If you haven't heard, Canadian pastor James Coates is in jail for holding church services in defiance of COVID edicts. I'm sure he's busy starting a prison ministry from the inside...
"Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear." (Phil 1:12-14)
This has always been one of my favorite interviews with a buoyant and triumphant Chinese pastor. He discovered Jesus through something called "Western Pornography."
https://www.karlgessler.com/post/discovering-western-pornography
@His_story true, but difficult to swallow.
Isaiah 35:4-9 #TPT
Say to the anxious and fearful, "Be strong and never afraid. Look, here comes your God! He is breaking through to give you victory! He comes to avenge your enemies. With divine retribution He comes to save you!"
Then blind eyes will open and deaf ears will hear.
Then the lame will leap like playful deer and the tongue-tied will sing songs of triumph. Gushing water will spring up in the wilderness and streams will flow through the desert.
The burning sand will become a refreshing oasis, the parched ground bubbling springs, and the dragon's lair a meadow with grass, reeds, and papyrus.
There will be a highway of holiness called the Sacred Way. The impure will not be permitted on this road, but it will be accessible to God's people, and not even fools will lose their way.
The lion will not be found there; no wild beast will travel on it - they will not be found there. But the redeemed will find a pathway on it.
#Bible #ThePassionTranslation
Psalms 66:8-12 #TPT
Praise God, all you peoples. Praise him everywhere and let everyone know you love him!
There’s no doubt about it; God holds our lives safely in his hands. He’s the one who keeps us faithfully following him.
O Lord, we have passed through your fire; like precious metal made pure, you’ve proved us, perfected us, and made us holy.
You’ve captured us, ensnared us in your net. Then, like prisoners, you placed chains around our necks .
You’ve allowed our enemies to prevail against us. We’ve passed through fire and flood, yet in the end you always bring us out better than we were before, saturated with your goodness.
#Bible #ThePassionTranslation
DAY 25 - Sister Grace He
Sister Grace, one of the original carriers of the BTJ vision decades ago, shares her personal testimony.
#Trials
Trials are a part of our experience; they were predestinated for us in Christ’s last legacy. As surely as the stars are fashioned by His hands, and their orbits fixed by Him, so surely are our trials allotted to us. He has ordained their season and their place, their intensity and the effect they shall have upon us. Good men must never expect to escape troubles; if they do, they will be disappointed, for none of their predecessors have been without them.
Charles Spurgeon
BTJ GATEKEEPERS!
Good News!
We have just launched a NEW chat thread on TELEGRAM for confidential updates.
https://backtojerusalem.com/%f0%9f%94%a5new%f0%9f%94%a5-btj-launches-new-confidential-chat-on-telegram-for-gatekeepers/
"Lose your rationality. Lose your common sense and way of thinking and listen to the Holy Spirit" says BTJ's UK Director @bethany as she calls out for young people to join the Chinese underground house church in Completing the Great Commission. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RuyeDIiYkk8
Where is our focus each day? Is it on Christ alone?
https://devotionaltreasure.wordpress.com/2021/03/07/eyes-on-christ/
#Prayer
Abba Father, awaken us to the presence and power of Jesus at work in us through the Holy Spirit.
I know, as the Holy Spirit's presence and power reign in our lives, we will display his fruit —
The love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control of Jesus!
Open our hearts, dear Spirit of the living Christ, to see each other's needs
and help with active compassion, concern, and care.
For the sake of Jesus' Good News and his people, I pray this. Amen.
Hebrews 10:35-39 #TPT
So don’t lose your bold, courageous faith, for you are destined for a great reward!
You need the strength of endurance to reveal the poetry of God’s will and then you receive the promise in full.
For soon and very soon, “The One who is appearing will come without delay!”
And he also says, “My righteous ones will live from my faith. But if fear holds them back, my soul is not content with them!”
But we are certainly not those who are held back by fear and perish; we are among those who have faith and experience true life!
#Bible #ThePassionTranslation
Forgiven and free, forever you’ll be my God. And all that you’ve done is so overwhelming. I delight myself in you in the glory of your presence. -Overwhelmed, Big Daddy Weave https://youtu.be/BiGb14tTaH4
Hebrews 6:10
John 15:5
Retired pastor/teacher to inner city homeless/drug/alcohol addicted.