CHRIST LEGACY MINISTRY WORKING ON YOUTHS TO BECOME THE "WARRIORS IN CHRIST"... WE ARE EXPANDING OUR MINISTRY, FOR THE CALL OF OUR LORD IS GREAT...

It is all about surendering to Jesus. That is our walk on this earth. It is all about trusting Him. Isaiah 40:27-31, : "Why do you say, O Jacob, and speak, O Israel: 'My way is hidden from the Lord, and my just claim is passed over by my God'? Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary. His understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the weak, and to those who have no might He increases strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall, but those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." If we wait on the Lord, we too can become in some way like eagles. We will have our strength renewed. Just as the eagle soars on high, we too can "mount up with wings like eagles", overcoming our problems through God's strength.

Bible Study with the youths

PROVERB OF THE DAY (Proverbs 7) 1. My son, keep my words, And treasure my commands within you. 2. Keep my commands and live, And my law as the apple of your eye. 3. Bind them on your fingers; Write them on the tablet of your heart. 4. Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” And call understanding your nearest kin, 5. That they may keep you from the immoral woman, From the seductress who flatters with her words. 6. For at the window of my house I looked through my lattice, 7. And saw among the simple, I perceived among the youths, A young man devoid of understanding, 8. Passing along the street near her corner; And he took the path to her house 9. In the twilight, in the evening, In the black and dark night. 10. And there a woman met him, With the attire of a harlot, and a crafty heart. 11. She was loud and rebellious, Her feet would not stay at home. 12. At times she was outside, at times in the open square, Lurking at every corner. 13. So she caught him and kissed him; With an impudent face she said to him: 14. “I have peace offerings with me; Today I have paid my vows. 15. So I came out to meet you, Diligently to seek your face, And I have found you. 16. I have spread my bed with tapestry, Colored coverings of Egyptian linen. 17. I have perfumed my bed With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon. 18. Come, let us take our fill of love until morning; Let us delight ourselves with love. 19. For my husband is not at home; He has gone on a long journey; 20. He has taken a bag of money with him, And will come home on the appointed day.” 21. With her enticing speech she caused him to yield, With her flattering lips she seduced him. 22. Immediately he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter, Or as a fool to the correction of the stocks, 23. Till an arrow struck his liver. As a bird hastens to the snare, He did not know it would cost his life. 24. Now therefore, listen to me, my children; Pay attention to the words of my mouth: 25. Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways, Do not stray into her paths; 26. For she has cast down many wounded, And all who were slain by her were strong men. 27. Her house is the way to hell, Descending to the chambers of death

THE FIRST 15. “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” Matthew 3:16-17 The baptism of Jesus lays the foundation on which you and I can return time and time again to experience the abundant life made available to us at salvation. Matthew 3:16-17 says, “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” Through the baptism of Jesus the Spirit of God powerfully enters into the scene of humanity. The Holy Spirit’s always been moving and working, but through Christ the way was paved for him to fill us and rest on us. Through the baptism of Jesus, we can all be baptized with the Spirit (John 1:33, John 3:5). Peter says in Acts 2:38, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” And Romans 6:4 tells us, “We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” At salvation the Spirit descends on us and fills us. He is the promise of God for our eternal life. He is our Helper, Teacher, and Comforter while we are here on earth. And he is the one who leads us into the abundant, new life made available to us through Christ. You see, just as the Spirit rested on Jesus, through his presence in our lives we have untapped resources of unconditional rest. God desires that we would rest in him as he rests on us. He desires for his children to find the only consistent source of peace available to us through the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Where do you need rest today? What trouble, situation, thought, or person is stealing your peace? The Holy Spirit wants to descend on you today as he did on Jesus. He wants to guide you into the rest of your heavenly Father. Isaiah 40:28-31 says, The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. You have the one who never faints or tires and gives power and might dwelling within you as a follower of Jesus. You have an inexhaustible resource of joy, strength, renewal, and rest readily available to you in the Spirit. All that is required of you is to make space in your life to enter into the rest God longs to provide you. Allow him to lay a foundation of his presence in your life by spending time simply being with him, and he will transform you into a person of the Spirit who fellowships and receives from the Spirit constantly. Learn to listen to his voice, follow his guidance, and enjoy his presence today. Wherever you need rest today the Holy Spirit is waiting to provide it for you. As you pray, make space in your heart and day to rest in him as he rests on you. 1. Meditate on the Spirit’s desire to descend on you as he did on Jesus. Allow your faith to be stirred to have a real, tangible encounter with the Holy Spirit. “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.'” Matthew 3:16-17 2. Now, reflect on your own life. Where in your life do you need rest today? Where do you need a fresh encounter with the Holy Spirit? What trouble seems to plague you? What brokenness needs healing and peace? 3. Ask the Spirit to descend on you and bring you rest. Ask for him to make his presence a reality to you. Follow him as he guides you into his presence. Worship, pray, and read the word. Do whatever will guide you into an encounter with the presence of God. God longs to bring you rest. It’s his desire that brings his presence, not your ability to feel him. He makes himself known when we open up our hearts and wait on him. Spend time waiting on his presence and resting in his love. “The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.” Isaiah 40:28-31 May you discover today the path to continual encounter with the Holy Spirit. He isn’t a God who separates himself into different sections of your life. You are created to live in continual, tangible relationship with your heavenly Father. You are created to find consistent rest in his loving presence. When you begin to feel the burdens of the world weighing you down and robbing you of the abundant life that is yours in Christ, take a minute and receive his presence again. Find consistent times throughout your day to press into the heart of God and discover his continual, new, and refreshing presence that’s available to you anytime and anyplace. Don’t allow a mediocre day to be enough today. Press into the Spirit for more and find all that God intended for your life. Extended Reading: Isaiah 40

March 22 Jonathan Edwards Jonathan Edwards was the most notable American philosopher, naturalist, theologian and preacher of his century. The great Missionary David Brainerd was his brother in law. Edwards died from smallpox vaccination shortly after arriving in New Jersey to accept the presidency of Princeton University on March 22, 1758 at the age of 55. Jonathan Edwards was born about 70 years after the Puritans had first colonized what became New England. He was born on October 5, 1703, the only son of Timothy Edwards (1668–1759), a minister at Connecticut, who eked out his salary by tutoring boys for college. His mother, Esther Stoddard, daughter of Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Massachusetts, was a woman of unusual gifts and independence of character. Edwards was raised, along with ten sisters (each of whom was at least six feet tall). Jonathan Edwards was interested in natural history, and as a precocious 11-year-old, had observed and written an essay detailing the ballooning behavior of some spiders. Edwards edited this text later to match the burgeoning genre of scientific literature, and his "The Flying Spider" fit easily into the contemporary scholarship on spiders. Jonathan was trained for college by his father and elder sisters, all of whom received an excellent education. In a brief letter he wrote in 1716 at age twelve—he describes recent events in the church of Timothy Edwards, his father: "Through the wonderful mercy and goodness of God there hath in this place been a very remarkable stirring and pouring out of the Spirit of God". He entered Yale College in 1716 at just under the age of 13. In the following year, he became acquainted with John Locke's Essay Concerning Human Understanding, which influenced him profoundly. He read John Locke with more delight "than the most greedy miser finds when gathering up handfuls of silver and gold, from some newly discovered treasure." He also was a young man with profound spiritual sensitivities. At age 17, after a period of distress, he said holiness was revealed to him as a ravishing, divine beauty. His heart panted "to lie low before God, as in the dust; that I might be nothing, and that God might be all, that I might become as a little child.". During his college studies, he kept notebooks labeled "The Mind," "Natural Science" (containing a discussion of the atomic theory), "The Scriptures" and "Miscellanies," had a grand plan for a work on natural and mental philosophy, and drew up rules for its composition. In the year 1720 he had completed his BA degree. In 1721, when he was 17 years old and was pursuing his Master's Degree came the great turning point in his life. Edwards struggled with the Calvinistic understanding of the sovereignty of God. He once wrote: "From my childhood up my mind had been full of objections against the doctrine of God's sovereignty. . . It used to appear like a horrible doctrine to me." But in the spring of 1721 he came to a “delightful conviction” as he was meditating on 1 Timothy 1:17. He remarked:As I read the words, there came into my soul, and was as it were diffused through it, a sense of the glory of the Divine Being; a new sense, quite different from anything I ever experienced before. . . I thought with myself, how excellent a Being that was, and how happy I should be, if I might enjoy that God, and be rapt up to him in heaven; and be as it were swallowed up in him for ever! I kept saying, and as it were singing over these words of scripture to myself; and went to prayer, to pray to God that I might enjoy him; and prayed in a manner quite different from what I used to do; with a new sort of affection. From that point on, Edwards delighted in the sovereignty of God, he says: “I was brought to a new sense of things, to an inward sweet delight in God and divine things, quite different from anything I had ever experienced before. I began to have a new kind of apprehension and idea of Christ and the work of redemption and the glorious way of salvation by him.” He received Master of Arts degree from Yale in 1722. Although he studied theology for two years after his graduation from Yale, Edwards continued to be interested in science. Edwards was fascinated by the discoveries of Isaac Newton and other scientists of this time period. Before he was called to full-time ministry work in Northampton, he wrote on various topics in natural philosophy, including flying spiders, light, and optics. Although many European scientists and American clergymen found the implications of science pushing them towards deism, Edwards went the other way. He believed the natural world was evidence of God's masterful design. While he worried about those of his contemporaries who seemed preoccupied by materialism and faith in reason alone, he considered the laws of nature to be derived from God and demonstrating his wisdom and care. Throughout his life, Edwards often went into the woods as a favorite place to pray and worship in the beauty and solace of nature. Edwards's written sermons and theological treatises emphasize the beauty of God and the role of aesthetics in the spiritual life. He is thought to anticipate a 20th-century current of theological aesthetics, represented by figures such as Hans Urs von Balthasar. He took a great and new joy in taking in the beauties of nature and delighted in the allegorical interpretation of the Song of Solomon. This combination of intellect and piety characterized Edward's whole life. In 1722 to 1723, he was for eight months an un-ordained "supply" pastor of a small Presbyterian church on William Street in New York City. The church invited him to remain, but he declined the call. After spending two months in study at home, in 1724–1726, he was one of the two tutors at Yale tasked with leading the college in the absence of a rector. He partially recorded these years in his diary. Between August 1722 and August 1723, as a young man and pastor at the age of 18 Jonathan Edwards set down on paper a series of thoughts and practices to help cultivate his growth in grace. (2 Peter 3.18). These thoughts are 70 resolutions he wrote for his conduct with an eagerness to live earnestly and soberly, to waste no time, to maintain the strictest temperance in eating and drinking. Edwards re-read this list at least once a week to keep his mind focused and renewed. The result was that he became a man of humble godliness, who was to become a significant spark used to ignite one of the greatest revivals known to history. The Seventy Resolutions of Jonathan Edwards are still a practical and beneficial tool for spiritual cultivation. Before Edwards got to number one, however, he offered a prefatory word: "Being sensible that I am unable to do anything without God’s help, I do humbly entreat him by his grace to enable me to keep these resolutions, so far as they are agreeable to his will for Christ’s sake". Resolution One: I will live for God. Resolution Two: If no one else does, I still will. Resolved, Never to do any thing, which I should be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. 1. Resolved: I will DO whatever I think will be most to God’s glory; and my own good, profit and pleasure, for as long as I live. I will do all these things without any consideration of the time they take. Resolved: to do whatever I understand to be my duty and will provide the most good and benefit to mankind in general. Resolved to do this, whatever difficulties I encounter, and no matter how many I experience or how severe they may be. 2. Resolved: I will continually endeavor to find new ways to practice and promote the things from Resolution 1. 3. Resolved: If ever – really, whenever – I fail & fall and/or grow weary & dull; whenever I begin to neglect the keeping of any part of these Resolutions; I will repent of everything I can remember that I have violated or neglected, …as soon as I come to my senses again. 4. Resolved: Never to do anything, whether physically or spiritually, except what glorifies God. In fact, I resolve not only to this commitment, but I resolve not to even grieve and gripe about these things, …if I can avoid it. 5. Resolved: Never lose one moment of time; but seize the time to use it in the most profitable way I possibly can. 6. Resolved: To live with all my might, …while I do live. 7. Resolved: Never to do anything which I would be afraid to do if it were the last hour of my life. 8. Resolved: To act, in all respects, both in speaking and doing, as if nobody had ever been as sinful as I am; and when I encounter sin in others, I will feel (at least in my own mind& heart) as if I had committed the same sins, or had the same weaknesses or failings as others. I will use the knowledge of their failings to promote nothing but humility – even shame – in myself. I will use awareness of their sinfulness and weakness only as an occasion to confess my own sins and misery to God. 9. Resolved: To think much, on all occasions, about my own dying, and of the common things which are involved with and surround death. 10. Resolved: When I feel pain, to think of the pains of martyrdom – both of Jesus and of Believers around the world; and remind myself of the reality of hell. 11. Resolved: When I think of any theological question to be resolved, I will immediately do whatever I can to solve it, … if circumstances don’t hinder. 12. Resolved: If I find myself taking delight in any gratification of pride or vanity, or on any other such empty virtue, I will immediately discard this gratification. 13. Resolved: To be endeavoring to discover worthy objects of charity and liberality. 14. Resolved: Never to do anything out of revenge. 15. Resolved: Never to suffer the least emotions of anger about irrational beings. 16. Resolved: Never to speak evil of anyone, except if it is necessary for some real good. 17. Resolved: I will live in such a way, as I will wish I had done when I come to die. 18. Resolved: To live, at all times, in those ways I think are best in me during my most spiritual moments and seasons – those times when I have clearest understanding of the gospel and awareness of the World that is to come. 19. Resolved: Never to do anything, which I would be afraid to do if I expected it would not be more than an hour before I would hear the last trump sound. (i.e. when Jesus returns.) 20. Resolved: To maintain the wisest and healthiest practices in my eating and drinking. 21. Resolved: Never to do anything, which if I saw another do, I would consider a just reason to despise him for, or to think in any way lesser of him. 22. Resolved: To endeavor to obtain for myself as much happiness in the world to come as I possibly can. To accomplish this I will use all the strength, power, vigor, and vehemence – even violence – I am capable of, or can bring myself to exert, in any way that can be thought of. 23. Resolved: Frequently take some deliberate action – something out of the ordinary – and do it for the glory of God. Then I will trace my intention back and try to discern my real and deepest motive: What did I really desire out of it? If I find that my truest motive was not for God’s glory, then I consider it as a breach of the 4th Resolution. (See Above) 24. Resolved: Whenever I do any conspicuously evil action, I will trace it back till I come to the original cause; and then I will carefully endeavor BOTH 1) to do so no more AND 2) to fight and pray with all my might against the source of the original impulse. 25. Resolved: To examine carefully, and constantly, what that one thing in me is that causes me to doubt of the love of God, even the least little bit; and then to direct all my forces against it. 26. Resolved: To oust away anything I find that diminishes my assurance of God’s love and grace. 27. Resolved: Never intentionally omit or neglect anything, except if such an omission would be for the glory of God. NOTE to Self: frequently examine anything I have omitted. 28. Resolved: To study the Scriptures so steadily, and so constantly, and so frequently, that it becomes evident – even obvious – to myself that my knowledge of them has grown. 29. Resolved: Never consider something a prayer, nor to let pass for a prayer, any petition that when making I cannot actually hope that God will answer; nor offer as a confession anything which I cannot hope God will accept. 30. Resolved: To strive to my utmost every week to be brought to a higher spiritual place, and to a greater experience of grace, than I was the week before. 31. Resolved: Never to say anything at all against anybody; except when to do so is perfectly consistent with the highest standards of Christian honor and love to mankind; and except when it is consistent with the sense of greatest humility and awareness of my own faults and failings. Then, whenever I have said anything against anyone, I will examine my words against the strictest test of the Golden Rule. 32. Resolved: To be strictly and firmly faithful to whatever God entrusts to me. My hope is that the saying in Proverbs 20.6, “A faithful man who can find?” may not be found to be even partly true of me. 33. Resolved: Always do whatever I can towards making, maintaining, establishing and preserving peace, whenever it can be, but without over-balancing the value peace to such a degree that it becomes a detriment in other respects. 34. Resolved: When telling stories, never to speak anything but the pure and simple truth. 35. Resolved: Whenever I so much as question whether I have done my duty, to a point that my peace and tranquility is disturbed, I will stop and question myself until my concern is resolved. 36. Resolved: Never to speak evil of anyone, except I have some particular good purpose for doing so. 37. Resolved: To inquire every night, as I am going to bed, where I may have been negligent, what sin I have committed, and how I have denied myself. I will also do this at the end of every week, month, and year. 38. Resolved: Never to speak anything that is ridiculous, trivial, or otherwise inappropriate on the Lord’s Day or Sabbath evening. 39. Resolved: Never to do anything when the lawfulness is questionable. And then afterward, resolve to consider and examine whether or not whatever I have just done is truly lawful and/or whether whatever I have refrained from doing would have actually been permissible. 40. Resolved: To inquire every night, before I go to bed, whether I have acted in the best way I possibly could, with respect to eating and drinking. 41. Resolved: To ask myself at the end of every day, week, month and year, where I could have possibly done better in any respect. 42. Resolved: To frequently renew my dedication to God, which was first made at my baptism and which I solemnly renewed when I was received into the communion of the church; and which I have now solemnly re-made this [DATE] day of [MONTH], [YEAR]. 43. Resolved: Never, from this day until the day I die, act as if I were in any way my own, but entirely and altogether belong to God, and then live in a way agreeable to this reality. 44. Resolved: That nothing other than the gospel shall have any influence at all on any of my actions; and that no action shall be, even in the very least circumstance, anything other than gospel declares, demands, and implies. 45. Resolved: Never to allow any pleasure or grief, joy or sorrow, nor any affection at all, nor any degree of affection, nor any circumstance, but what advances the gospel. 46. Resolved: Never allow the least measure of any fretting or uneasiness about my father or mother. Resolved to never allow the effects of disappointment in them, or frustrations with them, to even in the very least alter what I say to them or about them, or any activity in reaction to them. Let me be careful about this, not only about my parents, but also with respect to any of our family. 47. Resolved: To endeavor to my utmost to deny whatever is not most agreeable to a good, and universally sweet and benevolent, quiet, peace able, contented, easy, compassionate, generous, humble, meek, modest, submissive, obliging, diligent and industrious, charitable, even, patient, moderate, forgiving, sincere temper; and to do at all times what such a temper would lead me to. Examine strictly every week, whether I have done so. Sabbath morning. May 5,1723. 48. Resolved: With the utmost niceness and diligence, and with the strictest scrutiny, constantly be looking into the state condition of my soul, so that I may know whether or not I have truly an interest in Christ at any given time. I will do this so that, when I come to my end in death, I will not have neglected to repent of anything I have found. 49. Resolved: That Neglect never shall be, if I can help it. 50. Resolved: I will act in such a way as I think I will judge to have been best and most prudent, when I have come into the future world – Heaven. 51. Resolved: That I will act in every respect, as I think I would wish I had done, if in the end for some reason I would have be damned. 52. I frequently hear persons in old age say how they would live, if they were to live their lives over again, so… Resolved: That I will live just as I can imagine I shall wish I had done, supposing I live to old age. 53. Resolved: To improve every opportunity, when I am in the best and happiest frame of mind, to cast and venture my soul on the Lord Jesus Christ, to trust and confide in him, and consecrate myself wholly to him; that from this I may have assurance of my eternal safety, knowing that my confidence is in my Redeemer. 54. Resolved: Whenever I hear anything spoken in a conversation of any person, if I think what is said of that person would be praiseworthy in me, I will endeavor to imitate it. 55. Resolved: To endeavor to my utmost to act as I can imagine I would if I had already seen all the happiness of heaven, as well as the torments of hell. 56. Resolved: Never to give up, nor even slacken up, in my fight with my own corruptions, no matter how successful or unsuccessful I may be. 57. Resolved: When I fear misfortunes and adversities, to examine whether I have done all I am expected to do, and resolve to do everything I am able to do. Once I have done all that God requires of me, I will accept whatever comes my way, and accept that it is just as God’s Providence has ordered it. I will, as far as I can, be concerned about nothing but my own duty and my own sin. 58. Resolved: Not only to refrain from an air of dislike, fretfulness, and anger in conversations, but also to exhibit an air of love, cheerfulness and graciousness. 59. Resolved: Whenever I am most conscious of feelings of ill nature, bad attitude, and/or anger, I will strive then the most to feel and act good naturedly. At such times I know I may feel that to exhibit good nature might seem in some respects to be to my own immediate disadvantage, but I will nevertheless act in a way that is gracious, realizing that to do otherwise would be imprudent at other times (i.e. times when I am not feeling so irked). 60. Resolved: Whenever my feelings begin to appear in the least out of sorts, when I am conscious of the least uneasiness within my own heart and/or soul, or the least irregularity in my behavior, I will immediately subject myself to the strictest examination. (i.e. Psalm 42.11) 61. Resolved: I will not give way to that apathy and listlessness which I find artificially eases and relaxes my mind from being fully and fixedly set on God’s Grace. Whatever excuses I may have for it, whatever my listlessness inclines me to do, or rather whatever it inclines me to neglect doing, I will realize that it would actually be best for me to do these things. 62. Resolved: Never to do anything but what God, by the Law of Love, requires me to do. And then, according to Ephesians 6.6-8, I must do it willingly and cheerfully as to the Lord, and not for man. I must remember that whatever good thing any man has or does he has first received from God; and that whenever a man is compelled by faith to act with love and charity toward others, especially those in need, that we do it as if to/for the Lord. 63. On the hypothetical supposition that at any one time there was never to be but ONE individual in the world who was a genuine and complete Christian, who in all respects always demonstrated the Faith shining in its truest luster, and appearing excellent and lovely, from whatever angle and under whatever circumstance this Faith is viewed… Resolved: To act just as I would do, if I strove with all my strength, to be that ONE; and to live as if that ONE should live in my time and place. 64. Resolved: Whenever I experience those “groanings which cannot be uttered” (Romans 8.26), of which the Apostle speaks, and those “longings” that consume our souls, of which the Psalmist speaks (Psalm 119:20), I will embrace them with everything I have within me. And I will not be weary of earnestly endeavoring to express my desires, nor of the repetitions so often necessary to express them and benefit from them. 65. Resolved: To exercise myself in all my life long, with the greatest openness I am capable of, to declare my ways to God, and lay open my soul to him: all my sins, temptations, difficulties, sorrows, fears, hopes, desires; and every thing in every circumstance. (See Dr. Manton‘s 27th Sermon on Psalm 119.) 66. Resolved: I will endeavor always to keep a gracious demeanor, and air of acting and speaking in all places and in all companies, except if it should so happen that faithfulness requires otherwise. 67. Resolved: After afflictions, to inquire in what ways I am now the better for having experienced them. What good have I received by them? What benefits and insights do I now have because of them? 68. Resolved: To confess honestly to myself all that I find in myself – whether weakness or sin. And if it something that concerns my spiritual health, I will also confess the whole case to God, and implore him for all needed help. 69. Resolved: Always to do that which I will wish I had done whenever I see others do it. 70. Let there be something of benevolence, in all that I speak. On February 15, 1727, Edwards was ordained minister at Northampton and assistant to his grandfather Solomon Stoddard, a noted minister. He was a scholar-pastor, not a visiting pastor, his rule being 13 hours of study a day. On July 28, 1727 at the age of 24 Jonathan Edwards married 17 year Sarah Pierpont. Sarah was from a notable New England clerical family: her father was James Pierpont (1659–1714), the head founder of Yale College; and her mother was the great-granddaughter of Thomas Hooker. Sarah's spiritual devotion was without peer, and her relationship with God had long proved an inspiration to Edwards. He first remarked on her great piety when she was 13 years old. Edwards described their marriage as an "uncommon union," and in a sermon on Genesis 2:21–25, he said, "When Adam rose from his deep sleep, God brought woman to him from near his heart." Sarah was of a bright and cheerful disposition, a practical housekeeper, a model wife, and the mother of 11 children, who included Esther Edwards. Solomon Stoddard died on February 11, 1729, leaving to his grandson the difficult task of the sole ministerial charge of one of the largest and wealthiest congregations in the colony. Its members were proud of its morality, its culture and its reputation. Edwards, in common with all Puritans of his day, held to complementarian views of marriage and gender roles. Summing up Edwards' influences during his younger years, scholar John E. Smith writes, "By thus meditating between Berkeley on the one hand and Locke, Descartes, and Hobbes on the other, the young Edwards hoped to rescue Christianity from the deadweight of rationalism and the paralyzing inertia of skepticism." On July 8, 1731, Edwards preached in Boston the "Public Lecture" afterwards published under the title "God Glorified in the Work of Redemption, by the Greatness of Man's Dependence upon Him, in the Whole of It," which was his first public attack on Arminianism. The emphasis of the lecture was on God's absolute sovereignty in the work of salvation: that while it behooved God to create man pure and without sin, it was of his "good pleasure" and "mere and arbitrary grace" for him to grant any person the faith necessary to incline him or her toward holiness, and that God might deny this grace without any disparagement to any of his character. In 1733, a Protestant revival began in Northampton and reached such an intensity in the winter of 1734 and the following spring, that it threatened the business of the town. In six months, nearly 300 of 1100 youths were admitted to the church. The revival gave Edwards an opportunity to study the process of conversion in all its phases and varieties, and he recorded his observations with psychological minuteness and discrimination in A Faithful Narrative of the Surprising Work of God in the Conversion of Many Hundred Souls in Northampton (1737). A year later, he published Discourses on Various Important Subjects, the five sermons which had proved most effective in the revival. Of these, none was so immediately effective as that on the Justice of God in the Damnation of Sinners, from the text, "That every mouth may be stopped." Another sermon, published in 1734, A Divine and Supernatural Light, Immediately Imparted to the Soul by the Spirit of God, set forth what he regarded as the inner, moving principle of the revival, the doctrine of a special grace in the immediate, and supernatural divine illumination of the soul. By 1735, the revival had spread and popped up independently across the Connecticut River Valley, and perhaps as far as New Jersey. After the revival of 1734-35 events returned more to normal in Northampton. This went on with ups and downs until 1740. Edwards wrote "Revivals don’t last, they are special seasons of mercy". In 1740 one historian says, “Like a sudden bolt out of a clear, blue sky there came the Great Awakening. Concern, spiritual hunger, not simply in Northampton. It didn't begin in Northampton, but it spread from different points down the eastern seaboard. It was said in Boston that such was the consciousness of God and the fear of God that you could have left bars of gold on the pavement and no one would have moved them. The word of the Northampton revival and Edwards's leadership role had spread as far as England and Scotland. It was at this time that Edwards became acquainted with George Whitefield, who was traveling the Thirteen Colonies on a revival tour in 1739–40. The two men may not have seen eye to eye on every detail. Whitefield was far more comfortable with the strongly emotional elements of revival than Edwards was, but they were both passionate about preaching the Gospel. They worked together to orchestrate Whitefield's trip, first through Boston and then to Northampton. When Whitefield preached at Edwards's church in Northampton, he reminded them of the revival they had undergone just a few years before. This deeply touched Edwards, who wept throughout the entire service, and much of the congregation too was moved. Revival began to spring up again, and Edwards preached his most famous sermon, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God, in Enfield, Connecticut in 1741 on July 8, 1741. This was the most famous sermon in American history. Edwards preached from this short text: “. . .their foot shall slide in due time:” -Deuteronomy 32:35. In perhaps the most memorable passage, of his exposition Edwards wrote: “The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dreadfully provoked. . . You are 10,000 times more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is in ours.” As a preacher of biblical revival, Edwards knew that men would not be saved if they knew nothing of God’s impending, holy, just wrath. While many people today believe the Church should shy away from these truths, Edwards loved sinners enough to warn them of their plight. What has been lost in most discussions of “Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God,” however, is Edwards’ vehement gospel call near the end of the sermon: "And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners." The response of the congregation was nothing short of amazing. Before Edwards could finish, people were crying out, "What shall I do to be saved?" Far more than a depiction of hell, it is a call to personal salvation through Jesus and spiritual revival in our time. Though this sermon has been widely reprinted as an example of "fire and brimstone" preaching in the colonial revivals, that characterization is not in keeping with descriptions of Edward's actual preaching style. Two of his most important books came out of that time, The Distinguishing Marks of the Work of the Spirit of God and his Thoughts on the Revival on New England. He said: “God is pleased sometimes in dealing full spiritual blessings to his people, in some respects, to exceed the capacity of the vessel in its present scantiness, so that he not only fills it, but he makes that cup run over. It has been with the disciples of Christ for a long season a time of great emptiness on spiritual accounts. They have gone hungry and have been toiling in vain during a dark night of the Church as a philosopher, the disciples of old (Luke 5). But now, the morning having come Jesus appears to his disciples and gives them such an abundance of food that they are not able to draw their net, yea, so that their nets break and the vessel is overloaded.” That is his picture of the Great Awakening. They had been toiling, preaching faithfully. God in his mercy revived the Church and the nets broke and the vessels, the ships could hardly hold what came in. So it was a time of great blessing. Samuel Hopkins who heard him often said, “His words often discovered a great deal of inward fervor, without much noise or external emotion and fell with great weight on the minds of his hearers. He made little motion with head or hands, but spoke so as to discover the motion of his heart.” Thomas Murphy, writing in the 19th century, puts his finger exactly on the right point. He says, explaining the Great Awakening, “It wasn’t in terms of the personalities of the preachers, but as a wonderful baptism of the Holy Spirit.” “The Church,” he says, “was orthodox before. She is now imbued with a life and energy that was irresistible.” And speaking of Edwards and his colleagues, “They were men who believed in refreshings from on high. They felt some of them in their own souls and they were ready for still more.” While most 21st-century readers notice the damnation looming in such a sermon text, historian George Marsden reminds us that Edwards was not preaching anything new or surprising: "Edwards could take for granted... that a New England audience knew well the Gospel remedy. The problem was getting them to seek it." The Great Awakening lasted from 1740 to 1742. Edwards regarded personal conversion as critical, so he insisted that only persons who had made a profession of faith, which included a description of their conversion experience, could receive Communion. And in a day when psalm-singing was almost the only music to be heard in congregational churches, Edwards encouraged the singing of new Christian hymns, notably those of Isaac Watts. For the next few years, he was a missionary pastor to Native Americans in Stockbridge, Massachusetts, and wrote, among other theological treatises, Freedom of the Will (1754), a brilliant defense of divine sovereignty. In it he argued that we are free to do whatever we want, but we will never want to do God's will without a vision of his divine nature imparted by the Spirit. Fascinated by Newtonian physics and enlightened by Scripture, Edwards believed that God's providence was literally the binding force of atoms—that the universe would collapse and disappear unless God sustained its existence from one moment to the next. Scripture affirmed his view that Christ is "upholding all things by his word of power" (Heb. 1:3 RSV). Such were the fruits of his lifelong habit of rising at 4:00 a.m. and studying 13 hours a day. Edwards’ dismissal from the church in Northampton was a troublesome time for the family. After lean months of unemployment, Edwards found an unlikely assignment. He and his family moved to the remote town of Stockbridge, Massachusetts. The quiet made possible the writing of Freedom of the Will. Each evening, Edwards would read to Sarah, “my dear companion,” the product of the day’s toil at his desk. Years went on. Children married. One daughter moved to New Jersey where her attractive and brilliant husband was organizing a new university at Princeton. Suddenly, in 1757, the young college president died. The trustees invited Edwards to succeed his son-in-law as president of Princeton. When the official invitation came, Edwards astonished everyone by bursting into tears, “which was very unusual for him in the presence of others.” Edwards went on to Princeton to be with his widowed daughter, while Sarah stayed behind in Stockbridge to finish the packing. A smallpox epidemic struck that spring of 1758. Vaccination was then a new and controversial intervention. Always ahead of his time, Edwards, characteristically, chose to take a chance on the vaccination. As he lay dying from complications that followed the risky procedure, he spoke in a low voice. The doctor and two daughters of the Edwards leaned down to hear the last words of Jonathan Edwards. He spoke of Sarah: "Give my kindest love to my dear wife, and tell her that the uncommon union which has so long subsisted between us has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual and therefore will continue forever". Jonathan’s last words suggest the scripture passage that was Sarah’s favorite, Romans 8:35: “Who, then, can separate us from the love of Christ?” Shortly after arriving in New Jersey to accept the Presidency of Princeton University, Jonathan Edwards died at the age of 55 on March 22, 1758. His last words were, “Trust God and you need not fear.” Sarah Edwards wife of Jonathan Edwards wrote this letter to their daughter Esther ten days after the great 18th century minister and theologian died: "My very dear child, What shall I say? A holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud. O that we may kiss the rod, and lay our hands upon our mouths! The Lord has done it. He has made me adore his goodness, that we had him so long. But my God lives; and he has my heart. O what a legacy my husband, and your father, has left us! We are all given to God; and there I am, and love to be. Your affectionate mother, Sarah Edwards" A close friend remarked, “First of all, he was a Christian and a teacher of the Christian Faith. The reigning power of sin in his heart, on account of which he was ‘unable to love God, believe in Christ or do anything that is truly good and acceptable in God’s sight had been ended by the ‘interposition of sovereign grace." The legacy of Jonathan Edwards and his wife Sarah came from a godly heritage of great faith. Their eleven children have been a gift to American cultural history. In 1900 a reporter tracked down 1,400 descendants of Jonathan and Sarah Edwards. He found that they included: 300 Pastors, Missionaries, or Theological Professors, 2 Graduate School Deans, 120 College Professors, 110 Lawyers, 66 Physicians, 60 Authors, 30 Judges, 14 Presidents of Universities, Numerous Giants in American Industry, 80 Holders of Public Office, 3 U.S. Congressmen, 3 Governors of States, 1 Vice-President - Aaron Burr, the third United States Vice President. Members of this clan had written 135 published books, and the women were repeatedly described as “great readers” or “highly intelligent.” The report asserted: “The family has cost the country nothing in pauperism, in crime, in hospital or asylum service: on the contrary, it represents the highest usefulness.” As minister, theologian, and missionary, Edwards has exercised profound influence not only on the thought, culture, and literary life of his own time but on American society to the present. He is a window into a critical period in American history and was a shaper of spiritual life in America. When historians seek a person who represents the Puritan, intellectual strain in the American character, they turn almost universally to Edwards. He wrote, “He who would set the hearts of other men on fire with the love of Christ must himself burn with love.”

𝐒𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐏𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 ✍️ “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘳𝘶𝘯𝘴 𝘥𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺, 𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴—𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘺.” Failure doesn’t knock politely—it crashes in. One mistake, one weakness exposed, one moment we couldn’t undo. It slips in quietly—missed prayers, broken promises, repeated sins, or unending weary attempts. We try harder, push longer, and promise better, yet still fall short. Yet failure does not disqualify us from grace. It reveals how desperately we need it. When our strength collapses, God remains our portion. Asaph confesses this hard truth in 🕮 𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟕𝟑:𝟐𝟔: “𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘩: 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳.” He writes as a believer who stumbled—envying the wicked, doubting God, nearly slipping away, wrestling with discouragement—yet found hope not in himself, but in God. He admits what we often hide: flesh fails and hearts grow weak. But he also remembers what we often forget—God does not fail. When human strength expires, His grace sustains. When human strength expires, God’s grace inspires. His strength becomes our portion when ours runs out. Scripture reveals our frailty. “𝘈𝘭𝘭 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥” (𝐑𝐨𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟑:𝟐𝟑), and “𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬” (𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐰 𝟐𝟔:𝟒𝟏). Yet grace meets us there. “𝘔𝘺 𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘦: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘥𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴” (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟏𝟐:𝟗). Failure exposes limits; grace supplies what lies beyond limits. Human strength always reaches a breaking point. Paul confessed, “𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘬, 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘮 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨” (𝟐 𝐂𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟏𝟐:𝟏𝟎). David cried, “𝘔𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴: 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘦” (𝐏𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐦 𝟏𝟏𝟗:𝟐𝟖). Even youths faint, “but they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength” (Isaiah 40:31). Sometimes God allows us to “𝘩𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘰𝘤𝘬 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘵𝘰𝘮” to remind us that He is the 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 at our bottom. Grace doesn’t celebrate failure—it carries you through it. Jesus is the One who restores failing hearts. He is our unchanging portion, for “𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘥𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘰𝘥𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘪𝘭𝘺. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘩𝘪𝘮” (𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝟐:𝟗–𝟏𝟎). He covers our failures with His sufficiency, making us complete, secure, and forever God’s. Where have you failed recently—spiritually, emotionally, or morally? Don’t hide it. Don’t run from it. Bring it to Christ. If He is still your portion, why live as though failure defines you? Grace doesn’t say, “𝘛𝘳𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘦𝘳.” It says, “𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴.” Will you trust Him there? 𝐏𝐫𝐚𝐲𝐞𝐫: Heavenly Father, thank You for being my portion when my flesh and heart fail. Strengthen what is weak, restore what is broken, and remind me that Your grace is sufficient. Help me rise by Your strength, not my own. In Jesus’ Name. Amen. Remember, a dose of God’s Word a day will keep you going all day! 𝐀𝐥𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐁𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐧 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐨𝐝... _____________________________________________________ All scripture references were taken from the KJV Bible. Thank you for allowing this ministry to be a part of your day… If my posts speak to your heart, you may be blessed by the full devotional series created for deeper reflection and journaling: 👉 FREE FlipBook Previews: https://fliphtml5.com/homepage/xmsuz/beginwithgod/ 📚 Also available now on Amazon (Kindle & Paperback) ✨ Read for FREE with Kindle Unlimited! https://www.amazon.com/author/dennislastimoso Your support helps us continue creating Christ-centered resources that encourage believers around the world. May God bless you more abundantly…

OPEN HEAVENS DAILY DEVOTIONAL DATE: WEDNESDAY MARCH 18TH 2026 TOPIC: REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR MEMORISE: Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them; - (Ecclesiastes 12:1) BIBLE READING: MARK 11:12-20 (KJV) 12 And on the morrow, when they were come from Bethany, he was hungry: 13 And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves; for the time of figs was not yet. 14 And Jesus answered and said unto it, No man eat fruit of thee hereafter for ever. And his disciples heard it. 15 And they come to Jerusalem: and Jesus went into the temple, and began to cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, and overthrew the tables of the moneychangers, and the seats of them that sold doves; 16 And would not suffer that any man should carry any vessel through the temple. 17 And he taught, saying unto them, Is it not written, My house shall be called of all nations the house of prayer? but ye have made it a den of thieves. 18 And the scribes and chief priests heard it, and sought how they might destroy him: for they feared him, because all the people was astonished at his doctrine. 19 And when even was come, he went out of the city. 20 And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree dried up from the roots. MESSAGE: Today's Bible reading tells the story of how Jesus saw a fig tree from afar and approached it because He was hungry. On getting to the tree, He discovered that it had no fruit on it even though it had many leaves, and He cursed it. One lesson we can learn from this story is that God expects every living thing to be productive; He created everything for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11) and wants them to reveal His glory. One detail that used to baffle me any time I read the passage in today's Bible reading is that the time for figs had not yet come (Mark 11:13). I used to think to myself, "If it wasn't the season for figs, why did Jesus expect the fig tree to have fruit?" I later realised that, where the issue of time is concerned, God's time is always the right time. For instance, if God wakes you up at 3am or 4am, it is wrong to tell Him that it is too early for you to wake up. No matter how early the Sovereign God wakes you up, it means your day has begun - His time is always the right time. In today's memory verse, God instructs young people to remember Him while they are still in their youth. This means that the best time to serve God is when a person is young. It is best for people to surrender their hearts and lives to God in the morning of their years because those who seek God early will always find Him (Proverbs 8:17). If you are a young person and you are reading this, Jesus wants your heart now; He wants you to bear fruits for His kingdom now that you're still young. He wants you to be fervent in spirit, serving Him (Romans 12:11). Don't squander your youth on the altar of sin or waste it by pursuing unimportant things; seek God early. Do not be like the fig tree, which had nothing to offer Jesus when He came seeking fruit from it. God has commanded us to be fruitful and multiply (Genesis 1:28); however, to be fruitful, you must cultivate a vibrant relationship with Him because you can do nothing without Him (John 15:4). Beloved, I plead with you to remember your Creator in the days of your youth. Even if you are no longer a youth, dedicate the rest of your life to serving Him, and He will beautify your life with His glory. KEY POINT: Remember your Creator now. AUTHOR PASTOR E A ADEBOYE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:JUDGES 14-16 HYMNAL: 7 - I AM THINE O LORD 1 I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice, and it told Thy love to me; but I long to rise in the arms of faith, and be closer drawn to Thee. Refrain: Draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to the cross where Thou hast died; draw me nearer, nearer, blessed Lord, to Thy precious, bleeding side. 2 Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord, by the pow'r of grace divine; let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine. [Refrain] 3 O, the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend, when I kneel in prayer, and with Thee, my God, I commune as friend with friend! [Refrain] 4 There are depths of love that I cannot know till I cross the narrow sea; there are heights of joy that I may not reach till I rest in peace with Thee. [Refrain] Prayer Points on today's OPEN HEAVENS DEVOTIONAL, Wednesday 18th March, 2026- REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR PRAYER POINTS ✓Father, thank You for creating me in Your own image as a king and a priest, to bring You pleasure. ✓Father, please whenever You need someone to bring You praise and pleasure, may I never be found wanting, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please may my life and that of the children You have given me bring You glory and pleasure, at all times, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please help me to always accept Your time as the right time for me; help me never to argue with You whenever You come visiting, in Jesus' name ✓Dear Father, now that I am young, please help me to serve You with all my heart, with all strength, and with all my might, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please help me to be fervent in spirit, serving You, and bearing fruits that will endure, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please help me not to be like the fig tree which had nothing to offer Jesus when He came seeking fruits from it, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please help all our Youths not to squander their days on the altar of sin or waste them pursuing unimportant things, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, please I want to be fruitful, help me to cultivate a vibrant relationship with You knowing well that I can do nothing without You, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, I rededicate the rest of my life to serving You, please beautify my life with Your glory, in Jesus' name. ✓Father, thank You for the life of Your son, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye. Help him to serve You for the rest of his life with renewed zeal and courage. Bless his children (biological and spiritual). Help him to continue to produce sons and daughters to Your glory, in Jesus name. ✓Father, bless Your son that You have been using to prepare these prayer points, beyond measures, and all those who have been rebroadcasting them, in Jesus name. ✓Father, please let every challenge, hindrance and obstacle of getting these prayer points across to Your children, timely, and on daily basis be removed, in Jesus name. ✓Your Personal petitions. ( Philippians 4:6) ✓..In Jesus name I pray. (John 14:13-14; 15:16) #GodBlessOurNation

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you. In all our lives, we have choices to make on which road we will travel. Will we drive down the gravel road, potentially causing chipped paint damage to our car? Will we drive down the wet dirt road and potentially get stuck? Will we maintain and only drive on paved roads where it is safe and less likely to encounter inconvenient delays or detours? While on these roads, will we conduct ourselves recklessly and drive at full throttle, or will we adhere to the speed limits? As we are navigating on these roads, will we be attentive for sudden changes in the conditions, or will we just drive aimlessly and hope for the best? Driving our car is much like walking our walk with Jesus. There are smooth roads (easy times), dirt roads (harder times), and gravel roads(bumpy times). There are obstacles both anticipated and unforeseen (trials). There are rules for safety (the ten commandments). All of which are choices left to us; however, sometimes the choice is taken from us, or it feels like it was, when we are on a nice afternoon drive on a smooth country road, and all of a sudden the path changes to gravel or dirt. Perhaps a deer jumps or runs across our path. There is a flat tire. Or we simply run out of gas. In all those scenarios, there is always one constant … Faith. In all our travels, we have faith that we will end up where we were headed in the first place. We have faith that we will arrive safely, regardless of our choices. We have faith that we will have the wisdom to navigate any and all obstacles. We have faith that he will not steer us down the wrong road. Faith. It is a powerful resource. Today, I ask that you check your faith fuel level. Are you topped off and ready for anything? Have you been driving for a while but are still pretty steady? Are you running on fumes, and you need a refuel? Where is your faith gauge sitting today? If you are struggling and need a boost or a refill, go to Him. In His presence, things become very clear, and your tank is filled in abundance. The bumpy roads no longer seem to bother you, and obstacles no longer seem to matter. When your faith tank is full, every road you travel seems like a paved one. Be blessed. **Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. – Isaiah 40:30-31

👉After a remarkable breakthrough, a believer or congregation may encounter a big challenge. Such was the case with the children of Israel after experiencing miraculous deliverance at the Red Sea. They continued with their journey to the Wilderness of Shur where they encountered a daunting challenge: the bitter water at Marah. The children of Israel did not manage the situation with maturity as a people who had experienced God’s faithfulness on several occasions, as they resorted to murmuring and complaining, instead of crying to God and tap once again from the riches of His benevolence. The attitude of the Israelites is still being repeated today among youths when they face challenges in their studies, career and ministry. 👉However, Moses, knowing that the mercies of God never fail, cried out to the Lord for help. God responded to his prayer by revealing a solution to him and the bitter water became sweet. This remarkable miracle underscores the Lord's unwavering availability in times of crisis. When we fervently cry out to Him, He will unfailingly provide solutions to our seemingly insurmountable problems. 🙏PRAYER: Lord, help me to depend on You in times of troubles. Daily Manna