Posts from May 2021

[Luke 10:1]  After this the Lord appointed 72 others and sent them two by two ahead of Him to every town and place where He was about to go.   The literal meaning of the term  “apostle”  is  “one sent forth.”  Think of it:  Jesus’  strategy was to send out 72 forerunners into the towns He was planning to visit to let the folks know He was coming so they would be prepared for His arrival and ready to hear…

[John 15:16]  You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit…   Jesus chooses us.  What a remarkable truth!  He wants us and values us and knows our unique giftedness; and He wants to use us for purposes larger than ourselves.  He wants to use us to make an eternal difference in the lives of the people in our realms of influence.  He wants us to be successful in it.  Who do…

[Isaiah 50:4]  The Sovereign Lord has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  The Lord wants to use you and me to speak words to weary souls that will sustain them.  He will give you those words early in the morning as He  “wakens my ear to listen like one being taught” (4b).  Have you experienced the still small voice of the Holy Spirit in the dawn’s early light as you sit before God…

[John 12:50b]  So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say. Even as Jesus spoke exactly what the Father told Him to say, the Holy Spirit wants to lead us in our conversations so we know what and how to speak about the Kingdom of God to the people around us: our spouse, children, friends, co-workers.  Our words should refresh, reassure, speak truth, restore, and mend.  How good are you at letting others speak?  Do…

[I John 2:27]  But you have received the Holy Spirit, and He lives within you, so you don’t need anyone to teach you what is true.  For the Spirit teaches you everything you need to know, and what He teaches is true—it is not a lie.  This verse is NOT teaching us that we should not study God’s Word or listen to Bible teachers.  Reading this verse in context, we realize it is referring to the false teachers of that…

[Mark 1:22]  The people were amazed at His teaching, because He taught them as one who had authority…   The Holy Spirit gives us the ability to speak in Jesus’ name. Our “Power of Attorney” to act in His name has validity in Heaven. When we are living in sync with Holy Spirit leadership, remarkable things can happen: healings, miracles, divine discernment, wisdom, special faith, and more. The same power that raised Jesus Christ from the dead can be at…

[Mark 3:14-15]  (Jesus) appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with Him and that He might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.   The Holy Spirit equips us.  He gives us the necessary means to carry out our God-assigned tasks.  There is a great difference between God’s ways and thoughts and ours.  His are infinitely higher and superior to ours (Isaiah 55:8-9).  So living a Spirit-led life requires attention to the Kingdom of…

[Acts 1:4-5]  Once when (Jesus) was eating with (the disciples), He commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem until the Father sends you the gift He promised, as I told you before…in just a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.   It was on the 50th day after Easter that the apostles were praying together in the Upper Room and the Holy Spirit descended on them, just as Jesus predicted.  (This year Pentecost Sunday is being celebrated…

[Ephesians 6:10-11]  Finally, be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.  Satan’s goal is to wear you out. We get faint from the continual onslaught and begin craving for peace and rest and become tempted to make a truce with the world, the flesh, and the devil—but that only leads to abject surrender and total defeat. We have to willfully…

[Philippians 4:7]  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.  You’ll know when you’ve been brought under a lie of Satan when:  1) you are restless (filled with negative and anxiety-inducing thoughts that he inspires);  or 2) you feel continuously unworthy and inadequate (that accusing voice in your ear constantly);  or 3) you feel exhausted and overwhelmed all the time and unable to find a place of peace and…

[John 8:44]  He (Satan) was a murdered from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.   Satan traps us in cycles of distraction, distortion and pain.  His lies prevent us from recognizing the truth.  As we incubate his lies, they grow into strongholds in our minds.  They build walls that prevent truth from saturating or…

[Matthew 6:27 NIV]  Which of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?    Researchers say that 70% of our thoughts are negative: stress over work; stress over finances;  “Am I good enough?”;  thoughts of rejection; fears over not having enough money or food.  Sometimes we dwell on negative things that will never happen.  God wants us to find the True North of peace and confidence in our relationship with Him.   He is the true source…

[Romans 12:2]  Be not conformed to this world; but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.  What we think is what we become.  Whatever we ponder upon and meditate upon shapes how we live, how we spend our money, and what we pursue.  We have old carnal ways of thinking about life—they are patterns of thinking that prevent us from thriving.  We get stuck…

[II Cor. 10:5b]  …and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ.   By the end of this day, 300,000 thoughts will have passed through your mind!  Recent scientific studies reveal that 90% of them will be redundant.  How many will be unhealthy?  How many of them will be toxic?  How many will be rooted in false beliefs that are contrary to the Word of God?  Do we know how to sort through our thoughts, take them…

I Samuel 20:16 So Jonathan made a solemn pact with David saying, “May the Lord destroy all your enemies!”  And Jonathan made David reaffirm his vow of friendship again, for Jonathan loved David as he loved himself.   David and Jonathan were the best of friends; and their covenant commitment to care for one another’s families (whoever survived) signaled the deepest kind of friendship.  Jonathan saw David as a hero worthy of respect, and David saw Jonathan as trustworthy and…

I Samuel 18:14 In everything (David) did he had great success because the Lord was with him.  When Saul saw how successful he was, he was afraid of him.  As David gained influence, Saul’s influence decreased.  Saul became jealous, then fearful of David.  Those emotions hardened to implacable enmity.  Ultimately, David was forced to flee for his life.  David faced a jolting change in status (chapters 21-30) from a respected military hero to a lone fugitive.  Yet today the whole…

I Samuel 17:45-46 David replied (to Goliath)…”You come to me with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of Heaven’s armies—Today the Lord will conquer you…and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel.  The story of David and Goliath has resounded loudly down through the centuries wherever the Gospel has gone.  It teaches us that great faith enables us to meet any challenge with courage, even in…

I Samuel 12:23 As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you.  And I will continue to teach you what is good and right.  The prophet Samuel’s commitment to never stop praying for the people must be our commitment as well.  Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons for those who follow Jesus Christ.  It can turn enemies into friends.  It not only changes things, it changes us.  When we can…

1 Samuel 10:6   (Samuel to Saul)  At that time the Spirit of the Lord will come powerfully upon you, and you will prophesy with them.  You will be changed into a different person.  Saul had a good beginning.  He was humble (9:21).  God changed his heart (10:6, 9) and was with him (v. 7).  The Spirit of God came upon him (v. 10) to enable him.  He was modest (v. 21-23), silent in opposition (v. 26-27), and little in…

1 Samuel 8:19-20   But the people refused to listen to Samuel’s warning.  “Even so, we still want a king,” they said.  “We want to be like the nations around us…”   When the nation of Israel requested a king, it was tantamount to the rejection of God’s throne rights.  In trying to be like the nations around them, they were saying  “yes”  to the world and its expectations and  “no”  to holiness and divine calling.  Samuel was clear about…

Mark 4:40 (NIV)  (Jesus) said to His disciples,  “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?”   “Jesus’  incredulous response to the disciples was based on their ignorance of His authority over natural elements.”  Nothing is too difficult for our Creator God!  “Faith for small things may seem easier than faith for big things, but Jesus is telling the disciples that it is all the same to Him.”*  How wonderful it is to know that we can…

Mark 5:34 (NIV)  (Jesus) said to her,  “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”   “The word used for healed comes from the Greek root word sodzo, which is also translated elsewhere as ‘saved.’  Once again Jesus emphasizes faith as the pathway to healing.  It is faith that  ‘saves us, spirit, soul, and body.”*  Have you discovered that to be true in your own life?  In what ways has faith brought to…

Mark 1:22 (NLT)   The people were amazed at His teaching, for He taught with real authority—quite unlike the teachers of religious law.   Jesus had the spiritual authority and the right as the Creator to liberate people from demonic power (Luke 4:18) and people noticed that.  He taught in a way that caused crowds to respond.  People sought Him out for healing.  News of his arrival in town caused people to drop what they were doing and go to…

Mark 1:7 (NIV)   (John the Baptist speaking) After me comes the one more powerful than I, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.   “John the Baptist clearly refused any claim to being the Messiah.”  When Jesus came on the scene, John pointed his followers to Him.  John had such popularity among the people that it was important for him to be clear about this.  We must do the same: point people…

Mark 10:45 (NLT)   (Jesus speaking) “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  This verse captures well Jesus as a Servant and as the Redeemer of humanity (Phil 2:5-11).  Mark aims his gospel at non-Jewish readers and shows how Christ’s own people rejected Him, yet  “achieved ultimate victory through apparent defeat” (the defeat of the cross).  Mark wrote a  “gospel of action,…

Mark 8:31 (MSG)  He (Jesus) then began explaining things to them:  “It is necessary that the Son of Man (Jesus) proceed to an ordeal of suffering, be tried and found guilty by the elders, high priests, and religion scholars, be killed, and after three days rise up alive.”  This explicit pronouncement by Jesus to His followers is the heart of Mark’s Gospel and is repeated (9:31; 10:32-34).  And this is the norm for committed discipleship—Whoever desires to come after Me,…