The Bible and Life

Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Are You Depressed?

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is an article by Mary Bjohns.

"Have you ever felt like your life is formless, dark, and chaotic, just like the Earth was in the beginning? Remember, in the midst of all that mess, God spoke and created something amazing.

In Genesis 1:3, it says, 'And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light.' God didn't dwell on the chaos; He focused on what He wanted to see. He used the power of His words to shape His desired reality.

Beloved, in the midst of your storms, darkness, and chaos, what do you want to see in your life? Just as God created order out of chaos, we too have that creative ability within us.

Instead of dwelling on what's not working in your life, speak life into those situations. Use your words to command a shift. Declare blessings, healing, success, and peace over your life in the mighty Name of Jesus!

Remember, in 1 John 4:17, it says, 'As He is, so are we in this world.' We are heirs of God and co-creators with Him. Tap into that power today. Speak life, speak positivity, speak blessings. Watch as your words shape your reality and align it with God's divine plan for you.

Don't underestimate the power of your words. Speak with faith, knowing that God is working alongside you to bring forth His will in your life. You have the authority to command your circumstances to change.

Believe it, declare it, and watch miracles unfold.

William James Roop

Monday, June 10, 2024

Keep It Simple

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a funny story about a smart lady.

WALKER COUNTY LAKE CATFISH TOURNAMENT ANGLERS CRYING FOUL AFTER 70 YEAR OLD WOMAN WINS TOURNAMENT WITH A CANE POLE AND A ZIPLOCK BAG FULL OF GRAVY TRAIN

JASPER - Participants in the annual Walker County Lake Catfish Tournament are crying foul tonight after a 70 year old Jasper woman bested the next closest competitor by 12 lbs while using nothing but a cane pole, and Gravy Train dog food as bait.

One competitor with whom we spoke had this to say, "I have the very best catfishing equipment that money can buy, the best boat, the best rods, the best electronics. There ain't no way that old lady beat me with a stick and some dog food, no way. Something smells fishy here, and it ain't my stinkbait."

Others say that it is not unusual for "Ms. Minnie" as she is lovingly called by lake patrons to weigh in her limit at least five days a week.

"Ms. Minnie sure can catch 'em. She always leaves the lake with enough catfish, and shellcrackers to feed five people. Ms. Minnie wouldn't cheat, those men just ain't as good at fishing as they think they are."

William James Roop

Saturday, June 8, 2024

Thank You For The Fleas

Hello Everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is a commonly told story about a great lady.

While in Ravensbrück concentration camp, Corrie ten Boom and her sister, Betsy dealt with dreadful conditions.

This women’s labor camp “dorms” were crammed into three high trough like sleeping barracks with rancid hay as their bed.

The cramped conditions and lack of basic sanitation lead to a lice and massive infestation of fleas.

Corrie wondered how they could endure such a dreadful place.

Betsy prayed and told her sister they must “give thanks in all circumstances”.

But the filth and the fleas?

Corrie wondered How she could possibly ever be thankful for the lice and the fleas?

Several weeks later, one of the supervisors was called in their barracks to view something Betsy was working on.

The supervisor refused because the place was crawling with fleas.

Betsy then reminded her sister that it was the fleas that had allowed them so much freedom to form a bond with and pray and teach about Jesus to their entire barrack with little infringement from their captors because neither the supervisors or guards wanted to be in their barracks because of the lice and the fleas.

This is when Corrie realized how she could be thankful even for a flea.

Every time I read this section of the true story “The Hiding Place”, I’m so humbled by the raw and real way God used these amazing, brave sisters in such a horrific situation.

He even used the fleas.

What challenge or difficulty have you found gratitude in that you never thought you could?

By Corrie Ten Boom

Thursday, June 6, 2024

George Jeffreys

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is an article that I wanted to share.

George Jeffreys began his Spirit-filled ministry in the first half of the twentieth century as a healing evangelist. Thousands came to Christ as a result of the four-part gospel he preached: Jesus as Savior, Healer, Baptizer in the Holy Spirit, and coming King.

Jeffreys was a product of the Welsh Revival, which first brought him into the kingdom of God. Not only was the Welsh Revival responsible for his conversion, but it also influenced his vision of the body of Christ—and would do so for the rest of his life.

In Jeffreys’ concept of the kingdom of God, revival was not to be considered a mere hope for the future; it was available to the church today. Jeffreys knew that God moved in power to bring people to their knees in repentance and new life, and he wanted to see the flames of that revival ignite the hearts of men and women all over the globe.

God placed Jeffreys in the apostolic office according to Ephesians 4:11. This office signifies a servant whom God sends out with the message of the gospel of Christ to those who live in areas bereft of God’s Word. Through signs, miracles, and wonders that accompany their teaching, they birth new churches. Jeffreys was a true apostle—he preached conversion and built churches.

Today, conferences with numerous speakers may fill various halls and conference centers, but Jeffreys, with his apostolic mantle from the Lord and the power of the Holy Spirit, filled the Royal Albert Hall, the Crystal Palace, and Bingley Hall, among others—all by himself.

As such, George Jeffreys deserves to be recognized as one of God’s generals who was used to birth the Pentecostal movement in Great Britain, as well as to help pioneer the healing revivals of the twentieth century.

- God’s Generals ( The Healing Evangelists )

- JESUS SAVES TV

William James Roop

Tuesday, June 4, 2024

Jonathan Goforth

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

Here is an article that I wanted to share.

“Brethren, the Spirit of God is with us still. Pentecost is yet within our grasp. If revival is being withheld from us, it is because some idol remains still enthroned; because we still insist on placing our reliance in human schemes; because we still refuse to face the unchangeable truth that it is not by our might, but by His Spirit!”

—Jonathan Goforth

Jonathan Goforth was a pioneer revivalist with a burning passion to win souls for Christ. The quote above is from the closing passage of his book By My Spirit. Throughout his ministry, Goforth boldly proclaimed that men’s hearts would be drawn to the Savior by the Spirit of God alone. Very early in his ministry, his life verse became Zechariah 4:6: “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts.” Because of his unshakable faith in the Holy Spirit to change lives for eternity, Goforth was used by God to usher in sweeping revivals in China, reaching tens of thousands of people at the dawn of the twentieth century.

“Jonathan Goforth was a pioneer, through and through,” his wife Rosalind wrote. “He always had a forward vision and strong convictions about discerning divine guidance for himself....Jonathan believed in the freedom for each missionary to carry on his or her work as each one felt led by the Holy Spirit.”

- God’s Generals ( The Missionaries )

- JESUS SAVES TV

William James Roop

Sunday, June 2, 2024

The Power of Prayer (Lester Sumrall)

Hello everyone. Praise the Lord!

THE POWER OF PRAYER.

Lester Sumrall left America with $12 ($280 today) in his pocket and a one way ticket in 1934. The pastor who took him to the docks in San Francisco said " I perceive that you're going to go to China and starve to death" Lester " Would you do me a favor? Please send a small gravestone that says --Here lies Lester Sumrall, who starved to death trusting Jesus-- The pastor responded " I won't send it" And Lester " I won't need it, good day" And with that He boarded the S.S. Makura and went on a journey of faith!

The marvelous thing about prayer. It's so far- reaching. The effects of prayer do not know the bounds of distance or time. We can pray for something near or far in the future. We can pray for our next-door neighbor, or for someone halfway around the world. The effect is the same. God hears the prayer of faith and glorifies Himself in the answer.

Early in my ministry, I once became very ill while traveling between China and Tibet. I was riding on a donkey in a caravan when I became so weak I could not go on. I had been bleeding and feverish for nearly two days, and I was severely dehydrated. I dismounted, tied my donkey to a tree, and lay down to die. Almost immediately I passed out.

I don't know how long I was unconscious, but when I finally awoke, I was fine. The fever was gone, and my strength was back. It took me a full day to catch up with the caravan, but I finally did locate them that evening at dusk. Just before I went to sleep that night, I recorded in my diary, "I lay down to die, and God healed me."

More than two years later, while I was in Mobile, Alabama, to visit my mother, I was sharing some of my diary entries with her Christian women's group. A dear woman in that group showed me her own diary. Written there was an account of how at 10:00 P.M. on the day before I almost died in Tibet, she had been strongly impressed to pray for me. She had prayed fervently that the Lord would not let me die. Her diary showed that she had prayed for nearly two hours before she felt certain I was all right. Then she made the diary entry before she went to bed for the evening.

At 10:00 P.M. in Mobile, Alabama, it is 10:00 A.M. the following day in Tibet. In other words, at the exact time that woman was praying, I was lying under a tree unconscious, halfway around the world! God had guided her in her praying, and He had glorified Himself by answering.

Prayer does indeed change things. It changes us. It strengthens our faith. It helps us to see things through God's eyes. It softens our hearts. It sensitizes our consciences. It gives us superhuman courage. And it molds us into champions God can use.

How is your prayer life?

-The Making of a Champion, by Dr. Lester Sumrall

William James Roop