Witness Boldly by the Power of the Holy Spirit

Post #2 tonight.

Daily Reading:  Levitcus 1-3 & Acts 13

Scripture:  Acts 13:46-47

Observation:

Paul and Barnabas were chosen by and filled by the Holy Spirit.  They preached boldly to the established religious leaders sharing the truth about Jesus and the Salvation he was to provide, and upon the Jews rejecting them they were to turn to the Gentiles.  The message of Grace, the message of Salvation, the message of Love was to be taken to the whole world and God would like to have used his Chosen nation, Israel to accomplish that goal, but now he had to take it directly to the gentiles through these humble servants fill to face all odds to be share the testimony of Jesus.  They were able to put a sorcerer in his place, tell the religious leaders they had despised salvation and stand up to ridicule, opposition and scorn to share this message by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Application:

I need to allow the spirit to lead and guide me as I interact with people, so that I can boldly share the love of Christ, so I can share the mercy and grace and salvation that He wants to provide to all my friends, family and acquaintances.  I will receive opposition, ridicule and scorn but the Holy Spirit will provide a powerful message and protection to the messenger.

Prayer:

Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit.  Help me to see the opportunity to share with others, to direct people to your Truth, to share your testimony and your plan of salvation to those in my sphere.  Help me to be step out in faith and speak boldly the message you give me.

In Jesus Name, Amen!

How can I Enter His Tabernacle?

Well, I missed my journal last night, so I am going to play catch up and post two tonight.  Thanks you Tracey for staying on top of me to get this done.  I was tired last night and let that stop me from getting it done, but not tonight as I'm going to work double time.

Daily Reading for 2/5/2009:  Ex. 39 & 40, Psalm 15 & Acts 12

Scripture: Psalm 15:1-2

Observation:

How can I enter into the presence of God Almighty?  How can I enter the house of God to look upon the face of my father and my friend?  I must walk uprightly, work righteousness and speak the truth in my heart. How can I do this being a sinner (a transgressor of God's law) deserving death because of that transgression?

Application:

Lord, only if you live in my heart and fulfill the law of liberty the law of love in my life.  Only if I dwell on you and your transforming word can you work a change in my heart to love you and love my fellow man.  Only you can help me to walk uprightly, work righteousness and speak truth for only you are upright and righteous and the truth.  You are the way oh Lord, the light unto my path, so that I can dwell in your presence and bask in the glory of your love.

Prayer:

Lord, help my unbelief.  Lord live in me and work a change in my wayward heart.  Get rid of the sinful nature and replace it with your righteous life, your strength, your power.  Lord, change me, mold me, create a new creature that can love, obey and abide in you for all my needs.  Lord make me holy.  Amen!

Revelation!

Daily Reading:  Ex. 37, 38; Ps 19; Acts 11

Scripture:  Psalm 19:14

Observation:

God explains in Psalm 19 that he is not only revealed to me in His creation (so long evolution), but that He is revealed in a very special way in His Word.  Not just a casual reading, not just to understand the flow of events (history), not just to know that God exists, but to be converted (v. 7), made wise (v. 7), causing rejoicing in my heart (v. 8), enlightening my eyes (v. 8), that His Word is more desired than gold and sweeter than honey (v. 10), and verse 11 promises a great reward in keeping them. 

Application:

I need to keep God's word close to my heart, to desire it like I desire water when I am thirsty.  To seek his counsel, To understand the depth and breadth of my Creator, To find out how I can please my Lord, the lover of my soul.  To keep His Words in my Heart and let them flow out in my Life.

Prayer:

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in they sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer.  For you Love with a conquering Love, a love that compels my complete surrender as it melts away my cold hard heart.  You have lifted me up, strengthened me, and my desire is to love you, dwell in you, and be found acceptable in your sight.  I long to hear the words, Well done thou good and faithful, Well Done!"  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

No Respecter of Persons

Wow, it has been crazy lately.  The last post and last reading I did was on Jan 5.  That's just pitiful that I only lasted 5 days and then bailed on the reading plan.  I missed one night, then two because of being too busy and then it was hard to get back to it and then I forgot about it.  I remembered occasionally but not at the right times.  It has been getting busier and busier, and I finally said enough is enough.  I have to take the time even if I stay up late to do it.  I need my time with God and I need God's help in my life.  I need Him to help me gain control of myself, control of my household, control of my work and get things working right again.  I'm just sorry I missed so much, but I'll get to read over it again next year, right?

If you are reading this and I miss a blog again, please hound me and help me stay accountable to this.  OK, here goes...

Daily Reading:  Ex. 35, 26 & Acts 10

Scripture:  Acts 10:34, 35

Observation:

God is no respecter of persons. He does not want or need men of high esteem with Titles and Degrees.  He accepts those that fear Him (respect Him) and obey His commandments from all nations, to do His work.  He wants the Peter's, the fishermen, the Cornelius', the devoted, the servants, the common ordinary lay people to draw close to Him and work for Him.  That does not mean he won't accept those that have high esteem among men, as long as that person does not have a haughty heart.

Application:

Don't let me step in to the trap of being a respecter of persons.  Men are just men, and we are all sinners in need of a loving, merciful God to save us.  Don't let me hold back from witnessing to another because of a person's so called esteem or lack thereof.  

Prayer:

Lord, I pray that I will draw close to you, so that you can use me and my talents to reach others, not matter who they are in this world. 

Jesus says Follow Me

Daily Reading: Gen. 12-14 & Luke 5

Scripture: Genesis 12:1, Luke 5:11 & Luke 5:27-28

Observation:

God called Abraham, Simon Peter, James & John the sons of Zebedee and Matthew Levi to follow Him, and they all left and followed him.  Abraham left his family and his families country to go to a new unfamiliar country.  Peter, James and John had a fishing business together and they dropped it and followed Jesus.  Matthew was a lucrative tax collector and at hearing the invitation left it and followed Jesus.  Are we willing to leave behind our old life to follow Jesus?  Are we willing to let go of the worldly ties to spend time with God?  When we discover that Jesus is life, He is salvation, He is our all in all, are we willing to give him our all?

Application:

I have left things in my old life behind, but have I given up all for Jesus?  I still have ties to the world as I do live in the world, but am I willing to forsake all to be with Him?  I need to make sure that my first priority is to spend time with Jesus.  To hear what he has to say and be guided by Him and willing to follow where he leads even if it seems scary and foreign, and realize that He will be there with me and he will see me through it.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to hear your call in my life that I will be ready to drop all and follow you where you may lead.  Lord, I desire a deep relationship with you, so that I can know you and know that you are there for me.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Judge the Message NOT the Messenger

OK, now to catch up on my Jan. 4th reading.

Daily Reading:  Gen. 9-11 & Luke 4

Scripture:  Luke 4:24

Observation:

In Luke 4:24 Jesus was preaching in Nazareth his home town.  They had lived with Jesus, watching him grow from a boy to a man.  He was common to them and they had no high regard for him.  So when he came to them as Christ Jesus proclaiming his time had come to preach the gospel, they could not believe him for they saw him as Joseph's son not the Messiah.  Jesus explained that a prophet is not accepted in his own country.  Do we sometimes reject Godly wisdom brought to us through our family and friends and reject it because of who brought the message to us?

Application:

I want to be careful that I don't miss out on God's message to me, because I can't accept who is delivering the message.  God worked through many people throughout the Bible, and all have sinned and come short of the glory of God, yet they were doing as they were told and delivering a message to God's people and many times God's people rejected it.  We should be careful and weigh the message as to wether it came from God and is in harmony with God's word, and not judge the message by the messenger who brings it as they will never live up to the message because they are sinners just like us.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to hear your voice in the message you send to me.  Help me to not judge the message by the messenger who brings it, but accept your word and receive it gladly that I may obey and follow You.  In Jesus name I pray, Amen!

Jan 3 - Walk With God

I was at church all day Saturday, Jan. 3 helping run the Audio/Visual booth and then attended the Loghry post-Christmas Party that evening, so I did not have the time I needed to sit down and read my lesson for January 3rd, so I am making up for it today.  Here goes:

Daily Reading: Gen 6-8 & Luke 3

Scripture: Gen 6:6, 8 & 9

Observation:

Verse 6 says that God repented that he had made man because man's wickedness had so pervaded him that his every thought was evil.  It says God was grieved.  It tore at his heart that something he had made perfect in every way, something he had enjoyed interacting with had become so corrupt and evil.  Except for one man who found grace in the eyes of God according to verse 7, and that was Noah.  In verse 8 it explains why he found grace in the eyes of God, because he was a just man and perfect in his generations and Noah WALKED WITH GOD.  Noah had a relationship with God.  He loved God.  He spent time with God.  He got to know God.  He beheld and was changed by God.  And therefore he was found to be perfect and just and one deserving of God's grace.  Apparently Noah had influenced his family has well, as God invited Noah's wife, his sons and his son's wives to join him on the ark to be saved.  Noah was a man of integrity, honor and uprightness, because he walked with God.  You might say he was mentored by the best teacher on the subject, but it's more than that he was molded, shaped and changed to be more like God.

Application:

God is Righteous.  God is Truth.  God is Love.  If I want to attain truth, love and righteousness, I need to Walk with God on a daily basis, no an hourly basis, no minute by minute, no I need to walk with God on a continual basis.  I need to draw close to God and not let go.  I need to fall so in love with God that He becomes my all in all.

Prayer:

Dear Father, as I embark on this life journey with You, may it blossom into a deeper and deeper relationship with You.  May I find more and more ways to fall in love with You, to trust in You, to rely upon You, to surrender my selfish motives to You.  Help me, Lord, to continually walk with You, so that You can change me into that perfect creation You desired for me to be originally.  Please, forgive me of my sins, my selfish motives, my rebellion toward.  Lord I pray by the blood of Jesus, Amen!

God's Tender Care

Day 2 of "Doing Life Together" following the Life Journal program.  Dear Father, please speak to me through this reading of your word.

Daily Reading: Gen 3-5 & Luke 2

Scripture: Gen 2:25, 3:7 & 3:21 (Focus on 3:21)

Observation:

In Genesis 2:25 God had finished creating Adam and Eve and it mentions that they were both naked and were not ashamed.  Then after Adam and Eve sinned in Chapter 3 it says in verse 7 that their eyes were opened and they knew that they were naked.  Apparently they were now ashamed.  They were completely naked and open for scrutiny for the disobedience they had committed and they felt guilty and ashamed.

However in 3:21 it says "Unto Adam also and to his wife did the Lord God make coats of skins, and clothed them."  The penalty for sin was death, because once you remove yourself from God's wisdom, God's Loving direction, you are effectively saying I no longer need you God.  I can do it on my own without you.  Essentially that is what the serpent was saying, that they would become like God.  In other words, they would not need God any longer because they would be Gods.  So, when we say we have no need of God or His council, we are saying that we no longer need the Life Giver, the Life Sustainer. God created and sustains all Life for He is Life.  That is why the penalty was death, because you can not live outside of the Life giver/sustainer on your own.  Not because God is a tyrant and wants us to live His way or else He will kill you.  No, it is us who chooses death by trying to live outside of the true source of Life.  However, verse 3:21 shows that God showed mercy on them, because God is Love, and allowed them to live by providing a substitute death on their behalf. God showed them that someone would have to die in their place, for them to be able to live. The first death on Earth took place that day, how horrify that must've been not knowing death up to that point, and he used those innocent animal's skins to cloth them and cover their nakedness, their shame, their guilt.  God does not want us to die, He wants us to live and live to the fullest that is why he provides a way out, a way back into the presence of the Life Giver and Sustainer.  Verse 3:21 shows the actions of a Loving God who cares tenderly for his people.

Application:

I need to remember that God is a God of Love, not a tyrant, not a dictator, but a God willing to put it all on the line to help me understand that his ways are best.  I need to remember to watch and pray every moment of every day, to heed God's council as it is in my best interest for a full and happy life.  I need to cling to God's words as they are Life to my wayward soul, providing a way for me to discern subtle errors that could lead me astray.  Ultimately it will lead me to a life in harmony with the laws upon which the universe operates. Laws that provide for the happiness of everyone together as it focuses on loving God and loving each other by putting them first above ourselves.  And it will lead me to a Loving God, a Loving Savior, willing to die in my place so that I might have life and life more abundantly.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to fall in love with you as much as you love me.  Help me to lean on you, depending on, feeding on every word that proceeds out of your mouth.  Help me to hold your words dear to my heart so that they become a part of my life, words that I live by.  Thank you for your abundant love, mercy, and grace and for the righteous life you cover me with so that I might have right to live in the presence of the Life Giver. In Jesus name, Amen!

Family Connections

I am starting the first day of my daily journey with God through His word.  I am joining with my church family in "Doing Life Together" following the Life Journal program of daily bible readings and listening to what God wants to say to me.  I am very excited to see what God has to say and what He reveals to us all as a group as we draw closer to Him and to each other.

Daily Reading:  Gen 1, 2 & Luke 1

Scripture:  Gen 2:7, 22, 23

Observation:

We are all physically connected. We are all part of one another via the creation of man and woman and now handed down through genetics.  We are one people.  We are also spiritually connected to one another and through our physical connection with God through the breath of Life given from God.

Application:

When I reject or accept someone, it is like rejecting or accepting a part of me, myself.  It is like rejecting or accepting Christ (when you have done it to the least of these you have done it to me), because of our interconnection our interdependence with one another through creation.

Prayer:

Lord, please help me to see everyone through your eyes.  Eyes of otherness Love.  Eyes of Concern.  Eyes of Acceptance.  Eyes of Forgiveness.  Help me to see the best in everyone and encourage the best from everyone.  Help me to uplift and encourage all who cross my path.