Favor for Your Future TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “…his favor lasts a lifetime…”…..Psalm 30:5, NIV TODAY’S WORD: Did you know that God has already released good things into your future? His favor covers your lifetime! When God laid out the plan for your life, He lined up the right people, the right circumstances and the right breaks. In your future, He’s already released favor, supernatural opportunities and divine connections. The good breaks you need have already been preordained to come across your path. If you will stay in faith and go out each day and be a person of excellence, you’ll have times where it’s as if you just stumbled into God’s blessings. You’ll look back and think, “How did I get to where I am? I’m not the most qualified, but I got the promotion. I didn’t deserve that break, but someone went out of their way to help me.†What… read more
Prayer
The Gift of Today TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.”……..Psalm 90:12, KJV TODAY’S WORD: Sometimes our days can be so full and busy that we forget how fragile our time on earth really is. It can be so easy to allow little things to creep in and steal our peace and joy. Maybe something didn’t go your way, or someone said something upsetting. Even traffic can cause us to get our focus off if we let it. But, we have to remember that each day is a gift. If we choose to focus on what’s wrong, we’ll miss out on the beauty that each day has to offer. Don’t let the precious moments of life pass you by. Don’t wait for holidays and birthdays to show people that you care. Remember, each day is unique and irreplaceable, a gift… read more
Stay Connected TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit…” – .John 15:5, NKJV TODAY’S WORD: Do you need more power and strength in your life today? When you are connected to the Father through Jesus, you are connected to your life source. Just as a branch is sustained by the vine it’s attached to, we are sustained by being attached to Him. If you think about how fruit grows, it doesn’t just happen over night; it takes time and the right conditions. In the same way, the spiritual fruit in your own life develops over time, too. You might be tempted to get discouraged if you aren’t seeing “fruit†as quickly as you’d like, but be encouraged today! If you’ll keep your heart humble before the Lord and stay connected to Him through prayer and… read more
Free for All TODAY’S SCRIPTURE: “…God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.”……….Acts 10:34-35, NIV TODAY’S WORD: Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom! God’s freedom is free for everyone! It doesn’t matter what your nationality or heritage is, or who your family is. It doesn’t matter how much money you have or don’t have. God wants you free from everything that would hold you back from your relationship with Him! God wants to pour out His abundant blessing on all who honor Him and do what is right. In fact, the Bible says in Galatians that in Christ, there is no Jew or Greek or even male or female. That means God’s not judging you based on physical conditions. He’s looking at your heart. He’s looking at the gifts He’s placed inside of you…. read more
CHLOE FILM SYNOPSIS Chloe: For years Walt and Annie struggled with infertility, but in a single moment they realized that God was writing a beautiful story for them that was over 20 years in the making. Chloe from Moving Works on Vimeo. Source: Chloe | Moving Works
The shocking death by suicide of comedic actor Robin William has catalyzed some thoughts I am still musing about, the unexpressed grief that some people go through. We all need to be more sensitive, discerning even, but even then we would miss some still. Can you wrap your brain around the level of grief Williams was experiencing that would prompt him to take his own life? Imagine the trauma of losing a pregnancy or several pregnancies through miscarriage when none of your friends even know that you are or were ever pregnant. Compound this, in a Church you are a single woman but become pregnant after ‘tiefing a likkle piece’ (=engaging in premarital sex) and suffer a similar fate. Who could you dare ask for prayer support let alone empathy? Silent grief. Then consider having been raped or seduced by someone whom you trust and respect and whose reputation would… read more
This evening I was driving home from work and listening to the Joy 1250 radio station. There was a Christian program hosting Joni Eareckson Tada, a Christian lady who in 1967–at the age of 17 years old–became quadriplegic due to a diving accident. She said something that encouraged me to share with you my experience of God’s faithfulness in answering prayers. She said that prior to the accident she prayed that God would deepen her relationship with Him, but that she did not expect it to happen this way—she wasn’t thinking ‘paralysis’! But God used her paralysis to answer her prayer and she is so much closer to Him today than she ever could. Ten years ago I prayed a simple sincere prayer. I asked God, “Lord, I want to experience the love You have for mankind. I don’t want to only experience Your love for me but I also… read more
These Cell Phone Wallpapers are from the INSPIKS Christian iPhone Wallpaper Group on Flickr. Here you will find some of the best Christian phone wallpapers from the group members and some from our own graphic design team. We also have a iPhone Wallpaper Gallery here on our blog, which features one hundred plus wallpapers. Christian Cell Phone Wallpapers
Why do we watch YouTube videos? Why do we spend so much time on Facebook and Flickr? Why do we read so many Wikipedia articles? Why do we play our favorite sports and watch our favorite TV shows? Why do we talk to our friends on the phone? Why do we chat? Why do we work? Why do we go shopping? The answer to these questions is either because ‘we want to’ and/or ‘we love to.’ Why do we work? Maybe it’s not because we enjoy our work but because we want to work: we want to make money, and we want to have a career, and we want to have a promotion, and we don’t want to sit home all day long. Why do we play sports? Because we enjoy playing them, we enjoy competing, and we enjoy to spending time with our friends. And we want to be in shape! If… read more
Recently I went to a wedding and after the wedding my aunt asked me what I was looking for in a wife and I told her, “About four thingsâ€, without being specific. She laughed and said, “Only 4 things! I was looking for 40 things!†I am not concerned with my future wife’s education, body type, hair or eye colour, skin colour, ethnic background, or family history. I am not saying physical attraction is not important, it is important because God created us all with different looks and different preferences. And those different preferences help us make decisions; imagine how difficult life would be if you liked all things the same way! But what I am really interested in are: -Her mind: how she thinks; her wisdom; submitting her thoughts to the Lord by making His thoughts her thoughts; rejecting evil thoughts. -Her heart (and I don’t mean that blood… read more
Welcome to the May 2, 2012 edition of Christian Carnival. Each week, we bring together a selection of the best christian articles from across the web. Whether you’d like to read the top posts from your favorite site, or would like to discover something completely new, this is the best place to start! The carnival deals with a variety of topics, so look through the articles and you should find something of interest. A big thanks to all who sent in their entries. Join our Facebook page, Enjoy! True Stillwater presents Fear, Faith, and the Good Fight posted at Letters, Messages, and Prayers They say let go, let God. But somehow that doesn’t get rid of the squeezing pain in my chest. I believe the loving hand of God is watching and guiding us, but that doesn’t stop the blood from rushing to my head when panic sets… read more
There is something else I thought about the other day while walking to work. For years I prayed and cried for something I wanted God to do. But God in His infinite love and wisdom did not give me what I had asked for! If He did allow it to happen then I would have been absolutely miserable for the rest of my life! And you know what? Five years later while I was talking to Him about it I realized He did it because He loved me, and I thanked Him! Five years later I thanked Him! You know, if a stranger holds a public door for me for 2 seconds then I would thank him whole heartedly and without hesitation, yet I waited five years to thank my Savior and Heavenly Father for freeing me from an absolutely miserable life! This is a perfect example of the idolatry… read more
When I write I target a very small percentage of Christians. In this writing I am targeting even less–no more than a handful of ladies who are actually seeking to get closer to our Lord, to please Him, to live for Him a holy and blameless life. I am seeking those few ladies who are asking, “What can I do to get closer to Him? What can I do to be more like Him? What can I do to take my faith to the next level.†Let me tell you a story: Few years ago I was working in a warehouse as a general laborer. One day after I finished my lunch I decided to go sit in the warehouse reading my Bible for few minutes before my lunch time is over. So I sat on a box and I opened my Bible and prayed to the Holy Spirit to… read more
I am not doubting the sincerity of Christian women’s love for Christ, and so I am not saying that those Christian women who dress immodesty are doing it because they hate Christ. But the Bible does not say we are perishing because our lack of love, no, it says we are perishing because of our lack of knowledge: “My people are destroyed from lack of knowledge. ‘Because you have rejected knowledge, I also reject you as my priests; because you have ignored the law of your God, I also will ignore your children.’†(Hosea 4:6) Also, when you love someone you have to love that person the way they want and need. For example, if my wife wants to go to a certain restaurant but I take her to the restaurant I like then I have not expressed love toward her. So it is the same with Christ: we… read more
Now, here is what I think are some of the reasons immodesty is such a big sensual problem in the church today: 1) I believe, the biggest problem with immodesty is that it is a very well disguised idolatry. Anything that we replace God with to make us feel whole, to fulfill us emotionally, to make us feel wanted and desired, to lift our self-image, to make us reach our goals (such as attracting a husband-to-be), or to make our lives feel complete is an idol. For example, a man does not lust for the sake of lusting: a man lusts because momentary this physically attractive woman makes him feel a satisfaction he hasn’t fulfilled with his relationship to Christ. The same applies to other sins such as getting drunk–nobody gets drunk to make a fool of himself—people get drunk to escape a reality they do not like because they… read more
I was so pleased when I saw this group of youth dancing for the Lord on stage at the 2011 Jesus in the City parade in Toronto. I was particularly glad because the dancers were dressed so modestly, and so they looked so beautiful—more beautiful than any lady I have seen in a long while. Sadly, modesty was not the norm at this event: there was a worship group from Ottawa composed of two ladies who were dressed so immodesty that I didn’t photograph them (I didn’t even watch them), because I would’ve been nearly impossible for me as a photographer to edit their photos to make them acceptable with Christianity’s teaching about modesty. There was also another two ladies in the crowd who I avoided standing behind them because they wore such tight pants (both, to avoid temptation and to avoid photographing them), and so you can imagine my… read more
Eight years ago I took a sexual purity online course, and it was the best Christian teaching I got. It was a daily online course for two months and I loved every day of it. One thing though I disagree with them is that they said many members who do not follow the precautionary rules (such as: move your computer to an open space in the house, or install Internet filtering software, or acquire an accountability partner, etc) fall back into sin even though they were free from it for a period of time. The problem I have with that statement is that I believe a person is only truly free if he is free on the inside through being set free by the power of the Holy Spirit. I think the best way to explain this topic is by talking about what it means to be born-again and what… read more
I personally like when people are honest with me and point out my faults, so that I know my weaknesses and I can submit those weaknesses to Christ through prayer. That’s why I find the sermons of Dr. Charles Stanley, Paul Washer, and Billy Graham attractive, because they are effective. Of course I didn’t enjoy all honest and Biblical sermons because God used them to require change in me; it is very difficult to submit an area of weakness to Him to direct us through the change process. I can remember sermons of Dr. Stanley I listened to that I thought I would never need because I would never come across that situation, yea, right! that same sermon came in so handy a couple of years later! The same thing with reading the Bible…I read the Bible few times and some verses didn’t really apply to my situation, but they… read more
Personally, I’ve found a peace that I haven’t had for a long time. For nearly the whole summer I have been struggling through my salvation. After I began to really take the Bible seriously, I went through an intense season of examining my life to see if I was on the right path. It wasn’t necessarily a fun time but I learned a lot of valuable things such as perseverance and I grew in knowledge. During the past few weeks things became more intense, prayer became more intense, and now God has granted me peace about it. I think that most of it came from a deeper understanding of the Spirit. I wasn’t sure if I had it before, now I’m certain. For those of you who don’t know, I live in a place called Cranbrook. Right now God is really moving here, it’s really cool to see and I’m… read more
This has been an interesting week, full of emotions. This week I experienced a friend lose his sister; his parents, lose their daughter. On Tuesday evening we (Justin and I) drove our friend out to Calgary to join his family. His sister had been in a car accident and the doctors were having trouble stabilizing her. We arrived about 1 in the morning and waited. The doctors told us around 3 that they had to wait until the morning until they could do anything more. We grabbed a hotel for the night and In the morning we returned to the hospital. That morning the doctors informed the family that it was over, their 17-year-old daughter had passed away. It was one of the most heart-breaking things I’ve ever witnessed, watching my friends parents say goodbye to their daughter. It was a terribly sad moment, but it was one that was… read more
What does it mean to be a follower of Christ? That’s what I’ve been working out over the past few months. I know it’s a lifelong process but I think it’s important to earnestly seek this out right now. And the answer to this question is so important. We only have one chance at this life and then we face death. And there are only two options for eternity (that’s forever bro), Heaven or Hell.I think the thing that has been bothering me most about North America is that we all seem to assume that we’ve been called to be rich. Really? Did you really spend time in prayer and fasting, seeking God’s direction for your life and then came to the conclusion that He wants you to be rich? Or do you just want to be called to be rich. And when we pursue success (in the eyes of… read more
Road trip! Map, cellular telephone, written directions, friends to take turns driving and a tank full of gasoline. You prepared for the journey and went your way knowing that you would reach your destination. On the way everything was fine, until you took that wrong turn. You then had to adjust your plans and make every effort to get back on the right route to your destination. Have you ever been in that position or heard of a similar situation? When the righteous turneth from his righteousness, and commiteth iniquity, he shall even die thereby. ~Â Ezekiel 33:10 He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness ~Â Psalm 23:3b Your Christian walk is similar to that journey, in that, you cannot afford to make the wrong turn. The word of the Lord clearly outlines the Path to Salvation. We are even warned not to make wrong turns. As a servant of God… read more
The end of December 2010 was probably the craziest time of my life. After getting home from Bible school I told God to do whatever He needed so that I could fully live for Him. I found out that is a very dangerous prayer. Through circumstances I was brought to a place where my whole future (that I had planned) was gone. I was left in a broken state and I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t have anywhere to turn but Him. So that’s what I did. I vividly remember curling up into a ball and just crying out for God to take the pain away. It wasn’t a physical pain but it sure felt like it. The next few weeks went by slowly and I didn’t feel like I was making progress in life. But I just kept my focus on God and eventually I began to… read more
INSPIKS Flickr Group: It is time again for another roundup of images from our Flickr group. This group features design and photography from many Christians artist around the world. Select pictures are chosen every other month to be featured in our roundup. As always, remember you can submit your own photo here, and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and our Facebook Fan Page. Enjoy! Thumbnail Image: Peace Coreopsis by Julie Legg [sociallocker] Artist remain the original copyright holder of all their materials. Use of any of their material inconsistent with the terms and conditions set forth by Flickr is considered an infringement of the copyrights of the respective holders unless specially stated otherwise. Please contact the respective owners if you wish to use any of their images. (Click… read more