Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s Post

BREAKFAST WITH PASTOR LENNIE: The man in Christ is a new creation, a superhuman, in Gods class. 2 Cor. 5:17 Man is composed of spirit, soul and body. Some people focus solely on their spirit and most time carry about an uncared for body and an inexpressive soul.....short changing themselves. Others are just concerned about what the put inside and wear on their body....eating healthy, good exercise regime, well dressed, perfumed, and all that goes into keeping a good shape and appearance.. ....no attention is given to Jesus at all and sometimes, very poor in self (soul) expression. Some others still are just concern about developing and keeping themselves sound in their intellect, mind and knowledge.....just like the proverbial worldly wise man of John Bunyan's pilgrims progress. It is also that some have a mixture of either one of the two, or an unbalanced mixture of these three. As arranged in the sequence...spirit, soul and body, the spirit comes first and should be predominant. The soul is an expressor of what you feed it, mostly a representator of what you present it frequently. Take time out to study yourself......but I know that you need a born again spirit, recreated after Christ Jesus. Living from your spirit now fully restored God's image, and your soul and body, draw life and essence from God now inside you. Your spirituality, sensuality and sexuality only find "as per design" expression when you develop who you are in Christ.

BREAKFAST WITH PASTOR LENNIE: The man in Christ is a new creation, a superhuman, in Gods class. 2 Cor. 5:17 Man is composed of spirit, soul and body. Some people focus solely on their spirit and most time carry about an uncared for body and an inexpressive soul.....short changing themselves. Others are just concerned about what the put inside and wear on their body....eating healthy, good exercise regime, well dressed, perfumed, and all that goes into keeping a good shape and appearance.. ....no attention is given to Jesus at all and sometimes, very poor in self (soul) expression. Some others still are just concern about developing and keeping themselves sound in their intellect, mind and knowledge.....just like the proverbial worldly wise man of John Bunyan's pilgrims progress. It is also that some have a mixture of either one of the two, or an unbalanced mixture of these three. As arranged in the sequence...spirit, soul and body, the spirit comes first and should be predominant. The soul is an expressor of what you feed it, mostly a representator of what you present it frequently. Take time out to study yourself......but I know that you need a born again spirit, recreated after Christ Jesus. Living from your spirit now fully restored God's image, and your soul and body, draw life and essence from God now inside you. Your spirituality, sensuality and sexuality only find "as per design" expression when you develop who you are in Christ.

The 2-Pronged Approach The New Living Translation of Philippians 4, verse 6 says, “Don’t worry about anything, pray about everything.“ What a straight-forward command, with no ambiguity to it. Yet why is it so hard to follow? The struggle with anxiety is that it causes our hearts and minds to race - meaning what we are thinking and processing far outruns our current situation’s needs. Which is why the apostle Paul writes to the Philippians in verse 8 of the same chapter that they fix their thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. The requirement for us who live in a content saturated world is to still our mind long enough to focus on what really matters and to, if needed, filter our thoughts. Filtering our thoughts would mean intentionally and unashamedly pushing out those negative, fearful and worrying thoughts and exchanging them for thoughts of truth, honour and purity. Here’s the challenge though - the exchange is not so straight-forward. We are not programmed like computers to find negative thoughts and replace them with happy thoughts. So what is the way forward? Is there a solution? Yes, and it begins with praise. It requires that we step out of the whirlpool of our thoughts and begin to praise God for who He is, what He’s done, what He has promised to do and for His everlasting love for us, to name a few. Praise is an intentional shift in focus away from us and towards God. Praise also shifts the atmosphere from one of heaviness and gloom to one of hope and joy. Praise puts God back in His rightful place on the throne of our life, displacing unhealthy substitutes that we allowed in. Praise is then followed by prayer which is when the handing over we mentioned in yesterday’s reading happens. This prayer is one of complete surrender of our anxieties into the hands of a more than capable God. He is all powerful, all knowing and is everywhere all at once. Who better to burden with our issues than this magnificent Saviour. When in the throes of an episode of anxiety it is important to directly convert worries to prayers. God can handle our fears, He truly can. The Holy Spirit is called our Counsellor for during these times of prayer. He will bring comfort to you and counsel you with His word. Contrary to what you think, you are not alone, you are not beyond help and your emotional health is of great importance. As we recondition our minds and hearts with praise and prayer we begin to allow in those admirable, praise worthy and truthful thoughts to wash over our soul and renew us from within. Are you ready for this two-pronged approach to battle anxiety and send it packing to where it came from? “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” ‭‭I Thessalonians‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬-‭18‬ ‭NKJV‬‬ https://lnkd.in/epA6w95Y

This article will go thoroughly into this subject, providing a detailed biblical knowledge of how we can reignite and sustain our spiritual fervour, so fulfilling the fullness of our calling in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

*RHAPSODY OF REALITIES DAILY DEVOTIONAL* *THE INGATHERING OF THE GENTILES* Saturday, October 19th . Pastor Chris _*For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in (Romans 11:25).*_ In Rom 11:22-25, Paul speaks about the Jews and Gentiles in a broad sense and how God's plan of salvation unfolds for both groups. In verse 24 (NKJV), he uses the metaphor of an olive tree to describe this process: _*“For if you were cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and were grafted contrary to nature into a cultivated olive tree, how much more will these, who are natural branches, be grafted into their own olive tree?”*_ Israel, as a nation, is currently experiencing "blindness in part" concerning salvation. This doesn’t mean that every individual Jew is blind to the Gospel. In fact, many Jews have believed in Jesus Christ since the day of Pentecost, including all the apostles, who were Jews themselves. The book of Acts records that multitudes of Jews—multitudes of men and women—accepted Jesus as their Saviour but not yet as a nation. That, however, will eventually happen. Back to what we read in our opening verse; observe that it says _*“...blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in.”*_ What does this mean? The Amplified Classic provides further clarity: _*"Lest you be self-opinionated [wise in your own conceits], I do not want you to miss this hidden truth and mystery, brethren: A HARDENING [INSENSIBILITY] HAS [TEMPORARILY] BEFALLEN A PART OF ISRAEL [TO LAST] UNTIL THE FULL NUMBER OF THE INGATHERING OF THE GENTILES HAS COME IN."*_ Sequel to our study yesterday, again we see that there’s a full, definite number of sinners all over the world that God is waiting for us to reach with the Gospel—those who must believe and come to Jesus Christ. That's what He's waiting for. Once that full number is attained, the Trumpet will sound; the Rapture will take place. This understanding should get you excited and to be diligent in winning souls, knowing that every soul that comes to Christ brings us closer to the fulfilment of God's plan and the Rapture of the Church. *PRAYER* *Dear Father, thank you for your grace for salvation that’s been poured out all over the world. Souls are being won to Christ in large numbers as your children preach the Gospel in their world and in regions beyond. The veil of darkness is removed, and a full number of the ingathering of the Gentiles is coming in, in Jesus' Name. Amen.* *FURTHER STUDY:* *||* *1 Tim 2:1-4* I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, [and] giving of thanks, be made for all men; *||* *Matt 24:14* *||* *Rom 11:24-25 AMPC* *DAILY SCRIPTURE READING* *1-Year Bible Reading=>* 1 Tim 1:1-20 & Jer 5-6 *2-Year Bible Reading=>* Heb 9:11-28 & Ezek 17

Beautiful morning of joy dearly beloved. It is my hope that we keep reflecting and praying to live extraordinary life the LORD offered us. Let us continue from where we stopped last week. NO FEAR OF HARM - PROVERBS 1:24-33 The expression ‘do not be afraid’ is one of the most frequent commands in the Bible. One of the occurrences are in our passage for today. This passage gives you the key to avoiding ‘terror and panic’ (v.26, AMP) and living ‘without fear or dread of evil’ (v.33, AMP). The idea of the ‘Fear of the Lord’ is one of the key themes of Proverbs and appears twenty-one times throughout the book. It is a choice that you make. If you are wise, you will ‘choose to fear the Lord’ (v.29 NIV) and ‘listen’ to him. He promises that you ‘will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm’ (v.33 NIV). Wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs (v.20). As we read it from the perspective of the New Testament, we know that it is Jesus Christ who is ‘the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:24) Instead, choose to fear God, listen to Him and repent when He corrects you. If you do, God will reveal to you more than you could ever imagine. ‘I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you’ (v.23a, AMP). He will reveal to you the hidden treasures of wisdom in His words. Choose this fear of God and you will be ‘in good hands’ (v.33, MSG) and can be free from the fear of harm. There is danger when we turn our backs on the wisdom of God that leads to extraordinary living. In time of disaster, God will ignore our plea in prayer for deliverance (vv 24-28). Waywardness of the simple will kill them. Complacency of the fools will destroy them. For not accepting the advice and spurning the rebuke of the Wisdom of God, they will be filled with their own schemes. This is the danger you can avoid by choosing the Wisdom of God. ³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety    and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1 NIV PRAYER 1. LORD, I choose to fear You – to live a life in reverence and awe of Your power, majesty and holiness. 2. Help me to live life fearing You alone. 3. Reveal the hidden treasure of Wisdom to me in Your Words. 4. I choose the fear of God so that I will be ‘in good hands’ (v.33, MSG) and can be free from the fear of harm. Amen, amen and amen in Jesus name. Settled!

Is Spiritual Myopia Eternally Dangerous? Luke 16:19-31 An old gospel song says, “This world is not my home / I’m just a-passing through. / My treasures are laid up somewhere beyond the blue.” It’s a good reminder for all of us that this life is not the end goal. As Christians, we are citizens of a heavenly kingdom and are not to love this world or what it offers (1 John 2:15). In fact, to do so makes us enemies of God (James 4:4). Too many sitting in the pews today are in fact enemies of God by their conscientious decisions on how they live their lives. In today’s passage Jesus tells a story about a rich man who lived for himself and ignored the Lord. He was a success by earthly standards but discovered too late that his riches and comfort were only temporary. After death, he experienced the consequences of his choices—eternal separation from the Lord. It’s important to realize that this man wasn’t judged harshly by God because of his wealth. The rich man’s mistake was that he prepared everything for the body but nothing for the soul. Our culture practices a similar style of living. Acquiring material riches and satisfying oneself is the primary pursuit of many in our world. In fact, fulfilling personal desires seems to be the goal whether one’s bank account is overflowing or nearly empty. Despite what our culture thinks, this life is not about us. It’s about being reconciled to God. Whoever repents of sin and turns to Christ for salvation will live eternally with Him in heaven. But those who reject or simply ignore the Lord will suffer eternally. Death comes to all of us, and we never know when. Therefore, if you haven’t trusted Christ as Savior, do so today. Your eternal destiny is at stake.

The wisdom of the fathers OUR NATURAL STRENGTH continued The difference between the natural man and the old man is a basic one. God has given us His Son. When we enter into Him and He into us, what happens? One day we receive Him as our Saviour and Lord, and quickly discover that our old man was dealt with once and for all in His Cross (Romans 6. 6). God made no effort to patch him up or improve him, but crucified him outright in Christ, finishing him for good. Therein the question of sin was settled. To know this is of the greatest importance. In God's eyes the old man had to die. Then our eyes are opened and the truth dawns on us that he is already dead in Christ; and that Christ Himself is our new life, indwelling, empowering, becoming to us everything. This is a tremendous discovery. But along with this new life indwelling, there remains within us the natural man, the good, honest, worthy human nature that wants to please God. It is this that God encounters in Jacob. God's dealings with Jacob as a man concern the question of his fulfilling the divine will. Jacob was interested in this above all, not in sinning. He knew that God had said of himself and his brother, `the elder shall serve the younger' (Genesis 25. 23). Accordingly he set himself to achieve this. He used human means to reach the divine end, for he was set on spiritual things and on fulfilling God's will. He only made the fundamental mistake of setting about it in his own way. God not only hates man's sin; He has no room for the natural man. Not merely did our Lord Jesus never sin; He never depended upon Himself to do good - indeed to do anything at all. God's dealings with our natural man are designed to bring us to the place that Christ Himself chose to take. By nature we are so strong, so able to think and plan and do, and God must bring us to the place of weakness, the place where we cannot think or plan or do apart from Him. As we have just said, nothing is ever done to the old man; he died in Christ. Something, however, is done to the natural man. He is not patched up, it is true; he is weakened. He is progressively incapacitated. Step by step the Spirit weakens our natural life until at length, by a last drastic divine touch, we are as dead before Him. But for what? To show us what? To lead us whither? We saw that I in Christ' leads to Christ in me', the outward fact leading to an inward fact, both of them accomplished acts of God. In the same way the progressive discipline of the Spirit through outward circumstances leads to a formation of Christ within us by the Spirit (Galatians 4.19) so that we live a life that is in a new sense derived from Him. (from "Changed into His Likeness" by Watchman Nee)

*📌OUR LIMITLESS WEALTH* 📌 *RHAPSODY OF REALITIES DAILY DEVOTIONAL* Wednesday, August 7th . Pastor Chris _*Unto me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ (Ephesians 3:8).*_ The term "unsearchable" in Greek encompasses a depth that is difficult to properly communicatein English. The Amplified Classic version offers a more comprehensive understanding. It says, _*“...the unending (boundless, fathomless, incalculable, and exhaustless) riches of Christ [wealth which no human being could have searched out].”*_ This description paints a vivid picture of the amazing magnitude of Christ's wealth, “...theriches of Christ!” These are extraordinary riches beyond the grasp of human exploration. How can we even begin to search out Christ's riches? Where would we start, and where would we end? It all depends on the one being described. And if Christ is indeed God, then we are dealing with riches that are truly beyond measure. Remember, we’re one with Him. Thus, our heritage is one of unimaginable wealth and abundance in Christ! The Lord Jesus is designated as the heir and lawful owner of all things: _*“[But] in the last of these days He has spoken to us in [the person of a] Son, Whom He appointed Heir and lawful Owner of all things, also by and through Whom He created the worlds and the reaches of space and the ages of time [He made, produced, built, operated, and arranged them in order]”*_ (Hebrews 1:2 AMPC). According to Matthew 13:44, He purchased the entire field, and thus, the entire world belongs to Him. In Romans 8:16-17, the Bible says, _*"The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ....”*_ This means everything that belongs to Jesus belongs to us. This is our inheritance, and it's important that you lay hold of it. We walk in the footsteps of Abraham, for the Bible says, _*“…if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise”*_ (Galatians 3:29). The entirety of the earth belongs to us in Christ. It clarifies Paul’s bold assertion in 1 Corinthians 3:21 that _*“...all things are yours.”*_ *CONFESSION* *I walk in the fullness of the unending, boundless, fathomless, incalculable and exhaustless riches of Christ; I was born into it when I was born again. I have unlimited access to all the treasures and resources of the Kingdom, which is beyond the grasp of human exploration. I live in abundance and manifest the glory and righteousness of the Kingdom of God everywhere I go. Amen.* *FURTHER STUDY:* *||* *Romans 8:16-17 NIV* *||* *Ephesians 3:8 AMPC* *||* *1 Corinthians 3:21* *DAILY SCRIPTURE READING* *1-Year Bible Reading Plan=>* Romans 9:30-10:1-21 & Psalms 78 *2-Year Bible Reading Plan=>* Ephesians 6:21-24 & Isaiah 58

Beautiful morning of joy dearly beloved. NOTE: WE REGRET AND APOLOGIZE THE INABILITY TO SERVE YOU LAST WEEKEND. It is my hope that we keep reflecting and praying to live extraordinary life the LORD offered us. Let us continue from where we stopped last week. NO FEAR OF HARM - PROVERBS 1:24-33 (PART 2) The expression ‘do not be afraid’ is one of the most frequent commands in the Bible. One of the occurrences are in our passage for today. This passage gives you the key to avoiding ‘terror and panic’ (v.26, AMP) and living ‘without fear or dread of evil’ (v.33, AMP). The idea of the ‘Fear of the Lord’ is one of the key themes of Proverbs and appears twenty-one times throughout the book of Proverbs. It is a choice that you make. If you are wise, you will ‘choose to fear the Lord’ (v.29 NIV) and ‘listen’ to him. He promises that you ‘will live in safety and be at ease, without fear of harm’ (v.33 NIV). Wisdom is personified in the book of Proverbs (v.20). As we read it from the perspective of the New Testament, we know that it is Jesus Christ who is ‘the wisdom of God’ (1 Corinthians 1:24) Instead, choose to fear God, listen to Him and repent when He corrects you. If you do, God will reveal to you more than you could ever imagine. ‘I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit upon you, I will make my words known to you’ (v.23a, AMP). God will reveal to you the hidden treasures of wisdom in His words. Choose this fear of God and you will be ‘in good hands’ (v.33, MSG) and can be free from the fear of harm. There is danger when we turn our backs on the wisdom of God that leads to extraordinary living. In time of disaster, God will ignore our plea in prayer for deliverance (vv 24-28). This is because: a. Waywardness of the simple will kill them. b. Complacency of the fools will destroy them. c. For not accepting the advice and spurning the rebuke of the Wisdom of God, they will be filled with their own schemes. This is the danger you can avoid by choosing the Wisdom of God. ³³ but whoever listens to me will live in safety    and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1 NIV PRAYER 1. LORD, I choose to fear You – to live a life in reverence and awe of Your power, majesty and holiness. 2. Help me to live life fearing You alone. 3. Reveal the hidden treasure of Wisdom to me in Your Words. 4. I choose the fear of God so that I will be ‘in good hands’ (v.33, MSG) and can be free from the fear of harm. Amen, amen and amen in Jesus name. Settled!