Category Archives: Lordship of Jesus

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — We Need Him!

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Today is Acts 21.

The Holy Spirit spoke to the believers who were friends with Paul. He told them that Paul would be arrested in Jerusalem. Paul already knew this as well, and he was fully convinced that God had told Him to go to Jerusalem any way. He was prepared to suffer whatever he would suffer. Because he knew he had to testify of Jesus there.

Sometimes the direction of our lives leads us down hard roads. This does not mean that God is not with us when we face difficulty, or that we have missed God’s will. God has a plan in each and every path He places us on. The end of that plan is always for our good and for His glory! We can trust Him in this. Hardship is part of life here in a world that is tainted by sin. The only place we find free of that is heaven where there are no more tears, no more sadness, no more sorrow.

This is why our loving Heavenly Father sent the Holy Spirit to us. He is the Comforter. The question arises as we look more intently at the Holy Spirit within us: Do we need the Holy Spirit? YES! We need His comfort, we need His guidance, we need His teaching, We need His power. The Holy Spirit in us is God’s gift to help us navigate life’s hardest twist and turns.

May we seek to know Him better and to live our lives in His fullness!

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — Nothing Else

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Today is Acts 20.

Paul speaks the elders at the church of Ephesus that he dearly loves. He tells them that he knows the Holy Spirit is compelling him to go to Jerusalem, and he knows that hardship awaits him. Even so, Paul has set in his heart to obey and to go. His only desire was to obey God and to do exactly what God had called him to do. Paul says this:

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” Acts 20:24 ESV

Life is not easy, and living for God with a heart that is wholly His is not normal to the world around us. Because those around us who do not know God do not value Him or His ways. But Paul had an encounter with Jesus Himself, and Paul had experienced the fullness of the Holy Spirit in his life. He was forever changed and wanted to know God alone. He only wanted to please God no matter what.

Have you come to that point in your life? Have you had an experience with Jesus and found that He alone satisfies? Have you entered into fellowship with the Holy Spirit? Can you hear Him speak to you, and do you know He hears you when you pray? This is what you were created for! Nothing else matters! 

My prayer is the same as Paul’s. May I testify of the grace of God in my life! God has been so very good to me! I want you to experience that same goodness! But that goodness is only experienced when you surrender your life to Him. That is when the Holy Spirit fills you to overflowing and you experience the same Jesus Paul encountered on the road to Damascus and the same Holy Spirit the disciples were filled with in the upper room at Pentecost.

May our hearts be His alone! Come Holy Spirit!

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts — Midnight Revival

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“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭16‬:‭25‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Acts 16.

Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for doing a good thing, casting a demon out of a slave girl. Not only were they thrown into prison they were beaten with many blows of rods. Then they had their feet put in stocks and were kept in the inner prison so they could not escape.

Their reaction was to pray and to praise God out loud. Loud enough the other prisoners heard them. Then an earthquake happened and all the bonds fell off the prisoners and the doors were all opened. But they did not run away instead they stopped the jailer from killing himself in fear. That jailer then wanted to know Jesus. He took Paul and Silas home, washed their wounds and listened to them. He and his entire household were saved and baptized.

What seemed like defeat and helplessness turned into a great victory as the Holy Spirit enabled Paul and Silas to be witnesses to the one who held them in jail. What could have been time for a pity party and defeat was a midnight revival- prayer meeting and worship time! God took what was evil and made it an opportunity to show His love, power, and salvation!

As we die to ourselves and live in the power of the Holy Spirit, God will be glorified in every situation! His goodness will always prevail!

New Beginnings in Acts — Worthless Things

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““Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Acts‬ ‭14‬:‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Acts 14.

Paul and Barnabas continue on their missionary journey “speaking boldly for the Lord.” God “confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.” (Verse 3)

When they got to Lystra they prayed for a man who had never walked and that man was healed. This caused the crowds to want to worship Paul and Barnabas. They said the Paul was Hermes and Barnabas was Zeus. Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes and ran into the crowd telling them loudly to not do this. They were only men. Then Paul said, “We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God.” The crowd worshipped idols.
In our world today, we may think we are a little more educated and sophisticated because we don’t worship Ancient Greek Gods. But, ANYTHING that we put before God is an idol. In America, we worship: money, careers, our kids sports programs, music, education — (our own knowledge or we know better than what the Scripture says), psychology and science, possessions, our phones (social media), dating, politics, etc. The list could go on and on. We choose to exalt things in our lives above the “living God.” What is our focus on throughout the day? This may very well be an idol.

All these pursuits and passions are dead… But there is good news just as there was in Paul’s time. There is a living God! He longs to “fill your hearts with joy.” (Verse 17) But we must turn from the “worthless things to the living God.”

What are you pursuing and passionate about? God longs to be the center of our lives!

Is He?

New Beginnings in The Book of Acts —Sent Out!

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“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them”…. sent on their way by the Holy Spirit…they proclaimed the word of God.” Acts‬ ‭13‬:‭2‬,4-5 NIV‬‬


Today is Acts 13.


The church in Antioch spent time worshipping and fasting. As they did the Holy Spirit directed them to send out Saul, who is also called Paul, and Barnabas on a missionary journey. As Paul and Barnabas went out, they “proclaimed the word of God.” Everywhere they went people’s lives were changed. The people were “astonished at the teaching of the Lord.” The people “begged that these things might be told them.” One account in verse 44 says “almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.” The Gentiles “began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord…” verse 48. In fact, “the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.”

We have the same Holy Spirit living inside of us. We have the same Word of God to proclaim! People are hungry to hear. We too can worship and fast to hear the direction of the Holy Spirit so that we can go out and proclaim God’s Word.

Our world is no different than the world during the time of the early church. People need to hear about Jesus and all that He has done! We have the Word that brings life. May we boldly proclaim that Word in the power of the Holy Spirit!

New Beginnings in the Book of Acts — Too Good to Not Believe!

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“They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”” Acts 12:18 ESV

Today is Acts 12.

Things were looking pretty bleak… Herod the king, had James the brother of John, killed. He was one of the 12 disciples that followed Jesus during His earthly ministry. He was Peter’s friend. Then Herod decided to arrest Peter too. BUT, “earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.”  (Verse 9)

Four squads of soldiers, chains, and the iron gates of the city are no match for God. An angel sent by God came to Peter and led him out of the prison and into the city. It was so incredible that Peter thought it was just a vision he was seeing until the angel left him, and he stood free in a street of a city.

When Peter arrived at Mary’s house, the servant girl who went to the door to answer his knocking was amazed and left him there outside. She reported the miracle to those inside, and they said, “You are out of our mind.”

God is a God of miracles! These miracles are “mind blowing”!  People who hear them may have a hard time believing that what has happened is true or could even occur. I have seen “mind blowing” miracles in my own life. God still works wonders that the world would tell you are impossible. For me, a woman held in the chains of a prison of anxiety — meds,  secular therapy, eastern meditation apps, mindfulness, you name it… I’ve probably tried it… has seen the chains drop off, walked passed the guards, and am standing totally free! Some may say, “you are out of your mind.” Because it doesn’t match the pattern of the world.  A person in prison should stay there… But God!

Earnest prayer was made on Peter’s behalf, and God answered! God is still the same! He answers prayer!

He is too good to not believe!

 

New Beginnings in Acts — Stand in God’s Way?

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“So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?”” Acts‬ ‭11‬:‭17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Acts 11.

Peter’s visit with Cornelius was controversial with the Jewish believers. They had not understood God’s plan. The Jews did not closely affiliate with the Gentiles. They would not even eat with them. But Peter explained why he went, and how God had revealed to Him in a vision that he needed to “make no distinction” between himself and the Gentile men who came to him. When the Gentile household received the Holy Spirit as he had, Peter came to a conclusion. “Who was I that I could stand in God’s way?”

God wants complete surrender of our ideas, thoughts, plans, dreams, etc. to Him. His way is better than anything we could ever conceive. We may think a certain way, but when it is held up to the truth of the Word of God that way must change. Peter “remembered the word of the Lord.“ (verse 16) This changed how he had always lived his life. He obeyed the Word of the Lord. This obedience brought life not only to Cornelius, but it opened the door for the Gentiles (which is you and me) to come. “Then to the Gentiles also God has granted repentance that leads to life.“

When God speaks to us, we must listen. We must obey! It may be uncomfortable, but our obedience to His Word is always for our good and the good of those around us. May we say as Peter did, “who was I that I could stand in Gods way?”

New Beginnings in Acts — 180 Degree Turn

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““Who are you, Lord?” Saul asked. “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,” he replied…But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.” Acts‬ ‭9‬:‭5‬, ‭15‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Acts 9
180 degree turn around… I was one way, now I am not. This is what Jesus did for Saul. This is what He has done for me.
Saul hated Christians. He stood by and approved of the killing of Stephen. He searched out the Christians in their homes and had them arrested. Then He met Jesus!
An encounter with Jesus will change you. What you were is changed to what God wanted you to be all along, a “chosen instrument” of His. Saul “immediately… proclaimed Jesus… saying “He is the Son of God.”” Everyone around Saul “{was} amazed.”
I know this kind of change in my own life. Jesus took me, an anxious woman tormented in her mind, and gave me peace.
Jesus has the power to give us a “180 degree turn around” in our lives through His Holy Spirit living in us. All we have to do is HEAR/ LISTEN TO His voice as Saul did on the road to Damascus and OBEY whatever Jesus says! He truly gives us New Beginnings!

New Beginnings in the Book of Acts— Stiff Necked People…

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“…he received living words to pass on to us. Our fathers refused to obey him…”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭7‬:‭38‬-39 ‭NIV‬‬

Today is Acts 7.

Stephen stood before the council of religious leaders. A group of men had “secretly instigated men” to speak lies about him. Then Stephen spoke. He recounted the history of the Jewish people. He spoke of how time and time again God had come to them and rescued them, yet they had chosen to go their own way and worship the false gods of the nations around them. God gave them “living words.” Yet they “refused to obey.”

This is true of us today. Jesus came as the living Word to us. He has provided us with His Holy Scriptures so that we can listen to His Word and have it transform our hearts from being dark and sin filled to hearts in His image. Yet, we often refuse to obey.

Stephen used the term, “stiff- necked people” to describe the men who would not listen to the “living words” of God. He said they resisted the Holy Spirit just as their fathers (ancestors) did time and time again. Simply put, they would not obey what God said. These men had hard hearts that wanted to do what they wanted to do when and how they wanted to do it. They didn’t want to walk in the ways of God. They wanted their way…

Hearing the truth, they did not repent. Instead they chose to kill Stephen for speaking the “living Words” to them. They resisted and rejected God…

May that never be said of us. We must listen to the Word of God. We must receive it so that we can obey it and be transformed by it. The Word is the truth that brings freedom into our lives.

Listen, receive, believe, and obey the Word!

New Beginnings in the Book of Acts — Not Just for Professionals

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“Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty… And what they said pleased the whole gathering, and they chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit…” Acts‬ ‭6‬:‭3‬, ‭5‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Today is Acts 6.

Let’s leave that to the professionals… It is easy to think that the dividing line between clergy and laity needs to be well defined and not crossed. BUT no matter how we serve God one thing is clear. We need to be “full of the Spirit.”

The apostles were needing to devote their time to “preaching the word,” but a need arose within the church to care for the widows. This would require serving by distributing provisions. So they picked out seven men to serve who were “full of the Spirit and of wisdom.” Stephen was noted as being a man “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit.” He was also noted as being “full of grace and power,” and he was “doing great wonders and signs among the people.”

Stephen is a great example to us of an ordinary man who served an extraordinary God. Even in serving God in the most ordinary of ways, “waiting tables,” he served in the power of the Holy Spirit.

We are no different. Whether we serve God as a mother of children, a fast food worker, a business professional, or a full time minister in a local congregation, we need to serve as one “full of the Holy Spirit.” God has plans to use us where ever He has us for His glory! He plans to work “great wonders and signs” (verse 8 ) through our lives. The key is to live our lives “full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” as Stephen was.

Serving God is not just for the professionals…Whether preaching or waiting tables, we are called to know Him and make Him known!