Acts 1:8

8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth

Acts 2:1-4

When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord[a] in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

Jude 20

But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit,

Divine power source

After Jesus ascended into heaven He appeared to several disciples and instructed them to wait in Jerusalem until they received power from on high. Subsequently, upon following His instruction as they waited together in unity fire from on high ignited their spirits and they began praising God in heavenly languages. Like the early disciples we need to be plugged in to the spiritual power source for our spiritual lives to flourish. We are in essence spiritual beings living in a natural body. For us to function spiritually we need to be plugged in to the divine power source. If Jesus instructed the early disciples to be filled with the spirit, how much more do we, living in these perilous times, need to be plugged in to God's power source to function normally. Just as our electronic devices need to be connected to an electrical power source and be constantly charged to function so also do our spirits need to be periodically connected to God's power source to function. If our spiritual battery runs dry and our spiritual life is dead we need to be reinstated with God. We need to get on our knees and repent for our wrongdoings and invite the Lord to take control of our lives once again. He never gives up on us. He promises to never leave us nor forsake us even until the end of the age.

Matthew 27:15-23

Now at the feast the governor was accustomed to releasing to the multitude one prisoner whom they wished. 16 And at that time they had a notorious prisoner called Barabbas. 17 Therefore, when they had gathered together, Pilate said to them, “Whom do you want me to release to you? Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?” 18 For he knew that they had handed Him over because of envy.

19 While he was sitting on the judgment seat, his wife sent to him, saying, “Have nothing to do with that just Man, for I have suffered many things today in a dream because of Him.”

20 But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus. 21 The governor answered and said to them, “Which of the two do you want me to release to you?”

They said, “Barabbas!”

22 Pilate said to them, “What then shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?”

They all said to him, “Let Him be crucified!”

23 Then the governor said, “Why, what evil has He done?”

But they cried out all the more, saying, “Let Him be crucified!”

Anybody but Jesus

In the passage above we see an account of the events prior to Jesus' crucifixion. The masses had the choice to release a prisoner and set him free. However they chose Barabbas (anybody) over Jesus. This was the same crowd that cried the week before "Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord" regarding Jesus. however a week later they were crying out to have Him crucified. History repeats itself and many times the cry of society regarding Jesus and His laws is to toss them aside. In many ways the multitudes are crying out the same thing today. They will accept anything but Jesus and His word. Yet it was for that crowd that He died. It was for the people who ridiculed Him that He was hanging on the cross for. His famous last words: Father forgive them for they don't know what they are doing. We are faced with behavioral choices every day. By the choices that we make we choose either to honor God and His commandments or to side with the masses and cry out " Give us Barabbas... Crucify Jesus" We need to honor God in the way we live,, however if we fail Him or mess up we can be reassured that it was precisely for that reason He died. He cries out today as He did over 2000 years ago while in pain and anguish and still grieving over our shortcomings, Father forgive them for they know not what they do.

John 15: 1-4

“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2 Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit. 3 You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. 4 Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me

Luke 10:38-42

Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”

41 And Jesus answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her

One thing is needful

In the above passages we see the importance of being connected with Jesus. Jesus expects us to be fruit bearing disciples. Galatians lists out the fruit of the Spirit. We need the sap of the Holy Spirit flowing though us to bear the fruit Jesus requires us to bear. We get that sap flowing through us by doing what Mary did in the gospel. She sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to what He said. We need to do the same. Sit at the feet of Jesus every morning and let his Holy Spirit flow through us as we read His word and worship Him in spirit and truth. As a branch separated from the vine cannot bear any fruit, neither can we if we do not stay connected to Jesus. He is after all a friend that sticks closer than a brother. He cares for us more than anyone else cares for us. He has our best interest in mind. When he gives us His commandments, He is not doing so to punish us or rob us off worldly pleasures. He gives us laws to abide by so it will be well with us. We cannot afford to walk away from His word. The consequences of disobeying God are disastrous. Sometimes it's hard to walk in the straight and narrow path however, Broad is the way that leads to destruction and many are on the pathway of destruction. As we abide in Him and His Word abides in us. As we sit at His feet and soak up His anointing. As we listen and obey. We are ensuring that we stay in the path of eternal life. Choose the good part.

Psalm 37:4

Delight yourself in the Lord And He shall give you the desires of your heart.

Psalm 1:2

His delight is in the law of the Lord And in His law He meditates day and night.

Psalm 112:1

Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.

Fellowship Divine

The Lord Jesus loves us and longs for us to spend time with Him. As we sit in quietness and just rest in His presence He fills us with His peace and joy. His word says My peace I give to you; not as the world gives. The joy of the Lord is our strength. He strengthens us with power in the inner man. As our spirit is nourished and refreshed by spending time with Him our bodies become stronger as well. His Word the Bible is a wellspring of divine joy, peace, rest and comfort. As we take the time each day to refresh ourselves with His word we are linking up to the supernatural and His virtue fills us. The Bible narrates an incident in the Bible when a sick woman touched the hem of His garment and virtue departed from Him and healed her body instantly. Similarly when we take the time to sit at the feet of Jesus and read His word His virtue fills us and we are strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. We can tackle all the challenges of life. It is truly a delight to spend time with the Lord and to reflect upon all He has said in His Word.

Daniel 3:1-6

The king made an image of gold... To you it is commanded...at the time you hear the sound....you shall fall down and worship the gold image that the king has set up and whoever does not fall down and worship shall be cast into a fiery furnace.

Daniel 3:14-16

Is it true that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up?.....Who is the God who will deliver you from my hands?

Daniel 3:17,18

If that is the case our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace and He will deliver us from your hand O king. But if not let it be known to you O king that we do not serve your god nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.

Tenacity

To summarize in the 3rd chapter of the book of Daniel the King decreed that everyone bow to a golden idol he set up and worship it. However three Hebrew children defied the kings order knowing God's commandment not to bow to any engraved image. When asked for an explanation as to why they defied the kings order they replied saying Our God is able to deliver us but if not we would rather die than defy God's commandment. God is looking for people with that kind of tenacity. We are surrounded by a society which sets up golden idols and commands everyone to bow to their form of idolatry or if not we are considered bigots, intolerant, hatemongers. However God requires us to be steadfast and follow what He says and stand up for what we believe in. Regardless of what the norms of society or standards of society are if we stick to our guns and stand up for God's word God will come through for us. However as the Hebrew children said 'but if not' we will not serve the idol or your god or succumb to your standards or your benchmarks.

Ecclesiates 3:1-8, 11

3 To everything there is a season,
A time for every purpose under heaven:
2 A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
3 A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
4 A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
5 A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
6 A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
7 A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
8 A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.
11 He makes all things beautiful in His time.

Matthew 19:26

With men this is impossible, But with God all things are possible.

Matthew 17:20

... for assuredly I say unto you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you.

Mark 11:24

Therefore I say unto you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.

Matthew 11:22

Jesus answered and said to them "Have Faith in God."

Impossible dreams

The expressions When pigs fly is used to scoff at something to imply that it will never happen. However the Bible once again goes against popular opinion and asks us to believe the impossible. When we pray we are required to have faith in a God who can accomplish what to man seems impossible. Of course this does not mean we go to God with ridiculous demands to satisfy our greed or selfish ambition such as winning the lotto or getting free money without working. As long as our requests comply with Biblical values God promises to answer our prayers when we come to him in Jesus name. Jesus said Whatever you ask the Father in my name it shall be granted unto you. When we come to God with our impossible desires such as healing for an incurable illness or salvation for a wayward family member or even a financial breakthrough, God promises to answer us. Just as we as earthly parents do not want to see our children gravely ill, in dire need of finances or wasting their lives in riotous living, God as our heavenly Father does not want to see us His children in these situations. Prayer is the key that unlocks the blessings of heaven on our lives. We pray believing God hears us and will answer. We take authority over satan and his cohorts and stand firm rooted and rounded on the Word of God and proclaim our healing, deliverance and financial breakthrough in Jesus name and continue to declare the answer. God declares the end from the beginning and we need to mimic Him. Thank you Jesus for answering our prayer.

Mark 1:35

Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place and there he prayed.

Selah moments

Selah is translated as Pause and calmly think of that in the Amplified Bible. As we start our day each morning we need to separate ourselves from the busyness of life and start the day by pausing and focusing on the Word of God by basking in His presence in quietness and calmness. We need to follow Jesus' example by rising up and starting the day with prayer. Also we need to consecrate selah moments throughout the busy day to have some time to pause and calmly think about the word of God as well as about the Author of the word and continually drink from the wells of heaven. We need to be continually refreshed in the presence of the Lord in order to keep our spiritual battery charged. Just as we take coffee breaks every day we can use that time as a quiet Selah moment with God. Pause and calmly think about that.

Lamentations 3:22-23

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning, great is your faithfulness.

Exodus 16:4, 15

Then the Lord said to Moses, " Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you...."
When the children of Israel saw it, they said to one another,'what is it?'' for they did not know what it was. And Moses said to them, "This is the bread which the Lord has given you to eat."

Our Daily Bread

Jesus gave us a pattern for prayer in the book of Matthew 6:8-14. He said to ask God "to give us this day our daily bread" As much as we need bread for our bodies to function every day we need God's heavenly manna for our spirit's to function. As we read in Lamentations 3-22-23 The mercies of the Lord are new every morning. He feeds us each day so we have the strength to deal with the day's challenges. Matthew 6:34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about it's own things. Sufficient for the day is it's own trouble. As we feed on God's word and sit quietly in His presence He fills us with heavenly manna and strengthens us each day to face the daily circumstances and challenges. Jesus said 'My meat is to do the will of Him who sent me' The word says Strengthen us with power and might in the inner man. As our inner man is strengthened by spending time with Jesus and doing his will our outer self becomes capable of dealing with the cares of this world.

Colossians 3:1,2

...Seek those things which are above where Christ is sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind on things above, not on things of this earth.

Philippians 4:8

...., Whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy- Think on these things.

Romans 8:6

To be carnally minded is death, to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Proverbs 23:7

As a man thinks in his heart so is he.

Think on these things...

Our thought life is very important to our spiritual growth and maturity. The way we think shapes our entire life. The Word says "Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks" "By the words of our mouth we are justified and by our words we are condemned" " Death and life are in the power of the tongue" What all that means is that eventually what we think on is what we speak and what we speak out shapes our future. Instead of rehearsing our problem we have to seek God for the answer, find a promise in the Bible for the specific problem and speak out the solution. As we take the time each morning to bring our cares to the Lord we listen to what He says in His Word and act upon it. We find the promise that corresponds to our problem and speak the answer. As we take time to review these scriptures daily in our lives and speak it out we not only change our circumstances but we make the living word of God part of our daily lives. Our vocabulary changes and our behavior changes and slowly but surely we become transformed. Even if it is just a couple of verses a day as we think about it and review it as the day goes by we not only change ourselves but our circumstances as well.

Psalm 70:1

Make haste, O God to deliver me!
Make haste to help me, O Lord!

Psalm 71:12

O God, do not be far from me;
O my God make haste to help me!

Mathew 6:13

.... and deliver us from evil.

S.O.S!

While going through trials and tests of everyday life we need to call out to God for help in overcoming the challenges we face. Sometimes life throws us a curve ball and things do not turn out the way we anticipated. We need to turn to God for help and cry out in desperation for His help. God is never surprised. He establishes the end from the beginning. He is never stumped. Not only does He have the answer for us, Jesus is our answer. He not only shows us the way. He is the way. Jesus said in John 14:1 " Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God believe also in me." John 14:6 " I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." As we cry out from the depths of our hearts for Jesus to deliver us, He steps into our lives. Then worry vanishes, the cares and concerns of this world are alleviated and we can rest in the sheltered arms of Jesus our Savior. Just as a pilot in desperation signals "S.O.S.", when we cry out to Jesus to save our soul, He walks in and does just that. As the Father in the parable of the prodigal son ran to greet him with the best robe and ring, God our heavenly Father runs to welcome us into His family.

John 6:68

But Simon Peter answered him " Lord to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

John 6:63

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are life.

Living Word

As Peter said in the gospel, where indeed shall we go? Jesus alone has the words of life. As a matter of fact He is the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us. God created the universe by His word. God said "Light be" and light was. God has provided us with powerful words. Hebrews 4:12-13 " For the Word of God is living and powerful.... and is a discerns the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight but all things are open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account" The word of God is like a mirror. By it we see who we really are in Christ. Our view of ourselves and others around us when filtered through the lens of God's holy Word changes our perspective and our world view. We see the world through the eyes of a loving yet just and righteous God who cannot be messed with. Ultimately He shall have the final say regardless of our religious background, political correctness and every other opinion or way of life. We don't mess with God and expect Him to adapt our way of living. We look into His word and change our lives to conform to His word.

Genesis 1:2

The earth was without form and void and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the spirit of God was hovering over the face of the earth. Then God said "Let there be light" and there was light.

John 8:12

Jesus spoke to them again saying " I am the light of the world. He who follows me shall not walk in darkness but shall have the light of life."

Light up our lives

We live in a spiritually dark world. The ravages of sin are all around us: murder, disasters, greed, malaise and so much more. If we are not careful the darkness around us can overwhelm us. However as Jesus said in the Word when walking on water on a dark and stormy night " Be of good cheer; It is I. Be not afraid" When Jesus walks in the darkness flees. When we walk into a dark room and turn on the light the darkness disappears. Jesus is the light of the world and he lights up our life. We begin to see clearly once Jesus enters in. We were stumbling around in the dark before not being able to distinguish between right and wrong. Once we repent and reject religion Jesus walks in and illuminates our lives.

Psalm 1:1-3

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the ungodly, nor stands in the path of sinners, nor sits in the seat of the scornful;
But his delight is in the law of the Lord and in his law he meditates day and night.
He shall be like a tree planted by rivers of water, that brings forth it's fruit in it's season whose leaf also shall not whither and whatever he does will prosper.

Psalm 119: 1,2

Blessed are the undefiled in the way, Who walk in the law of the Lord!
Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart.

Psalm 19:7-11

The law of the Lord is perfect converting the soul, the testimony of the Lord is sure making wise the simple.
The statutes of the Lord are right rejoicing the heart. The commandment of the Lord is pure enlightening the eyes.
The fear of the Lord is clean enduring for ever. The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
More to be desired are they than gold yea than much fine gold. Sweeter also than the honey and the honeycomb.
Moreover by them your servant is warned and in keeping them there is great reward.

Psalm 3:3,4,6

But You, O Lord are a shield for me, My glory and the lifter of my head. I cried unto the Lord with my voice and he heard me from His holy hill. Selah.
I will not be afraid of ten thousand people who have set themselves against me all around.

Acts 2:21

And it shall come to pass that whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved

Luke 1:30

Then the angel said to her Do not be afraid Mary for you have found favor with God, and behold you will conceive in your womb and bring forth a Son and shall call him Jesus.

Isiah 9:6

...And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace....

Matt13:44

The Kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field which a man found and hid and for joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.

All for Jesus

All for Jesus

Serving God is an all or nothing deal. Imagine finding a treasure as mentioned in the verse above that you would sell all your belongings in order to purchase this valuable treasure. God has granted us eternal life with Him through the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross. This is far more valuable than anything in this world. It would only be reasonable for us to give our very best to the Lord. As an old song says “would the whole realm of nature mine, it were a present far too small. Love so amazing so divine demands my heart my soul my all”

Lamentations 3:22-24

Through the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, Because His compassion fails not. They are new every morning; Great is thy faithfulness.

Habakuk 3:17-19

Though the fig tree may not blossom nor fruit be on the vines: Though the labor of the olives may fail and the fields yield no food. The the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls-Yet will I rejoice in the Lord. I will joy in the God of my salvation. The Lord is my strength. He will make my feet like deer's feet and make me walk on my high hills.