And in the same way the ones sown upon stony ground are those who, when they hear the Word, at once receive and accept and welcome it with joy; and they have no real root in themselves, and so they endure for a little while; then when trouble or persecution arises on account of the Word, they immediately are offended (become displeased, indignant, resentful) and they stumble and fall away. Mark 4:16-17 (AMPC) REFERENCE Mark 4:1-6, & 16-17 We live in an age where there is an increased effort by the devil to uproot Christians and cause them to fall...

And the remnant who have escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward. Isaiah 37:31   REFERENCE Isaiah 37:31 Rootedness is the quality of being rooted or firmly established. The root is the part of a plant that attaches it to the ground, typically underground, conveying water and nourishment to the rest of the plant via numerous branches and fibers. It also means the source, foundation, or essence of a plant’s life; and also true for man’s life. For everything you see on the visible side, there is an invisible system of roots. The durability, health,...

“Therefore command that the tomb be made secure until the third day, lest His disciples come by night and steal Him away, and say to the people, ‘He has risen from the dead.’ So the last deception will be worse than the first.”” Matthew 27:64 REFERENCE Matthew 27:45-50 & 62-66   Jesus died on a Friday, but He had promised a Sunday morning resurrection, but what happens on Saturday? How do we handle that place of mourning a loss, yet anticipating a resurrection or restoration? How do you cope when you are in-between a promise and its fulfillment? How do...

Moreover, it is required in stewards that one be found faithful - I Corinthians 4:2   REFERENCE I Corinthians 4:2&7   A steward is someone employed to manage the property of another person. Every true believer must know that all He has belongs to God and he has only been given those things to manage. C.S. Lewis said in Mere Christianity, “Every faculty you have, your power of thinking or of moving your limbs from moment to moment, is given you by God. If you devoted every moment of your whole life exclusively to His service, you could not give...

And they rose at twilight to go to the camp of the Syrians; and when they had come to the outskirts of the Syrian camp, to their surprise no one was there. - II Kings 7:5   REFERENCE II Kings 7:1-8 God never planned a day of defeat for you. He did not plan for you to always beg, lag behind in life, struggle to survive, or to be under Satan’s oppression. You are blessed and not cursed because it is a pronouncement of God over you from the very beginning and the blessing is in your DNA. But ‘why...

So the servants of the owner came and said to him, ‘Sir, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have tares?’ He said to them, ‘An enemy has done this…’ Matthew 13:27-28 REFERENCE Matthew 13:24-30 Some Christians sometimes erroneously believe that when something evil happens to them, God is behind it. They claim that He is trying to teach them a lesson or is punishing them for their shortcomings. However, a truth that must always be kept in mind by every child of God is that, it is not in God’s constitution at all...

“Also let the gold and silver articles of the house of God, which Nebuchadnezzar took from the temple which is in Jerusalem and brought to Babylon, be restored and taken back to the temple which is in Jerusalem, each to its place; and deposit them in the house of God” Ezra 6:5 REFERENCE Ezra 6:1-12 The prelude to this account started when King Cyrus gave the command for the captive Jews in Babylon to return to their land to rebuild the city and the temple of God. After his death, Darius became king and some enemies of the Jews wrote a protest letter to him to stop the Jews...

For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. - Philippians 1:23   REFERENCE Philippians 1:21-23 Death is one of the grim realities we all have to deal with at some point in this life – of a friend or family member or a colleague. It is important that we get a proper understanding of what God’s Word says about our response to it as believers, hence today’s devotional. It is always a painful experience when we lose a loved one to death because of the void their departure...

For when we were still without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly. Romans 5:6 REFERENCE Romans 5:5-11 God loves people. That is why He gave His ONLY begotten Son to die for man. And it was while we were yet sinners that God took this ‘risk’. He doesn’t give up easily on anybody…remember how the Spirit wooed you for salvation? This must mean that there is something God sees in man - even in the worst of us - that makes Him hopeful that the best of us can come out from the worst of us. God...