THROWBACK THURSDAY - During a 2007 road trip through Waynesboro, Virginia, my roommate and I spotted this school bus converted into a coffee shop. The manager was a believer and shared with me a pro-life song she wrote. I later created a music video for “Silent Voice”, which has generated more hits than any of my other YouTube clips (link in the comments).

DID YOU KNOW? Non-Christian Historians Confirm the Darkness at Christ’s Crucifixion. When Jesus Christ was crucified, something extraordinary happened: for three hours, darkness covered the land. This event is recorded in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matthew 27:45, Mark 15:33, Luke 23:44–45). What makes it even more remarkable is that this darkness was not only witnessed by those who followed Jesus—it was also noted by non-Christian historians of the time. Thallus, a historian writing around AD 52, is one of the earliest to mention it. Although his original writings are lost, later historian Julius Africanus preserves Thallus’s attempt to explain the darkness as a solar eclipse. Africanus points out that this explanation doesn’t work, since Passover occurs at a full moon and solar eclipses only happen at new moons. Thallus’s effort to explain it actually shows that the event was widely known and taken seriously. Another historian, Phlegon from Tralles (modern Turkey), writing around AD 137, also records unusual darkness at noon and even mentions that stars appeared in the sky. He also notes an earthquake around the same time. Like Thallus, Phlegon tries to attribute it to an eclipse, but the timing, duration, and the earthquake make a natural explanation impossible. His account lines up with the Gospel descriptions, showing that people outside the Christian faith recognized something extraordinary had happened. Tertullian, a writer in the second century, mentions that the darkness was recorded in Roman archives. Africanus, writing in the early third century, also confirms the darkness and the earthquake. Together, these sources—from Rome, Tralles, Palestine, and Carthage—show that the event was noticed across the ancient world and recorded by multiple observers. The evidence is clear: this was not just a story or legend. Non-Christian historians independently documented the unusual darkness, often struggling to explain it naturally. Their accounts, along with the Gospel records, provide strong historical confirmation that the crucifixion was accompanied by extraordinary events. Both Africanus and Tertullian, who preserved these accounts, would go on to become Christians, showing the lasting impact and significance of what they recorded.

Good evening, brethren. 1. Evening devotion for today. i. *DAILY WALK WITH CHRIST* (COCIN DEVOTIONAL) *DATE:* WEDNESDAY 8TH APRIL, 2026. *SUB-THEME:* THE CROSS: CULMINATION OF GRACE. *TOPIC:* GRACE TO ALL PEOPLE *TEXT:* TITUS 2:11-14. 11. For the grace of God has appeared that offers salvation to all people. 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, 13. while we wait for the blessed hope—the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, 14. who gave Himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for Himself a people that are His very own, eager to do what is good. *TOPIC:* GRACE TO ALL PEOPLE. *THE MESSAGE:* This passage highlights the transformative power of God's grace. Salvation is available to all through God's grace. It is universal and does not discriminate. This grace saves and teaches believers to reject ungodliness and worldly passions, leading lives marked by self-control, righteousness, and devotion. For Christ gave Himself to free us from sin and purify us to live holy. It also gives the believers great hope - to live in anticipation of Christ's glorious return. God's grace is not a license to sin (Rom. 6:1-2). Are you experiencing moral and spiritual growth? Are you struggling with particular sin and thinking there is no way out? The grace of God can help you overcome it. You must discipline yourself to live above reproach. *REFLECTION:* Do not abuse the grace of God. *PRAYER:* Lord, help me to appropriate Your grace. Amen. *MEMORY VERSE FOR THE MONTH:* COLOSSIANS 2:15. "And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross." *TODAY'S BIBLE READING PLAN:* 2 KINGS 1-3. ii.Skip to content Dalily Devotional by Elizabeth Haworth Posted onApril 8, 2026 by Editor Examine Yourself Christian Applications Store:: Christian devotional App Store; Explore Recommended Christian Books and Devotionals God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by Whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world. Galatians 6:14 2 Aspects of Salvation The death of Christ is the most wonderful thing that deserves our thanks, for through the death of the innocent Victim our sins were forever forgiven. The resurrection of Christ deserves our most glorious worship and praise – for by His resurrection He also broke the power of death in the life of the believer. The death and resurrection merit our greatest gratitude and excellent thanks to God. Both, indeed, deserve the greatest and most triumphant celebrations of all believers. Sin’s Penalty / Power But what does it mean: this aspect of the cross of Christ, in which we should glory alone? What is this cross, by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world? How many truly glory in this sombre aspect of the Cross, which means self-surrender? How many prefer to simply focus on the initial surrender – forgiveness of sins.. rather than the glorious surrender of a life, utterly yielded to Him – a life that is truly, totally, and completely broken before the Lord. Surrendered Life Praise God for those that focus on the initial surrender of a forgiven sinner, but how crucial that we go on to that glorious surrendered life of a saint. What is it that prevents us from keeping our focus on this life, yielded in utter surrender? Well, it is anything that takes the place of Christ …. absolutely anything. Anything that comes before the totally surrendered life becomes a hindrance. Anything that is placed before a life surrendered to Christ becomes an obstacle. Anything that eclipses a life self-surrender to Christ becomes a legalistic impediment. Not one of us should consider ourselves exempt from these interfering encumbrances. Legalistic Impediments Legalistic rituals, rites, and ceremonies can most certainly impede spiritual growth, but what are these things? How can you identify such hindrances? What can become legalistic rituals, rites, or ceremonies? What can become such interfering encumbrances in the life of a believer. Anything! ANYthing!! ANYTHING that we do ourselves as a means of sanctification – any experience or any devotional undertaking which we think will make us mature. Prayer and devotion; Bible reading and preaching; alms-giving and obedience are all good – all are good, but any one can become an impediment if we see it as a means to an end. Anything we deem necessary to bring us close to Jesus, can become a hindrance! Legalism in Galatians We need to examine ourselves to see if we have become like the foolish Galatians. We need to see if we are trying to use such methods and means for self-sanctification. We need to check if any such self-effort is leading us away from the crucified life. 2 Aspects of Faith It was Paul that recognised this failing in the Galatian Christians and cried out, O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you… Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish, having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh?Galatians 3:1 Sanctification Trap These are serious and sombre words that each of us would do well to examine. These are grave accusations that can be true of any believer who’s trying hard to do well! The Galatians were forgiven, born-again people, who were not relapsing into sin, but they were foolishly falling into the trap of ego, self-righteousness, and pride. The Galatians had become sanctimonious moralists. They had become hypocrites. Outwardly they were clean and polished but inwardly they were ‘full of dead men’s bones’. 2 Aspects of Righteousness In true sanctification, there is no place for anything except, that I should know Him. In true sanctification, the only reality is the Lord Jesus Himself. If we really know Him we will pay no attention to other experiences. If you truly know Him, no outward garment of self-righteousness will be donned. Internal Hypocrisy Oswald Chambers puts it this way:-‘There is only one thing – and that is our relationship to Jesus Christ. What is needed today is not so much a revival as a resurgent form of awakening – the incoming of the tremendous life of God in a new form. The spiritual cure for triviality, is a new note of greatness born of the realisation of what it cost Jesus to produce His salvation in us – a sanctified life. Only when we continually face the cross, are we safe from the dangers of triviality and internal hypocrisy.’ Self- Surrender Study and prayer mean nothing if we use them as our means of sanctification. Self-discipline and flagellations will never draw the un-crucified heart closer to the Lord. Preaching and proselytising of itself, is of none-effect – for God knows the heart. So what is required? Only a complete and total self-surrender.. a heart that is truly, totally, utterly and completely broken before the Lord – a life that has reached the absolute end of ‘MY-self – to focus upon HIM-self. So let us grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever. Amen. Post navigation Previous Post Previous God Appointments Proudly powered by WordPress. 2. Evening Prayer for today. i. Evening Prayer He will not suffer thy foot to be moved: he that keepeth thee will not slumber. Behold, he that keepeth Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. ⏤ Psalm 121:3-4 God shapes the world by prayer. The more praying there is in the world the better the world will be. ⏤ E.M. Bounds Our heavenly Father, You’ve brought us to the end of another day. We don’t even know all the dangers we’ve passed through safely because You were watching over us. We don’t know how close we were to death, or how Your hand guided us along narrow paths. We don’t know the enemies we’ve passed by unharmed because You protected us. We don’t know how You kept us from wandering into dangerous paths and instead led us on the right way. We thank You not only for the close calls but also for the safe and peaceful paths You’ve led us on today. It’s been a good day because You guided our way. Now we leave the day with You—its work, its responsibilities, its mistakes, its sins. Where we’ve messed up—will You forgive us? Where we’ve done wrong—will You make it right? Where we’ve broken things—will You restore them? The poor pieces of our obedience, scattered along our path—will You gather them up and turn them into something beautiful? You have a way of using even our brokenness to build something good. So, we give You this day with all its imperfections, asking You to make it a day of grace and beauty. May the influence we’ve had on others today be positive and uplifting. Let no harm come to anyone from our words or actions. Bless the good we’ve received from others today as well. Take us now into Your care for the night. We can’t keep ourselves safe, so we place everything in Your hands. We will sleep peacefully because we trust You to watch over us. Keep us safe, we ask in Jesus’ precious name. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/03/evening #taptapstudio #youdevotion.

Daily devotion for April 5th Signs And Seasons God made two great lights — the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. Genesis 1:16 The great question is never How? but Why? The answer to the question, Why did God make the sun and moon and stars? is given in a threefold way here in this passage. The greater light exists, first, to give light upon the earth, both during the day and at night. We all know that the sun makes the day. The rotation of the earth is what determines the length of the day, and the speed of the earth as it rotates determines the 24-hour duration. Yet that speed is regulated by the moon, which acts as a brake upon the earth. It restricts the speed of the rotation of the earth to the exact time that makes possible the 24-hour-day, which is the length of time best adapted to the needs of humans. Isn't that remarkable? Other planets have entirely different lengths of days. On some of the planets, a day would occupy months, and even years, of our time. Others have much shorter days. But God has designated a 24-hour day for our planet because it precisely fits the needs of humanity. Second, the great lights exist to measure the process of time for days and for years, says the Scripture. They are the means by which we measure time. The orbit of earth around the sun determines the length of the year, which, again, is just right for human needs. The orbit of the earth around the sun is determined by two factors: the gravitational pull of the sun and the velocity of the earth. No one knows what determines the velocity of the earth, what strange force hurls us through space at about 1,100 miles per minute. But here we are told that God has ordained the sun and moon to provide measures of the time that mark off the segments of life we call days and years. Third, these lights are designed to mark significant events; they are for signs and for seasons. The entire record of human history confirms the truth of this. This is exactly what the sun and moon and stars do. Eclipses are like mileposts in human history, marking off certain dates. We can study events in ancient history because eclipses have been recorded. Many times in the Bible the sun and the moon have served as great signs. We are all familiar with the story of the star of Bethlehem. It announced the birth of the greatest person ever born in the history of our globe. There is also the strange darkening of the sun at the time of the crucifixion, an unexplained darkness that lasted for three hours. There have been other times like this. And through the Bible there runs a refrain, beginning in the early books and running through the New Testament, which says there is coming a day when the greatest event the world will ever know, the return of Jesus Christ to earth, will be heralded by the darkening of the sun and the moon's turning to blood. These bodies are provided for signs and for seasons. You are the Lord of all creation. I see that you have created the signs and seasons to serve Your great redemptive purpose in Jesus Christ.

THE DAY WE VOTED TO KILL JESUS It began, as most things do now, online. On a feed. A man from an obscure northern province had been going viral for weeks — not because he was entertaining, but because he was true. His clips did not promise prosperity or pander to tribalism. He spoke of grace for the poor, accountability for the powerful, and a kingdom not built on the backs of the broken. The algorithm, designed to reward outrage, did not know what to do with him. But the people did. They shared him anyway. By the time the religious establishment took notice, he already had thirty million followers. What finished any chance of peaceful coexistence was what he did at the National Ecumenical Center on a Tuesday morning: live-streamed, unannounced. He walked into the atrium where prosperity coaches held paid seminars, where VIP prayer packages were sold at tiered rates, and where political endorsements were packaged as anointing. And he overturned the tables. On camera. Without apology. The clip hit forty million views before sunset. Behind closed doors that evening, the High Council of Bishops convened an emergency session. The minutes, leaked weeks later, were clinical: he was destabilising revenue streams, challenging theological authority, and, most dangerously, making the masses believe that God did not require middlemen. He had to be stopped. The only question was how. His name was Judas. A trusted aide. A man who had believed, once. Genuinely believed. But somewhere in the drift of disappointment, belief had curdled into transaction. The sum transferred to his account was modest by elite standards. But Judas told himself it was not about the money. It was about pragmatism. About choosing the possible over the perfect. He told himself this until he almost believed it. He made the call at 11:47PM on a Thursday. Shared location on Google maps. The security convoy arrived in Gethsemane Park with body cameras deliberately switched off. The suspect was described in the official statement as a person of interest in a matter of public order and religious incitement. A kiss on his cheek. He did not resist. Witnesses said he was calm; unnervingly calm. One officer, who later gave an anonymous account to a journalist, said: 'He looked at us like he knew. Like he had always known.' His closest associates scattered within minutes. One, a man named Peter, denied knowing him three times to the same security checkpoint officer; the third denial caught on CCTV, replayed endlessly in the days that followed. By morning, #JesusArrest was the top trend on all social media platforms in seventeen countries. The hearing was convened under a procedural clause that bypassed standard judicial review. Governor Pontius, a career bureaucrat with an approval rating of thirty-one percent and a re-election campaign launching in eight weeks, was assigned the case. He reviewed the dossier. He reviewed the polling data. They told different stories. His private counsel advised him: the charges were thin. Blasphemy was not a criminal offence under current statutes. Disturbing the peace was a misdemeanour at best. But the Council had delivered something more powerful than evidence: they had delivered a crowd. Cable panels convened at dawn. A retired theologian called him a threat to social cohesion. A political analyst called him a populist agitator. A bishop who had once requested a private meeting with him, who had wept in that meeting, now appeared on camera calling him dangerous. The chyron beneath his face read: EXPERT WARNS OF RADICALISM. Pontius called for a public vote. It was framed as democratic. It was anything but. The choice was presented simply: the people could call for the release of a convicted violent criminal, or they could call for the release of the teacher from Galilee. The Council's digital teams had been working since midnight. Bot accounts seeded the sentiment. Influencers who owed the establishment favours posted. WhatsApp groups in three hundred parishes received coordinated messages framing Jesus as a heretic who had insulted the faith. By 9AM, seventy-eight percent of respondents in the live online poll voted to free Barabbas. We all voted. Pontius looked at the numbers for a long time. Then he ordered a basin of water, washed his hands in full view of the cameras, and signed the order. What followed, the official record would sanitise. The truth was uglier. Soldiers, bored and brutal in the way that institutionalised violence makes men bored and brutal, mocked him in the holding room. Someone pressed a makeshift crown of thorns onto his head as a joke. Someone filmed it. The clip circulated in private groups with laughing emojis. He carried the instrument of his own execution through streets where, days before, people had waved and wept with joy to see him. Those same streets were now lined with jeering faces. A few wept quietly at the edges. Most looked away. He fell. Three times. And each time he rose. They nailed him to the cross at noon. The sky, eyewitnesses later swore, turned a colour that had no name. He spoke seven times. The last words were not defiant. They were not bitter. They were "It is finished". The tomb was sealed. Soldiers were posted. A statement was issued by the Council declaring the matter closed and urging the public to move forward. Three days later, the tomb was empty. No forensic explanation satisfied. The guards could not account for it. The stone, estimated at two tonnes, had been moved. Not rolled. Moved. The burial cloths were folded with an unsettling neatness, as if left by someone who was, simply, no longer in a hurry. He appeared first to a woman, Mary, who had never left. Not to the powerful. Not to the verified accounts. To a woman who had stayed when everyone else had run. Then to others. Dozens. Then hundreds. The Council issued a counter-narrative. It trended for six hours. Then it didn't. Because truth, it turns out, does not require an algorithm. It only requires time. They did not kill a criminal that day. They killed inconvenient love. They killed truth that refused to flatter power. They killed mercy that would not stay quiet. And love — real love, the kind that carries a cross through jeering streets and still says 'Father, forgive them' — does not die on schedule. The question that remains, the one that refuses to age, is not whether it happened. It is whether, if it were happening today, in your feed, on your screen, trending in your timeline, you would be in the crowd chanting for Barabbas. Or if you would be standing quietly at the edge, weeping, unwilling to walk away. Which would you be? If this story unfolded today, what moment would have made you pause? The betrayal? The vote? Or the silence? HAPPY EASTER! #EasterMeditation #ImaginativeNonfiction #TheDayWeVotedToKillJesus #FaithAndSociety #TruthAndPower

From; Ellen G.White The Experience Recounted When the gleams of the glory of God came to me first, they thought that I was dead, and there they watched and cried and prayed so long, but to me it was heaven, it was life, and then the world was spread out before me and I saw darkness like the pall of death. {3SM 34.3} What did it mean? I could see no light. Then I saw a little glimmer of light and then another, and these lights increased and grew brighter, and multiplied and grew stronger and stronger till they were the light of the world. These were the believers in Jesus Christ.... {3SM 34.4} I never thought that I should come to the world again. When my breath came again to my body, I could not hear anything. Everything was dark. The light and glory that my eyes had rested upon had eclipsed the light and thus it was for many hours. Then gradually I began to recognize the light, and I asked where I was. {3SM 34.5} “You are right here in my house,” said the owner of the house. {3SM 35.1} “What, here? I here? Do you not know about it?” Then it all came back to me. Is this to be my home? Have I come here again? Oh, the weight and the burden which came upon my soul.—Manuscript 16, 1894. {3SM 35.2}

March 23 George Friedrich Handel known for his - Handel's oratorio "Messiah". George Friedrich Handel's oratorio "Messiah" was first played in London on March 23, 1743. It was attended by King George II. The King who was so moved by the “Hallelujah” chorus that he rose to his feet and then everyone in attendance followed suit as not to be sitting when the King stood. A tradition ever since is observed whenever the "Hallelujah" chorus is played. After he wrote the "Hallelujah" chorus, Handel was quoted as saying, "I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself." George Frideric Handel was born on 23 February 1685 (the same year as Johann Sebastian Bach and Domenico Scarlatti) in Halle, Duchy of Magdeburg - Germany. His parents were Georg Händel and Dorothea Taust. His father was an eminent barber surgeon who served the court of Saxe-Weissenfels and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. The Thirty Years' War brought extensive destruction to Halle, and by the 1680s it was impoverished. From an early age, Handel longed to study music, but his father objected, doubting that music would be a realistic source of income. Infact, his father would not even permit him to own a musical instrument. George studied law until 1703, even though his father (who finally allowed his son to take music lessons at age 9) died when he was 11. His mother, however, was supportive, and she encouraged him to develop his musical talent. With her cooperation, Handel took to practicing on the sly. Handel attended the Gymnasium in Halle, where the headmaster, Johann Praetorius, was reputed to be an ardent musician. When Handel was still a young boy, he had the opportunity to play the organ for the duke’s court in Weissenfels. It was there that Handel met composer and organist Frideric Wilhelm Zachow. Zachow was impressed with Handel’s potential and invited Handel to become his pupil. Under Zachow's tutelage, Handel mastered composing for the organ, the oboe and the violin alike by the time he was 10 years old. By age 12, Handel was substituting for his organ teacher and had written his first composition. From the age of 11 to the time he was 16 or 17, Handel composed church cantatas and chamber music that, being written for a small audience, failed to garner much attention and have since been lost to time. In 1703, when Handel was 18 years old, he decided to commit himself completely to music, accepting a violinist’s position at the Hamburg Opera’s Goose Market Theater. During this time, he supplemented his income by teaching private music lessons in his free time, passing on what he had learned from Zachow. After musical studies in Germany and Italy, Handel worked as a composer in Hamburg and Italy. Handel moved to England in 1712 and became a naturalised British subject in 1727. He stayed for the rest of his life in London and became a composer for the Chapel Royal. By the 1730s, British audiences had grown tired of operas sung in German or Italian and preferred comedic performances in English. This was good for Handel, who struggled to keep his creditors away, and led him to push himself to the limit by composing four operas within the same year. As a result, Handel suffered a stroke in the spring of 1737 that paralyzed his right arm. The doctor who treated him said, “We may save the man—but the musician is lost forever. It seems to me that his brain has been permanently injured.” His fans worried that he would never compose again. But Handel refused to give up. After only six weeks of recuperation in Aix-la-Chapelle, Handel was fully recovered. He surprised everyone when he miraculously recovered his strength and declared, “I have come back from Hades.” He went back to London and not only returned to composing, but made a comeback at playing the organ as well. In 1741, swimming in debt and out of favor as a composer, Handel received a libretto from Charles Jennens, a poet and a scholar of Handel’s day with whom he had worked previously. The words to the piece are a distillation of Christian doctrine, using scripture references, the libretto detailed the life of Jesus Christ from His birth and ministry to His crucifixion and resurrection. Jennens wrote to counteract all of the secular thinking of the day and teach those who preferred concert halls to church pews the rudiments of the Christian message. He drew his text from the Bible and the Book of Common Prayer. For Jennens and Handel, "Messiah" would be an evangelistic tool to share the gospel with the masses. Handel lived at his rented house # 25 Brook Street, in the Mayfair district of London. On August 22, 56-year-old Handel sequestered himself in his London home and began to compose music to the biblical texts heralding the life of Jesus Christ. For more than a week, his servant faithfully waited on his employer Handel, and served appealing meals to the composer, and returned later to find the bowls and platters largely untouched. The servant knew his master Handel as an eccentric composer, who spent hour after hour isolated in his own room. One day the servant opened the door of the composer’s room and was startled to see tears streaming down his master Handle's face. The great composer turned to his servant and cried out, ‘I did think I did see all Heaven before me, and the great God Himself.’ In just 24 days the great composer Handel completed a 260-page oratorio. He titled the massive work "Messiah". Handel wrote the Messiah for the Easter holiday but the music got quickly pegged for Christmas performances. The Handel's Messiah oratorio tells three stories: the first part prophesied the birth of Jesus Christ; the second exalted his sacrifice for humankind; and the final section heralded his Resurrection. The first part is sung at Christmas and the second and final at Easter, with the Hallelujah Chorus being sung both times. Handel told the sponsors of the premier performance of Messiah in Dublin, Ireland, on April 13, 1742, that the proceeds from the performance should be donated to prisoners, orphans and the sick. “I have myself been a very sick man, and am now cured,” he said. “I was prisoner and have been set free.” Six years later that is in 1743, Handel suffered a second springtime stroke. However, he stunned audiences once again with a speedy recovery, followed by a prolific stream of ambitious oratorios. Handel’s three-act oratorio Samson, which premiered in London in 1743, reflected how Handel related to the character’s blindness through his own firsthand experience with the progressive degeneration of his sight: Total eclipse! no sun, no moon. All dark amidst the blaze of noon. Oh glorious light! no cheering ray To glad my eyes with welcome day. By 1750, Handel had entirely lost sight in his left eye. He forged on, however, composing the oratorio Jephtha, which also contained a reference to obscured vision. In 1752 Handel lost sight in his other eye and was rendered completely blind. As always before, Handel’s passionate pursuit of music propelled him forward. He kept on performing and composing, relying on his sharp memory to compensate when necessary, and remained actively involved in productions of his work until his dying day. Over the course of his musical career, Handel, exhausted by stress, endured a number of potentially debilitating problems with his physical health. He is also believed to have suffered from anxiety and depression. Yet somehow, Handel, who was known to laugh in the face of adversity, remained virtually undeterred in his determination to keep making music. On April 14, 1759, at the age of 74, Handel died on the day before Easter 1759, hoping to "meet his good God, his sweet Lord and Savior, on the day of his Resurrection. Handel was buried in Westminster Abbey a week after he died. Around 3000 people attended his funeral service. "A close friend remarked, "He died as he lived—a good Christian, with a true sense of his duty to God and to man, and in perfect charity with all the world." Handel was known for being a generous man, even in death. Having never married or fathered children, his will divided his assets among his servants and several charities, including the Foundling Hospital. He even donated the money to pay for his own funeral so that none of his loved ones would bear the financial burden. His music was admired by Classical-era composers, especially Mozart and Beethoven. Handel composed more than forty opera serias over a period of more than thirty years. The musicologist Winton Dean wrote that "Handel was not only a great composer; he was a dramatic genius of the first order." The works that associate Handel most closely with Westminster Abbey are the four anthems written for the coronation of George II in 1727. The best known, 'Zadok the Priest', has been used at every coronation since then, but all four continue to be regularly performed and recorded. A number of hymnal editors, including Lowell Mason, took themes from some of Handel's oratorios and turned them into hymn tunes; ANTIOCH is one example, long associated with “Joy to the World.” George Frideric Handel's Messiah was originally an Easter offering. It burst onto the stage of Musick Hall in Dublin on April 13, 1742. The men and women in attendance sat mesmerized from the moment the tenor followed the mournful string overture with his piercing opening line: "Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith your God." Soloists alternated with wave upon wave of chorus, until, near the midway point, Cibber intoned: "He was despised and rejected of men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief." So moved was the Rev. Patrick Delany that he leapt to his feet and cried out: "Woman, for this be all thy sins forgiven thee!" In most of Handel's oratorios, the soloists dominate and the choir sings only brief choruses. But in Messiah, says Laurence Cummings, director of the London Handel Orchestra, "the chorus propels the work forward with great emotional impact and uplifting messages." Some 40 years after Messiah’s premiere, English musicologist Charles Burney wrote, “This great work has been heard in all parts of the kingdom with increasing reverence and delight; it has fed the hungry, clothed the naked, fostered the orphan and enriched succeeding managers of the oratorios, more than any single production in this or any other country.” Handel placed a note on his original manuscript that read “To God alone the glory,” "He [Handel] would frequently declare the pleasure he felt in setting the Scriptures to music, and how contemplating the many sublime passages in the Psalms had contributed to his edification." —Sir John Hawkins Ludwig van Beethoven considered Handel was the greatest of all his predecessors; he said, "I would bare my head and kneel at his grave". Citing Messiah, Beethoven said Handel was the "greatest composer that ever lived." Handle's Hallelujah chorus is one of the best and all time played and sung across the churches. "Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! For the Lord God omnipotent reigneth. Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our Lord, and of His Christ, and of His Christ; And He shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings, and Lord of lords. King of kings, and Lord of lords. King of kings, and Lord of lords, and Lord of lords, and He shall reign, and He shall reign for ever and ever, for ever and ever, Hallelujah! Hallelujah! And He shall reign for ever and ever, for ever and ever. King of kings! and Lord of lords! King of kings! and Lord of lords! And He shall reign for ever and ever, King of kings! and Lord of lords! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" https://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-culture/the-glorious-history-of-handels-messiah-148168540/ https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Frideric_Handel https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.biography.com/.amp/musician/george-handel https://philharmonia.org/learn-and-listen/baroque-composers/george-frideric-handel/ https://hymnary.org/person/Handel_GF https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/george-frederic-handel https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/george-frideric-handel.html https://www.christianitytoday.com/history/people/musiciansartistsandwriters/george-frideric-handel.html http://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/book/lookupname?key=Handel%2C%20George%20Frideric%2C%201685%2D1759 https://youtu.be/IUZEtVbJT5c

MORNING AND EVENING. Charles H. Spurgeon Morning. "Ye must be born again." John 3:7 Regeneration is a subject which lies at the very basis of salvation, and we should be very diligent to take heed that we really are "born again," for there are many who fancy they are, who are not. Be assured that the name of a Christian is not the nature of a Christian; and that being born in a Christian land, and being recognized as professing the Christian religion is of no avail whatever, unless there be something more added to it--the being "born again," is a matter so mysterious, that human words cannot describe it. "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." Nevertheless, it is a change which is known and felt: known by works of holiness, and felt by a gracious experience. This great work is supernatural. It is not an operation which a man performs for himself: a new principle is infused, which works in the heart, renews the soul, and affects the entire man. It is not a change of my name, but a renewal of my nature, so that I am not the man I used to be, but a new man in Christ Jesus. To wash and dress a corpse is a far different thing from making it alive: man can do the one, God alone can do the other. If you have then, been "born again," your acknowledgment will be, "O Lord Jesus, the everlasting Father, thou art my spiritual Parent; unless thy Spirit had breathed into me the breath of a new, holy, and spiritual life, I had been to this day dead in trespasses and sins.' My heavenly life is wholly derived from thee, to thee I ascribe it. My life is hid with Christ in God.' It is no longer I who live, but Christ who liveth in me." May the Lord enable us to be well assured on this vital point, for to be unregenerate is to be unsaved, unpardoned, without God, and without hope. Evening. "Before destruction the heart of man is haughty." Proverbs 18:12 It is an old and common saying, that "coming events cast their shadows before them;" the wise man teaches us that a haughty heart is the prophetic prelude of evil. Pride is as safely the sign of destruction as the change of mercury in the weather-glass is the sign of rain; and far more infallibly so than that. When men have ridden the high horse, destruction has always overtaken them. Let David's aching heart show that there is an eclipse of a man's glory when he dotes upon his own greatness. 2 Sam. 24:10. See Nebuchadnezzar, the mighty builder of Babylon, creeping on the earth, devouring grass like oxen, until his nails had grown like bird's claws, and his hair like eagle's feathers. Dan. 4:33. Pride made the boaster a beast, as once before it made an angel a devil. God hates high looks, and never fails to bring them down. All the arrows of God are aimed at proud hearts. O Christian, is thine heart haughty this evening? For pride can get into the Christian's heart as well as into the sinner's; it can delude him into dreaming that he is "rich and increased in goods, and hath need of nothing." Art thou glorying in thy graces or thy talents? Art thou proud of thyself, that thou hast had holy frames and sweet experiences? Mark thee, reader, there is a destruction coming to thee also. Thy flaunting poppies of self-conceit will be pulled up by the roots, thy mushroom graces will wither in the burning heat, and thy self-sufficiency shall become as straw for the dunghill. If we forget to live at the foot of the cross in deepest lowliness of spirit, God will not forget to make us smart under his rod. A destruction will come to thee, O unduly exalted believer, the destruction of thy joys and of thy comforts, though there can be no destruction of thy soul. Wherefore, "He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord."

AMAZING FACTS BIBLE STUDY A/F # 8 Hello family, friends, and brothers and sisters in the Christ. This is Brother Johnny Gass. Welcome to Bible study. My hope is that you will share these studies on your timelines with everyone you know, family, friends, coworkers, fellow students, and neighbors. Share in hopes of winning souls to Christ for the expansion of the kingdom of God. Study to show yourself approved unto God, a workman unashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 2 Timothy 2:15 Amazing Facts # 8 The Ultimate Deliverance It's no fairytale - one day, you can be free from all the hurt, hunger, aloneness, crime, and chaos infecting the world today. Doesn't that sound wonderful? But it's not going to be some charismatic earthly leader who's going to deliver you... no, He's much more superior than that! Jesus is coming soon, but there is a lot of popular misconceptions regarding just how He's coming. So take a few minutes to understand what the Bible really says about the second coming so you won't be left behind! 1. Will Jesus return to this earth the second time? Can we be positive? "Christ ... shall ... appear the second time." Hebrews 9:28. "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again." John 14:3. Answer: Yes! In Matthew 26:64, Jesus testified under oath that He would come back to this earth again. Since the Scripture cannot be broken (John 10:35), this is proof positive. Believe it just as it reads. It is Christ's own personal guarantee. Jesus taught that He will return to earth the second time. 2. In what manner will Jesus return the second time? "While they beheld, he was taken up; and a cloud received him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel; Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven." Acts 1:9-11. Answer: The Scriptures promise that Jesus will return to this earth in the same manner that He left at His ascension--in a visible, literal, bodily, personal manner. Matthew 24:30 says, "They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." He will come in the clouds literally, as a personal being with a body of flesh and bones (Luke 24:36-43, 50, 51), and His coming will be visible. Scripture is clear on these facts. Jesus said He will return to earth in the clouds. 3. Will the second coming of Christ be visible to all men or only to a select group? "Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him." Revelation 1:7. "For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:27. Answer: Every man, woman, and child living in the world when Jesus returns will see Him at His second coming. The staggering threefold (Luke 9:26) brightness of His coming will stretch from horizon to horizon, and the atmosphere will be charged with brilliant glory like lightning. No one will be able to hide. Every living soul will be forced to face Christ. Christ left no loophole for doubt or misunderstanding. Every person living on earth will see Jesus when He returns the second time. Note: The secret rapture so commonly believed and taught today is not in the Bible. It is a human invention. Nor is the second coming a spiritual coming into the heart at conversion. It does not take place at a man's death, nor is it figurative--to be manifested by better world conditions. These theories are all of human origin. The second coming will be a literal, worldwide, visible, personal appearance of Christ in the clouds to bring this world to an end and to reward or punish all men and women. 4. Who will come with Jesus at His second coming, and why? "When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory." Matthew 25:31. Answer: All the angels of heaven will come with Jesus at His second coming. As the cloud nears the earth, Jesus will send His angels, and they will quickly gather together all of the righteous people in preparation for the trip back to heaven (Matthew 24:31). All the angels of heaven will be with Jesus at His second coming. 5. What is the purpose of Jesus' second coming to this earth? "And, behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be." Revelation 22:12. "I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also." John 14:3. "And he shall send Jesus Christ ... Whom the heaven must receive until the times of restitution of all things." Acts 3:20, 21. Jesus will take His people to heaven and restore to them everything Adam and Eve lost. Answer: Jesus is coming back to this earth to reward His people as He promised and to take them to the beautiful home He has prepared for them. He will restore to His people all of the joys and glories of Eden that Adam and Eve lost by sinning. His second coming will bring an end to this present age of evil. 6. What will happen to the righteous people when Jesus comes the second time? "For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven ... and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord." 1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17. "We shall all be changed, ... and the dead shall be raised incorruptible. For ... this mortal must put on immortality." 1 Corinthians 15:51-53. "We look for ... the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body." Philippians 3:20, 21. Answer: The righteous dead will be raised from their graves, given perfect, immortal bodies like that of Christ, and caught up into the clouds to meet the Lord. Then the righteous living will also be given bodies like Christ and will be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. And Jesus will take the righteous to heaven with Him. Note that Jesus does not touch the earth at His second coming. The saints meet Him "in the air." So God's people will ignore any report that Christ is in Baltimore, New Orleans, Los Angeles, etc. False christs will appear and do miracles on the earth (Matthew 24:23-27), but Jesus will remain in the clouds above the earth at His second coming. Little babies taken from their parents by death will be returned to them at Jesus' second coming. 7. What will happen to the wicked people when Jesus comes again? "With the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked." Isaiah 11:4. "And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day from one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth." Jeremiah 25:33. Answer: The wicked will be slain by Jesus. The wicked will be slain at Jesus' second coming. 8. How will Christ's second coming affect the earth itself? "And there was a great earthquake, such as was not since men were upon the earth, so mighty an earthquake, and so great." "And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found." Revelation 16:18, 20. "I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the Lord." Jeremiah 4:26. "The Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste." "The land shall be utterly emptied." Isaiah 24:1, 3. Today's earthquakes are minor in comparison with the massive earthquake at Jesus' coming. Answer: The earth will be seized by a great earthquake at the coming of the Lord. This earthquake will be of such a devastating nature that it will leave the world in a state of total destruction. 9. Does the Bible give specific information regarding the nearness of Christ's second coming? Answer: Yes, it does! And Jesus Himself said, "When ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors." Matthew 24:33. The Lord placed signs all along the way from His ascension to His second coming. They are listed below. Study them carefully. A. The Destruction of Jerusalem Prophecy: "There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down." "Let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains." Matthew 24:2, 16. Fulfillment: Jerusalem was destroyed in A.D. 70 by the Roman warrior Titus. B. A Great Persecution, or Tribulation Prophecy: "For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world." Matthew 24:21. Fulfillment: This prophecy points primarily to the long period of tribulation that took place during the Dark Ages and was instigated by the apostate church. It lasted more than 1,000 years. Over 50 million Christians were slain for their faith in this terrible tribulation period. One writer says the apostate church "has shed more innocent blood than any other institution that has ever existed among mankind." W.E.H. Lecky, History of the Rise and Influence of the Spirit of Rationalism in Europe, (Reprint; New York: Braziller, 1955) Vol. 2, pp. 40-45. Millions of Christians died during the Dark Ages. Many were burned at the stake. C. The Sun Turned into Darkness Prophecy: "Immediately after the tribulation of those days shall the sun be darkened." Matthew 24:29. Fulfillment: This was fulfilled by a day of supernatural darkness on May 19, 1780. It was not an eclipse. Timothy Dwight says, "The 19th of May, 1780, was a remarkable dark day. Candles were lighted in many houses; the birds were silent and disappeared, and the fowls retired to roost. ... A very general opinion prevailed, that the day of judgment was at hand." Quoted in Connecticut Historical Collections, compiled by John Warner Barber (2nd ed.; New Haven: Durrie and Peck and J.W. Barber, 1836) p. 403. D. The Moon Turned into Blood Prophecy: "The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before the great and the terrible day of the Lord come." Joel 2:31. Fulfillment: The moon became as red as blood on the night of the "dark day," May 19, 1780. Milo Bostick in Stone's History of Massachusetts says, "The moon which was at its full, had the appearance of blood." E. The Stars Fall from Heaven Prophecy: "And the stars shall fall from heaven." Matthew 24:29. Fulfillment: The great star shower took place on the night of November 13, 1833. It was so bright that a newspaper could be read on the street. One writer says, "For nearly four hours the sky was literally ablaze."* Men thought the end of the world had come. Look into this. It is most fascinating, and a sign of Christ's coming. The great star shower took place on November 13, 1833. *Peter A. Millman, "The Falling of the Stars," The Telescope, 7 (May-June, 1940) 57. F. Jesus Comes in the Clouds Prophecy: "And then shall appear the sign of the Son of man in heaven: and then shall all the tribes of the earth mourn, and they shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory." Matthew 24:30. Fulfillment: This is the next great event. Are you ready? 10. How may we know when we have reached the very last days of earth's history? Does the Bible clearly describe the world and its people in the last generation? Answer: Yes, indeed it does. Look at the following specific signs of the last days. You will be amazed. And these are just a few of many, many positive signs that show we are in the closing days of earth's history. A. Capital-labor troubles "The hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord." "Be ... patient; ... for the coming of the Lord draweth nigh." James 5:4, 8. Trouble between capital and labor is predicted for the last days. For fulfillment, consult your newspaper. Strife between capital and labor is a sign of Jesus' second coming. B. Wars and commotions "But when ye shall hear of wars and commotions, be not terrified: for these things must first come to pass." Luke 21:9. Wars and the ravages of civil distress are affecting thousands worldwide. Only Jesus' soon coming will bring an end to the pain and destruction of war. C. Unrest, fear, and upheaval "And there shall be ... upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; ... Men's hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth." Luke 21:25, 26. This sounds strangely like an editorial from a current newspaper--a perfect picture of the world today--and there is a reason: We are the people of the very last days of earth's history. The tense atmosphere present in the world today should not surprise us. Christ foretold it. It should convince us that His coming is near. Fear and dread of the future are signs of Jesus' return. D. Increase of knowledge "Even to the time of the end ... knowledge shall be increased." Daniel 12:4. The Information Age makes this one all too obvious. Even the most skeptical mind must admit that this sign is fulfilled. Knowledge is exploding in all directions. It is said that 80?percent of the world's total knowledge has been brought forth in the last decade and that 90?percent of all the scientists who have ever lived are alive today. E. Scoffers and religious skeptics who turn away from Bible truth "There shall come in the last days scoffers." 2 Peter 3:3. "They will not endure sound doctrine; ... And they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables." 2 Timothy 4:3, 4. It is not difficult to find scoffers today in fulfillment of this prophecy. Even religious leaders are denying the plain Bible teachings of Creation, the Flood, the divinity of Christ, the second coming of Christ, and many other vital Bible truths. Psychiatry and the traditions of pseudo-intellectuals have replaced the Bible in many religious circles. Secular educators teach our youth to scoff at the Bible record of these great truths and substitute evolution and other man-made, false teachings for the plain, simple facts of God's Holy Word. A recent poll discovered that only two percent of American student ministers believe in the literal second coming of Christ. F. Moral degeneracy--decline of spirituality "In the last days ... men shall be lovers of their own selves, ... Without natural affection, ... incontinent, ... despisers of those that are good, ... Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." 2 Timothy 3:1-5. America is in the midst of a tremendous crisis. People from all walks of life are saying so. Suicide is becoming a popular solution to human problems. Divorce rates are climbing wildly, with nearly one marriage in two ending in the divorce court. The current immoral generation--with its obsession with sex and filth, with its increasing church membership but decreasing true spirituality--is plain and positive fulfillment of God's Word. For a real shock, see how many of the last-day sins listed in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 you can find depicted in any issue of your Sunday newspaper. Nothing short of the coming of the Lord will stem the tide of evil that is now engulfing the world. An epidemic of pornography, crime, illegal drugs, and moral degeneracy is threatening to overwhelm us. G. Craze for pleasure "In the last days ... men shall be ... lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 2 Timothy 3:1-4. The world has gone crazy for pleasure. Only a small percentage of the citizens of our large cities attend church services regularly, but they jam pleasure resorts by the thousands. America is spending billions each year for pleasure and only "peanuts" (in comparison) for God. Pleasure-mad Americans waste billions of hours in front of the TV set in direct fulfillment of 2 Timothy 3:4. "In the last days men shall be lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God." 2 Timothy 3:1-4. H. Increasing lawlessness, bloody crimes, and violence "Iniquity shall abound." Matthew 24:12. "Evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse." 2 Timothy 3:13. "The land is full of bloody crimes, and the city is full of violence." Ezekiel 7:23. It is all too obvious that this sign is fulfilled. Crime and lawlessness are increasing with shocking rapidity. Most people in large cities do not answer their doorbells after dark. The wisest statesmen of our time are concerned for the survival of civilization because crime sweeps forward seemingly beyond control. I. Destructive earthquakes, storms, and famines "And great earthquakes shall be in divers places, and famines, and pestilences." Luke 21:11. Earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, etc. are increasing at an unprecedented rate. One-third of the people of the world are hungry, and thousands die daily of starvation. All these things are further proof that we live in earth's last hours. J. A special message to the world in the very last days "This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come." Matthew 24:14. The great, solemn, last warning message of Christ's second coming is now being presented in more than 900 languages and dialects. Nearly 95 percent of the world's population has access to this message. Before Jesus' second coming, every person in the world will be warned of His soon return. People will be lost only if they reject the warning message. K. A turning to spiritism "In the latter times some shall depart from the faith, giving heed to seducing spirits." 1 Timothy 4:1. "They are the spirits of devils." Revelation 16:14. People today, including a vast number of the heads of nations, seek counsel from psychics, channelers, and spiritualists. Spiritism has invaded the churches, as well, with the false teaching of the immortality of the soul. The Bible teaches that the dead are dead. Reliance on psychics, channelers, and spiritualists is evidence that we are living in the last days. 11. Just how near is the Lord's second coming? "Now learn a parable of the fig tree; When his branch is yet tender, and putteth forth leaves, ye know that summer is nigh: So likewise ye, when ye shall see all these things, know that it is near, even at the doors. Verily I say unto you, This generation shall not pass, till all these things be fulfilled." Matthew 24:32-34. Answer: The Bible is very specific and plain on this point. The signs have almost all been fulfilled. We cannot know the exact day and hour of Christ's return (Matthew 24:36), but we can be confident that we are the people who will live to see Jesus return. God has promised to finish things very quickly now and cut the work short (Romans 9:28). Christ is coming back to this earth for His people very soon. Are you ready? We are living in the final moments of time. 12. Satan is telling many falsehoods regarding the second coming of Christ and, with lying wonders and miracles, will deceive millions. How can I be certain I will not be deceived? "They are the spirits of devils, working miracles." Revelation 16:14. "And shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect." Matthew 24:24. "To the law and to the testimony: if they speak not according to this word, it is because there is no light in them." Isaiah 8:20. Answer: Satan has invented many false teachings about the second coming and is deceiving millions into believing that Christ has already come or that He will come in some non-biblical manner. But Christ has warned us of Satan's strategy, saying, "Take heed that no man deceive you." Matthew 24:4. He then exposes Satan's plans and falsehoods so we will be forewarned, and He reminds us, "Behold, I have told you before." Matthew 24:25. For example, Jesus stated specifically that He will not appear in the desert or come to the seance chambers (verse 26). There is no reason to be deceived if we learn what God's book teaches about Christ's second coming. The acid test is this: What does the Bible teach about it? People who know what the Bible says about the second coming will not be led astray by Satan. All others will be deceived. What appears to be Jesus in a seance chamber is one of Satan's impersonating demons. 13. How can I be certain to be ready when Jesus comes back? "Him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out." John 6:37. "As many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God." John 1:12. "I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts." Hebrews 8:10. "Thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57. Answer: Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door [this door represents the human mind or heart], and knock: if any man hear My voice, and open the door, I will come in." Revelation 3:20. Through the Holy Spirit and my conscience, Jesus knocks and asks to come into my heart so that He can change my life. If I unreservedly turn my life over to Him, He will erase all my sins of the past (Romans 3:25) and give me the power to live a godly life (John 1:12). As a free gift, He bestows upon me His own righteous character so I can stand unafraid before a holy God when my life is changed by Jesus. Then doing His will becomes a pleasure. It is so simple that many doubt its reality. But it's true. My part is simply to give my life to Christ and let Him live within me. His part is to work the mighty miracle within me that changes my life and prepares me for His second coming. It is a free gift. I need only to accept it. We must not become so busy that we have not time for Christ. 14. Of what great danger does Christ solemnly warn? "Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh." Matthew 24:44. "And take heed to yourselves, lest at any time your hearts be overcharged with surfeiting, and drunkenness, and cares of this life, and so that day come upon you unawares." Luke 21:34. "But as the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be." Matthew 24:37. Answer: There is great danger in becoming so busy with the cares of this life or so entranced by the pleasures of sin that the coming of the Lord may slip up on us as the Flood did on the world in Noah's day, and we will be surprised, unprepared, and lost. This will be the experience of millions. How is it with you? Jesus is coming back very, very soon--in our present day. Are you ready? Nothing else matters. Thought Questions 1. Isn't the great tribulation yet to come? Matthew 24:21 It is true that a terrible tribulation will cover the earth just before Jesus returns to deliver His people. Daniel describes it as "a time of trouble, such as never was." Daniel 12:1. In context, though, the "great tribulation" of Matthew 24:21 refers to the awful persecution of God's people during the Dark Ages. Millions were slain for their faith at that time. 2. Since the Lord is coming "as a thief in the night," how can anyone know anything about it? 1 Thessalonians 5:4 The answer is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:2-4: "For yourselves know perfectly that the day of the Lord so cometh as a thief in the night. For when they shall say, Peace and safety; then sudden destruction cometh upon them, as travail upon a woman with child; and they shall not escape. But ye, brethren, are not in darkness, that that day should overtake you as a thief." Notice, the day of the Lord comes as a thief to the unprepared, but not to those who are called "brethren." 3. When will Christ set up His kingdom upon the earth? Revelation 21:2 After the great 1,000-year period of Revelation 20. The 1,000-year period begins at the second coming of Christ, when Jesus takes the righteous from this earth to heaven to live and reign with Him "a thousand years." Revelation 20:4. At the close of the 1,000 years "the holy city, new Jerusalem" (Revelation 21:2) comes down from heaven to the earth with all the saints (Zechariah 14:1, 4, 5) and the wicked dead of all ages are raised to life (Revelation 20:5). They surround the holy city to capture it (Revelation 20:9), and fire comes down from God out of heaven and devours them. This fire purifies the earth and burns up all traces of sin and sinners (2 Peter 3:10). Finally the fire goes out (Isaiah 47:14), leaving only ashes (Malachi 4:3). Then God creates a new earth (2 Peter 3:13; Isaiah 65:17; Revelation 21:1) and gives it to the righteous, and "God ... will dwell with them, ... and God Himself shall be with them, and be their God." Revelation 21:3. Perfect, holy, happy beings, restored once again to the perfect image of God, will at last be at home in a sinless, spotless world as God originally planned. Only the most foolish person would choose to miss this. 4. Why don't we hear more preaching and teaching today regarding Christ's second coming? Titus 2:13 The devil is responsible. He well knows that the second coming is the "blessed hope" (Titus 2:13) of the Christian, and that once understood, it changes the lives of men and women and leads them to take a personal, diligent, active part in spreading that good news to others so that Christ's coming may be hastened. This infuriates Satan, so he influences those who have "a form of godliness" (2 Timothy 3:5) but deny "the power thereof" to scoff, saying, "Where is the promise of His coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning." 2 Peter 3:3, 4. Those who deny, ignore, or make light of Christ's second advent (as a literal, soon-coming event) are specifically fulfilling Bible prophecy--and doing the devil a very great service. 5. But wasn't Jesus speaking of the secret rapture when He said in Luke 17:36, "One shall be taken, and the other left"? Luke 17:36 No. There is not the slightest indication that the event is secret. Jesus was describing Noah's flood and the destruction of Sodom. (See Luke 17:26-37.) He told how God spared Noah and Lot and destroyed the wicked. He says specifically that the flood and fire "destroyed them all." Verses 27, 29. Plainly, in each case, a few were taken to safety and the rest were destroyed. Then He added, "Even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed." Verse 30. To illustrate, Jesus continued, "Two men shall be in the field; the one shall be taken, and the other left." Verse 36. There is nothing secret about it. "Every eye shall see Him." Revelation 1:7. At His second coming, Christ publicly and openly takes the righteous up into the clouds (1 Thessalonians 4:16, 17) and slays the wicked (Isaiah 11:4; 2 Thessalonians 2:8). That's why Luke 17:37 speaks of the bodies of the wicked and mentions the eagles (or vultures) gathered around them. (See also Revelation 19:17, 18.) The wicked who are left behind at Christ's coming are left dead. To learn more about our lord Jesus christ, the Word of God, and the Sabbath, please visit your local Seventh-day Adventist Church. Or please visit us at Rossville Seventh-day Adventist Church, located at 1737 Mission Ridge Road, Rossville Georgia 30741 Pastor; Greg Hudson Services start at 11am on Saturday (Sabbath) morning.

Good morning, brethren. 1. Morning devotion for today. i. 😀🎀💝🎁🌺🌹 MORNING TEA THE WORD FOR TODAY. FRIDAY, MARCH 6, 2026. "BE PASSIONATE ABOUT IT (2)" ‘As an eagle stirs up its nest…so the Lord…led him…’ Deuteronomy 32:11-12 NKJV A MOTHER eagle knows that if she waits for her young to get out of the nest and fly on their own initiative, it’ll never happen. So she pushes them out! That’s radical, but they learn to fly and fulfil their destiny. John Maxwell says: ‘To succeed in life we must stay within our strength zone, but continually move outside our comfort zone. Have you ever accomplished anything of significance while you were in your comfort zone? Think about it. The answer is “no”, isn’t it? We don’t like moving outside our comfort zone. We resist it. We like to feel safe and secure. We don’t want to look foolish or fall flat on our faces. And as we get older we tend naturally to become more and more complacent. That’s a problem, because complacency kills passion. It reduces us to average. It clips our wings and keeps us from soaring, no matter how much we want to. It takes initiative to succeed at anything in life. It requires us to take risks. Playwright George Bernard Shaw said, “I’m sick of all the reasonable people: they see all the reasons for doing nothing.” Passion prompts us to leave our comfort zone and cross the threshold of our doubt. It pushes us out the door, so that we can get going on the journey in life that God designed for us. It’s said that when you get to the door of opportunity you’re not supposed to knock - you’re supposed to push!’ So step out in faith, take the initiative, and believe that God is with you (Deuteronomy 31:6). Bible In A Year: Exo 30-32, Luke 14:15-24, Pro 7:3-5. 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.*💝🌹🌷🎀. ii. OUR RANSOM "God bought you with a great price. So honor God with your body." - 1 Corinthians 6:20 Imagine someone inviting you to visit their mansion. While you walk around inside of his house and see all the splendor, what would be your first thought? I think you might like to know what all this had to cost. I already heard of the splendor we will have in heaven and about my home which is being prepared by the Lord Jesus. What was the price for that? He paid the highest price God has paid this high price for the deliverance of our souls in installments. The first term was the birth of the Lord Jesus in a stable in Bethlehem. He was born in a stable and laid in a manger. He left His glory in heaven and paid the first installment for our deliverance. The second installment was paid after Jesus fasted for forty days and nights and the evil one wanted to seduce Him. Jesus did not listen to him when the evil one repeatedly tempted Him. This was a crucial moment in the life of Jesus, which we read in Luke 4. Jesus conquered and because of His victory we are more than overcomers. The third term was the horrible death of Jesus. He fought in the garden of Gethsemane and His sweat was like drops of blood. Then He was betrayed by a friend. He was subsequently convicted by church leaders who had summoned false witnesses against Him. He was hit, spit on the face and ridiculed. He was flogged, got a crown of thorns on His head and had to carry His cross to Calvary, where He was crucified between two murderers. Jesus paid our ransom with His life. I am so happy for people who feel lonely and abandoned today because I know Someone who wants to help. He understands your need. He will always be with you. He will never let you down. https://www.theblessingdevotional.com 2. Morning prayer for today. i. Morning Prayer The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have [it] more abundantly. ⏤ John 10:10 The greatest thing anyone can do for God or man is pray. ⏤ S.D. Gordon O Jesus, our Savior, You alone can give us life. You came into this world that we might have life, abundant life. Fill us with life as we begin this new day. We will need it at every step. We will have . . . Burdens to carry, Battles to fight, Trials to endure, Duties to perform. Give us life, abundant life, to prepare us for all these experiences, that we do not fail today. We must represent You in the world. You have said that as the Father sent You into the world, so You have sent us. We can do nothing except as we receive life and wisdom from You. We wait at Your feet this morning, praying that You put rich grace into our souls. May we be like trees planted by the rivers of water, bearing fruit in their season. May the fruits of righteousness be evident in our lives. May the fruits of the Spirit abound in us. May we be to the world like rich trees, planted and nourished by You, from whose branches there shall fall much fruit to feed the hunger of others. We cannot know what the day will bring. We do not ask to know. We would rather walk in the dark with You than go alone, choosing our own way. We would rather walk with You by faith than go alone by sight. So, we put ourselves into Your hand for guidance and safekeeping. You will make no mistake in leading us. No path into which You take us can be the wrong path. Lead us, O Jesus, for You know the way through this bewildering world. You have walked these paths Yourself, O Jesus, and You found the way home. Lead us home, too, dear Master, to be with You forever. We ask in Your name. Amen. https://www.youdevotion.com/daily-prayer/miller/61/morning #taptapstudio #youdevotion.