Easter Bunny and Happy Easter 2020

Easter Bunny and Happy Easter 2020

It’s a known fact across the United States that the egg-laying Easter Bunny goes hand in hand with Easter Sunday. Every year, eager children rush to their Easter baskets (likely a great DIY Easter basket idea) to see what kinds of treats, chocolate bunnies, and other special fillers the furry, mythical creature left behind for them. But, just like Santa Claus and Christmas, the mysterious hare has no obvious connections to the Christian significance of this post-Lent holy day. So, what are the Easter bunny’s origins, and why has it become such a prevalent symbol? 🍰🎂🧁

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What does a rabbit have to do with Easter?

One theory of the Easter Bunny’s origins is that it stemmed from early pagan celebrations around the vernal equinox, says Time. Pagans celebrated the springtime renewal of life as well as the goddess of dawn and fertility, Eostre, who was often represented by the hare or an egg. As Christianity spread throughout Europe, the celebrations around the vernal equinox may have merged with the observance of Christ’s resurrection, since they both occurred around the same time. Missionaries were said to blend pagan traditions with Christian holidays to make the transition smoother, so it is possible that the celebrations of Eostre and the resurrection of Christ became one. 🌸💐🍀

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Amazing Portraits

So, you’ve journeyed into the skill of portrait from photo techniques and wish to learn to paint people. The artist which comes here truly is starting your artwork experience and deserves lots of praise. Years back, in age Renoir, great portrait artists were by themselves so far as learning portrait from photo techniques. Today’s artists are capable of use photos and manipulate individuals photos, making a portrait from photos simpler than ever before! The following are a few portraits from photo techniques. Begin using these techniques with any medium and lastly learn to paint people.

Prepare and Gather Your Reference Photos

You’ll need three photos or pictures. The very first is a black and white-colored copy from the exact pose you’ll be painting. This copy should be the precise size of the finished portrait too. The following photo you’ll need is any size one copy. The final is a color one in which you have manipulated the colors. Looking for a photo to oil painting? Visit our website today!

1. Black and White-colored Photo

Enlarge a black and white-colored photo from the portrait that you’ll be painting on your pc. Print a duplicate within the preferred size you would like your portrait to become. This copy should at the minimum be an 8 x 10, the bigger, the greater. The reason behind black and white-colored is essentially so you conserve color ink. You’ll use this copy to check measurements. You may even make use of this copy to find out complexion values. This is your working copy and will also be discarded when finished. Plain white-colored printer documents best.

2. Colored Photo

Next, you’ll need exactly the same pose however the photo needs to become colored. It does not appear size it’s, but realize that the bigger the greater. This colored copy will be employed to match skin colors and also to identify shadows and highlighted areas. After I paint individuals portraits, I frequently place this colored copyright into an obvious food storage bag or look out of sheet protector to ensure that I do not get paint onto it. This colored copy can be used for checking complexion colors as well as for referencing lights and darks during your work. For the best portrait painting visit us today!

3. Colored Manipulated Photo

The 3rd picture I personally use within my studio is really a colored one which I’ve enhanced or manipulated the colors. The colors you utilize or change it out to actually does not matter. The concept would be to alter the colors so the alterations in skin tone tend to be more noticeable and apparent within the photo. By doing this there’s no speculation involved when you’re attempting to see in which a shadow or highlight starts or ends.

These are merely a couple of portraits from photo techniques exceptional portrait artists use to produce realistic works of art today. So take time to find and print your working, black and white-colored, your colored reference, as well as your colored manipulated photos for you, start the next portrait from photo experience.

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God Still Performs Miracles

God still performs miracles
Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40
GOD STILL PERFORMS MIRACLES

God, who parted the Red Sea, rained manna from heaven, caused the walls of Jericho to fall, shut the lions’ mouths, healed the sick, raised the dead and calmed the sea, still performs miracles today.

However, some Christians doubt that God wants to work a miracle for them today. They believe that there were miracles when Jesus walked the earth, but they think that the day of miracles is over. And they talk about how everything will be perfect one day in the sweet by and by. But God wants us to know that He is still the God of miracles today.

Martha was like one of those Christians. She wondered if Jesus could perform a miracle when her brother Lazarus died. By the time Jesus arrived on the scene, Lazarus had already been dead for four days. So she thought that Jesus was four days too late. That is why she said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21). And even when Jesus said that Lazarus would rise again, she said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24).

Martha believed that Jesus could perform miracles in the past and would do the same in the future, but she did not believe that He could give her a miracle when she needed it right then. You see, Martha was someone who lived wishing that the past could be changed and believing that the future would be better. But she did not believe that the “I Am” was there to meet her present need.

Today, God stands at the point of your need. What miracle do you need from Him? Believe that He is still the same miracle-working God today. Believe that you will see the glory of God. Believe and you will see your miracle!

-Joseph Prince

God is Your Strength

Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.
Ephesians 6:10

GOD IS YOUR STRENGTH

When you say, “I can manage this problem by myself, Lord,” God says, “Okay, you do it then.” But when you say, “Help me, Lord! I need You. I cannot do this on my own,” God says, “Good, I have been waiting for you to say that. You cannot, but I can. Now, watch Me!” That is how God is—He loves it when you depend on Him.

You see, when you think that you are strong and don’t need God, He cannot help you. But when you need Him and look to Him, He will not leave you weak and helpless. He comes and becomes the strength of your life. He becomes the breakthrough that you need.

A church member with a smoking habit came to me one day and said, “Pastor Prince, please pray that God will help me. I want to stop my smoking habit.”

I told him simply, “You cannot, but God can.”

He replied, “Yes, I know that I can’t. But with God’s help, I will discipline myself and try my best to quit the habit.”

I told him, “No, you cannot, but God can.” I repeated this to him a few times until he realized that it was not his self-discipline or willpower that would help him overcome his smoking habit, but the power of God. He finally understood that true deliverance from this destructive habit would not come by his own strength, but by “[being] strong in the Lord and in the power of His might.”

When I saw him again a few weeks later, he said, “Pastor Prince, since that day, I didn’t even try to stop myself from smoking. But each time I lit up, I told God, ‘I cannot, but You can.’ Then one day, the craving was gone! Jesus has completely delivered me from my bondage to nicotine!” This man experienced true deliverance, not just an outward form of discipline and willpower.

So when you say, “I can do something about it,” you are still relying on your human strength. But when you say to God, “I cannot, but You can,” you have just tapped into the real source of your strength—Jesus. And as you rest in His strength, you will see His power manifesting in your life!

-Joseph Prince

Jesus – King and Lord over the Storm

Jesus - King and Lord over the Storm
But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”
Matthew 14:27
JESUS—KING AND LORD OVER THE STORM

Are you going through a dark, difficult moment in your life? Perhaps the storm just rages on with no let-up and you are trembling in fear. You feel that any time now, you may just cave in and go under because you cannot beat this storm.

Be comforted that Jesus sees what you are going through and He always comes to where you are in your darkest hour. He did that for His disciples one stormy night on the Sea of Galilee. Jesus came, walking on the stormy waters, walking on top of the problem that was threatening to overwhelm them. He is indeed the King and Lord over the storms!

When your eyes are on Christ, even though the storms are raging and the winds are blowing, you will know that you are above your troubles and circumstances. When people ask you how you are doing under the circumstances, tell them, “I am not under the circumstances. I am on top of them because my God is above all!”

Don’t be fearful. He will come to you walking on the stormy waters. Hear His comforting voice telling you, “Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.”

And as you behold Jesus, you become like Him. You will find yourself doing things you did not know you could do. You will, like Peter, walk on water. This happens when you are occupied with the person of Jesus, with His resources, love, wisdom, ability, power and majesty.

My friend, even during the times when you take your eyes off Jesus, He never takes His eyes off you. And when you cry out to Him, He will immediately stretch out His hand to catch hold of you. You will not go under.

There may be times that you are not able to find your way back. Jesus will then hold your hand and walk you back to the boat. And like Peter, you will realize that with your hand in His, the storm will come to a standstill!

-Joseph Prince

You Already Are You Already Have

You already are you already have

Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.
Mark 11:24
YOU ALREADY ARE, YOU ALREADY HAVE

God’s Word tells us that we can have what we ask for in prayer—by simply believing that we already have it! As you are praying, know that you already have your answer or breakthrough—“believe that you receive them.” The Bible also tells us that we already have whatever we are praying for because we are already blessed with every spiritual blessing in heavenly places in Christ (see Ephesians 1:3).

And you are in Christ the moment you received Him as your Savior. So when you pray, you are actually releasing your faith to lay hold of what you already have in Christ. And as you keep saying that you already have it (see Mark 11:23), you will see the manifestation of it in the natural realm.

In one of our church camps, a church member shared about the back problem she had had for 15 years as a result of a fall from her rooftop. She needed an operation to help stop the shooting pains in her spine. She had also been taking anti-stress pills for five years.

After coming to church, she realized that she had already received her healing through the finished work of Christ. Refusing the operation and even the pills, she would rebuke the pain which kept coming back, saying, “In Jesus, I believe I am healed. I am not trying or going to be healed. I am already healed. I have a brand new backbone for I am in Christ. As Christ is, so am I in this world.” It was not very long before this sister saw the manifestation of her healing.

Sometimes, the symptoms of sickness or lack may return and you think that you still have not received your blessing. That is the time to release your faith and declare that you already have it. You are not confessing to get it. You are confessing because you already have it in Christ!

My friend, the Bible tells us that Christ is in us (see Colossians 1:27). This means that right now, your healing, wellness, family’s well-being and everything your heart desires are in you. So say, “I have everything I need in Christ right now!”

-Joseph Prince

Your Sins are Not Being Recorded

For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.”
Hebrews 8:12
YOUR SINS ARE NOT BEING RECORDED

I once read a comic book which showed how a man lusted after a woman, then died of a heart attack and went to heaven. In heaven, he saw a big screen showing everyone present a recording of all the sins which he had committed while on earth, including the last one. How embarrassing!

Don’t worry, that is not going to happen to you in heaven. There is no big screen with front-row and circle seats for everyone to sit and watch your past sins. There is no video recorder in heaven recording your sins right now. Because your lifetime of sins has already been punished in the body of Jesus, God declares to you, “Your sins and lawless deeds, I will by no means ever remember!”

This is true even for the Old Testament heroes of faith such as Abraham, Moses and David. If you read Hebrews 11, which was written after the cross of Jesus, you will notice that there is no record of their sins or failures. Yet, their life stories tell us that they were far from perfect.

Abraham lied twice about his wife Sarah. He told Pharaoh, and later, King Abimelech, that she was his sister to protect his own life. Moses killed an Egyptian who was beating a Hebrew, and hid the body in the sand. David committed adultery with Bathsheba and later arranged for her husband to be killed in battle. Yet, their sins were not recorded in Hebrews 11, only their deeds done in faith!

God is showing you that He does not record your sins or failures today. Instead, He records your faith confessions and deeds done in response to what His Son has done for you. Every time you sin, every time you waver in your faith, God does not record it. But every time you believe Him and respond in faith, He records it! That should not make you want to sin more. It should free you to love God more!

So don’t be conscious of your failures. If God Himself does not remember them, who are you to remember them? Be conscious instead of your righteousness in Christ (see 2 Corinthians 5:21), and you will reign in life (see Romans 5:17).

– Joseph Prince

Receive by Grace Through Faith

Receive by Grace through Faith

Therefore He who supplies the Spirit to you and works miracles among you does He do it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith?…
Galatians 3:5

RECEIVE BY GRACE THROUGH FAITH

Imagine that you are at a healing service. An alcoholic walks into the church reeking of alcohol. He sits behind the pianist, a nice elderly lady who has been serving in the church for 50 years. Both of them are suffering from rheumatoid arthritis. The healing power of God is present. In an instant, the alcoholic, who has never been in church before, gets healed. The pianist does not.

Most people, on hearing stories like this, would get upset and confused. They might ask, “Shouldn’t God heal this nice, old lady who has been serving Him faithfully all these years, and not that debauched drunkard?” You see, many people still believe that God heals only the deserving.

But that is not how God works. God looks at faith, not works. His power is made manifest in those who trust His goodness instead of their good behavior. So if we go back to the above example, God wants to heal both the alcoholic and the nice elderly pianist. All they need to do is to receive by grace, or unmerited favor, through faith.

You see, we cannot earn the blessings of God. We receive them by believing God’s love and grace toward us. If we receive the greatest blessing—salvation—by simply believing that Jesus did it all for us and not by working for it, what makes us think that the other lesser blessings can be obtained by our works?

So if my daughter Jessica falls sick, I don’t go to the Father and say, “Father, heal my daughter because I am Pastor Joseph Prince and I preach healing to the people.” No, I go to Him by the blood of Jesus and say, “Father, I thank You that 2,000 years ago, Jesus bore Jessica’s sickness in His body. On that basis alone and by Your grace, I pronounce her healed in Jesus’ name.”

When you simply believe that you receive your blessings based on Jesus’ finished work and by His grace alone, you will receive your blessings!

– Joseph Prince