When I pray for someone faithfully and fervently, I find myself loving that person in a non-judgmental, genuine, and less selfish way—for how can we be otherwise when we are in the presence of God?
Sometimes we are so busy doing Christian things with Christian people in the Christian church that we forget about Christ. And then one day, we suddenly realize that we’re overwhelmed. We feel burned out.
There’s a time for work, of course. However, the best work will always overflow from a life of worship. At the same time, work can never take the place of worship.
The Spirit not only enabled Jesus to remain sinless, but the Spirit also empowered Jesus for His ministry. Like the prophets of the Old Testament, who “spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit” (2 Peter 1:21), Jesus said He received the Spirit “to proclaim” good news (Luke 4:18). Jesus told the disciples, You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be My witnesses. — Acts 1:8
In addition to ministering by proclaiming the good news, Jesus was empowered by the Spirit to do miracles. He said he was anointed with the Spirit to proclaim “recovery of sight for the blind” (Luke 4:18) and that he drove “out demons by the Spirit of God” (Matthew 12:28 NLT).
This empowerment from the Spirit wasn’t only for the apostles, though. We find others doing miracles, too, like Stephen, who was “a man full of God’s grace and power” and who “performed amazing miracles and signs among the people” (Acts 6:8 NLT).
Walking in the Spirit and being Spirit-filled transforms our lives, our character, our communities as we proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and even witness healings as we pray for those who are sick or in need!
May 30, 1416 reformer JEROME OF PRAGUE was burned to death as a heretic for speaking out against corruption in the Catholic Church. For his execution, he was made to wear a paper hat painted with red devils and of this, he said, "Our Lord Jesus, when He suffered death for me, a most miserable sinner, did wear a crown of thorns upon his head; and I for his sake will wear this adorning derision of blasphemy." He sang hymns as the flames consumed him in the same place his friend and mentor John Hus was previously executed.
In the kingdom of God, the surest way to lose something is to try to protect it, and the best way to keep it is to let it go. This was the word of our Lord Jesus Christ: "If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross!" Christ turned from the fallen world of Adam and spoke about another world altogether, a world where Adam's philosophy is invalid and his technique inoperative. He spoke of the kingdom of God whose laws are exactly opposite to those of the kingdom of men. So, the true Christian is a child of two worlds. He lives among fallen men, but when he is regenerated, he is called to live according to the laws and principles that underlie the new kingdom. He may, then, find himself trying to live a heavenly life after an earthly pattern-and this is what Paul called "carnal" living. That is why it is vitally important to move up into the life of the Spirit of God. Give up your earthly "treasures" and the Lord will keep them for you unto life eternal! A. W. Tozer Sermon: Child of Two Worlds
Come boldly to God in faith for wisdom and be confident that He will give it to you. Ask Him for help with your personal needs and those of your country. Pray for a great revival in this land in these last days.
I wonder —if one of those scruffy disciples showed up in a church today, would we accept him and respect him? Do we look at the least among us and see greatness? Jesus told us over and over what to look for, and how to love. But we still too often miss Him.
“Do not consider his appearance or his height… The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. A man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
When I was in school, I was encouraged to avoid the passive voice in my writing. Why? Because most uses of the passive voice tended to be unclear. Consider the first sentence of this paragraph, for example. I used a passive construction, “I was encouraged.” But I did not specify who did the encouraging. It could have been my teachers or my parents or the editor of the school paper. My use of a passive construction left things vague. It would have been clearer if I had identified the agent of the action “When I was in school, I was encouraged by Mr. Sato to avoid the passive voice in my writing.” (Mr. Sato was my high school Creative Writing English teacher, whose teaching changed my writing and my life.
I lost contact with him but kept in contact with my Government teacher Randy Demki. These men made a difference. Who has made a difference in your life?
"Your mission, should you choose to accept it..." was the famous line of the hit 1960s show, Mission Impossible. The mission details that followed were disclosed only to a team of secret government agents. If they failed or were caught, the "secretary" would deny knowing them.
Before departing planet Earth, Jesus gave a mission mandate to his followers. Often called the Great Commission, it is found in each of the four gospels including Acts. Your mission is to proclaim the good news about salvation through faith in Jesus' death and resurrection to all people. Accepting this mission isn’t optional. If you are a follower of Jesus, you are on the team. You may never become a preacher or a missionary, but the Savior still has work that he wants you to accomplish. One major difference between the TV series and how God interacts with you is that God would surely never deny knowing you!
As the Father has sent me, even so, I am sending you. John 20:21
Hope helps us persevere beyond the pain.
Hope fuels our recovery.
Hope tells us we still have a future.
Hope gives us the patience to trust.
Our hope is in Jesus.
Keep speaking. Keep striving. Keep seeing.
Let us learn from our losses and in our pain let us move closer to Jesus, not further from Him.
We must thank our God for the graces and comforts, gifts, and usefulness of others, as we receive the benefit and God receives the glory. ~Matthew Henry
"We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret." ~ Jim Rohn
“Mastery is not something that strikes in an instant, like a thunderbolt, but a gathering power that moves steadily through time, like the weather.” — John Champlin Gardner, Jr.
“A man who works with his hands is a laborer; a man who works with his hands and his brain is a craftsman; but a man who works with his hands and his brain and his heart is an artist.” — Louis Nizer
“The truly liberated human being is not always fighting against something, but more frequently is fighting for something or someone.” — Denis Waitley
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