Category Archives: to know him and make him known

Pentecost in Acts: Acts 23 Experience Him

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Paul stood on trial before the Sanhedrin, the religious rulers of the Jewish people. He knew some were Pharisees and some Sadducee’s. These were two different groups of the leaders. One of the differences was their belief in the resurrection of the dead. Paul knew this so he stated his belief in the resurrection. This caused an uproar between his accusers, and once again they wanted to kill him. They were about to tear him into pieces. Even so, the Holy Spirit gave Paul boldness to continue to testify. Jesus even came to Him in a vision, telling him he would go to Rome to testify.

Once again difficult circumstances surrounded Paul: accusations, beatings, imprisonment, death, etc. He could have recanted his stories, told his accusers he was a liar and he was sorry. He could have denied what he was proclaiming as truth. It would have all stopped and he more than likely would have been free. Perhaps they would have even made him a hero.

Why did Paul continue? He had a personal, face to face encounter with Jesus. He was changed. The Holy Spirit dwelled within Him. He was not the same man that was on the road to Damascus years before.

It is a known fact that out of the twelve disciples that followed Jesus before His death, eleven of them died as martyrs. Something they saw and experienced made them willing to die for what they believed. People do not die a martyr for a lie willingly. They had experienced truth!

John described it this way:

“That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life— the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—” 1 John 1:1-2 ESV

God wants us to experience Him. This is why the Holy Spirit came to live within us. So we could see and touch. We can feel Him. Then we are able to testify to what we know!

May we experience the Holy Spirit’s presence in our lives!

Pentecost in Acts: Acts 22 Testify!

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There is power in the testimony of what Jesus had done for you. Paul was not afraid to tell the people his testimony, even though it was controversial and unacceptable to testify that Jesus, God’s son wanted Paul to go to the Gentiles to proclaim God’s favor towards them. Paul knew God had chosen him years before on the road to Damascus to do just that. Ananias told Paul shortly after his encounter with Jesus himself:

“…The God of our fathers appointed you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear a voice from his mouth; for you will be a witness for him to everyone of what you have seen and heard.” Acts 22:14-15 ESV

We have been called too. The Holy Spirit has been given to us as well empowers us to testify. We are to know this is His will. We are to “be a witness for him to everyone of what we have seen and heard.” Our testimony of God’s goodness in our lives will point others to the truth we have found. Lives will be changed!

Come Holy Spirit make us witnesses! Let us share our testimony!

Pentecost in Acts: Acts 20:1-21 Declare Without Hesitation

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Paul went from town to town and from house to house declaring Jesus. He even stated:

“…I did not shrink from declaring to you anything that was profitable, and teaching you in public and from house to house,” Acts 20:20 ESV

Paul did not hesitate to preach anything that he thought would be helpful to the believers he knew. Especially the importance of faith in Jesus:

“testifying both to Jews and to Greeks of repentance toward God and of faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21 ESV

That is how we need to live our lives. There is only one answer to the circumstances of life that we find ourselves in. There is only one truth! May we declare this to those we know. It is the only thing helpful in a world that is confusing and full of hurt!

Holy Spirit speak to us and through us!

Pentecost in Acts: Acts 18 Keep Speaking!

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Paul frequently went to the synagogues to reason with the Jews explaining that Jesus was the Messiah. He testified of Jesus to both Jews and Gentiles. Several times he was rejected, even to the point of hostility.

One night Jesus spoke to Paul in a vision.

“And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,” Acts 18:9 ESV

The world will reject knowing Jesus. There will be opposition from those who have hardened their hearts. But we are to not be afraid to speak of Jesus to those around us. Because the Holy Spirit can soften the most hardened of hearts.

We are to follow Jesus’s directive as well! “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent,”

Pentecost in Acts: Acts 17 The Unknown God

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The Altar to the Unknown God
Found 1820 Palatine Hill

Paul and his companions continued on their missionary journey spending time in various gathering places declaring the gospel of Jesus. Some received the message others did not and would try to incite the crowds against him. Each time Paul would move on but continue to share Jesus.

Paul ended up in Athens, Greece. He was greatly distressed to see the number of idols that were in the city. He noted that the people there were very religious. They were searching for God, the one true God. They even had an idol erected in honor of the “Unknown God.” That very God they were looking for did not want to be unknown in their lives. He had been speaking to them all along.

“The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us,” Acts 17:24-27 ESV

We are not that different than the people of Athens. We erect all kind of things we worship instead of the true and living God. We run after our ways, our thoughts, and our own ideas instead of following His word. But our God wants us to KNOW Him. This is why He sent Jesus and this is why He longs to fill us to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. He wants us to seek Him and find Him.

Do we?

Pentecost in Acts 1:12-26: A Witness With Us

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After Jesus ascended into Heaven the disciples did what Jesus had told them to do. They went back to Jerusalem and waited there in the upper room where they had been staying. As they waited there they “joined together constantly in prayer.” It was during this time Peter told those gathering that they needed to choose a replacement for Judas. Two men were nominated and once again they prayed asking God for guidance. Matthias was chosen.

Matthias was chosen to “become a witness with us of his resurrection.” (Verse 22) Matthias was not one of the original twelve disciples, but he had been with Jesus. He walked along the way with Him just as the original twelve did. He watched Jesus be baptized. He saw the miracles. He listened to Jesus teach. He witnessed Jesus’s ascension to heaven as well. He was committed along with the other disciples to wait in that upper room for the promised power from on high when the Holy Spirit would come upon them. (Verse 8). God chose Him to take over the apostolic ministry, to be one of the sent ones.

What an example the disciples gave to us! They waited on the Holy Spirit! They obeyed! They lived constantly in prayer! They new their role was to be a witness giving evidence of the proof of what Jesus had done once filled with the Holy Spirit! We are to live that way as well! As we spend time with Jesus in prayer and yield ourselves to the Holy Spirit’s guidance waiting on Him to move within us, may our lives be a witness, a testimony- a visible representation of the invisible God to all of those around us!

Reflections on John 15:18-27: The Helper in the World that Hates

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In this section of scriptures, Jesus teaches His disciples about how the world, the carnal state or corruption of the earth… evil, hates Him. As His disciples, we are to come out of that corruption. He chose us! He pulled us out of its grip. When we agree with Jesus and do as He does, the world will hate us. They won’t want to see us walking free from sin, because they do not want to be free from their sin. The light in us, God’s light, exposes the darkness for what it is… empty and vain. We are not left alone to stand against the evil of the world.

Here is where Jesus gives us a precious promise:

““But when the Helper comes, whom I will send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth, who proceeds from the Father, he will bear witness about me. And you also will bear witness, because you have been with me from the beginning.” John 15:26-27 ESV

The Holy Spirit is our Helper. He is the Spirit of truth. He helps us to bear witness to the truth. We can rely on Him to help us in persecution and hatred that may come against us. Remember, the world hated Jesus it did not know Him intimately. It continues to hate Him now because it still does not know Him. But we have our Helper so we can tell the World about Him so they may know Him too!

Reflections on John 14:1-15: Greater Works Than These…Doing the Stuff!

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This section of scripture is the explanation of why I believe it is so important to immerse myself in “knowing” Jesus. I want to know Him with not only a head knowledge but intimately.

We were created to know God or to walk and talk with Him in intimate relationship. Jesus tells us that He is in the Father and the Father is in Him. He says that the Father does His works through Jesus. Knowing Jesus is knowing the Father.

When we read the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we are reading the accounts of what Jesus did while here on earth over 2000 years ago. All His works were incredible! Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, forgave those trapped in sin, etc. He displayed the Father’s great love! Jesus is still at work in and through our lives! He did not stop!

We have this precious promise;

““Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father. Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask me anything in my name, I will do it.” John 14:12-14 ESV

Jesus in us, through the gift of the Holy Spirit. This is the assurance that we continue His work here and now! In fact, He promises us “greater works”.

John Wimber, the founder of the Vineyard Churches, read the same accounts we have been reading in the gospels, as a young believer during the time of the Jesus Movement in the 60’s. He asked a pastor after attending church, “So when do we do the stuff?… You know, the stuff in the Bible, like healing the sick and casting out demons. The stuff!”

May we know Him more so we “Do the stuff” that Jesus did and still does in our day and time through the power of the Holy Spirit living in us! All this to bring glory to our Loving Heavenly Father. May we know Him and make Him known!

Christmas in Luke (Day 20)

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Today’s reading is Luke 20.

I love taking the month of December and focusing on the most blessed event of human history, Jesus’s Birth, and reading Luke. All the warmth and tenderness of the moment in the Bethlehem stable has been remembered over and over as we have focused on all the details surrounding His arrival and shortly after. Then there has been each account of all the miracles Jesus performed while here walking the earth, and the truth He spoke that we have been reading each day.

With each miracle and each word, we have read how He was being closely watched by a group who wanted to kill Him. Today’s reading includes a parable Jesus told to expose the hearts of those people — The parable of the evil farmers, tenants who wanted nothing to do with the landowner. The landowner tried desperately to receive some fruit from the vineyard He had planted. His tenants beat the servants the landowner had sent to communicate with them. Finally the landowner appealed to them by sending his son, whom he loved. These tenants threw the son out of the vineyard and killed him. Jesus finished this parable with the words,”The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (Verse 17)

With all that Jesus did that was good, kind, and miraculous, He was still rejected. But the very person they rejected, Jesus, was the person that God had sent to save. We also have a choice when faced with the person Jesus. We can accept Him and His lordship over our lives, or we can reject Him.


May we examine our hearts this Christmas season. As we celebrate the tenderness of our God who has come to us as a baby to be with us, Jesus- Emmanuel, may we not reject His desire to become God within us. He longs to do good and to fill our lives with Himself. May our hearts be opened to receive Him!

Christmas in Luke (Day 19)

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Today’s reading is Luke 19.

Tax collectors were hated by the Jewish people. They had a reputation for building their own wealth by cheating the people they were to collect taxes from, and the taxes were given to the oppressive Roman government. To be a tax collector was the equivalent of being a terrible sinner in Jesus’s time.

Zacchaeus was the “chief tax collector” and he was wealthy. He was also short in stature. One day Jesus was passing by his way. Zacchaeus had heard all the buzz of excitement, and he wanted “to see who Jesus was.” The crowds around him were making it impossible for him to fulfill his heart’s desire. So he climbed a sycamore fig tree.

Jesus saw him in that tree and told him to come down. He was going to go to Zacchaeus’s house.

Zacchaeus had a repentant heart. He showed the fruit of his repentance by making good to those he had cheated and giving generously to the poor. Salvation had come to him.

In this account, Jesus speaks of His visitation with Zacchaeus with these words of truth for that time and all the generations to come. “…For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.” (Verse 10)

Jesus came to find those burdened down by their sins and guilt. He came to find those far from God, lost and unable to see the way. Jesus came to bring salvation from our sins. Jesus is the same today as He was then. He brings salvation to our lives today.

I have been like Zacchaeus, curiously observing Jesus from a distance… hungry to know if all I had heard about Him was true. I have had Jesus stop and call out to me that He was coming to my house, my life, today.

From the time Jesus stepped into our world as a little baby on Christmas to Him calling out to us now, Jesus has come to seek and save the lost.

May we hear His call to us and respond with genuine repentance from our sins as Zacchaeus did all those years ago.