The Helper

This morning as I am preparing for an afternoon meeting, I have been reading in the book of Acts. I started with chapter one and read through chapter 4. The power within just those first few books is absolutely phenomenal. You cannot help but be moved by it.

If you are unfamiliar with this text, my challenge to you today is to find a quiet place and sit down and read it and discover what I’m talking about. For those of you who are familiar with the text, have you read it recently? Wow! (I say this because it is hard to find words to describe what I’m feeling right now!) Today is the day to reacquaint yourself with this text.

If I’ve completely lost you, let me fill you in on what’s going on here in these first chapters of Acts. Christ has been crucified, conquered death (through His resurrection), has been on earth for forty days, has ascended back into heaven, and has given the disciples instructions to wait in Jerusalem, “for what the Father had promised, ‘Which,’ He said, ‘you heard of from Me’” (Acts 1:4b, NASB).

Jesus is speaking of the Holy Spirit and verse 8 of the same chapter continues, “but you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and even to the remotest part of the earth.” (Acts 1:8, NASB)

Read through those first four chapters today and prepare to be completely awestruck by them, remembering all the while, that if you have accepted Christ as your Savior, you contain within your very being, the same gift of the Holy Spirit that is spoken of in the book of Acts (THE VERY SAME). The gift of the Holy Spirit, (aka, the Comforter, the Helper) lives within you! That same power, not static power, but dynamic power; ongoing, renewable, dynamic power resides within you. Open your heart, your mind, your soul, your very being to the power of the Holy Spirit. Our loving God bestows it on all those who accept Him.

If you don’t know Christ, accept Him as your Lord and Savior today and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit too.

God Bless!

p.s. Just a quick note referring back to Acts 1:8…when God calls us, He equips us! Amen!

Helping the King

This morning as I was reading my Bible, I was taken aback as I realized how I am failing to follow Christ’s instructions. In Matthew 25: 31-46, Jesus is speaking to his disciples concerning the end of time. He tells them the nations will be gathered before Him and He will separate them as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; the sheep on His right side and the goats on His left. Those on His right He blesses and gives their inheritance saying,

“For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.”

‘Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.’ Matthew 25: 35,36,40b (NASB)

As I read this my thoughts were, “This is it. I’m supposed to be doing this.” Quickly, I took a mental inventory of what I have done in this regard. The result of my quick inventory was shockingly meager.

Why haven’t I done more? I’m not sure but I suspect I’ve gotten caught up in the “noise” of worldly things. Running to and fro, doing things that in the end don’t matter.

Resolve with me today to do more. Let’s clean out those closets and pantries and get those items into the hands of those who really need them. Are there shut-ins in your neighborhood that could use some help? When’s the last time you visited a prison to offer the hope of Christ to someone without hope? Doing these things will not only bless our own hearts, but we will also be doing the work Christ expects of us.

God Bless!

Living the Constant Life

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer. Psalm 19:14 (NKJV)

Have you ever known anyone who put on a different face and attitude depending on the situation? You know what I’m talking about. They sing in the choir on Sunday and have a “Honk If You Love Jesus”, bumper sticker on their car, but on Monday morning they are swearing and telling dirty jokes by the water cooler.

As I look back over my life, I must confess there are times when others examining my life might have wondered if I was a Christian. I can think of one time in particular when I know, without a doubt, I did not remain true to my convictions. I regret those times and have confessed and repented of them. Fortunately, we serve a loving God who is faithful to forgive us. Through the process of forgiveness, God took that one particular incident and changed it into one that has made me a stronger and more faithful Christian.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 1 John 1:9 (KJV)

We should not be a person of a thousand faces and personalities. We should be the same person on Sunday that we are the rest of the week. If we aren’t, then we are living a lie; either we are living a lie on Sunday before our church family or we are living a lie the rest of the week in front of our family, friends, co-workers and strangers.

If we are not constant in how we live out our lives, we not only hurt ourselves, but more importantly, we also damage our testimony for Christ before others. Pray daily that your words, actions, and attitude are pleasing and acceptable to God, who knows all and sees all.

O LORD, You have searched me and known me.
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
You understand my thought from afar.
You scrutinize my path and my lying down,
And are intimately acquainted with all my ways.
Even before there is a word on my tongue,
Behold, O LORD, You know it all.
You have enclosed me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is too high, I cannot attain to it.
Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, You are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.
If I take the wings of the dawn,
If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea,
Even there Your hand will lead me,
And Your right hand will lay hold of me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness will overwhelm me,
And the light around me will be night,"
Even the darkness is not dark to You,
And the night is as bright as the day
Darkness and light are alike to You.
For You formed my inward parts;
You wove me in my mother's womb.
I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Wonderful are Your works,
And my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from You,
When I was made in secret,
And skillfully wrought in the depths of the earth;
Your eyes have seen my unformed substance;
And in Your book were all written
The days that were ordained for me,
When as yet there was not one of them.
How precious also are Your thoughts to me, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!
If I should count them, they would outnumber the sand
When I awake, I am still with You.
O that You would slay the wicked, O God;
Depart from me, therefore, men of bloodshed.
For they speak against You wickedly,
And Your enemies take Your name in vain.
Do I not hate those who hate You, O LORD?
And do I not loathe those who rise up against You?
I hate them with the utmost hatred;
They have become my enemies.
Search me, O God, and know my heart;
Try me and know my anxious thoughts;
And see if there be any hurtful way in me,
And lead me in the everlasting way.
Psalm 139 (NASB)

God Bless.

Pictures of Christ

I find the word of God amazing. Many times as I read, I get so full of the Holy Spirit, to the point of overflowing, that I feel the need to stop and put pen to paper. That’s how I feel this morning.

Last night at church the lesson was on Isaiah 53, a chapter often referred to as, “The Suffering Servant”. The book of Isaiah, written between 740-680 BC, tells more about the life and work of Christ than does any other book of the Old Testament. When you consider, Christ was born around 6 BC, this is very special indeed! A favorite verse of mine, much quoted around Christmas-time is Isaiah 9:6;

“For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace”. (NASB)

This morning I was reading in the book of Psalm. Long before the prophet Isaiah came along, David, was also writing of Christ. The psalms attributed to David were written during the 10th century BC.

I challenge you today to read through Psalm 22 and be awed by its message. The Psalm begins in agony with, “My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?” (the same words found in Matthew 27:46) but ends in victory with verses, 27-31. My favorite verses in this group being verses 27-28, which read,

“All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will worship before Thee. For the kingdom is the Lord’s, and He rules over the nations.”

If you are feeling in the Spirit, read on through Psalm 23, which portrays the beautiful, kind, and loving Shepherd providing for and protecting His sheep. Next, Psalm 24 is a hymn of praise to the Creator and opens with,

“The earth is the Lord’s and all it contains, the world, and those who dwell in it.”

Verses such as those mentioned above remind me, whenever I’m feeling down about something, I need only to stop and remember, God is still in charge; He is still in control and I only have to turn over to Him whatever may be bothering me at the moment. Praise God – He was, He is, He always will be!!

God Bless!!

Keep Listening

When I think of listening to the voice of God I am always reminded of the story of the prophet Elijah. The story is an interesting one. I won’t give you all the details here but I do encourage you to read the entire story in 1 Kings 18-19. Elijah had just experienced a huge victory in the Lord, but then Jezebel threatened the life of Elijah and he was afraid and on the run.

The LORD said, "Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by." Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. 1 Kings 19:11-13a (NIV)

Here in the United States Christians are not running away for fear of their lives but we do allow ourselves to get so caught up in the pressures and stresses of everyday life we wonder why God is no longer speaking to us, especially when we are experiencing all this difficulty. Do not fear. God has not deserted us; He is still there; He is still speaking. We are the ones who have changed. We have allowed the noise of the world to become so loud within our lives it has deafened us to the voice of God.

Stop. Take time out now from your busy schedule; be still; slow down, and listen for His voice; the soft voice, the gentle whisper. He is there and He has promised He will never leave you nor forsake you, and that if you seek Him, you will find Him.

Thanks Be To God!!

In the beginning God...

In the beginning God…

Who are we that God is mindful of us? The maker of the heavens and the earth; the One who hung the stars, the planets, and all the heavenly bodies, in the emptiness of what appears to us, never-ending space. Compared to all this, we are but the smallest specks of dust. Yet, God choose to love us with an infinite love. A love so great, we cannot begin to comprehend it.

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. John 3:16 (NKJV)

And through that love He has given us an opportunity to be joint-heirs with Christ Jesus, His beloved Son.

For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, Romans 8: 14, 16-17a (NKJV)

God has offered to us an unspeakable, indescribable gift. If you haven’t already done so, accept Christ today.

Amen and God Bless!

Which Way Do I Go From Here?

“But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you.” John 14:26 (NASB)

Have you ever sat wringing your hands wondering what plan God has for you? I know I have. I knew God wasn’t going to give me a step-by-step-five-year-plan to follow…if He did, I wouldn’t need Him; I’d just need the plan. However, in truth, that step-by-step-plan is really what I wanted. I was praying each day that God would reveal His plan for my life to me. Only recently have I realized I was getting it all wrong.

Praying in that way can actually make us stagnant and quite useless. We tend to stand around waiting for that plan to drop from Heaven so we can pick it up and run with it. The truth of the matter is that we should pray daily to be fully yielded to the leading of the Holy Spirit. As situations arise throughout the course of the day we should be seeking the leadership of the Holy Spirit. We should be mindful to pray in such a way on a daily basis that we are continually opening ourselves up fully to the Holy Spirit, our Helper, our Comforter.

The Holy Spirit is there, ready to guide you. Are you making yourself available to Him? Take a moment to evaluate how you are communicating with the Father. Are you praying; are you reading your Bible; are you fellowshipping with other believers through church attendance?

“As for God, His way is perfect: The word of the Lord is proven; He is a shield to all who trust in Him. For who is God, except the Lord? And who is a rock, except our God? It is God who arms me with strength, And makes my way perfect. Psalm 18:30-32 (NKJV)

God Bless!