Showing posts with label Isaiah 41:10. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Isaiah 41:10. Show all posts

Thursday, December 1, 2022

This Was the Most-Shared Bible App Verse in 2022, and It Comes with a Huge Spike in Ukrainian Bible Use

 

This Was the Most-Shared Bible App Verse in 2022, and It Comes with a Huge Spike in Ukrainian Bible Use

YouVersion Bible

11-29-2022 CBN News Talia Wise

A scripture about God’s divine protection, provision, and comfort has become the most shared, bookmarked, and highlighted verse across the globe, according to YouVersion, a top-rated mobile Bible app.

Isaiah 41:10 has earned the top spot as YouVersion’s 2022 Verse of the Year. It reads:

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

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“The popularity of this verse speaks to our desire to be reminded that even when we feel like we’re alone in our struggles, we’re not,” said Bobby Gruenewald, founder, and CEO of YouVersion. “As this verse says, God is our strength and He’s always with us.”

The app was designed to encourage and challenge people to seek God throughout each day. It offers a free Bible experience in more than 1,900 languages and has been installed on more than 545 million unique devices.

“I was just trying to figure out how to use technology to help people read the Bible more consistently. And just had enough faith to start, to try something, and of course, what we’ve seen God do is incredible. Our faith has grown, but in the very beginning had no idea what it was going to become,” Gruenewald told CBN News.

This year, the app received 2 billion highlights, bookmarks, and notes across its platform, and Isaiah 41:10 was the top scripture shared in countries like Argentina, France, Germany, and the U.S.

Major Spikes in Bible Use in Cuba and Ukraine

According to the group, YouVersion has seen Bible engagement activity in nearly every country and territory around the world since launching in 2008.

This year, Cuba stands out as the country with the greatest increase in Bible engagement – 76% compared to 2021. Meanwhile, the fastest regional growth for Bible engagement is in Europe and Africa.

The mobile app also saw Ukrainian-language Bible engagement hit an all-time high in several European countries, many by triple digits, YouVersion reports.

For example, Ukrainian-language Bible engagement increased in Poland by 241% and Germany by 733% compared to last year. Overall, Bible engagement in Ukraine rose by 55% this year.

At the beginning of the war, YouVersion searches in the Ukrainian language nearly doubled compared to the previous month. Initially, trending search terms were words like “war,” “fear,” and “anxiety.” As time passed and the war progressed, the top search term in Ukrainian became “love.”

“These families are going through something most of us can’t imagine. In the middle of what’s likely the most difficult time of their lives, they’re turning to the Bible for comfort, peace, and hope,” said Gruenewald. “It’s an honor that we get to be a part of making God’s Word available to His people in their greatest moments of need.”

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Steve Martin

STEVE & LAURIE MARTIN - LOVE FOR HIS PEOPLE FOUNDERS My good wife Laurie and I (45 years in October 2022!), through the ministry of Love For His People we founded in 2010, give love and support for our friends in Israel and in other nations with friendship, humanitarian aid, and social media support, along with Steve's messages, and our Ahava Adventures trips to Israel. Steve has also authored and published 35 books. We live in the Charlotte, NC area. We have four adult children, spouses, and eight grandkids.

Wednesday, March 11, 2020

Fear brings more fear. We need trust and hope, not fear. Love For His People


Fear brings more fear. We need trust and hope, not fear. Love For His People


March 11, 2020

“My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less” – Now Think On This by Steve Martin

Editor’s Note: This Now Think On This message was originally published on March 6, 2020. Now even more than ever, we need to stop responding to fear and walk in the trust of our Lord. The world may not, but we need to. Steve Martin, Founder/President Love For His People ministry
“When God wanted to guarantee his promises, he gave his word, a rock-solid guarantee – God can’t break his word. And because his word cannot change, the promise is likewise unchangeable. We who have run for our very lives to God have every reason to grab the promised hope with both hands and never let go. It’s an unbreakable spiritual lifeline, reaching past all appearances right to the very presence of God where Jesus, running on ahead of us, has taken up his permanent post as high priest for us, in the order of Melchizedek.”  Hebrews 6:17-20, THE MESSAGE
Do you know what we can have each day? Hope! And what kind of hope? A hope in the ETERNAL God, the Savior of our souls, the One Who (even better than President Trump) has made promises and keeps them! (Sorry, I just had to add that political part…to see if you were awake.)
I woke up this morning knowing that even though I have been “quarantined” from my uptown Charlotte accounting contractor job for 14 days after my return trip to India on Feb. 21, 2020, (for having a cough that I have had for years, as my good wife Laura Jean can attest to); ended up in ER two days ago for rectal bleeding; previously on Monday I had to make the decision to cancel a gathering the Lord had given me as an assignment to again attempt to do, back in October 2018, after a year and a half of preparation (canceled due to facing an $8,000 cost with only 11 registered with less than a month to go)…and prostate biopsy today…
He has given us ETERNAL HOPE! Yeah, Lord!!!
And as the old hymn still sings, “My hope is found on nothing less!”
Read the words from the hymn, “My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less (On Christ The Solid Rock)” by Robert Critchley
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
My hope is built on nothing less
Than Jesus’ blood and righteousness
I dare not trust the sweetest frame
But wholly lean on Jesus name
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand
All other ground is sinking sand
When darkness veils His lovely face
I rest on His unchanging grace
In every high and stormy gale
My anchor holds within the veil
His oath His covenant His blood
Supports me in the ‘whelming flood
When all around my soul gives way
He then is all my hope and stay
On Christ the solid rock I stand
All other ground is sinking sand…

Source: Musixmatch
Listen here and be encouraged again: On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand
Yes, my friends, we will always have the hope BUILT on nothing less than Jesus Himself. That is our eternal guarantee for those of us who believe and keep our eyes fixed on Him.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2, NKJV
Nothing less!
Now think on this.
Ahava and shalom,
Steve Martin, Founder/President Love For His People, Inc.
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Now Think On This #486 – in the year of our Lord 03.06.2020 – My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less” Friday, 5:45 am in Charlotte, NC USA

Thursday, December 6, 2018

Bible App Reports Isaiah 41:10 - The Most Popular Bible Verse of 2018 - CBN News Steve Warren

Bible App Reports Isaiah 41:10 - The Most Popular Bible Verse of 2018 
- CBN News Steve Warren
Dec. 5, 2018
Isaiah 41:10 is the most popular Bible verse of 2018, according to the YouVersion Bible App.
YouVersion says the verse was the most shared, bookmarked and highlighted among its 350 million users worldwide.
The verse reads: "Don't be afraid, for I am with you. Don't be discouraged, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." 
"This year's data shows people worldwide are continuing to turn to the Bible in search of comfort, encouragement, and hope," Bobby Gruenewald, YouVersion founder, said in a statement. "We're humbled that 10 years after its release, people continue to use the YouVersion Bible App in record numbers to connect with God's Word."
With more than 1,800 versions in more than 1,250 languages, Bible reading in the app is on the rise across several continents. With the addition of a new Japanese Bible version within the app, Bible engagement in Japan saw year-over-year growth of 104 percent. 
YouVersion reports Bible engagement in Eastern Europe is also growing quickly with Romania seeing an increase of 100 percent. In South America, Chile, and Argentina are the fastest growing countries with 79 percent and 60 percent growth in Bible engagement, respectively.
Bible engagement reached new heights this year as YouVersion data showed a 27 percent increase in daily active users compared to last year. The YouVersion community listened to 4.2 billion chapters and read more than 27.2 billion chapters of the Bible this year, which is a year-over-year increase of 40 percent and 62 percent. 
In addition, the YouVersion community has been taking advantage of habit formation features like Bible Plans, which help users develop the discipline of daily Scripture reading. This year, users completed more than 950 million Bible Plan days, a 59 percent increase compared to 2017. 
YouVersion also saw significant growth in its Bible App for Kids, which was released in 2013. With nine languages added this year, children can now experience the animated Bible stories and interactive games in 42 different languages. Compared to last year, the number of app installs has increased by 55 percent, totaling nearly 27 million devices worldwide. 
"This generation is on pace to become the most Bible-engaged generation ever, and we believe the Church should keep investing in new technologies to help adults and children connect with the Bible," Gruenewald added. "We're honored to be a part of how God is reaching people around the globe through His Word, and we're eager to see how Bible-engaged people make a difference in this world for decades to come."
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Sunday, October 15, 2017

The Unexpected - Now Think On This by Steve Martin

The Unexpected

Now Think On This
Steve Martin

  
“Even if I pass through death-dark ravines, I will fear no disaster; for you are with me; your rod and staff reassure me.” (Psalm 23:4, Complete Jewish Bible)


Fear suddenly comes upon you. Your stomach churns as if you had just been punched in the gut. Panic wants to overtake you. Your head spins, looking for a quick solution to get you out of the mess you just found yourself in. What in the world are you going to do? Where can I run? Who can I call? What do you do?

You trust in the One whom you have trusted in thus far. You call on the Name of the Lord Jesus.

“For I know the plans that I have for you,' declares the Lord, 'plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. 'Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 'You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.

'I will be found by you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will restore your fortunes and will gather you from all the nations and from all the places where I have driven you,' declares the Lord, 'and I will bring you back to the place from where I sent you into exile.' (Jeremiah 29:11-14, NASU)

You can believe that is true. God cannot lie.

When I woke up this morning I had just gotten a text message from a friend who is newlywed. (I keep my phone on silent when I go to bed. Smart thing to do. Derek Prince, the great Bible teacher whom I was honored to serve on his ministry staff for eight years, often said, “There are no emergencies in the kingdom of God.”) They got married in her country, went on a fantastic honeymoon in another country, but when they came back to cross over into his homeland to start their new life together, they were stopped at the border. The paperwork hadn’t been done as it was supposed to have been done. She couldn’t cross over. 

They were then told it was going to take much legal paperwork, several months, and could cost thousands of dollars. Dollars they didn’t have. Bills they never dreamed of having to be paid on the road ahead. The unexpected had just happened.

How many times have we faced challenges and circumstances when the impossible was facing us, and we didn’t know where to turn, who to call, or what to do next. We seemed frozen with fear, which itself wanted to keep us there. But that is when we need to stand on His Word – that He never leaves us, never forsakes us, never lets the enemy have the final victory.

All of us have faced these situations. A traumatic car accident; a tragic turn of events; an impossible place in our life when it looks as if we have been forsaken, forgotten about, and left standing alone. That is where and when we need to stand on His Word.


“Even if I pass through death-dark ravines, I will fear no disaster; for you are with me; your rod and staff reassure me.” (Psalm 23:4)

When these times come, we need to know in our heart, our soul, our very being that the Lord Jesus, Yeshua, is faithful to see us through whatever comes our way. Even if death itself stands at the door and says he has got us now, we must be firm in our belief, that even then, eternity with our Lord awaits us on the other side.

Whatever you face today, this week, or this month, know that He is on your side. You will not fail, you will not fall, you will not be left standing alone. The Living God of Israel has promised to never leave you nor forsake you. He will see you through.

I told my friend that on the phone. It may be a tough road ahead, but the Bible is full of examples which have been given to us to show His faithfulness towards those who believe.

Be reassured in your faith. Stand strong. He is a BIG God, and we are His.

“For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day.

Retain the standard of sound words which you have heard from me, in the faith and love which are in Christ Jesus. Guard, through the Holy Spirit who dwells in us, the treasure which has been entrusted to you.” (2 Timothy 1:2-14, NASU)

Be at peace. For the Lord will always be your strong tower. You can run to Him and He will see you through.

Shalom and ahava (peace and love in Hebrew).

Now think on this,

Steve Martin
Founder/President
Love For His People, Inc.

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Now Think On This - in the Year of our Lord 10.08.17 - #323  – “The Unexpected”
Sunday, 7:07 am