his purpose." It is important we keep before us the fact that such things as emotional stress, worry, anxiety, fear, and depression result from wrong and negative thinking. They are directly related to one's lack of faith and trust in the Word of God, which promises us healing, health, protection, deliverance, joy, peace of mind, and provision for our every need. Since the Scriptures declare that "in quietness and in confidence [faith] shall be your strength" (Isaiah 30:15), then you should learn to cultivate right attitudes and form the habit of thinking how God desires. This right thinking results from the exercise of total faith in God in every circumstance, inasmuch as the extent of our faith and trust in the promises of God has a definite effect upon our attitudes and thinking. BIBLICAL CONFESSION. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. --Proverbs 18:21. Christianity is confession from beginning to end. The Christian faith is not merely something we believe--it also involves what we say. "For with the heart man believes unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation" (Romans 10:10). The importance and necessity of speaking in harmony with scripture is evident here. Jesus also informs us in Matthew 10:32-33 and John 12:42-43 that salvation involves stating what God says as well as belief. We are admonished twice in the Book of Hebrews to "hold fast the confession of our faith without wavering" (Hebrews 10:23, 35-36), and Jesus teaches us in Mark 11:23 that whatever we say in faith (according to the will of God) will come to pass. Since "death and life are in the power of the tongue," according to Proverbs 18:21, then it is imperative that we guard our words, and form the habit of always making a positive statements based on the Word. Just as a positive statement in harmony with God's Word and you believing it will bring blessing and victory, conversely a negative statement of doubt, fear, sickness, or defeat will result in adversity and failure, for the Scriptures declare that you can be "snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). Satan will keep you bound, poor, sick, and oppressed by ensnaring you with your own words when you make such negative statements as: I don't think I can do this work. I'm sure I'll mess it up. I don't feel too well. I must be catching the flu. I doubt I'll be able to go. I don't see how I'll have the money in time. I still have my symptoms and pain although I received prayer for healing several weeks ago. Maybe it isn't God's will to heal me this time. No matter how hard I try, I can't overcome this problem. I wonder if I'll ever feel better. I just knew it would rain today. It always does when we plan anything for outdoors. I've prayed for my wife's salvation, but she's getting worse, if anything. I guess she'll never change. Why does this always have to happen to me? My husband always drives in heavy traffic for me, because I might have an accident. I wonder if these chest pains mean I have heart disease? Please don't ask me to give a testimony in public. I always get nervous and can't say anything. My sinus condition always gets worse this time of the year. I cannot eat this pork. It will make me sick. I might as well not try that. It's beyond my ability. We'll try to come if things work out, but it isn't very likely. I don't know what we'll do if the cost of living keeps rising. I didn't get the promotion I needed. Oh, well, I never seem to excel at anything. Well, I made it to work, but that's about it. The way I feel, I sure won't get much done. The influence of the powers of darkness upon the human race is nowhere more clearly seen than in Satan's control and influence over man's mind and what he says. Generally, all you ever hear, whether over the radio or TV, on the plane or in a restaurant, has a negative emphasis. The newspapers and commentators seldom present a good report, as this seems to have no value. Have you ever heard, for example, that there are about 201,000,000 Americans who are not on drugs? Was the fact reported that thousands of Christians received the baptism of the Holy Spirit and spoke in tongues last year? Were you informed through the news media that there were millions of college students who were not involved in any form of campus rebellion, or revolt against authority last semester? Was it reported in the press that there were over 90,000,000 men who were not involved in any major crimes in the United States in the past 12 months? Did the last conversation you overheard in the restaurant where you ate edify you, or was it the usual negative report of the speaker's recent operation, his peptic ulcers, his accident, or his financial distress? When was the last time anyone complimented or reported to you any good news concerning some friend or acquaintance about whom they were speaking? Why is it we usually receive a complete medical history concerning all the pains and afflictions of most individuals when we simply address them with the friendly greeting, "How are you today?" On every hand I find Christians being defeated by their negative speech. No one would intentionally invite a doctor to inject flu germs directly into his bloodstream; yet this is precisely what you do when you say at the first symptom that you believe you are catching the flu, for the Scriptures declare, "you are snared with the words of thy mouth" (Proverbs 6:2). Your condition will always parallel your speech. The Word of God tells us why: "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7), and "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34). If you think you will fail, you will. If you say you can't, then you can't. If you say you are sick, you will be sick. If you say you cannot overcome the problem, then you cannot. If you say that you will be defeated, you will. Why? It is because you will generally experience what you think and say. Instead why not ask God in faith and believe His promises to meet your every need? It has taken medical science thousands of years to learn this truth, which God revealed to Israel in the time of Solomon, namely, that we actually precondition our lives for sickness or health, prosperity, or adversity, by what we think and say. As we have already pointed out, medical authorities tell us today that most physical illness is psychosomatic; that is, it results from wrong thinking, worry, and emotional stress. The fact is, how we think we feel and what we say about it has a definite effect upon how we actually feel. Jesus came to give us an abundant life--a life free from sin, sickness, poverty, fear, depression, worry, and defeat. However, most Christians have allowed Satan to rob them of their joy and peace, as well as their health and prosperity, through his influence upon their thoughts and their consequent speech. The average Christian keeps his mind and speech so cluttered with negatives and doubts that he has forfeited almost all hope and expectation for anything better, and has accepted a certain amount of poverty, sickness, and failure as inevitable. In order to rise above all these circumstances and walk in victory with our inheritance restored, we must change our thinking habits and eliminate certain negative expressions from our speech. Then we can begin to experience the dynamic power of faith and believing for God's promises. Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

❤️BIBLICAL THINKING & CONFESSION. Part 1 of 4. This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. -- Psalm 118:24. Live victoriously 365 days a year? Is it really possible? It is not only possible, but this blessing has also been promised to every believer who will appropriate it by faith. Jesus came to give us an abundant life--free from sin, sickness, worry, poverty, depression, fear, frustration, and defeat. Most Christians, however, have allowed Satan, who is described by Jesus as a thief (John 10:10), to rob them of their health and prosperity, as well as to usurp their rights and authority. Did you know that God never intended for His children to be sick and afflicted, nor poverty stricken and oppressed? Are you aware that it is His will for you to prosper and be in health, even as your soul prospers (III John 2)? Did you know that He desires for you to live a fruitful and abundant life, walking in victory 365 days a year? God has pledged that His children, who obey His Word, shall enjoy prosperity in all things: 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. Psalm 1:3 We are not suggesting that God intended for His children to live a life free from any problems or trials, or without testing; but we are saying that God has provided the means whereby these things do not need to dominate us, as they do so many, and that they can be controlled and overcome. Although most Christians have been reading the Bible for years, many of them do not seem to realize that God has invited them to walk through life on a pathway literally paved with His promises. There are thousands of promises in the Word of God made to the believer, and yet the average Christian has appropriated only one--the promise of salvation in John 3:16. A certain number have, to be sure, asked for the promise of the baptism in the Holy Spirit (Luke 11:13), and others have believed the promise of divine healing (Mark 16:18); but few Christians have grasped the full nature of their inheritance as joint-heirs with Christ. The Scriptures are filled with divine assurance, rights, privileges, blessings, and promises whereby God has made provision for the Christian's spiritual, physical, and temporal needs, as well as for the accomplishment of the work He has commissioned His church to do. All these provisions and blessings are available to the extent that we are willing to press through by faith and appropriate them. Jesus characterizes Satan as a thief who has come to rob you of your abundant life and defeat you through circumstances. The enemy has most Christians deceived into believing that all of the promises of temporal blessing were for the past and applied only to Israel, in heaven, in spite of such glorious promises as are found in Matthew 6:19-34; Mark 11:22-24 and 16:16-20; Luke 11:13; I Corinthians 3:21-22; Philippians 4:19; and III John 2. The Word of God promises the believer an abundant and fruitful life, with the assurance that he can rise by faith above all opposing circumstances, endure even the severest trials, overcome his problems, enjoy peace and security, and walk in victory 365 days a year. For most Christians, however, life consists in just "getting by somehow" from day to day--hoping they will not get sick, worrying whether or not the money will hold out until the end of the month, praying that their children will not get into serious trouble, hoping the old car will last through the winter, struggling to get through one more day, then catching a few hours of rest before beginning the endless cycle all over again the next day. Life consists of 365 days of cares, worries, and problems, with only an occasional ray of sunshine breaking through the dark clouds of life. This mediocre form of living is definitely not God's will for His children, but results from the simple fact that, although most Christians have been taught how to prepare for death, few have learned how to live. Thus, to them, one day looks like the next; it is filled with cares, problems, troubles, and worries. For most it seems that life has become sheer drudgery. How were your last 365 days of life as a Christian? Were they filled with joy, victory, and accomplishment? Were you able to overcome your problems? Did you endure your trials by faith? Was there a definite growth in your spiritual life? Did you experience an increase in your faith? Or were your last 365 days not much different from those of Mr. and Mrs. Average Christian--filled with cares, troubles, sickness, disappointments, and failures? Do you know that God has set forth in His Word certain principles concerning the Christian's thoughts, attitudes, and confession which will enable him to achieve emotional stability and peace of mind, as well as an enduring faith, empowering him to walk in victory over all circumstances each day? This is no empty hope, impossible of realization, but is more and more becoming the actual experience of many saints. Because of their uncompromising faith in the Word of God, they are as the Psalmist describes them: ...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.---Psalm 1:3 What is the secret of such victorious living? It is thinking and staying in agreement with the Word of God! BIBLICAL THINKING. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. ---Proverbs 23:7. A person literally is what he thinks and believes. His personality is the sum total of his thoughts. You are today what your thoughts, beliefs, and convictions have made you. Many times you are defeated, not by your circumstances, but by your attitude toward your circumstances and problems. What you think and what we say. What we think and believe is generally what we talk about. Our speech is, in the final analysis, merely the vocal expression of what we think and believe. Therefore, if our thinking is wrong, then our speech will be wrong. If our thoughts are negative, then we will not make right statements based on scriptures. If our mind is filled with thoughts of trouble, fear, failure, and anxiety, then this will be reflected in what we say, "for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks" (Matthew 12:34). Sickness, failure, trouble, and adversity are often the result of wrong thinking. We generally experience what we think and believe, just as the Scriptures tell us: "as [a man] thinks is his heart, so is he." Therefore, we must correct our thinking habits, for our thoughts are the seeds we plant in the garden of our mind that will produce the harvest which we will reap. Satan works through the mind. Thus, much sickness, trouble, and failure begin in the mind and result from listening to lying, deceiving spirits from the Enemy. When you became seriously ill last winter, perhaps it was because you said, "I think I must be coming down with the flu, as I don't feel too well. There are so many who are ill and off work because of colds or the flu. If I stay at home today and lie down, maybe I will feel better; but if I don't improve, I'll just drop by the doctor's office for an examination." You fail in certain things you attempt to do because you think that you will fail; or you have convinced yourself that you lack the ability, so you do not believe you can succeed even if you try. Your marriage is not as harmonious as you would like it to be because you allow Satan to implant negative thoughts into your mind over every trivial thing that arises. As a consequence, you see the worst in everything---and, of course, you usually get what you expect. You cannot seem to get healed of some disease or affliction, or you fail to receive deliverance from some problem, because you do not think that you can. You think that it is too serious, or you think that the problem is too complicated, or you think you do not have enough faith, and so on. You get up some morning and say, "I sure hate to think of going to work today. The auditors are coming, and I know what an ordeal that will be! I always wind up with a splitting headache when they come." Is it any wonder that your day ends no differently than you expected? You receive the negative things you speak because you expect to receive them. How often, when something does not go as planned, or just as you wish, do you say, "Well, it happened just as I expected. Nothing ever seems to go right for me"? A person who speaks fear, anxiety, sickness, and defeat does so because he believes in fear, anxiety, sickness, and defeat! He believes in these things because his mind is always dwelling on them. You will ultimately come to believe what you think, if you think the thought long enough. If a person entertains thoughts of fear, and DOES NOT RESIST those thoughts, then he will begin to talk fear, which in turn will only add to his fears, setting up a cycle that increases the very thing he wants to be rid of. Countless numbers of Christians are being defeated today by negative thinking. They think they are either too young or too old for God to use them (forgetting that Samuel was a child, David a youth, Abraham and Moses advanced in age when they were called). They think they lack the education or the ability to serve the Lord effectively (overlooking the fact that many of the apostles were uneducated fishermen, that Jesus Himself had no formal education, and that David, the King of Israel, was but a shepherd). They think that they lack sufficient resources to undertake some work of the Lord, or do not have as much time as they would like to devote to spiritual interests because of financial burdens (apparently ignorant of the fact that Christ has promised to supply all their needs if they will "seek...first the kingdom of God," Matthew 6:33; Philippians 4:19). Thus, many Christians are not living victoriously because of wrong thinking. They think they will fail. They think they will have an accident. They think they will get sick, as though a certain amount of illness is inevitable. They think they will not receive a promotion at their place of employment. They think they may be an exception to God's promise to heal the sick. They think they will not have enough money to attend the conference. They think their children will become involved with drugs, or get into some kind of serious trouble. They think they will probably lose money on their home which they are selling. They think others do not really like their company. The list goes on, ad infinitum. Of course, they generally receive what they expect. The power of thought over our physical and mental well-being, as well as over our circumstances, is phenomenal. Medical science agrees with this. If your mind is continually dwelling upon some physical ailment, you can hardly expect your body to mend. If your thoughts are constantly occupied with some problem or imperfection, there is little hope for improvement. A pastor prayed for his wife's healing some time ago, her husband said one evening. "Nevertheless, she gets up every morning thinking that she is still sick because she still has certain symptoms, and she doesn't believe that she will ever get well." He said. This situation was remarkable because, during the same meeting in which the pastor had prayed for this woman he had also prayed for a man who had exactly the same condition. He was healed, although it happened gradually, and on the same night the concerned husband spoke about his wife, this man also came praising the Lord for his healing. Why then was one healed and the other not? They both had an identical ailment, and both received prayer. It was simply because the man had accepted his healing after prayer, and changed his way of thinking concerning his aliment, which had opened the channel of faith, so that healing could begin to flow to him. But the woman did not think that she was healed, because she had experienced no immediate improvement; and she now continued to be bound to her illness because of her negative thinking. Occasionally, a doctor will refuse to give a patient any further treatment or medicine because he knows the condition is psychosomatic and he cannot persuade the individual to change his thinking about it. There are many people who think they must be sick, or who think that they cannot get well, or who think that they must stay on medication, or who think that they must have surgery. In one instance a young woman became hysterical when her doctor insisted that, if she wanted to get well, she could no longer lie in the hospital, but must allow him to remove the cast and send her home. In another case, a Spirit-filled physician confided that many of his patients, some of whom are baptized in the Spirit, actually want to believe that they are sick. "For example," he said, "I will take their blood pressure, and they will immediately ask me, "Well, doctor, which is it--high or low?" They do not really expect it to be normal. They want to think that they are sick or that they have an ailment. Sometimes when I tell them there is nothing wrong with them, they will go to another doctor until they can find someone who seems to agree with what they think about their condition." Scripture tells us that we become what our thoughts, beliefs, and convictions have made us ("for as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he"). Therefore, it is imperative that we change our thinking habits and thought patterns from the negative to Biblical, and bring our thoughts into harmony with the Word of God. We must stop thinking and expecting sickness, poverty, inability, and failure. We are admonished in Romans 12:2 "Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind." How may we do this? Here are four basic principles to apply in order to develop the habit of Biblical thinking, which will in turn result in speaking in according to Scripture. 1. Accept the fact that attitudes are more important than circumstances. Any problem confronting you, no matter how difficult it may appear to be, is not as important as your attitude toward it. Usually it is not your circumstances that defeat you, but your attitude toward them and what you think about them. Remember this: circumstances give you neither defeat nor victory; they merely provide the opportunity to reveal what your thoughts and convictions really are, and what you intend to do about the situation. Often an individual allows his circumstances to overwhelm him mentally and, as a consequence, he is defeated before he even attempts to deal with the problem. Thus, in the final analysis, attitudes are really more important than circumstances. In view of this, here is what you should do when you are tempted to be depressed and discouraged by some serious problem, or overcome by circumstances. A. First, find a quiet place where you can be alone with the Lord and commune with Him about your problem. In many cases Christians have allowed some problem or trial to overcome them merely because they failed to spend sufficient time before the Lord seeking a satisfactory solution, hoping instead that things would just "work out somehow." We must learn to be still before the Lord and wait patiently upon Him if we would have Him speak to us (Psalms 27:14 and 46:10). B. Determine from the outset that you are going to maintain a scriptural outlook concerning the situation, regardless of how dark the picture may look at present. Keep in mind that no problem, no matter how difficult it may appear, is as important as your attitude toward it, for it is often your own attitude that defeats you. God cannot work in your behalf in an atmosphere of doubt, fear, or negative thinking. C. Pray about your need with a conscience that is free from any offense before God. It is at this point that Christians too often allow a spirit of pride or insincerity to defeat them. This is the time to be honest with God and yourself if you expect His help. Admit your faults and mistakes concerning the situation. Confess your own weaknesses or sins, for as often as not, those things which seem to bother us so much in others are actually in us and need to be purged from our own hearts (Matthew 7:1-5). Many times the solution to our problem, which God will show us if we allow Him, involves a change in our own attitudes or conduct. We are assured in John 3:21-22 that if our hearts do not condemn us when we pray, God will answer our petition and grant us a solution to our problem. Maintaining a stubborn attitude of self-righteousness about the situation, or attempting to pray with an unforgiving spirit (Mark 11:25-26), constitutes a basic hindrance to prayer which must be removed before we can expect heaven to undertake on our behalf. D. Next, calmly assess the whole matter in the light of the Scriptures, making a mental note of all those things which are definitely in your favor in the situation. Of coarse, you may be tempted to think that your problem is beyond solution. It may seem impossible to maintain a right attitude about it. It may appear a waste of time even to assess your situation, when it seems there could not possibly be any points in your favor, nor anything to encourage you to believe that things could ever get any better. But such an attitude will invariably result in defeat, "for as [a man] thinks in his heart so is he." Remember, too, that no problem is impossible for God to solve ("with God all things are possible," Matthew 19:26). No situation is so bad that some favorable aspects cannot be found which are in your favor. If you will calmly and sincerely assess the situation, these favorable aspects will often point toward a solution, or at least present you with some other alternative besides defeat in the matter. Years ago, a man suffered several serious trials of his faith within a relatively short period of time, tempted to be discouraged. After working a long time on a manuscript for his book, the publisher who had promised to publish it turned around and rejected it, giving no reason whatsoever. He had to give up a teaching position, after many years of preparation, because he would not compromise his Christian convictions. He lost the confidence of some of his friends and members of a church for several years, because of misquotations and other things said about him by certain individuals. He had to face the fact that now he had no regular income. Finally, he was struck with two serious illnesses. Certainly he was tempted to be discouraged by so many adverse circumstances, but instead he determined to maintain a Godly pleasing attitude. He began to count his blessings, rather than sit around and complain about all the problems. And he found, upon assessing the situation, that he could rejoice in a number of things: Although the publisher had not kept his word, there were others to whom the manuscript could be submitted for publication. Although he was rejected by the place where he taught, and some of his friends and relatives thought his convictions were somewhat extreme, he rested in the Lord's promise in Psalm 27:10: "When my father and mother forsake me, then the Lord will take me up." Although he had given up his teaching position, and the Lord had discouraged any attempt to establish an independent Bible institute, yet God had directed in establishing a New Testament church, with no outside religious organization dominating its message or ministry. And in this small body of believers there was a unity of spirit and a oneness of purpose which few other churches enjoyed. His family supported his decisions in these matters. In spite of the serious illnesses, he remained in relatively good health. Although he had no regular income, God had provided his family with a home paid for, and was continuing to supply all of the material needs in other ways. Because he had decided to keep a Biblical outlook about these trials, and could praise God in them (Matthew 5:10-12; James 1:2-4), he could clearly see the many favorable aspects in the situation. And just as in the case of Job, God ultimately turned all these trials into blessings. He received the baptism in the Holy Spirit, and the entire church also received this blessing in a short period of time. His manuscript was accepted and published by another publisher, and was soon recognized as the leading book in its field at that time. He received supernatural healing of his ailments. He was blessed with material prosperity. The Lord increased his ministry, so that he was traveling extensively as a Bible teacher and conference speaker. He became the author of several well-received and widely read books. The glory belongs to Jesus for changing these circumstances so dramatically. But the point is, attitudes were more important than adverse circumstances. It is not your problems, nor your circumstances, which defeat you, but your attitude toward those problems and circumstances. It is what you think about them, "for as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he." The Christian life does not mean freedom from trials, but it involves developing right attitudes toward them, so that we may learn to endure and overcome them, thus maturing in the faith and glorifying God. If you calmly assess your situation in the light of God's promises to you in His Word, it is certain that you will find some aspects in your favor, which will ultimately lead to a solution. Edited. Shared. To be Continued. ❤️ God willing, more will be posted soon. All glory to Jesus alone.

CHAPTER 19 OPEN THE DOOR, KEITH! Psalm 24:1 "The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein." While in China, I have been able to travel throughout Asia and around the world. In 2015, we returned to the UK for the first time. We took a five-day trip around the country, starting in London and travelling up to the Scottish Highlands. We ended in Cambridge, where we met my cousin Elaine, her husband Clifford, and their children Claire and John. They warmly welcomed us and took us to Ely to see the beautiful cathedral. We had booked two nights at a Holiday Inn in Bradford to see my niece Victoria and her mother Carol, along with my nephew James. They agreed to meet us at the hotel and arrived on time. They all came up to our room, and then there was another knock at the door. Standing there, grinning like a Cheshire cat, was my brother Peter, who had travelled over especially to surprise me. That day we visited our birthplace and drove to Haworth, famous for the Brontë sisters. We also rode on the steam train made famous by The Railway Children. What an amazing day. It was Chinese New Year’s Eve, so Helen cooked authentic Chinese food for my family. The sceptics were completely won over by Helen. We then travelled to my hometown of Morecambe to stay with Brian and Sandra, who had helped me complete my visa application for China. They took us back to my home church, where we shared what was happening in China. We were also able to share the gospel on the streets of Lancaster, even meeting a university student who came from Nanjing. Over the next few years, we visited Helen’s relatives in Indonesia, where we saw Lake Toba, the second-largest lake in the world. We also travelled to the Philippines, where Helen and Ming swam with whale sharks and enjoyed delicious seafood, especially crabs. In 2017, we travelled to the USA and Canada. We visited iconic places such as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Grand Canyon, and even the more chaotic side of life in Las Vegas. We then went to Canada, where we experienced the majesty of the Rocky Mountains, especially in Jasper and Banff. However, 2017 was also a painful year, as my beloved brother Peter died after a very short illness. It was a great blow to me, as we had shared many phone calls and Skype conversations. I know he died peacefully, knowing his younger brother was settled. DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Having my brother come and visit me was a great joy. Losing him to cancer in 2017 was deeply painful. He passed away after a very short illness of two months, caused by a rare cancer that usually affects children. When he died, many people said they missed him and that a part of their lives was gone. For me, it was more than that. It felt like losing my right arm. We had the same blood running through our veins and came from the same parents. Although we were very different in many ways—especially in matters of faith, with me as an evangelical Christian and Peter as an atheist/humanist—we were still brothers. Some of the things we did together still make me smile. For example, when we were returning from Tadoussac, I put a CD into the car player. He said, “Let me do that,” and promptly inserted it into the wrong slot above the CD player, breaking it completely. Small things like that stay in the memory. He was a character. When his wife visited her parents in the UK, he once took his two children straight to the sweet aisle at the supermarket and then fed them baked beans on toast for seven days in a row! I miss him deeply. I used to tell him I loved him, and he would reply, “Yeah, me too.” Now I cannot say that to him anymore. The things that truly matter are love, hope, and faith—especially love. What would it have been like if God had concealed His love from us? But He did not. He revealed His love through the Cross. God did not remain silent; He expressed His love in Christ. Romans 5:7–8 "7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Thank God, we are loved. The most important thing we must never stop doing is telling people we love them—because one day, we may not be able to. CHAPTER 20 JUST TESTING Ecclesiastes 3:1–2 "To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted." Life was idyllic as we entered the third decade of the century, but danger was always lurking. In early 2020, we began hearing about a virus called COVID-19. We were used to seasonal flu-like illnesses in winter, but this was different. Before January ended, Helen was home all the time, and we had to be tested everywhere we went. Some mornings, as I ran errands and did chores, I was tested up to five times. I tested negative each time—there is a first time for everything! I remember going out one evening at 8 p.m. Normally the streets would be busy, but now there was an eerie silence—no cars, no people, no activity. Everything was closed. It felt surreal. Everywhere we went, we were tested. We were unable to travel freely for two to three years. Our entire complex was even placed under isolation for two weeks. We could not go in or out, although we were thankfully provided with food parcels every two days. We were grateful for that small mercy. Other places had even stricter regulations, so we were blessed in comparison. Still, tensions sometimes rose, as I witnessed at the gate of our complex. It was a difficult time for everyone. We did eventually contract COVID, though my case was mild. I remember walking near our flat when I suddenly felt hot and began to sneeze. Everyone wore masks, and some still do, but I never did. We also chose not to take the vaccine, trusting the Lord for protection. Everything moved online—school, teaching, church, and meetings all shifted to Zoom. It feels like a distant memory now. When restrictions finally lifted, it was a great relief to return to normal life. The previous year, in 2019, we also lost Helen’s beloved father, Baba. He had his stomach removed due to cancer and gradually became weaker until he passed away in August after a brave fight. One of my favourite memories of him was just before Christmas 2016. We went to eat beef dumplings in town. On the bus home, Bing Crosby’s Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas came on. We quietly sang together. That is how I remember him. He was one of the finest men I have ever met. One day, I will see him again, as he came to trust Christ as his Saviour and Lord later in life. It is never too late to trust Christ. DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Everything seemed to be going well before 2020. We were even planning to return to the UK. But those plans were suddenly disrupted when COVID-19 arrived. It caught the whole world by surprise. It reminded us that life is fragile and uncertain. We make plans, but God remains in control. As James writes: James 4:13–15 "13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that." Life is short. We are only here for a brief time, and we have one life to live. What are you doing with yours? Helen and I are committed to loving and serving our Saviour. That is the best use of life. As Solomon concludes: Ecclesiastes 12:13 "Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man." The offer of salvation is still open—but it will not remain open forever. Hebrews 2:3 "How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation?" One day we will all stand before God. Hebrews 9:27 "It is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment:" Death is not the end. Christ has defeated death through His resurrection so that believers can say: 1 Corinthians 15:55–57 "55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." Can you say these words? I know I can. https://totallylovedbygod67.cw.center/?utm_source=chatgpt.com

Good morning, brethren. 1. Morning devotion for today. MD.i. 😀💝🌺🎁🌹🎀 MORNING TEA THE WORD FOR TODAY. SATURDAY MAY 2, 2026. "PRINCIPLES FOR LIVING" ...do it all in the name of the Lord…’  Colossians 3:17 NIV OBSERVE: 1) You can have more, as long as you don’t want it all for yourself. In a generation whose motto is ‘Look out for number one,’ we need to be reminded that ‘Christ did not please himself’ (Romans 15:3 NIV). He didn’t live to enrich Himself, but to enrich others. You won’t find a scintilla of selfishness in Him. He’s worthy to be called ‘Master’, because He first mastered Himself by denying Himself and living for others. 2) You can get almost anything done, as long as you don’t care who gets the credit. ‘Whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.’ Pride brought satan down and it will bring you down, too. Ivan O Miller said, ‘Humility is such a frail and delicate thing that he who dares to think that he has it, proves by that single thought that he has it not.’ When you succeed and the accolades start coming your way, enjoy them briefly. Then pass them on to the true source of all your accomplishments—God. 3) You can hasten the answer, as long as you don’t despise the source. Naaman the leper discovered that you can have what God offers, but on God’s terms, not yours (2 Kings 5:1-14). And God’s terms are ‘faith’ and ‘obedience’. Faith is like electricity: you don’t have to analyse or understand it to enjoy its benefits. All you have to do is plug in! What has God told you to do? Obey Him! Stop vacillating, stop procrastinating, stop arguing with Him and do what He tells you. You’ll love the results. Bible In A Year: Num 22-24; Mark4:1-12; Ps37:25-31 Pro11:5-6. Courtesy: Grace So Amazing Foundation 🌹🎀 *To partner with us, kindly refer to page 9 of the hard copy edition or simply send us a WhatsApp message/call on +2348128000068.*🎀💝🌹🌷. MD.ii. BAD COMPANY "Walk with the wise and become wise, for a companion of fools suffers harm." - Proverbs 13:20 A young man was sentenced to death by the judge and was asked if he had anything to say. The young man was convinced of his guilt and said: 'I have been raised well by religious parents. However, I chose bad company in my life.' This is another evidence that Proverbs 13:20 is true. Risk for contamination If you place a healthy person in a room with people who have the flu, this person has a high risk to also get the flu. It is not different when you - and this is especially true for young people - walk with sinful men. It will not be long before you do the same things they do. Therefore, it is so true what king Solomon says here: 'You get wise when you walk with wise people, but you suffer harm when you walk with fools.' The Bible says in John 15:19 and 17:11-18 that we are in the world, but do not belong to the world. We live in this world, but we do not have to do evil things like this world. Anyone who seeks the wicked and stands with them, risks that these friends will deliver him in the hands of Delilah as happened to Samson. It does not matter how great your willpower or faith in God is. You want to convert these friends, but without realizing it, they will 'convert' you. Be in the company of bad people and you will become bad yourself. Be in the company of gamblers and you will become a gambler. Be in the company of thieves and you will become a thief. Be in the company of drunks and you will become a drunk, etc. The saying goes: 'Whoever lies down with dogs, gets up with fleas.' Look for those who want to follow the Lord and put Him first in their lives. https://www.theblessingdevotional.com 2. MP.i. Morning Prayer And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, [do] all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him. ⏤ Colossians 3:17 To be little with God is to be little for God. ⏤ E.M. Bounds We come to Your feet, our Father, to receive Your blessing as we go out into the world. We want to make this a beautiful day. Help us to be diligent and cover us with Your wings of love. Let us not rely on our own understanding or follow the devices and desires of our own deceitful hearts. May we live today in You and for You—honoring You in all that we do and say. We humbly seek Your favor upon the work of our hands. Help us to do it well. Save us from all negligence and laziness. We want to honor You even in the most ordinary tasks of this day. May we do everything as if under Your eye and for Your approval. Save us from being satisfied with low standards and help us to do our best, even in the smallest things. Sanctify our influence so that we may be a blessing to everyone whose life we touch. Let us not be a hindrance to the good or the joy of anyone. Let us not discourage those who are struggling with hardship, trials, or temptations—but may we instead be encouragers of all whom we meet. May we carry cheer in our faces and inspire cheer in others. Guard our words so that we may speak no unkind words. May our conversation be such that it helps others. We pray for our friends, some of whom are carrying heavy burdens. Some are sick. We pray that You will heal and comfort the sick and strengthen those whose loads are too heavy for them to bear. We ask You to care for the poor and all who are in any trouble. Send to us anyone in need whom You would have us befriend or help, or send us to them with a blessing. Hear us in our prayers and bless us, we ask in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/27/morning #taptapstudio #youdevotion. Good evening, brethren. 1. Evening devotion for today. ED.i. *DAILY WALK WITH CHRIST* (COCIN DEVOTIONAL) *WELCOME TO MAY, 2026* . *SUB-THEME:* RESPONSE TO GRACE. *INTRODUCTION:* Grace is the unearned, undeserved, and unfailing love of God poured out upon humanity through Jesus Christ. It is the foundation of our forgiveness and salvation, the anchor of our hope, and the motivation behind every true act of worship. Grace is not something we only receive; it also calls for a response. The Sub-Theme for this month is "RESPONSE TO GOD'S GRACE." Our response to God's grace begins with acceptance, followed by obedience, gratitude, surrender, and service. Each day's reading will draw you closer to understanding how grace shapes your life, prompts a deeper intimacy with God, and evokes a fresh awakening toward transformation. May you renew your mind, examine your heart, and align your daily walk with the divine grace that sought you, saved you, and sustains you! Amen. *MEMORY VERSE FOR THE MONTH:* TITUS 2:12. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in this present age. *DATE:* FRIDAY, 1ST MAY, 2026. *TEXTS:* PSALM 95:6-7; REVELATION 5:12. *PSALM 95:6-7.* 6. Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; 7. for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care. Today, if only you would hear His voice, *REVELATION 5:12.* 12. In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” *TOPIC:* WORSHIP. *THE MESSAGE:* God instructed the children of Israel never to worship, bow, serve, or offer sacrifices to any other god except Him, who delivered them from Egypt (2 Kgs. 17:35-37). The Psalmist reiterates the command for believers to bow down in worship to God the Creator, who watches, cares for and sustains them. In the second text, angels and the elders worship the Lamb, who was slain for the sins of the world. Today, those who have responded to God's saving grace by accepting Jesus as their personal Lord and Saviour must worship Him always. However, it is sad to see men worship other things like material goods, money, positions, men, and so on. You must not give to any other the glory due God! Join the host of heaven to worship Him! You can do this through praise, singing hymns, prayer, and thanksgiving, as well as chanting psalms and other devotional expressions. *REFLECTION:* Only God is worthy of worship. *PRAYER:* Father, help me to worship You alone always. Amen. *TODAY'S BIBLE READING PLAN:* EZRA 1-2. ED.ii. Skip to content Dalily Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth Posted onMay 1, 2026 by Editor The Thread of Humility Christian Applications Store:: Christian devotional App Store; Explore Recommended Christian Books and Devotionals Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 5:3 Meaning of Poverty ‘Poor in spirit’ does not mean lacking in earthly conditions or worldly wealth, for a destitute man may display much pride – an affluent one humility of heart. Neither does it mean intellectually deficiency – nor lacking in academic proficiency, for mental poverty is not necessarily a state of blessedness – neither is ignorance the state of ‘bliss,’ as defined by the old, hackneyed platitude. Poverty of Spirit It is poverty in spirit, disposition and heart upon whom this beatitude is pronounced. It is the humble of heart that is conscious of their unworthiness before the Lord. Humility is not thinking meanly of oneself nor is it berating oneself in front of others – indeed this can often lead to inverted pride – as others counter your self-reproach! But humility of heart involves a dying to self and a living to Christ… Gentility of Heart Humility is it holding ones talents, gifts, aptitudes or artistry as little or no account, but it is letting Him work through us, to His praise and glory. We are to recognise our place and privilege as God’s redeemed children.. and we are to put self of the alter of sacrifice by saying, ‘not my will but Thine be done.’ Oh yes, humility is a gentility of spirit, which bows reverently before the Lord… It is the one that is poor is spirit has a teachable spirit – that says:- “It is not I that live I but Christ, lives in and through me.” Gal.2:20 Christ’s Humility Only once did Jesus refer to His own deep humility of heart and poverty of spirit, when he said: “I am meek and lowly in heart” Matt.11:29 But throughout His earthly journey, in action and attitude, humility streamed forth. As the Creator of the Universe He humbled himself. He made Himself of no reputation. He took upon Him the form of a bond-servant. He became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. Phil.2:7 Christ’s Beatitude Humility of heart and poverty of spirit is the first of all Christ’s beatitudes. It is the bedrock upon which all subsequent graces and blessings rest. Poverty of spirit and humility of heart is the first grace proclaimed in His sermon, and one by one humility bubbles and streams through each subsequent blessing – as beatitude by beatitude you can trace this thread of Godly grace: “Blessed are they that mourn…” “Blessed are the meek …” “Blessed are pure in heart..” “Blessed are those that hunger after His righteousness ..” Humble Yourself And throughout scripture it is the meek and humble that delight the heart of God… for pride is always brought low, before humility is lifted high. First Jeremiah and then James gives us the command…to “Humble yourself..” Humble yourself in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up.” James 4:10 True Humility Poverty of spirit and humility of heart is a key that opens the gate to God’s grace. Poverty of spirit and humility of heart is what God seeks in each of His own. Spurgeon reminds us: True humility is a flower which will adorn any garden. Post navigation Previous Post Previous Your “Blesseds” Proudly powered by WordPress. 2. Evening Prayer for today. EP.i. Evening Prayer Cast thy burden upon the LORD, and he shall sustain thee: he shall never suffer the righteous to be moved. ⏤ Psalm 55:22 We have to pray with our eyes on God, not on the difficulties. ⏤ Oswald Chambers The shadows have deepened around us, O God, and we draw near to You. As birds fly to their nests when night comes, as little children run home—so we come to You. Receive us and shelter us in Your divine love. We thank You that we have access to You; that although we have sinned, Jesus Christ died for sinners, and the way to You is open. We have no right to come to You except through the mediation of Your Son. In His name, we come, pleading for forgiveness and access. May Your blessing be upon all the work of our hands today. It has been imperfect. But may You take it and build it into Your kingdom. You are using the weak things, the base things, and things that are nothing—and You can use even the poor broken fragments of today’s efforts. We ask for a special blessing on our home tonight. Bless our home life. May each one of us know our part in making the home beautiful and blessed—and may we all do what we know we should do to bring the fullness of Jesus' peace into our home. May our fellowship as a family become more tender and affectionate. Save us from all bitterness and impatience, from irritability, and from being easily provoked. May our home love be strengthened, and may we learn to live together sweetly. We remember our neighbors. You have commanded us to love our neighbors as ourselves. We desire to obey You, and we ask You to teach us this divine love. If we have failed today, forgive us. Grant us more and more of Your love, and then we will be able to love rightly. Hear us, O God, in our prayer, and grant us Your holy peace. We ask all this in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/26/evening #taptapstudio #youdevotion. Good morning, brethren. 1. Morning devotion for today. MD.i. 😀🎀💝🎁🌺🌹MORNING TEA THE WORD FOR TODAY. FRIDAY MAY 1, 2026. "‘JACK"" Then their eyes were opened and they knew him...Luke 24:31 NKJV HE WAS a militant non-believer, who summed up his worldview with a verse from Lucretius: ‘Had God designed the world, it would not be a world so frail and faulty as we see.’ So Jack turned his attention to academia, excelling in each field he studied. Soon the dons of Oxford took him in as a respected peer and he began to write and teach. Yet, far beneath the surface, his doubts were taking their toll. He described his mental state with words like ‘misery and hopelessness’. He said, ‘I maintained God did not exist. I was also angry with God for not existing.’ Then two friends, also Oxford dons, J R R Tolkien and H V V Dyson, both devout followers of Christ, urged him to do something he’d surprisingly never done: read the Bible. So he did. Jack began to wrestle with the claims Christ made, concluding that He was either deluded, deceptive, or the very One He claimed to be, the Son of God. On the evening of September 19, 1931, Jack and his two friends took a long walk through the Oxford campus. They talked late into the night. And Jack, C S ‘Jack’ Lewis, would later recall a rush of wind that caused the first leaf to fall—a sudden breeze, which possibly came to symbolise for him the Holy Spirit. Soon after that night, Lewis became a believer. The change revolutionised his world and consequently the worlds of millions of readers. Could it be this simple? Could the chasm between doubt and faith be spanned with Scripture and Christian fellowship? Why don’t you come to Christ and find out for yourself? Bible In A Year Num19-21; Mark3:20-35; Ps37:16-24; Pro11:4. Courtesy: Grace So Amazing Foundation 💝🎀 *To partner with us, kindly refer to page 9 of the hard copy edition or simply send us a WhatsApp message/call on +2348128000068.*🌷🎀💝🌹HAPPY NEW MONTH!!!!!!!!!. MD.ii. THE INVITATION "The eyes of everyone in the synagogue were fastened on Him." - Luke 4:20 A young man in his early thirties visits a synagogue (a Jewish place of worship). The rabbi asks Him to read from the book of Isaiah. More than 800 years earlier the prophet wrote these words: 'The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor' (Luke 4:18-19). Suddenly, the young man stops reading, sits down and adds: 'Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing' (verse 21). No wonder all eyes were fixed on Him. Today, I would like all eyes to be fixed on Him, on Jesus Christ. Who is Jesus anyway? Why do Christians say that you must believe in Him and receive Him? Jesus Christ is the most loving and powerful Person who has ever lived on earth. Who is this young man who influenced the world history so much? He never wrote a book. Yet more books have been written about Him than any other person, even though He only lived for 33 years on earth. What is His background? The Bible says that all things were created by Him. The Bible teaches that He had already been there before anything was created. God saw our misery and our need. He saw the anger, the prejudice and the discrimination. He saw all the hatred and jealousy and said: 'I want to go down and tell them that I love them.' God did this by becoming man. Jesus Christ came and healed the sick, the blind saw, the deaf heard and the dumb spoke. He taught people how to love one another. His death was premeditated, because He wanted to be our substitute. He came from heaven to die for all our sins. https://www.theblessingdevotional.com Morning Prayer for today. MP.i. Morning Prayer Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer. ⏤ Psalm 19:14 It is not what a man does that determines whether his work is sacred or secular, but why he does it. ⏤ A.W. Tozer O You who dwell in the heavens, we lift our eyes to You. The morning calls us again to worship You, and we gladly come to Your feet with our praise. It is fitting that we should bring You our hearts' worship. We have been called from death, as it were, for in our sleep we were like the dead. Our waking is a new beginning of life. We give ourselves to You for another day. We dedicate this day to You and want to make it entirely Yours. We want to make it a holy day, without blemish. We don't want to do anything to stain its white page. We want to write on this little page of ours only beautiful things—a record of worthy deeds, faithfulness, kindness, and unselfishness. But we know that we can only make this day white and worthy with Your help. We are naturally selfish—but may You fill us with Your love so that we will do only loving things today. Preserve us from impatience, from outbursts of temper, from quarrelsomeness, and from all harsh and bitter speech. Help us as a family to live together with affection, bearing with one another, restraining anger and unkind feelings, and showing only thoughtfulness, gentleness, and sweetness of spirit. Help us to make our home a place of love where no sharp or unkind words are spoken, where each person thinks only of the others' happiness. Make our home one where Jesus Himself would be glad to be a constant guest. Then may our home today be a center of holy influence that spreads light, warmth, and cheer to other homes. There are homes without Your love—without the blessing of Your love revealed and understood. May the influence of our home help to make these homes truer. We ask this in Jesus' precious name. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/26/morning #taptapstudio #youdevotion.

CHAPTER 19 OPEN THE DOOR KEITH! PSALMS Psalm 24:1 The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. Whilst in China, I have been able to travel, around Asia and around the world. In 2015, we returned to the UK for the first time, we had a five day trip around the UK starting in London and going right up to the Scottish highlands, we ended back in Cambridge, where we met up with my cousin Elaine and Husband Clifford and children Claire and John, they warmly welcomed us, and took us to Ely to see the beautiful cathedral. We had booked two nights at a holiday inn in Bradford, to see Victoria my niece and her mum carol, along with my nephew James. They agreed to meet us at the hotel, and sure enough they arrived on time, they all came up to our hotel room and then another knock on the door, and stood there grinning like a cheshire cat, was my brother Peter, who had come over especially to surprise me, you could say he had. That day, we made our way to our birthplace and drove to Haworth, famous for the Bronte sisters, and went on the steam train, made famous by the railway children. What an amazing day. It was Chinese new year eve, so Helen cooked authentic Chinese food for my family, the sceptics were completely won over by Helen. We then went to my hometown of Morecambe to stay with Brian and Sandra, who had helped me fill in the visa forms to get my first visa for China, they took us back to my home church, where we had a meeting to share what was going on in China. We were able to share the gospel on the streets of Lancaster, even meeting a university student, who came from Nanjing. Over the next few years, were able to visit Helen's relatives in Indonesia, where we saw the 2nd largest lake in the world, Lake Toba, then onto the Philippines, where Helen and Ming swam with whale sharks and ate delicious seafood, especially crabs. In 2017, travelled to the USA and Canada, we visited such iconic places as Horseshoe Bend, Antelope Canyon, Golden gate bridge, The Grand canyon and the seedy side of life emphasized by Las Vegas. Then it was off to Canada, where we saw the majesty of the Rocky mountains, especially n Jasper and Banff. 2017 was not a good year though as my beloved brother Peter, died after a very short illness, this was a great blow to me, as we had many phone calls and several skype calls. I know he died very happy, knowing his little brother was settled. DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Having my brother come over and see me, was so amazing. Losing him to cancer in 2017 was so painful, he died after a very short illness of two months, due to a cancer that usually affected children. When he died, many people said that they missed him, they had lost something from their lives, to me it was more than that. It was like losing my right arm, we had the same blood running through our veins, we came from the same parents, although we were so different in so many ways, especially when it came to matters of faith, Keith the Evangelical Christian and Peter the atheist/humanist. Some of the things we did together were so funny, such as when we were returning from Tadoussac, I decided to put a Cd into the car cd player, he said let me do that, he did not place it in the cd player, he put it in the hole above the cd player, and broke the cd player. Such things seem so silly, we remember the small things. He was such a character, when his wife went to visit her parents in the UK he took his two kids straight to the sweetie aisle at the supermarket and then he gave them baked beans on toast for seven days in a row! I miss him, I used to tell him that I loved him, he used to say Yeah me too. Now I can't say it to him! The things that truly matter are love, hope and faith, especially love. What would of happened if God had concealed his love from us? But God did not hide his love from us, he showed us his love through the cross. God did not keep silent, he expressed it in Christ. Romans 5 7 For scarcely for a righteous man will one die: yet peradventure for a good man some would even dare to die. 8 But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Thank God, we are loved. The one thing we never need to stop doing is telling people we truly love them, one day we won't be able to. CHAPTER 20 JUST TESTING Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; Life was idyllic, as we went into the third decade of the century, but there is always danger lurking and in early 2020, we started to hear of a sickness called Covid 19, we usually have flu like symptoms sometimes in the winter, but this was different, before January had finished, Helen was home all the time and we had to be tested everywhere we went, some mornings as I did the shopping and the chores, I had to be tested up to five times, I came back negative every time, there's a first time for everything! I remember going out one evening at 8pm, the streets are usually still bustling at this time, but there was just eerie silence, no cars, no people and no activity, everything was closed, it was so surreal. Everywhere we went we were tested, we were unable to travel for up to two-three years, Indeed we had to get tested every day, and then our whole complex was isolated for two weeks, we couldn't go in and out, thankfully we were provided with bags of food every two days, we were thankful for this small mercy. Other places had much more stringent regulations, so we were blessed, but tempers could and would flare, as I saw at the gate of our complex, it is very difficult for all concerned. All of us did get Covid, I remember walking near our flat and I started to feel hot and started to sneeze, But thankfully this was a mild dose. Everyone wore masks and some people still do, but I never did. We never took any vaccine, as the Lord protected us. Everything that had happened in person, school, teaching, church, meetings etc, had to go on Zoom, it seems so long ago, when the all clear came, it was such a relief, to get back to normal. Now the previous year (2019), we lost My beloved Baba, Helen's father, he had his stomach removed due to cancer and he was getting weaker and weaker. Sadly in August, he lost his brave fight for life. My favourite memory of him, was one day near Christmas 2016, we went to eat beef dumplings downtown, as we came back on the bus, there came on Bing Crosby singing have yourself a merry little Christmas, we just sang quietly together, that is how I remember him. He was the best man I have ever met and one day I will meet him again as late in life, he trusted Christ as his Saviour and Lord, remember its never too late to trust CHRIST. DEVOTIONAL THOUGHT Everything was going well before 2020, we were looking forward and planning to go back to the UK. But all those plans were thrown into confusion, once Covid Hit, it took everyone by surprise. It showed that life is all too brief, we can make our plans, but God is in complete control, it reminds me of the verses in James chapter 4 13 Go to now, ye that say, To day or to morrow we will go into such a city, and continue there a year, and buy and sell, and get gain: 14 Whereas ye know not what shall be on the morrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapour, that appeareth for a little time, and then vanisheth away. 15 For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that. Life is very short, we are here for only a short time, we only get one chance at life, there are no second chances. What are you doing with your life? I know that myself and Helen are loving and serving our Saviour, that is surely the best way to spend your life. The words of the wise king Solomon are as follows: Ecclesiastes 12:13 13 Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. The offer of salvation is s till on the table, one day that offer will not be there anymore. Don't neglect or reject the offer of salvation Hebrews 2:3 3 How shall we escape, if we neglect so great salvation; which at the first began to be spoken by the Lord, and was confirmed unto us by them that heard him One day, all of us will appear before God, let me make this clear, this is going to be terrifying to some reading this. 2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Hebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: Death is not the end, it is the elephant in the room, no one talks about it, but 150,000 people die every day. Jesus defeated death through his death and resurrection, so that the Christian can say 1 CORINTHIANS 15 55 O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? 56 The sting of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law. 57 But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. CAN YOU SAY THESE WORDS, I KNOW I CAN?