Empowered

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Life Lessons Devotional Series, Thursday April 27, 2023

Scripture: Phil. 1: ²¹ For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. ²² If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! ²³ I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; ²⁴ but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body. ²⁵ Convinced of this, I know that I will remain, and I will continue with all of you for your progress and joy in the faith, ²⁶ so that through my being with you again your boasting in Christ Jesus will abound on account of me.

Life Lesson: There exists within the heart of the child of God a yearning and longing to be in the presence of our Lord and that desire that is in the process of being fulfilled as we live out our lives here by faith in Christ will ultimately be fulfilled when at last His face we shall see in that day when we leave this world.

– In this passage the apostle Paul speaks out passionately about his longing to go on from this life into the very presence of the Lord. He qualifies his confession saying, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain”. 

– For many today they might instead say, “For to me, to live is to gain and to die is to go on to be with Christ”.  Paul expresses without reservation that his sole purpose, and his greatest achievement in this life is to serve and to know Christ!  Christ is the very epicentre of his being!  His life is literally defined by his walk with Christ and Christ is his greatest joy!

– Is it any wonder then that he also says “to die is gain”?  While for many of us the thought of dying stirs up anxious feelings, for Paul the fact of dying evoked even a greater hope than living!  Paul’s walk of faith was so intimate and fulfilling to him that he knew without question that on the day he might leave his body behind he would be immediately ushered into the presence of the Lord! In 2 Timothy Paul also wrote 1:12 I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day.”  This testimony conveys complete confidence in the faithfulness of God!

– Paul also wrote of his longing for the day that he would inherit his new body in 2 Cor. 5: ⁶ Therefore we are always confident and know that as long as we are at home in the body we are away from the Lord. ⁷ For we live by faith, not by sight. ⁸ We are confident, I say, and would prefer to be away from the body and at home with the Lord.”  Paul says he is confident that to be away from the body is to be at home with the Lord!  Therefore, for the believer, death has truly lost its sting because of the reality that is awaiting us!  1Cor. 15: ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”  ⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  Amen!

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Wednesday April 26, 2023

Scripture: Exodus 3:Now Moses was tending the flock of Jethro his father-in-law, the priest of Midian, and he led the flock to the far side of the wilderness and came to Horeb, the mountain of God. ² There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in flames of fire from within a bush. Moses saw that though the bush was on fire it did not burn up. ³ So Moses thought, “I will go over and see this strange sight—why the bush does not burn up.”

⁴ When the Lord saw that he had gone over to look, God called to him from within the bush, “Moses! Moses!”

And Moses said, “Here I am.”

⁵ “Do not come any closer,” God said. “Take off your sandals, for the place where you are standing is holy ground.” ⁶ Then he said, “I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob.” At this, Moses hid his face, because he was afraid to look at God.

Life Lesson: God can employ any situation in life as a means of speaking His truth into our hearts and minds.  Live your life with a willingness to look for opportunities to meet with God or to investigate situations wherein God may be at work. 

– God has a way of getting our attention even while we go about our daily routine.  For Moses this was just another day shepherding his father-in-law’s flocks, however God was about to manifest Himself to an unsuspecting Moses.

– Daily routines can become tiresome, mundane and monotonous, yet they serve a purpose and the truth is each new day is another opportunity in which to meet with God or to experience God in a fresh and more intimate way.

– The description we find in Genesis that God walked in the Garden in the cool of the day was depictive of a perhaps daily routine wherein God walked with Adam and Eve and yet unfortunately at this time they hid from the Lord due to their sin, Gen. 3: 8. 

– The redemptive work of Christ has made it possible for us to once again walk daily with the Lord, yet we can take that reality for granted and not bother to avail ourselves of the Lord’s presence and counsel. 

– We can also look intentionally for special encounters with the Lord but in order to do that we have to be willing to investigate things that might be part of our normal routine yet seem out of the ordinary.  A bush on fire in the dry wilderness would not be that unusual yet Moses went over to look closer.  Elijah also learned this lesson as the wind, fire and earthquake lashed the mountain, yet God was not in them. But when the whispering voice spoke, Elijah knew that it was from the Lord and went out for a closer look.      

– Live with the expectation that God wants to speak to you.  Look for any opportunity to draw closer to God, yes even through what may seem to be the mundane.

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Tuesday April 25, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Tuesday April 25, 2023

Scripture: Eph. 1: ¹⁸ I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰ he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹ far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every name that is invoked, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. ²² And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³ which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.

 

Life Lesson: As we struggle daily in our faith, we need this reminder from Paul of the overwhelming and magnificent riches that we are heirs to, the undeniable hope we have every reason to profess, and the incomparably great power that is always available to us and is at work in us who truly believe!

– You may have heard the saying, “open your eyes” and understand the reference is to our understanding and perception of something. 

– We who believe are all beneficiaries of God’s tremendous promises! The promises, like the Gift of our salvation are all firm and true, yet in or weaknesses we sometimes struggle to truly believe that we have them and therefore we might fail to live in the knowledge of them.

– This is where prayer comes in.  Paul says that he, “pray[s] that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, ¹⁹ and his incomparably great power for us who believe.”

– Prayer unlocks the storehouse to God’s unfathomable blessings!  There is truth, hope and power available to all of us, yet we sometimes fail to appropriate these gifts.  The Doorway to these realities is found in and through Christ!  In fact, Jesus Christ is the Door!

– When we pray, we are endeavoring to knock on the Door.  If the door seems closed to us, we have these promises to trust in, Jer. 29: ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.”  Matt. 7: ⁷ “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. ⁸ For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matt. 7: ¹³ “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. ¹⁴ But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Psalm 37: ⁴ Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.”

– If all things have been placed under the authority of Jesus feet, then in Christ Jesus we who believe have been given supreme authority to live daily in victory!

Empowered Life Lessons Devotional Series

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Scripture: 1 Cor. 2 And so it was with me, brothers and sisters. When I came to you, I did not come with eloquence or human wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴ My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵ so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God’s power.

Life Lesson:  Reliance upon eloquent speeches or human wisdom is a fool’s game when it comes to our witness.  The secret of our authority to witness is found in our reliance on the Spirit’s power and enabling.

– Paul writes, “My message and my preaching”.  Paul owned the words he spoke, however one crucial fact that separates Paul from most others is this, he attributed his messages and preaching to the empowering of the Holy Spirit!

– How many of us feel ill equipped to witness to anyone?  Right away we dismiss any ability in and of ourselves to share our witness.  Moses also felt this way when God called him to go to Egypt and speak before Pharaoh.  Moses felt this way for a reason not foreign to or own thinking on the issue of witnessing; he said, “I speak with faltering lips”.  God’s response? “I will be with you”.  The fact that God promised to be with him is all that really mattered!  And that fact is all that really matters even for us today! 

– Moses certainly had excellent training growing up a prince in Egypt, as did the apostle Paul, yet neither relied on their inherent capabilities to be an effective witness.  This is not to dismiss the value of education or learning, as we are called to 2 Tim. 2: ¹⁵ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.”  Studying the scriptures is very important for our spiritual growth, but our power and authority comes from a first-hand knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ which can only happen as we walk in daily reliance upon the Lord. The Word of God declares, Prov. 10: ¹⁰ The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Paul writes in the above text, ² For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³ I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling.”   Paul’s fear and trembling came not from his concerns over his audience but his reverence for the Lord.  The walk of faith requires vulnerability.  It is only when we are weak that we are made strong through the power of the Spirit.

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series Friday April 21, 2023

Scripture: Genesis 19: ⁴ Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵ They called to Lot, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex with them.” ⁶ Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷ and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸ Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” ⁹ “Get out of our way,” they replied. “This fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. ¹⁰ But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹ Then they struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.

Life Lesson: The same demonic influence that possessed the people of Sodom and Gomorrah is at work in our culture today.  It is a relentless and demanding evil spirit.  Men and women of God must determine to stand firm in the faith and to be even more relentless to proclaim the Truth and to protect the innocent under our care!

– Lot lived in the midst of the wickedness and corruption of Sodom, yet he was not given over entirely to the moral rot and decay all around him, 2 Pet. 2: ⁷ and if he rescued Lot, a righteous man, who was distressed by the depraved conduct of the lawless ⁸ (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard).”  However, Lot was affected by the culture in which he lived as is demonstrated in the incestuous relationship that inevitably occurred between him and his daughters later on when Lot failed to obtain husbands for his daughters after they fled the condemned city.   

– Christian, I believe the same evil spirit that compelled the men of Sodom to hammer on Lot’s door demanding he send out the visitors he was housing is alive and well in the midst of our culture today.  If men can put on women’s makeup and then identify as women, if those same men can be given permission to walk into women’s bathrooms and change rooms, if the people of our society today can stand up and say that men can have babies and that ridiculous statement is considered virtuous by many, then the spirit of Sodom is among us today!

– Lot said “no” to the depraved rapists of his day and we too must stand up and say “No!”  No!  You cannot have our children!  No!  You cannot abuse true womanhood in this way!  Yes, all sin is sin and is under judgement, however the sins of Sodom and Gomorrah were so insidious, so morally depraved that God’s wrath was poured out on all the inhabitants of the land and mark it, no one survived who remained among them.  

– Church, it is time to stand for righteousness!  Romans 1:18-32 is being played out in our midst today and we need to intercede in prayer, stand with God and His holy angels, and speak the truth in love while there is still time!

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Acts 1: ⁸ But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

The Disciples had spent over three years under the leadership and tutelage of the greatest teacher who had ever walked the face of the earth.  The relationship was definitely there as was the head knowledge but there was more to come and more that was needed to fulfill their role as Christ’s ambassadors.

Christian, we need more than a casual relationship, we need something much more than a head knowledge of Jesus Christ, His message and His ministry.  Like Peter, James and John we need the transforming power of the Holy Spirit working in us and through us, to be effective witnesses. 

We have read about Jesus’ ministry and studied carefully His life transforming miracles but do we actually know the One in whom we profess to believe in?  Before we are able to share with others the power of our God, we must first experience and live in the power of our God!  It has to be more than just trying to tell others about Jesus! 

My life must first be transformed before I can introduce anyone else to the transforming power of Christ!  Not just that but my life must be in the process of being transformed daily by the indwelling Holy Spirit before I can share that truth and that power with another!

Just as the manna from the day before was spoiled and unusable, so too we must daily hunger and thirst after God for a fresh infilling.  It is no surprise that so many Bible believing Christians feel ill-equipped to share their faith with others.  Many of these same people would say that they feel uninspired, weak in their faith, and lacking in knowledge.

We must first drink daily from the well before we can lead anyone else to the well.  Jesus told His disciples to first wait in Jerusalem for the promised Gift of the Father, and that this experience would anoint them and empower them to be effective witnesses, Acts 1:4,5, 8.  This filling with the Spirit was ongoing in the life of each apostle, Acts 4:31 and later the apostle Paul would write to the Ephesian church, 5: ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit.”  Such filling was not a once for all time experience but an ongoing daily experience of walking with God!   

If you are struggling right now with your faith or feeling uninspired to share your witness, get around believers who put the authority of God’s Word first and who encourage one another to grow in their faith and in the knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ and who earnestly yearn for the anointing of the Holy Spirit!

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Wednesday April 19, 2023

Scripture: Eph. 5: ¹⁵ Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, ²⁰ always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Life Lesson: The best way to make the most of the time you have in this world is by living in the fullness of the Spirit every day. 

– Paul exhorts us to be very careful with regard to how we live.  Let’s face it we can easily fall into the habit of living carelessly, or living for the moment forgetting that “the days are evil”. 

– Instead of making the most of every opportunity we can choose instead to waste time and squander opportunities.  Paul contrasts a party hardy attitude with a life of spiritual devotion.  One leads to depravity and the other to a life characterized by worship. 

– Now look out on the landscape of this world, what would you say best typifies the vast majority of people today?  There is an obsession with moral depravity that is spreading like a cancer.  This obsession is hammering at the doors of churches everywhere!  “Let us in!”, they scream. “Bring out your children and give them to us or else!” They howl. 

– “Therefore, do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.”  While the world drinks deep the cup of lasciviousness, the church is called to fill up on the power of the Spirit!   The presence of the Spirit will put a song in your heart, thankfulness in your soul, and a peace that surpasses all understanding! 

– The days may be evil but the believer will overcome evil with good.  The darkness of deception obscures but the light of God’s Word dispels the darkness with Truth!   We can choose to try to sympathize with the lost by affirming their misguided depravity or we can stand by faith in the resurrected Christ and point the lost sinner to the transforming power of the resurrection!