The Lord told Joshua that He would be with him the same way He was with Moses (Josh. 1:5). In a similar way, Yeshua told all of us that He would be with us at all times without ceasing from now until the end (Matt. 28:20). To some degree, through the Holy Spirit, the potential of these verses are applicable for you and me even today.

One of the greatest victories of Moses was the crossing of the Red Sea. (I believe that Yeshua was also with him at that time as the Angel YHVH in the pillar of fire.) It was a situation that involved intense pressure and a possible disaster. Let’s look at the elements of this miracle to see how to apply them in our lives today.

1. Submitting to God’s Will: God told Moses to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt. Moses didn’t really want to do it or feel he was capable to handle the challenge (Ex. 3). But he submitted and obeyed. He was not doing his own will, but God’s will (Matt. 6:10; 26:39).

2. Lift Your Staff: The children of Israel were trapped at the Red Sea and screaming at Moses. The Egyptians were charging. The situation was hopeless and impossible. God told Moses to stretch out his hand over the Red Sea (Ex. 14:16). The staff symbolizes faith and authority.

3. Blow Mighty Wind: After Moses stretched out his hand and staff, God caused a mighty wind to blow all night: “a strong east wind all that night” (Ex. 14:21). Wind and spirit in Hebrew are the same word, ruach, רוח. After Moses made a step of faith, God caused a powerful spiritual wind to blow all night to open a path in the middle of the sea. God did it; not Moses. Moses believed. God brought the power and did the impossible.

4. Lead the People Through: Now that the way was open, Moses simply led the people through the open path. God opened; Moses led; the people walked to the other side. They came to a totally new place.

5. Destroy the Enemies: God tells Moses to lift his rod again. This time the Lord acts to destroy the enemies. Moses used the rod of faith authority to lead the people, to release the Spirit, and to destroy the enemy.

After this there was nothing left other than to sing and dance and praise the Lord. “I will sing unto YHVH for He has triumphed gloriously” (Ex. 15:1a). Halleluyah, we want to walk in the spirit of joy, praise and victory even in the midst of the most difficult situations. {eoa}

Asher Intrater is the founder and apostolic leader of Revive Israel Ministries and oversees Ahavat Yeshua congregation in Jerusalem and Tiferet Yeshua congregation in Tel Aviv. Asher was one of the founders of Tikkun International with Dan Juster and Eitan Shishkoff and serves on the board of the Messianic Alliance of Israel and Aglow International. He and his wife and full-time partner in ministry, Betty, have a passion for personal prayer and devotion, local evangelism and discipleship in Hebrew and unity of the body of believers worldwide.

This article originally appeared at .

“Houston, we’ve had a problem here.” —Jack Swigert, astronaut on Apollo 13

The explosion seemingly came out of nowhere. The Apollo 13 spacecraft was in its second day of travel, cruising easily to the moon. Ironically, the date was April 13th, when the trip instantaneously went from smooth sailing to a desperate fight to save the crew. The moon landing had to be abandoned as it now became a rescue mission. The problem began years earlier in one of the oxygen tanks. Although the tank looked fine on the outside, it had become damaged on the inside. Fortunately, the brilliance of the ground crew and the astronauts themselves allowed for their safe return.

Problems below the surface eventually show themselves, many times in ugly or explosive ways. One of those problems is when you are married with secrets that you are keeping from your spouse. If love, trust and intimacy are the oxygen that fuels your marriage, having secrets is like putting faulty wires in the tank. The results can be catastrophic. On the surface, it may seem like your marriage is smooth sailing, but one minute later, it’s in a fight for its life when those secrets blow up. Here are five secrets spouses keep that hurt their marriage.

1. Unhappiness in the Marriage

Many people wander into a place where they are discontent with their marriage. The reasons for keeping it a secret could be fear of hurting feelings, thinking the problems will eventually sort themselves out or maybe they just don’t want to admit that they have become unhappy. Sometimes it’s no one’s fault in particular. Sometimes bad habits have developed by both that just need work. In the end, though, the problem(s) is (are) not going to go away by themselves. They have to be brought into the open and dealt with. Otherwise, you and your spouse will continue to separate.

2. Fulfilling Intimacy Desires from Someone or Something Other Than a Spouse

It’s easy to see how an affair is hurtful to a marriage. But it’s the subtle things that are easily missed or justified long before an affair starts that lay the groundwork for disconnection. Sex is designed to build intimacy between a husband and wife. Sexual satisfaction and fulfillment are reserved for a spouse. When sex is lacking, it needs to be addressed, talked about, and resolved. Counseling should be sought. When a spouse secretly seeks to satisfy him/herself sexually through other means, it destroys intimacy. The soul bonds with those other things rather than the spouse. With every sexual engagement apart from the spouse, the desire for that spouse gets duller until the fire finally goes out.

3. Financial Decisions

No matter who is the primary breadwinner, in marriage, the money belongs to both of you, unless you have come to some sort of divided monetary agreement. Disagreements need to be talked about and worked out, not hidden. When one party makes financial decisions in secret that violate the couple’s agreement, it is a form of financial infidelity. One of the most important ingredients for a thriving marriage is trust. Keeping spending secrets is a major violation of trust and a fast track to disaster.

4. Disagreement

Quietly disagreeing with a decision a spouse makes undermines the relationship in two ways. First, it’s a silent lie. Dishonesty equals disunity. Second, feelings of disagreement have to settle somewhere, and when they are unresolved, they usually turn into resentment. Third, a married couple should always think of themselves as having one brain. Working through disagreement causes us to make more informed decisions, even when it is frustrating. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Ginsberg couldn’t have been more opposite than recently deceased Justice Antonin Scalia. However, in a moving tribute to Scalia, she said that when they disagreed her final opinion was always better because he was able to clearly state all of the weak points in his dissent. Silent dissent makes the relationship and the spouse weaker.

5. Past Relationships

Our past relationships significantly impact our current ones. We bring all of the wounds, baggage and dysfunction they have caused into the marriage. Hiding it only leaves a spouse confused and separated. It is like a wall between one another. Do you have to share with one another all of the things you did physically in previous relationships? No. But it is important for them to know the level of intimacy and how you were affected by it. It’s good for them to know what went right and what went wrong. It helps them to know you better and how your past relational experience has formed you.

What other secrets do spouses commonly keep that hurt the marriage? {eoa}

B.J. Foster is the director of content creation for All Pro Dad and a married father of two.

This article originally appeared at .

Medical researchers studying how stress harms our bodies report it is more damaging than previously thought, ranking as a top risk factor for early death, along with smoking and obesity.

Cleveland Clinic’s Dr. Michael Roizen, author of Age Proof, says stress leads to “heart problems, depression, anxiety, pack pain, indigestion, other bowel problems, headaches, sleep problems and a whole host of other issues.” 

Dr. Crystal Moore, a Chesapeake, Virginia pathologist, told CBN News a whopping 43 percent of adults suffer from health conditions related to stress. It gets worse: up to 90-percent of doctor visits are for complains that are stress related.

Dr. Moore says stress strikes in three primary ways:

Mood: anxiety, depression, sleep disorders

Body: headaches, fatigue, chest pain

Behavior: drug and alcohol abuse, eating disorders, poor socialization

With this in mind, Dr. Moore says, “We need to do more to integrate stress relieving behaviors into our daily lives.” 

One proven stress reliever is prayer. According to University of Wisconsin researcher Shane Sharp, prayer “helps people deal with their situation and emotions” because it allows people to express their deepest emotions without fear of reprisal to someone who genuinely cares.

“During prayer, victims came to see themselves as they believed God saw them. Since these perceptions were mostly positive, it helped raise their senses of self-worth,” Sharp wrote.

Likewise, Dr. Harold G. Koenig, author of The Healing Power of Faith told CBN News people who pray and go to church have better health.

“In general, they cope with stress better, they experience greater well-being because they have more hope, they’re more optimistic, they experience less depression, less anxiety, and they commit suicide less often,” he said.

However, despite the stress-relieving benefit of prayer, fewer Americans are doing it.

According Pew Research the share of US adults who seldom or never pray has increased from 18 percent to 23 percent since 2007.

This change is mainly tied to the growing share of Americans who say they have no religious affiliation. Religiously unaffiliated adults pray far less frequently compared with those who identify with a religion, and an increasing share of religious “nones” say they seldom or never pray.

Nevertheless, many Americans are still turning to God as a way to relieve stress. An American Psychology Association report last year called “Stress in America” revealed 40 percent of women pray to relieve stress, while a much lower 23 percent of men do.

Meanwhile, the number of people who practice other religious stress-relievers such as meditation and yoga is at 12 percent for men and women combined, according to the report. {eoa}

Copyright The Christian Broadcasting Network, Inc., All rights reserved.

Your community is your mission field. Does your building reflect a ministry outpost or a religious museum? In an upcoming seminar series titled “The Embedded Church,” presented by Building God’s Way, ministry leaders will be challenged to ask themselves two critical questions: “Is our church moved by and invested in what we believe?” and “Does our building reflect the kind of church God has called us to be?

These half-day seminars will focus on how to bring the church back to the center of the community through spaces that are more flexible, accessible, hospitable and relevant.

Industry experts and experienced pastors will share how to establish an embedded identity and transform facilities that will allow ministries to engage more effectively with our most important mission field—our community—seven days a week.

For more information, visit .

Have you ever lost anything in the ocean? You can pretty much you kiss it goodbye. You probably won’t ever see it again.

Years ago I was scuba diving, and I was cruising along at about 15 feet below the surface. I could see the ocean floor, which was about 30 feet below the surface. I went out a little further, and the ocean floor dropped to 60 feet. I went to a depth of 30 feet and ventured out even further, until the ocean floor was at about 80 feet below the surface. Then I came to a ledge that dropped off, and I could no longer see the bottom of the ocean. I took one look into that dark abyss, turned around and went back the way I came. That is a long way down. If you drop something there, you will never see it again.

The Bible says of God, “He will … cast all of our sins into the depths of the sea” (Mic. 7:19). God will take our sin and throw it into the deepest part of the sea. He will take our iniquities and cast them into the depths of the ocean. God also promises, “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more” (Heb. 8:12). Isn’t that good news? God will forgive your sin. He will forget your sin. We should not choose to remember what God has chosen to forget. It is forgiven.

The Bible tells the story of two thieves on the cross. They were being crucified on the same day Jesus was. The word “thief” the Bible uses is a much more intense word than the one we use. They were not just men who stole things. They probably were murderers and insurrectionists revolting against Roman tyranny. That is why Rome would hang people like that on crosses.

Here was this man, hanging on a cross, and next to him was Jesus Christ. That thief was hanging there because of his own sins. Jesus was hanging there because of the sins of others. The crowd began to mock Christ, saying, “He saved others. let Him save Himself if He is the Christ, the chosen One of God” (Luke 23:35). Both criminals joined in this chorus of mockery at first, but then Jesus said something that amazed one of them: “Father, forgive them, for they not know what they do” (Luke 23:34). The man looked at Jesus and said, “Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom” (Luke 23:42). He believed on the spot.

You can believe in Jesus that quickly. It doesn’t take a year. It doesn’t take a month. It doesn’t take a week. It can happen in an instant.

The thief was hopeless up to that point, but he found hope. Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, today you will be with Me in Paradise” (Luke 23:43). Talk about being in the right place at the right time. Can you imagine how his heart must have leaped with joy?

Have you lost hope today? It has been said that man can live 40 days without food, three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope. Jesus Christ can give you hope today, just like he gave to the thief on the cross.

He had what we might call a deathbed conversion. Some say, “I’ll wait until my deathbed, and then I’ll believe in Jesus.” What makes them think they will have the luxury of a deathbed conversion? Sometimes death comes without warning. The Bible says, “As it is appointed for men to die once, but after this comes the judgment” (Heb. 9:27). Death will come for everyone. One out of every one person will die. And life can end unexpectedly.

There was a man known as Saul who was, in many ways, one of the most evil men who ever lived. He was a heavy-duty sinner. Ironically, Saul of Tarsus was also a religious man. He was part of an elite religious group called the Sanhedrin, which made rulings that affected the whole nation. Saul made it his business to hunt down followers of Jesus and put them to death.

One day, a young man named Stephen was brought before him. Stephen was fearless, and he stood up in front of Saul and the other members of the Sanhedrin and began to lay out the gospel without any shame or fear. As he spoke, they got really angry. In fact, they were so angry they put their fingers in their ears and started screaming. (You know your message isn’t going over well when people start doing that.) Yet Stephen kept speaking. The Bible says that his face shined like an angel. The command was given to execute Stephen by stoning. As the rocks were hurtled at Stephen’s body, he cried out, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60). It sounded like Jesus on the cross. It enraged Saul that someone could die like that.

Stephen wasn’t afraid to die. Death for the believer is not the end; it is just a continuation of life in another place. This does not mean that Christians walk around with some kind of death wish. I don’t think anyone loves life more than Christians. What is great is that we don’t need drugs or alcohol to make life fulfilling. We have a relationship with God.

But when that day comes (and it will) the Christian will be ready. As the apostle Paul (formerly Saul of Tarsus) said, “For to me, to continue living is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). That is the hope of the follower of Jesus Christ. And only those who are prepared to die are really ready to live. {eoa}

Greg Laurie (@greglaurie) is the senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, an author of more than 70 books, and an evangelist leading Harvest America, a live nationwide event streamed to thousands of host locations. More at .

This article appeared at  and was originally taken from his weekly column at World Net Daily.

Morris Cerullo returned to his beloved nation of India Feb. 22-25 at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium, New Delhi, for a nationwide School of Ministry and Impartation.

New Delhi, in Northern India, capital of the world’s second most populous nation, is a tremendous strategic location for the training of national church leaders.

An overflow attendance of over 8,000 (including 4,000 who watched on jumbo video screens outside) received the impartation from the legendary general of the faith.

God also manifested His words to Dr. Cerullo: “I don’t want this ministry I have given to you to die” as thousands signed up to be part of the Morris Cerullo Legacy vision, to train both in San Diego and around the world.

Currently the 18-acre Morris Cerullo Worldwide Legacy Training Center campus in San Diego, California, is in full construction mode and on schedule to open in the fall of 2019.

Cerullo’s next major conference for believers worldwide that want to be trained in the manifestation of intercessory prayer and spiritual warfare will be in Chicago, IL, Aug. 31-Sept. 3 at the Hyatt Regency O’Hare Hotel and Conference Center, the 2018 Morris Cerullo Worldwide School of Ministry.

Jentezen Franklin has seen the fire of God fall on large congregations. But he’s also had people confide in him that they can no longer access God’s fire—the flame has gone out. How do we keep that flame alive? Franklin explains in this powerful message.

Gateway’s new single, “It Is Finished,” reminds believers of God’s victory over death. The lyrics remember the price Christ paid at Calvary: “At the cross, You took my place/You traded death so I can live again.”

Months after its debut, Jonathan Cahn’s hit New York Times best-seller, The Paradigm: The Ancient Blueprint That Holds the Mystery of Our Times (), is still making strides on best-seller lists.

In fact, for the Publisher’s Weekly list in January, Cahn held spots on both the nonfiction and fiction lists. The Paradigm was No. 5 on the Religion Nonfiction list, which, Publisher’s Weekly reported, may have made buyers curious about his other works. His 2016 novel, The Book of Mysteries, is No. 2 on the Religion Fiction list.

The Paradigm exploded onto the scene in Sept. 2017, and readers were amazed at the parallels the author drew between an ancient paradigm from 3,000 years ago and today’s headlines.

“In The Paradigm, current events become the manifestations of an ancient mystery,” Cahn writes. “We will see ancient monarchs and modern presidents merging together, the reigns and actions of ancient kings governing the reigns and actions of modern leaders, ancient scandals lying behind modern scandals, and the events of ancient times determining the course, the direction and the timing of the events of the modern world.

This week, Cahn will be at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) 75th Annual Convention in Nashville to conduct interviews, sign books and interact with other authors.

Three of Cahn’s best-sellers, The Paradigm, The Harbinger and The Book of Mysteries, currently hold top 10 spots on Amazon in their respective categories.

The Paradigm is published by Frontline, an imprint of Charisma House.

Worship leader Kristian Stanfill says he was once held captive by the enemy and shame—but God freed him from all that. His song “Whole Heart” performed live at Passion 2018, is an ode to finding identity in Christ. Watch the official music video.