Dana Duke on LinkedIn: Monday, August 12, 2024 Powered by the Holy Spirit “Don’t be drunk with… (2025)

SABBATHMemorial of Saints Joachim and Anne, parents of MaryThe Good SoilA lay person asked me, “Father, how many minutes should I pray?” I asked her, “How much time do you have? Remember, God is not subject to time. He will accept whatever you have in your hands. He will accept how much prayer time you set aside for Him.”Our prayer life is the soil environment. When we pray, it’s not primarily for God; it is actually for our own benefit. Because when we generously give time for prayer, God generously makes our life meaningful and fruitful.Through a parable, Jesus illustrates four kinds of environment where seeds are sown: those that landed on the path, which was stolen away; those that fell on rocky ground, which did not last for long; the one that landed on the thorns, which got choked; and of course, those that fell on good soil. The parable in today’s Gospel is more apt to be called the Parable of the Sower. It refers to the desire, attitude, and the disposition of the farmer or the person planting. Applied to our spiritual life, we can relate it to how we desire prayer.If the soil is on a pathway, there’s no prayer life at all. Prayer is not included in one’s daily schedule. And most of the time, going to Sunday Mass is just an obligation, but there is no real desire to be with Jesus.If the soil is rocky, it’s like praying once in a while, with novena and rosaries, but when boredom comes, it’s easily abandoned.If the soil is thorny, it’s like when problems and trials come, one panics and surrenders, immediately giving up prayer.If the soil is good, one’s prayer is a prayer of determination. It is a lifelong relational commitment.To have a rich prayer life, it would be good to start cultivating a good soil within you. Try to dispose yourself to prayer and have the necessary materials that will help you deepen your spiritual life. Fr. Wen Amit, OCDReflection Question:Are you still excited to pray? How can you be a good soil?Lord, help me to be a good soil so that Your Word may take root and bear fruit in me. Amen.Today, I pray for: ______________________________________

Godsgreenhouse.net Apr 24, 2024 – PART 3 – “I don’t understand this churchy stuff.” Many people are so far outside the church they don’t understand any of this churchy stuff that we do. This series addresses some of their concerns. Today’s Verse focuses on, “Why don’t I feel comfortable when I attend church? Why do I often feel guilty?” Let us remember every church service provides many different benefits. Quite often, our need determines what we take home from the service. What is the most basic need, though, of all of us? It is the need of being restored to our Creator. That restoration is called salvation. If the person has never been born again, it is likely that the Holy Spirit will approach his heart and seek to woo him to Christ as Savior. While some people unfortunately count down the minutes for the final “Amen,” God is actively seeking that which is lost (see yesterday’s devotional) and making the issue of receiving Christ a very real issue for them. The Holy Spirit performs a work on the unbeliever’s soul called “conviction.” Other translations use the word “reprove” or “convince.” In normal life (think of being reproved by a supervisor or a spouse) conviction is not usually a happy time. Instead, it is an interruption in the happy times. The Holy Spirit takes the person into God’s courtroom and presents evidence against that person. The devil presents evidence the unbeliever is not really bad enough to need salvation, but the Holy Spirit convinces the unbeliever that, without Christ, he is a sinner in need of righteousness headed for God’s judgment. Thank God, for sharing the truth with us, but the truth is not pleasant. A little boy was praying his bedtime prayers. He prayed, “Lord, if you can’t make me a better boy than I am, don’t you worry about it. I’m having a real good time like I am.”KEY: If you are having a good time, you will not see a reason to receive Jesus Christ! Conviction, though, convinces you of your guilt and that brings a feeling of guilt to your soul. I have seen two unbelievers attend the same service and hear me preach the same message. Strangely, one was bothered by the message; the second was not bothered. I do not have the power to convict. That is God’s ministry! Pastor Leo Gibson taught me, “I began to sleep a lot better at night when I realized I could not save anyone. All I could do was preach the gospel. It is God’s job to do the rest.”NOTE: Conviction does not usually come and stay but rather it comes and goes. It is an awareness of your guilt which only God can bring. God says, “NOW is the accepted time; TODAY is the day of salvation.” “Seek the Lord WHILE He may be found; call upon Him while He is NEAR.” Why? Because He may not be near again. Sadly, there may come a day when the church services that bother you now will then be like water on a duck’s back! That’s why everyone needs to be saved on the day they know they need to be saved! Thank God for His ministry in our souls.

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The wisdom of the fathersALL IS DONEAll that Christ has done, and all that we have in Him, is already ours. As children of God we are already in Christ; we are one with Him. We don't hope to be; it is already done. The only question is, do we really believe God's Word when we read it? We have been crucified and buried and raised and seated together with Christ. If His death is past, so is ours. No man can say that Christ's death is future; then how can ours be? Ours is one hundred per cent as complete and finished as His; not ninety-nine per cent! Not all the sin and weakness in the world can alter that fact; sin is another question entirely. Before we see this, we long to die in order to escape from sinning. When, however, we see that we have already died in Christ, our outlook on both sin and death is completely changed. It is not prayerful people but praising ones who reach the way of holiness-those who see, and who seeing believe, and who believing praise. Many of us read Romans 6. 11: "Even so reckon ye also yourselves to be dead unto sin, but alive unto God in Christ Jesus." Oh! we exclaim, I have tried that. I have tried to reckon myself dead to sin, but I always find I have sinned before I have had time to get the reckoning done! But what is reckoning? Reckoning means book-keeping, keeping accounts. And common sense tells us that accounts must bear a direct relation to the cash in the till. God commands us to reckon ourselves dead because we are dead, and for no other reason. Our old man was crucified with him' (6. 6), and we know this. Therefore we are told to count upon it. The fact of the death comes before our reckoning on it, not the other way round. That is the difference between victory and defeat. I am dead with Christ, whether I reckon upon the fact or not. On the cross of Christ, God included me in Him, and so I have been crucified. Let me repeat that. It is not that I identify myself with Christ; it is that God has included me in Him. He has already done it. This is something that can come to us with a flash of a new understanding... Suddenly we see with a flash of insight that all that Christ has already done has become ours. Thus union with Christ in death disposes of our whole unhappy past. But this negative value to us of the finished work of Christ in respect of the old way of life is matched by a positive value to us of His living person in respect of the new. God comes with this further revelation to my heart, that Christ is in me. Christ is my Life, fighting for me, triumphing on my behalf, doing what He wants to do in me, and doing it now. It is not that I have strength through Him to seek humility, meekness, holiness. He is all that in me; for He is my Life. The Christian has not a lot of odds and ends of virtues; indeed, he has no virtues; he just has Christ. The question is again, do we believe God's Word? Do we believe 1 Corinthians 1. 30?(from "Changed into His likeness" by Watchman Nee)

GREAT FAITH SEES CHRIST AS SAVIOUR AND HEALERThe irresistible pressure of the leper’s faith, compelled Jesus to respond to him in a special way. The expression the Master used (“Your faith has made you whole!”) has more significance than you may think. It was a kind of standard formula, often employed by Christ to convey to people both healing and pardon. Apart from our text, Luke records this same formula also in 8:48 (when Jesus healed a woman’s haemorrhage), and in 18:42 (when Jesus healed a blind man). In each of those places, Christ spoke exactly the same words. In the Greek text, not even one syllable is different.But even more striking is Jesus’ use of the same expression when he spoke to a harlot (7:50). The English version reads, “Your faith has saved you!” Yet the Greek text is identical to the other places: “Your faith has made you whole!”Clearly, faith that brings pardon of sin, may also bring healing of sickness.Saviour and HealerChrist is Saviour and Healer, and both of those attributes are reached by faith. If it is still valid to say to a sinner, “Your faith in Christ can make you spiritually whole,” then it is equally valid to say to a sick person, “Your faith in Christ can make you physically whole!” Jesus allows no distinction between those two benefits. He wants people to be whole: spiritually and physically. Both remedies come in response to faith.Why is this? Simply because Christ came to make you whole, not just your soul, nor your body, but your entire being (1 Thessalonians 5:23-24; 3 John 2; etc.). In the reckoning of Luke (and of all the apostles), salvation includes healing, and healing includes salvation. Ideally, both benefits should always go hand in hand; there should be no distinction between them.Therefore, in response to faith, Christ is equally willing to show himself as Saviour or Healer, and preferably both. In New Testament terms, to deny one is also to deny the other, for scripture uses the same word of both: Christ is the One who makes you whole.Taken from Mountain Movershttps://lnkd.in/eCHzcdax

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Luke 23:45"and the veil of the temple was torn in two."This is a significant event that symbolizes Jesus Christ's work on the cross.The temple had three parts:1. The courts for all the people 2. The Holy Place - where only priests could enter3. The Most Holy Place - where the high priest alone could enter once a year to atone for the sins of the people.It was in the Most Holy Place that the ark of the covenant, and God's presence with it, rested.The veil (curtain) that was torn, was the one that closed off the Most Holy Place from view.When Jesus Christ died on the cross, the barrier between God and man, was torn (split) in two.Now all people can approach God directly through Jesus Christ:Hebrews 9:1-15"Then indeed, even the first covenant had ordinances of divine service and the earthly sanctuary. For a tabernacle was prepared: the first part, in which was the lampstand, the table, and the showbread, which is called the sanctuary; and behind the second veil, the part of the tabernacle which is called the Holiest of All, which had the golden censer and the ark of the covenant overlaid on all sides with gold, in which were the golden pot that had the manna, Aaron’s rod that budded, and the tablets of the covenant; and above it were the cherubim of glory overshadowing the mercy seat. Of these things we cannot now speak in detail.Now when these things had been thus prepared, the priests always went into the first part of the tabernacle, performing the services. But into the second part the high priest went alone once a year, not without blood, which he offered for himself and for the people’s sins committed in ignorance; the Holy Spirit indicating this, that the way into the Holiest of All was not yet made manifest while the first tabernacle was still standing. It was symbolic for the present time in which both gifts and sacrifices are offered which cannot make him who performed the service perfect in regard to the conscience— concerned only with foods and drinks, various washings, and fleshly ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation. Not with the blood of goats and calves, but with His own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all, having obtained eternal redemption. For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? And for this reason He is the Mediator of the new covenant, by means of death, for the redemption of the transgressions under the first covenant, that those who are called may receive the promise of the eternal inheritance."#Created_To_Worship_Ministries_SA

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#Joy of salvation!..WORD DIARY: SUNDAY JUNE 9, 2024Psalms 51:10 Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.#Brand new heart!Psalms 51:11-12 Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.#Joy of salvation! Psalms 51:13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, so that sinners will turn back to you.#Teach others!Psalms 51:14 Deliver me from the guilt of bloodshed, O God, you who are God my Savior, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.Let us pray: Father God, deliver us from the guilt of sin in the name of Jesus#Life questions and meditation:1. Have you experienced the joy of salvation?2. Do you encourage others to repent of their sin? #WordDiary#TheWordtoLiveBy#StartWithGod#TakeTheWordChallenge #EdenSquareChristianAssembly#Edensquaretv#BasilChukwueziPostscriptEcclesiastes 7:29 This only have I found: God made mankind upright, but men have gone in search of many schemes.God, more than earthly manufacturers, created a perfect mankind; and like every manufacturer, He gave the Bible as the manual. As we brush our teeth and eat every day, so much do we need to look into that manual for daily living and thereby prevent a malfunction inherent in seeking our many devices.These verses and the accompanying nuggets are meant to start you out every day. But you need a personal relationship with God and the Lord Jesus Christ. It will help to contact a Bible believing church near you. For comments, questions and general counsel follow me at basil.chukwuezi on Facebook,@BasilChukwuezi on Twitter, Instagram, basilchukwuezi and my blog,https://lnkd.in/gnJMk-Z. Email: edensquareassembly@yahoo.com. All scriptures are from the New International Version (NIV). Please kindly like and share to others. God bless you.

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Song # 1082.1- Christ’s Sacrifice – (from Hebrews 9 & 10).from Our Gospel In Song Collection by Col Johnston. We read in the Book of Hebrews in chapters 9 and 10 that through the sacrifice of Jesus – once, for all, He will bring salvation to those who are waiting for His return.Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15). In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it (Hebrews 9:16), because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living (Hebrews 9:17). For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (Hebrews 9:24). Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own (Hebrews 9:25). But Christ has appeared once for all, to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26). Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement (Hebrews 9:27), so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus said “Here I am, I have come to do your will, oh God” (Hebrews 10:7). And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). When this priest offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). By one sacrifice He has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:14). The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says (Hebrews 10:15). “This is the covenant I will make with them, after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16). Then He adds “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:18).See all the Christian videos from “Our Gospel In Song” collection - searchhttps://lnkd.in/g47CwMC

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Song # 1082.1- Christ’s Sacrifice – (from Hebrews 9 & 10).From Our Gospel In Song Collection by Col Johnston. We read in the Book of Hebrews in chapters 9 and 10 that through the sacrifice of Jesus – once, for all, He will bring salvation to those who are waiting for His return.Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15). In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it (Hebrews 9:16), because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living (Hebrews 9:17). For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (Hebrews 9:24). Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own (Hebrews 9:25). But Christ has appeared once for all, to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26). Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement (Hebrews 9:27), so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus said “Here I am, I have come to do your will, oh God” (Hebrews 10:7). And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). When this priest offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). By one sacrifice He has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:14). The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says (Hebrews 10:15). “This is the covenant I will make with them, after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16). Then He adds “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:18).Thought for today: Jesus prepares a place for us, and prepares us for that place.Thought for the future: when Jesus returns, it will be heaven for those who follow Him.See all the Christian videos from “Our Gospel In Song” collection search: https://lnkd.in/e3ffQiuj

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Mon-DAYSTAR-ters:**********************************************************************You have given me the shield of your salvation, and your right hand supported me, and your gentleness made me great. Psalm 18:35**********************************************************************Why?(David Harsha, "Christ Crucified")Why does the Lord of life and glory suffer?Why does He endure that piercing agony and that bloody sweat in gloomy Gethsemane?Why is He condemned to the death of Calvary?Look at the crucified Jesus!Why does He hang on that bloody cross?Why are those blessed hands and feet nailed to the accursed tree?Why is that dear side pierced with the soldier's spear?Why does the immaculate Lamb of God thus bleed?Ah! believing sinner, it is for you!For you, Christ endured that indescribable agony in Gethsemane, and those excruciating pains on Calvary!For you, the blood trickles down those pale cheeks, and streams from that pierced side.For you, the Son of God endures the hidings of His Father's face--until He is led to exclaim in the bitterness of His soul, "My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?"For you, His last breath is drawn, and His last cry uttered, "It is finished!"O could you but see with faith's vision, what Christ has done for you--surely your whole heart would burn with love to such a Savior, who, to ransom your precious soul from eternal woe, shed His own blood! That precious blood was poured out to cleanse you from the guilt of sin!Sin, then, was the cause of the sufferings and death of God's dear Son. Ah! sinner, you have slain the innocent Lamb of God! You have caused those wounds on Immanuel's glorious person. Your sins pierced Him to the very heart!**********************************************************************Feel free to forward these gems to others who may be encouraged or profited by them!**********************************************************************

Song # 1082.1- Christ’s Sacrifice – (from Hebrews 9 & 10).From Our Gospel In Song Collection by Col Johnston. We read in the Book of Hebrews in chapters 9 and 10 that through the sacrifice of Jesus – once, for all, He will bring salvation to those who are waiting for His return.Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance - now that He has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant (Hebrews 9:15). In the case of a will, it is necessary to prove the death of the one who made it (Hebrews 9:16), because a will is in force only when somebody has died; it never takes effect while the one who made it is living (Hebrews 9:17). For Christ did not enter a man-made sanctuary that was only a copy of the true one; He entered heaven itself, now to appear for us in God’s presence (Hebrews 9:24). Nor did He enter heaven to offer Himself again and again, the way the high priest enters the Most Holy Place every year with blood that is not his own (Hebrews 9:25). But Christ has appeared once for all, to do away with sin by the sacrifice of Himself (Hebrews 9:26). Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgement (Hebrews 9:27), so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people; and He will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for Him (Hebrews 9:28). Jesus said “Here I am, I have come to do your will, oh God” (Hebrews 10:7). And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Hebrews 10:10). When this priest offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God (Hebrews 10:12). By one sacrifice He has made perfect for ever those who are being made holy (Hebrews 10:14). The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First He says (Hebrews 10:15). “This is the covenant I will make with them, after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds” (Hebrews 10:16). Then He adds “Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more” (Hebrews 10:17). And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin (Hebrews 10:18).Thought for today: Jesus prepares a place for us, and prepares us for that place.Thought for the future: when Jesus returns, it will be heaven for those who follow Him.See all the Christian videos from “Our Gospel In Song” collection search: https://lnkd.in/e3ffQiuj

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