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I once read a story of a man who visited an infirmed old lady who used to work for a very wealthy man. As the visitor sat next to the lady's bed, a frame hanging on her wall caught his attention. Looking closer, he exclaimed, "Do you know that this is actually the last will and testament of your employer? It names you as the sole beneficiary of all that he has!" For 50 years--since the day her employer passed on--that poor lady had worked day and night eking out an existence for herself, when all of her previous employer's estate had been given to her to enjoy. The story is a great reminder that you received the greatest gift of all - the Lord Jesus Christ. So quit focusing on your failures, regrets, and fear of aging. Focus...

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I spent the last 3 months trying to discern God's will for me. Along the way, I was given small blessings & breakthroughs, but I also suffered fierce attacks. Human advice was contradictory, and at times the Word I meditated over confused me. Sometimes, I was compelled to “stand,” and other times I was encouraged to move on. No, we were never formally married, and that has brought a lot of judgement on me. We were engaged, in a 5-year common-law marriage honored in our state. We referred to each other as "husband" and "wife," and I was convicted to pursue our reconciliation all the same. After a very discouraging week, I'm still on a stumbling path, still trying to find my way... This has been a roller coaster; a physical...

This was one of my devotions today and I wanted to share with others TGIF Today God Is First Volume 1, by ### 02-20-2014 "They mourned and wept and fasted till evening for Saul and his son Jonathan, and for the army of the Lord and the house of Israel, because they had fallen by the sword." - 2 Samuel 1:12 How would you respond if you heard something bad happened to someone who had been trying to cut off your head for several years? King Saul had been seeking to kill David for many years before Saul was thrust into battle against the Amalekites. In this final battle, a sword killed Saul. When the news reached David, instead of rejoicing that his enemy was no longer a problem for him, he responded in a totally different manner. He...

YOUR DEAD MARRIAGE CAN COME BACK TO LIFE! The hand of the LORD was upon me, and he brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me back and forth among them, and I saw a great many bones on the floor of the valley, bones that were very dry. He asked me, "Son of man, can these bones live?" I said, "O Sovereign LORD, you alone know." Then he said to me, "Prophesy to these bones and say to them, 'Dry bones, hear the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says to these bones: I will make breath enter you, and you will come to life. I will attach tendons to you and make flesh come upon you and cover you with skin; I will put breath in you, and you will come to life...

LORD, FREE MY SPOUSE FROM THEIR SIN In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus. Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires. Romans 6:11-12 When we hear of marriage problems or a divorce is pending, a stander will often send us their beautiful wedding picture. No one would have thought that this couple would have ended up divorced. What happened? Many couples did not know the Lord at the beginning of their marriage or during their marriage one or both spouses left God out of their marriage. Some couples started their marriage by falling into temptation with their flesh and the enemy had a foothold into their marriage. You or your spouse may have been...

What is self-discipline? The Collins dictionary defines it as "the act of disciplining or power to discipline one's own feelings, desires, etc., esp with the intention of improving oneself". It has also been defined as "Training and control of oneself and one's conduct, usually for personal improvement." It is important to state from the outset that no amount of self-discipline or self-denial on our parts can ever atone for any of our sins or moral failures. We can never "earn our way" to righteousness. Once you've blown it, you've blown it — and it takes the miraculous power of the blood of Jesus Christ itself to restore us to a place of righteousness with God. Those who suffer in the cause of Christ should never deceive themselves on...

There are beautiful buildings and cathedrals, humble adobe missions and huts that have on them the name "Church." They have steeples and crosses, bells and towers that have their own way of announcing to passers-by, "This is a church." These man-made structures are churches in one sense of the word, but the church spoken of in the New Testament is something more. The church in its larger sense is made up of all believers. It is called the Body of Christ. God dwells among these believers by His Spirit. We have studied about the Holy Spirit and some of His function, but one of the functions we did not mention is that He unites the church. Ephesians 4:3 says, "Do your best to preserve the unity which the Spirit gives by means of the peace...

### writes in his book, Partners in Prayer; "In the summer of 1876, grasshoppers nearly destroyed the crops in Minnesota. So in the spring of 1877, farmers were worried. They believed that the dreadful plague would once again visit them and again destroy the rich wheat crop, bringing ruin to thousands of people. The situation was so serious that Governor ### proclaimed April 26 as a day of prayer and fasting He urged every man, woman and child to ask God to prevent the terrible scourge. On that April day all schools, shops, stores and offices were closed. There was a reverent, quite hush over all the state. The next day dawned bright and clear. Temperature soared to what they ordinarily were in midsummer, which was very...

I had posted this in response to someone asking how to forgive the OP and it got into a debate about the scriptures. I thought I would share with all. Hope it helps someone. The Bible tells us in Matthew 6:14-15, "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins." Forgiveness has nothing to do with the other person. Not forgiving someone is like drinking poison and expecting the other person to get sick. When we hold on to something, it hurts our whole body spiritually, mentally, and physically, so why hold on to it. Give it up and remember it is God who they have to repent to, not us. Repentance is between God...