You Are Powerful

God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline. (2 Timothy 1:7)

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Many people are going through life fearing what lies ahead - afraid to speak and act - operating in a mode of timidity, uncertainty, and apprehension.

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Yet God, through His Spirit, offers a better way; power, love, and self-discipline.

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This means that we can - you can - be boldly confident - courageously assured in all things. We are given a spirit of power, love, and self-discipline. And we are called and commissioned to use this power to affect others for Jesus - in love - and to live a life of obedience to Jesus - through self-discipline.

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Today, own this. Be filled with God’s Spirit. Be powerful. Be loving. Be obedient. Be self-disciplined.  

Superhuman

The truth is, the first-century Christians were the superhumans of their day, and the world stood in awe of them. Here are just a few of their exploits found in Scripture:

No one in their communities lacked anything—no one had physical needs of any kind, and there was no one on government assistance (Acts 4:33–35). Entire cities came to Jesus in a moment, and the gospel swept through entire regions in a matter of years (Acts 9:32–35, 19:10). 

God’s power operated through them so much they had to convince people they weren’t gods (Acts 10:25–26, 14:8–18)—think about that for a few seconds. They had worship times so powerful they shook the ground (Acts 4:31). And as a result of those things, they had a reputation of being people who had turned the world upside down (Acts 17:6). 

What should really challenge us is that God makes it clear in His Word that the Christians of the last days will do even more than these early believers.

From “Killing Kryptonite” by John Bevere

God Is Holy

From The Captivating Pressnce by Albert Edward Day

When we say that God is holy, we are not naming an attribute among many others such as love and mercy and wisdom and power. We are attempting to designate something that applies to all his attributes, something that gives them an awesome dimension. We are saying that he is the changeless one. His love never fluctuates; his mercy is inexhaustible; his wisdom cherishes all that is truly good; his power can always be trusted to act redemptively. The supreme wonder and unrivaled glory is that he is all that he is, unchangeably.

"In him is no variableness", is the New Testament assurance.

So we need not speculate what will be his response whenever we turn to him, whether it be from an hour of victory or from a night of defeat; from an act of which we are proud, or from one of which we are heartily ashamed. Our heads may be held high or bent very low. We may come jubilantly to thank him for what he has done or to barely under a faint cry for help. It matters not who we are or where we are, a holy God is a God in whom there is nothing to adulterate or diminish or alter the transcendent qualities which our weakness or our sinfulness need. He is always God. Nothing is ever missing from him if he is to be what all mankind must have to make and keep it truly human on the way to its fulfillment in him. Sometimes the best of us have days when our dearest friend must say, "you are not yourself today". The fact gives them a hard time and sends them away deprived of what they should have from us.

BUT GOD IS ALWAYS GOD. 

Phone Issues

For the past few weeks I have been dealing with "phone issues". 

It is standard practice to, each evening, plug the charging cord into my phone and lay it on my nightstand, allowing it to charge overnight. Yet several weeks ago simply plugging the cord into the phone was not enough. After plugging the cord into the phone, I wiggle the cord until it would make a connection with the phone. Days later wiggling the cord was not enough. After plugging the phone in, I would wiggle the cord until it would make a connection and then I would prop the phone up allowing e weight of the phon to rest on the charging cord. More recently, the weight of the phone was not enough. In recent days I have used stacks of books - even a gallon of milk - to offer more weight and make a connection to charge the phone. 

And then it happened, on Wednesday evening, my phone refused to charge. After a couple hours of plugging and unplugging, wiggling, wiggling, and wiggling some more, using a stack of books, a gallon of milk, and an iron to bring weight, I was unable to make a connection - unable to get a charge. 

So, I pulled out an old phone, changed the SIM card, plugged it in and, "DING", I was back in business. After a few adjustments and updates on Thursday morning I had all of the functions of my phone back. I had my phone back, that is, until today.

This evening, as I plugged the phone in, to charge, nothing. I went to work, doing everything that I could to get the cord to make a connection and bring a charge to my phone but nothing worked. Finally, around 8:00 this evening, as I watched the final bit of battery drain from my phone, with no other options, I accepted the reality that I would be without a phone. 

Moments ago, I laid down in bed, looked over at my nightstand and decided to give it one more shot, I gently plugged the charging cord into my phone and, "DING", it's charging. 

Amidst the rejoicing over my phone - now gaining battery life by the minute - I began to think about another source of power, the is The Holy Spirit. As a Christian I believe that all power comes from The Holy Spirit and that apart from Him I have no power to live, to act, and to to succeed.

I began to reflect on the amount of work I put into getting a phone to charge - the amount of work I put into getting the power to my phone. And I began to reflect on the lack of work I sometimes put into gaining the true and total power of The Holy Spirit in my life. Often times, when things get difficult, I stop pursuing His power in my life.

I believe that what God calls us to is a commitment and a dedication to pursuing His presence and His power in our lives. I believe that Gos calls us to pursue His presence despite difficult time - in spite of difficult times. However, we do not find His complete power through our labor - just as I did not find a charge for my phone through the hours of labor that I put forth. Instead, God grants us His power after we have shown complete commitment - and complete dedication - to Him. Yet God grants us His power once we stop labor intensive on our own and gently allow Him to take control. 

So, as I lay down to rest tonight - my phone charging nearby - I will let go and let God take control. 

Unity Through The Holy Spirit

Romans 15:5-6,13

May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow  Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

As The Church - established in Christ - we must find endurance, encouragement, hope, joy, peace, trust, and power. This can only be accomplished through unity and this unity is only possible through the Holy Spirit. 

Therefore, let us - as The Church of Jesus Christ pursue the unity of the Holy Spirit - so that we may glorify God with one heart and one mind and one voice. 

Psalm 121 - God Is

I lift up my eyes to the mountains— where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. He will not let your foot slip— he who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, he who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord watches over you— the Lord is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord will keep you from all harm— he will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore. (Psalm 121)

Let us remember that when we are facing the dark days that this world brings our way, that God is still on the throne; He is our help in times of hardship, He is our comfort in times of doubt, He is security in times of uncertainty, He is our power in times of exhaustion, He is our refuge in times of trouble, He is our light in times of darkness, He is our strength in times of weakness. 

Let us remember to lift our eyes to The Lord, on His mighty and powerful throne, that He and He alone is our help.  

Pentecost Sunday

Today is Pentecost Sunday, a special day in the life of The Church. It was on Pentecost Sunday (40 days after Jesus' resurrection, and 10 days after His ascension) that the Holy Spirit of God came to rest on and in believers. The account of this day can be read about in Acts 2:1-4 (and 5-41);

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.

The men that were gathered int he upper room on the day of Pentecost were gathered, waiting and praying. We see that throughout the Bible, especially the New Testament, powerful things happened when believers gathered together to pray. As Rev. Jim Cybala says, "when God's people pray things happen". And, on this particular Sunday, some 2,000 years ago, when God's people prayed His Spirit moved upon them. But, these men weren't simply praying for their needs or for themselves, these men were praying for God's Spirit to move. 

In order to better grasp this, it is important that we look back to Acts 1, to Jesus last words on this earth, and to His direct instructions to His disciples. 

On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.” So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 

The men that were gathered in the upper room on this particular Sunday were waiting just as Jesus had told them to. And, as these men waited, they prayed. They were praying for this gift that Jesus had promised to them as He spoke His final words. They were praying for the baptism of  the Holy Spirit that Jesus had told them about. And, they were praying for the power (more literally the strength or the ability) to carry out the mission and the ministry that Jesus had called them to. 

On this Pentecost Sunday we, as faithful believers, need to pray as well. We need to pray that this gift that Christ has promised us would be made real to us. We need to pray that the baptism of the Holy Spirit would come over us. And, we need to pray for the power (the strength and the ability) to carry out our mission and Christ's ministry would be granted to us.

Without the Holy Spirit nothing makes sense. Without the baptism of the Holy Spirit we do not have the gifts to carry out the ministry of Jesus. Without the power of the holy Spirit we do not have the power to achieve the mission of Christ. And without prayer we will not be given any of these!

Lead Strong, Love Stronger

Yesterday was Father's Day and we had the priviledge of having several great fathers join us for worship at church yesterday morning.

During our worship we honored these fathers but we also honored husbands and reminded them of their role. God has called all husbands and fathers to a higher standard. God has called husbands to love their wives in the same way that He loves us. God has called fathers to lead their children in the teachings and desires of  the Scriptures. God has called husbands and fathers to lead strong and to love stronger.

As a reminder of this calling we gave gifts to all husbands and fathers, including a bottle of Powerade. Remember: "Lead Stong, Love Stronger".