Category Archives: Bible

New Beginnings in the Book of Acts — The Holy Spirit Comes

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“Peter replied, “Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”” 
Acts 2:38-39 NIV

Acts 2 is one of my favorite chapters of the Bible.  It is when the men and women who had been following Jesus as He walked and talked with them on earth were filled to the overflowing with His Holy Spirit. They had known “God with Us/ Emmanuel” now they KNEW (Intimately) God within us — the Holy Spirit.

Rushing wind, tongues of fire, each of the disciples speaking in other tongues, then they went out onto the streets below. They were “declaring the wonders of God.” (Verse 11)

Then Peter stood up to preach with BOLDNESS. Peter, who had a little over a month and a half before denied Jesus three times in the garden as Jesus stood trial and was later led off to be crucified, that same Peter preached! What a difference the presence of the Holy Spirit within the life of a believer makes! The words that the Holy Spirit enabled Peter to speak that day “cut to the heart” (verse 37) of the people.  They wanted to know what to do.  These words have stood true throughout the centuries of what we should all do when we hear the Holy Spirit calling to us. “Repent and be baptized… and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”  

What a promise! The promise of the Holy Spirit and all the wonderful works that He does in and through a believer were not a one and done deal.  “The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off— for all whom the Lord our God will call.” (Verse 39)  

Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come to give us power. (Acts 1:8)  With the Holy Spirit in our lives, we too can live our lives with a new beginning. We do not have to remain in our old patterns of selfishness and sin. We can live with our lives full of the Holy Spirit. May we hunger to know “the fellowship of the Holy Spirit” (2 Corinthians 13:14) each and every day! Then we will be empowered to do what the disciples did on the day of Pentecost— KNOW God and make Him known!

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts (Chapter 1– Soon to Come)

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Acts 1 The New Beginning

“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.”” Acts 1:8 NIV

Acts begins where the Gospel of Luke left off. For 40 days after His resurrection, Jesus appeared to the disciples and spoke to them about the kingdom of God. Could you imagine what the disciples had witnessed with their own eyes? They had seen Jesus as the soldiers arrested Him in the garden.  They had seen Jesus as He was beaten and nailed to a cross. They had seen Him as He breathed His last breath.  Then they had seen the empty tomb! They had seen Him, in His risen form, as He showed them the nail prints in His hands. They had shared meals with Him, listened to Him teach them, and then they saw Jesus as He ascended into heaven!

But in all this, Jesus instructed them to wait. Jesus wanted to empower them to be “witnesses.” 

Jesus had already told them that the Holy Spirit was going to come. Jesus came to us as “Emmanuel, God with us”, but the Holy Spirit would come to begin something new — God IN us!

Jesus said “… in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit…” (verse 5) The disciples obeyed the words He spoke to them. They went to the upper room and were “constantly in prayer.”  (Verse 14)

The New Beginning was soon to come!

 

WOW Scripture Reading Matthew 4:4 ( Latch On)

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“Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” Matthew 4:4 NIV

Dear Devoted and Determined Princess Warriors,

Have you ever considered the condition of your spiritual life? Would you describe your spiritual life as one of abundance, thriving in a living and real relationship of oneness with God? Or have you been living a life that is destitute — wanting and needy, never satisfied, never content, without continual comfort, hope, joy or peace? I considered these questions almost 4 years ago, when I first began attending WOW. At that time, I did not know that the most important thing about me was my spiritual heart. I knew I was living without hope, joy, and peace. I was not satisfied nor was I content; however, I did not realize why. I did not realize that the Word of God was an indispensable necessity for my spiritual heart and life. I did not see that I truly could not live or thrive without the Word.

My spiritual condition was similar to a physical condition my daughter, Faith, experienced as a newborn. She did not latch on correctly when nursing. The first two weeks of her life were absolutely miserable for her. I tried to get her to nurse correctly, but she couldn’t. She cried and cried and could not be comforted. When I took her in for her two-week checkup, she had lost two pounds. The doctor instructed me to supplement her feedings with formula. When I did, Faith suddenly became a sweet and peaceful infant. The weight loss stopped, and she began to grow.

Four years ago, I was not latching on to the source of my spiritual food, the Word of God. I was not thriving nor was I surviving well. I thought I could satisfy and fulfill myself with earthly things when I was meant to be connected to God in a love/ faith relationship. Simply put, I was not making room for God’s Word to dwell in my spiritual heart. I was not reading His Word, receiving it, understanding it, believing it, and obeying it. Instead, I was ignoring it, neglecting it, omitting it, cherry picking it, and rejecting it. As a result, I was living a destitute life — empty and hopeless.

In our verse this week Jesus is speaking of such a condition. Jesus tells us that “‘…Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” As my infant daughter needed physical nutrition in order to thrive, you and I need spiritual nutrition. Jesus, the living Word, is “…the true bread from heaven” (John 6:32)! Jesus and every inspired word written in the 66 books of the Bible are the bread, the spiritual food you and I desperately need for nourishment, sustenance, and growth of our spiritual hearts and lives. Every day we need to continually feed on the Word of God that is right and true, sweet as honey, more precious than a thousand pieces of silver and gold. As we make room for the Word in our hearts, we will truly live a life of abundance! But we must choose to “latch on to the Word,” or receive the Word and take it in.

As I consider the words spoken by Jesus in our verse this week, I am contemplating these questions: How hungry am I for His Word? Do I long for His Word more than I long for my next physical meal? Do I take time planning and scheduling when I can eat more of the Bread of Life, God’s Word, and take it into my spiritual heart? Perhaps you wonder the same things. The Word of God is an indispensable necessity for our spiritual hearts and lives. May we truly hunger for “every word that comes from the mouth of God.”

This week’s song is “Your Words” by Third Day featuring Harvest.

Love,

Janet

Devoted and Determined in the Word

How Could I Not Worship?

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“Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped.” Revelation‬ ‭5‬:‭13‬-‭14‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I love this scene of worship recorded in the Word. For one moment when I read it I get a small picture of the reality of what is going on right now in heaven. 

This morning I have been reminded of how I have been invited to join that chorus. 

“But you have come to Mount Zion, to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem. You have come to thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, to the church of the firstborn, whose names are written in heaven. You have come to God, the Judge of all, to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, to Jesus the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood that speaks a better word than the blood of Abel.” Hebrews‬ ‭12‬:‭22‬-‭24‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Jesus opened the door for me join in, but how many time have I sat down with my Bible to “do” my quite time and only read the Word. 

I know I have limitations. I live in a fallen world, but I must never forget that I have the invitation to come. I, at any time, can join the heavenly worship that goes on day and night. 

There is a quote that says we are to “Come to God with God in mind.”  The time I spend with God each morning really isn’t about me. It is about Him. I must come desiring to experience Him! 

Each morning I am like Zacchaeus who climbed the sycamore tree to see Jesus.  When I sit down in my chair and open His Word, I want to see a glimpse of Him. But Jesus is always so much more than I could ever ask, think, or imagine.  He wants me to come down from my sycamore tree because He wants to “stay at my house” (Luke 19:5).  My response can only be like Zacchaeus’s was — receive Jesus joyfully! 

When I sit down in the early morning to spend time with Jesus, may I always be reminded who I am welcoming into my life.  May I join in with the heavenly chorus worshipping Him. It is there that I get a glimpse of Jesus and  the invitation to sit down with Him. So I may live as one with Him, listening to His Word. 

Worship ushers me in to time with Him in His Word. Time that is not like any other. I miss it all if I come just to read a short devotion and mark off my religious box. He has come to stay at my house to be with me! How could I not do like Zacchaeus and “receive Him joyfully?” How could I not, if only for a few moments, join the heavenly chorus in my worship of Him? 

WOW Scripture Reading – Home “No Room for My Word”

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“I know that you are Abraham’s descendants. Yet you are looking for a way to kill me, because you have no room for my word.” John 8:37 NIV

Dear Princess Warriors,

Last week at WOW we began to learn what it is to have a heart at home in the Word. We learned about the relationship of oneness God desires to have with us. It is man’s true spiritual home where God dwells in man and man dwells in God – attached, connected, united, indivisible, and inseparable. Jesus, the Word made flesh, came to establish this relationship when He came to earth and made His dwelling among us. He died a cruel death on the cross making it possible for the heart of God to once again dwell in the hearts of men as it was in the beginning. God truly desires for us to have our hearts at home in the Word. 

The WOW verse for this week is the words of Jesus that He spoke to a group of Jews who did not desire to live in a deep and intimate relationship with the Word. In fact, Jesus states some of the saddest words in scripture with regards to their spiritual hearts: “…you have no room for my word.” These men did not want to receive, understand, believe, and obey the Word. Their spiritual hearts were hard and black… unreceptive. They did not desire to experience their true spiritual home. 

This semester at WOW we have been learning this truth: the Word of God is the indispensable necessity of our lives. The words Jesus spoke in our verse this week remind me of how important it is for me to make room for His Word. In order to make room for the Word, I must hold the Word, who is Jesus, in the place of highest honor. I must revere Him as my supreme authority, my Lord. I must live my life in total submission to Him. As I make room for the Word in my spiritual heart, I will trust in the Word having complete confidence in Him resting my mind on His integrity and truthfulness. I will live my life in total dependence on Him. When I make room for the Word in my heart, I will allow His Word to transform my mind and influence my conduct. I will live in total obedience to Him. 

As you read the words of our verse this week and reflect upon them, I would encourage you to ask yourself this question: “Am I making room for the Word to be at home in my spiritual heart?”  It is His desire to establish a permanent and lasting relationship of oneness, Home, within our hearts. He wants us to live attached, connected, united, indivisible and inseparable from the Word. May our deepest desire be to make room for the Word in our hearts. 

Our song this week is “Make Room” by Meredith Andrews featuring Sarah Reeves & Chris McClarney 

Love,

Janet
Devoted and Determined in the Word

To grow in knowledge and understanding, please read the verses in context and look up key words. Excellent resources for deeper study include: Biblehub.com, Webstersdictionary1828.com, and gotquestions.org. 

Check out WOW Ministry on our Facebook page, Spotify playlist and our Webpage by clicking above.

“Dwelling Among Us” Devotion Written for WOW Ministry

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Word of the Month: Home

     “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.”John 1:14 NIV

When I was engaged to my husband Rich, he lived in a small apartment in St. Charles, Missouri. It held his bed and his clothes. It was a place he landed on occasion after work or school. It really was not his home. Cleaning it, decorating it, and making meals there was not a thing of concern to him. He was too busy with working full time and going to school full time. However, all this changed when we got married and I moved in. I did my best to give the apartment and his new life a woman’s touch. It went from a dirty bachelor pad to a cleaned-up home. It went from plain white walls to decorations and pictures. Rich went from his nightly dinner of McDonald’s cheeseburgers to home cooked meals. He went from sitting alone each night to companionship. I had come and turned a place he used only to sleep in, to a place where he abided with affection and found refuge and rest. With he and I together in that little apartment, we experienced home. 

This month at WOW our verses are about a special relationship of oneness with God – home. Our spiritual hearts experience their true home as we live attached, connected, united, indivisible, and inseparable with God. It is God in man and man in God. As we have faith in Him, loving and obeying His Word, desiring to delight to do His will, we will experience this relationship with God. We will be led home to the heart of God expressed in His Word, knowing Him and all His goodness. 

This week’s WOW verse speaks of this expression of God’s heart. “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory…” Jesus is the Word made flesh. He came to dwell with us. Not only did He dwell with us, but He died on the cross so that the heart of God could once again dwell in the hearts of men like it was in the beginning before sin entered our world. This is the relationship of oneness with God that He desires for us to experience with Him.

In a small way, this relationship of oneness is similar to the relationship Rich and I experienced when we were married, and I moved into his apartment. When I came to dwell with Rich, our lives changed for the better as we have experienced home together. Jesus, the Word of God, came to establish a relationship of home with us, a place of intimate relationship. He has come to dwell within us through His Word. When we receive the Word into our lives, understanding what He desires to do within us, and believing every Word He is speaking, we will obey Him. We will truly experience Him and His love. We will know Him as our true spiritual home. 

Perhaps as you read this, you realize that your heart has been empty and void of its true spiritual home? The Word, Jesus, is longing to come and reside inside of you. The Word wants to clean up the mess that sin has left behind in your spiritual heart. He wants to make Himself at home in your heart filling you with His love. He wants to change your heart into His image so that you can experience Him fully. May we receive the Word, understanding and believing Him. May we obey what He says! May our hearts experience this beautiful relationship of oneness, home, – attached, connected, united, indivisible, and inseparable – with Jesus, the Word! 

This week’s song is “Abide” by Aaron Williams. 

Love,

Janet

Devoted and Determined in the Word

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“Listen” – Devotion Written for WOW Ministry

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     “And he said to me, ‘Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.’”  
Ezekiel 3:10 NIV 

The first time I saw my husband, Rich, was at a church I attended during my college years. He and his friend decided to visit that church because they had discovered that there were “a lot of single girls there.” When Rich walked in and sat down right in front of me, I noticed him and thought he was quite handsome. As the congregation was singing, he turned around in the middle of the song and winked at me. All I could think was, “That guy is nothing but a flirt. He’s not serious about God at all.” I was not impressed! However, a couple of weeks later we ended up riding alone in a car for a two-hour trip to Worlds of Fun with a group of friends. As we drove along, we took turns talking and listening to each other. I listened as he shared his thoughts, his feelings, his desires, and his plans for his life. As he talked, I began to see someone very different than that “flirt.”  I began to see his heart. The more I listened to him the better I came to know him. During the weeks that followed, we spent more and more time together; and as I came to know him, I began to love him. Eight months after that “first wink” in the middle of a church service, we were married. The rest, as they say, is history.  

We are beginning an exciting new year at WOW with a new theme, “A Heart at Home – A Humble, Blameless, Powerful Life in the Word.”  Each week you and I have a wonderful opportunity to listen to God as He reveals His heart — His thoughts, His will, His desires, His feelings, and His plans — through our WOW weekly verses. This month our verses are about the heart – not the physical heart but the invisible spiritual heart, the place where we experience God in a personal, intimate relationship of oneness. 

We read last week in Jeremiah 24:7 that God gave us a spiritual heart to know Him. Man’s one true purpose is to know God intimately. The best thing in life bringing more joy, delight, and contentment is knowing our God and living in a relationship of oneness. A few years ago, I was not experiencing joy, delight, and contentment in my own life. Why? It was because I was not listening carefully to what God was revealing about Himself. I had intellectual knowledge about God, but I did not know Him intimately nor have a deep personal relationship with Him.  

Thankfully, God has helped me to see how much I need to “listen carefully” and to “take to heart all ‘His’ words.” As I have learned to fix my mind on all the words He speaks to me, receiving His Word into my heart, understanding His Word, believing His Word, and obeying His Word my relationship with God has become very close and intimate. 

Years ago, I was given an opportunity to be in a close relationship with a young man. As I listened carefully to the words he spoke to me, I came to know that he had a beautiful heart and that I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. Similarly, our God who speaks to you and me today is sharing who He is and what He is like because He desires an intimate relationship with us. Our role is to come to Him and listen — listen to receive, listen to understand, listen to believe, and listen to obey. 

God’s Word is an indispensable necessity to our spiritual hearts. Listening to the Word God speaks is how we experience the very thing we were created for — knowing God and living in a relationship of oneness. May we long to listen to God carefully and truly take to heart every Word He speaks to us!

This week’s song is “I’m Listening” by Chris McClarney featuring Hollyn. May our hearts desire to listen to every word that God speaks to us so we may know Him. His Word is an indispensable necessity to our hearts and our lives! 

Love, 

Janet Nelson

Devoted and Determined in the Word

https://www.wowjcmo.com/

Invitation to Know Him

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“For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me.”
‭‭John‬ ‭17‬:‭8‬ ‭NIV

Shortly after Rich and I started dating he went home with me to meet my parents. I had been in college for three years and was 21. He was 19 and had been in college for one. We were driving along and he took off his high school class ring, flipped it up on the dashboard and said, “Here, why don’t you take this so the other boys won’t flirt with you?” This was his way of saying, “Would you like to be in an exclusive relationship? Just me and you?” He had extended an opportunity and expressed a desire for us to know each other better. At that moment, I had a choice. Accept what he offered or deny it.

Jesus offers us an invitation. It is to an exclusive relationship. He wants us to know Him. This is why He has given us His Word. The key is for us to accept His Word. We have to take it in and allow it to work in our lives.

In a small way it is like that high school class ring Rich offered to me. God holds out the invitation for us to receive what He has offered, His Word. When we receive God’s Word into our hearts, we receive an exclusive relationship. We are His. We grow in our knowledge of Him and our love for Him. We will believe Him, because we have accepted His Word.

God help me to always have a heart that is receptive to the Word You have given me. Help me to always take the time and make the time to be with you each and every day engaging with You and Your Word in a deep and intimate relationship.

The Bible Book of the Month Club the Gospel of Mark — Mark 14:32-72

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Today is Mark 14:32-72 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

What seemed to be Peter’s entire world was falling apart right in front of him. The One he left everything to follow, Jesus, had been arrested and wasn’t even trying to defend Himself.
I can imagine the dismay and unbelief the enemy was enticing Peter with.

Denying Jesus was one thing, but trying to prove you have had nothing to do with by cursing and swearing was another. Then the rooster crowed and Peter remembered what Jesus had told him. “He broke down and wept.”

I have been where Peter was and I can identify. Things weren’t going my way. God wasn’t doing what I wanted Him to. So I decided to do things my way… I tried to distance myself from Him, but keeping just enough of Jesus to “keep my fire insurance current.” What a miserable way to live. Especially if you have had an authentic relationship with Jesus, but have drifted away. I’m pretty sure this is why Peter wept. Once you have tasted and seen the goodness of God, everything else is empty.

Thankfully Peter’s story does not end at the end of Mark 15. Jesus restored his relationship. Thankfully my story did not end with me adrift, living my life my ways…not God’s. Jesus restored my relationship.

How about you? Can you relate to Peter and me? Your story does not have to end in sorrow! Surrender to God is the pathway to peace. Come to Him!

What is God showing you?
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The Bible Book of the Month Club the Book of Mark — Mark 14:1-31

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Today is Mark 14:1-31 ❤️🙌🔥 for the “Bible Book of the Month Club — The Gospel of Mark”

The thing that stands out to me the most in this passage of scripture is the intimacy in relationship that Jesus had with His disciples. Jesus spent time with them eating meals.

Some of the most intimate times I have with my kids are our family dinners. When the food has been eaten, we remain at the table talking, laughing, and enjoying each others company. They are beautiful times.

I can imagine dinner with Jesus being the same. However the accounts of this passage have a more serious note. Jesus tells His best friends, those closest to Him, what is to come. He wants them to understand what happens when it does. What a beautiful Savior we have!

Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever! He still wants to have that intimate fellowship with us. We are invited to His table where we can spend time with Him. He has sent that invitation to us! (Revelations 3:20) Our role is to come to Him and open the door of our hearts.

What is God showing you?
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