YOur Team

‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue.’ Proverbs 18:21 NKJV Don’t speak without thinking. And don’t say things that contradict or go against God’s Word. Those aren’t easy principles to live by, but they’re life–and–death issues. The Bible says, ‘Death and life are in the power of the tongue.’ That means you can bless yourself by what you say. ‘He who invokes a blessing on himself… shall do so by saying, “May the God of truth… bless me… because the former troubles are forgotten.”’ (Isaiah 65:16 AMPC) Notice two important things in this Scripture: (1) Your own words have more power to influence you than anyone else’s words. In the final analysis, it’s not what others say that...

‘The man said, “The woman You put here with me— she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”’ Genesis 3:12 NIV The story of Adam and Eve’s failure teaches us two important lessons about God: (1) He won’t accept your excuses. (2) He won’t let you blame other people. He insists that you take responsibility for yourself. And until you do, He can’t bless you like He desires. That means you must make a choice to stop living in the rubbish heap of past mistakes—your own, and other people’s. You must focus on where you’re going and what you’d like to see happen, rather than having your eyes looking back at what was done and who did it. It’s time to take back your power! How? (a) Declare...

‘Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!’ Luke 23:18 NIV The Bible says: ‘The whole crowd cried out, “Kill him! Set Barabbas free for us!” (Barabbas had been put in prison for a riot that had taken place in the city, and for murder.)’ (Luke 23:18–19 GNT) And just like Barabbas, we deserve to die for our sins. Four prison walls, thickened with fear, hurt, and hate, surround us. We’re imprisoned by our past, our low–road choices, and our high–minded pride. We’ve been found guilty. We sit on the floor of a dusty cell waiting for the final moment. Our executioner’s footsteps echo against stone walls. Head between our knees, we don’t look up as he opens the door; we don’t lift our eyes as...

‘He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.’ Hebrews 2:15 NLT The Bible says: ‘Because God’s children are human beings—made of flesh and blood—the Son also became flesh and blood. For only as a human being could He die, and only by dying could He break the power… of death… He set free all who have lived their lives as slaves to the fear of dying.’ (Hebrews 2:14–15 NLT) Adolf von Harnack had doubts about the Gospels but still admitted: ‘Christ’s grave was the birthplace of an indestructible belief that death is vanquished and there is life eternal. It is useless to cite Plato…useless to point to the Persian religion and the ideas and literature of later...

‘I desire to depart and be with Christ.’ Philippians 1:23 NIV In his Analogies of Nature, William Jennings Bryan wrote: ‘Christ gave us proof of immortality, and yet it would hardly seem necessary that one should rise from the dead to convince us that the grave is not the end. If the Father stoops to touch with Divine power the cold and pulseless heart of the buried acorn [seed] and to make it burst forth into a new life, will He leave neglected in the earth the soul of man, made in the image of his Creator? If He stoops to give to the rosebud whose withered blossoms float upon the autumn breeze, the sweet assurance of another springtime, will He refuse…words of hope to the sons of men...

‘When we die and leave this earthly body, we will have a house in Heaven.’ 2 Corinthians 5:1 NLT When you die, you simply leave one form of life and enter another. Consider the first law of thermodynamics: neither energy (as in your soul and spirit) nor matter (as in your body) can be destroyed. They can be transformed into other forms, but they can’t be annihilated. Burris Jenkins said it this way: ‘No single atom in creation can go out of existence, according to the scientists; it only changes in form. We cannot burn up anything; we simply change it from a solid to a gaseous state. Neither is any energy or force ever destroyed; it is only changed from one form to another.’ If a person...

‘If someone dies, will they live again?’ Job 14:14 NIV After AD616, the first Christian missionaries came to the court of King Edwin in Northumbria, England. In his great hall, lit with the light from numerous torches, they presented the Gospel. The king listened, then consulted his advisors. One of his nobleman said: ‘Life is like a banquet hall. Inside is light…fire…warmth and feasting, but outside it is cold and dark. A sparrow flies in through a window at one end…and out through a window at the other end. That is what life is like. At birth we emerge from the unknown, and for a brief while we are here…with a fair amount of comfort and happiness. But then we fly out into the...

‘Consider others more important than yourselves.’ Philippians 2:3 CEV Paul writes, ‘Consider others more important than yourselves. Care about them as much as you care about yourselves and think the same way that Christ Jesus thought.’ (Philippians 2:3–5 CEV) That kind of thinking goes against our natural instincts, but Jesus showed us how to do it. Hanging on the cross, He took time to care for the condemned criminal hanging next to Him (see Luke 23:39–43). As he was being stoned, Stephen prayed for those who were killing him, asking God “do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60 NIV). Beaten and wrongly imprisoned, Paul and Silas took time to minister to their jailer. Even after God...

‘Your faith has made you well.’ Luke 8:48 NKJV The Bible says: ‘Now a woman, having a flow of blood for twelve years… touched the border of His garment. And immediately her flow of blood stopped… Jesus said, “Somebody touched Me, for I perceived power going out from Me.” Now when the woman saw that she was not hidden… she declared… she had touched Him and how she was healed immediately.’ (Luke 8:43–47 NKJV) There are three important lessons here: (1) Recognise and seize your moment of opportunity. This woman understood that Jesus was visiting her town and might not be back. There are ‘God moments’ in life when you must rearrange your priorities, overcome your fear, and exercise your faith....

‘We have this treasure in earthen vessels.’ 2 Corinthians 4:7 KJV When you don’t feel good about yourself, you live with a sense of insecurity. You keep looking to others for approval, and when you don’t get it, your sense of worth shrivels. As a result, you can spend your life living far short of your God–given potential. You are the only person you can’t get away from, and until you learn to accept yourself based on the fact that God loves and accepts you as you are, you will always battle insecurity. Stop and think about the last time you were around somebody you didn’t particularly enjoy. How did it feel? Not too good, right? Good or bad, we project onto others the thoughts and...