Spiritual Digest for the Day 14Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY “Teach us to use wisely all the time we have” (Psalm 90:12 CEV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY Living wisely is rooted in understanding that our loving Father has a purpose behind our seconds, minutes, hours, and days. - Bill Crowder ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Pray for the grace to be able to use your time on earth wisely.

Spiritual Digest for the Day 13Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY “All I want is to know Christ and to experience the power of his resurrection, to share in his sufferings and become like him in his death” (Philippians 3:10 TEV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY Have a deep desire not just for the good things Jesus can do for you, but for a living daily relationship with Him. - Christopher Ash ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Let me have a daily relationship with You, Lord.

Spiritual Digest for the Day 12Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1 NKJV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY Yes! The saints in the Lord will gather at the beautiful river that flows by the throne of God. However, will you be one of those saints? Will I be one of those saints? This is a big pertinent question that we should be asking ourselves everyday. - Bayo Afolaranmi ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Pray that you will not miss the gathering of the saints at the beautiful river that flows by the throne of God.

SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER? (in honour of Ariyo Afolaranmi)

Dearly Beloved, SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER? (in honour of Ariyo Afolaranmi) “And he showed me a pure river of water of life, clear as crystal, proceeding from the throne of God and of the Lamb” (Revelation 22:1 NKJV). Recently, I was at a bakery to buy some loaves of bread at wholesale price. Some of the bakers were singing the hymn “SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER?” with fun. I rebuked them and told them that such hymn is not one that one should be singing carelessly. One of them answered me that they might be singing it with fun, but one should be reminded that such hymn would be sung at one’s funeral one day. He went further to assert that everyone will die one day, so, we should not be afraid of singing such hymn, even at workplace. The baker was right! The sudden death and burial of one of my pastor-colleagues was still fresh in my memory that day. Less than a month after that incident, the cold hands of death snatched one of my younger brothers, ARIYO AFOLARANMI, after he battled with a liver-related sickness. We, his siblings and other relations, tried all we could to rescue him from this life-threatening ailment, but our efforts could not stop death from taking him away from his wife, young daughters, siblings and other loved ones. As we buried him later that day, the hymn “SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER?” came to my mind. Shall we really gather at the river? The hymn “SHALL WE GATHER AT THE RIVER?” was composed by a Baptist pastor, Robert Lowry, was born on 12 March 1826 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. He composed the hymn one afternoon in July 1864 during the American Civil War when he was the pastor of Hanson Place Baptist church, Brooklyn, New York, USA. People were dying all over the place. When Robert was not busy visiting the members of his congregation who were sick, he was busy burying others who had died. In that oppressively hot weather, while he was resting on the couch in his home, he thought about all the people who were dying. He also thought about the great reunion at the river of life in heaven referred to in Revelation 22:1. As he lay there, visions of the future passed before him with amazing vividness. He imaged the bright throne of God, the angels of God treading on the river, and especially the gathering of the saints. He wondered whether we (the saints) will gather at that river, and later concluded that we will gather at the river! Yes! The saints in the Lord will gather at the beautiful river that flows by the throne of God. However, will you be one of those saints? Will I be one of those saints? This is a big pertinent question that we should be asking ourselves everyday. Shall we really gather at the river? In His service, Bayo Afolaranmi (Pastor). Prayer Points: 1. Pray for the wife, young daughters, siblings and other loved ones of one of my younger brothers, ARIYO AFOLARANMI, for the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss and for God’s sustenance over his immediate family. 2. Pray that you will not miss the gathering of the saints at the beautiful river that flows by the throne of God. NB: This message is dedicated to one of my younger brothers, late ARIYO AFOLARANMI (July 14, 1976 - August 9, 2018).

Spiritual Digest for the Day 11Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY “So if you want to brag, do what the Scriptures say and brag about the Lord” (1 Corinthians 1:31 CEV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY Instead of boasting about our intelligence or strength, we should brag on God’s. - Arlene Pellicane ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Instead of boasting in anything, help me, O Lord, to be boasting in You.

Spiritual Digest for the Day 10Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY "In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith — of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire — may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed" (1 Peter 1:6-7 NIV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY When we experience the fiery furnace of suffering — whether physical or emotional, whether persecution from without or humiliation from within — God’s loving purpose is to make us pure and strong. - Julie Ackerman Link ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Pray that you will made pure and strong through difficult situations.

Spiritual Digest for the Day 09Aug2018

BIBLE VERSE FOR THE DAY “Lord, how they have increased who trouble me! Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me, ’There is no help for him in God.’ But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory and the One who lifts up my head” (Psalm 3:1-3 NKJV). ****************** QUOTE FOR THE DAY We may be tempted to give up or wish we could escape when we are weary and cannot see the end of our current battle. But, like David, we can learn to trust that God will hold us up and help us rest in His constant and loving presence. - Xochitl Dixon ******************** PRAYER/ACTION FOR THE DAY Appreciate God who is ready to uphold you with His constant and loving presence in time of trouble.