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Life Lessons Devotional Series, Tuesday April 25, 2023

April 25, 2023May 7, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Tuesday April 25, 2023

Scripture: Eph. 1: ¹⁸I 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, ¹⁹and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is the same as the mighty strength ²⁰he exerted when he raised Christ from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, ²¹far 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. ²²And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, ²³which 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, ¹⁹and 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: ¹³You 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. ⁸For 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. ¹⁴But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” Psalm 37: ⁴Take 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!

Life Lessons

Empowered Life Lessons Devotional Series

April 24, 2023April 28, 2023

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. ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. ⁴My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, ⁵so 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: ¹⁵Do 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: ¹⁰The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Paul writes in the above text, ²For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. ³I 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.

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Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

April 23, 2023April 23, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Exodus 9:¹⁶But I have raised you up for this very purpose, that I might show you my power and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.

– We live in a world inundated with conflict, in fact we encounter conflict on a daily basis whether that conflict is experienced from external or internal forces. The Word of God calls us to look above and beyond every conflict to the One true God who alone is able to save us and who alone is able to subdue every adversary.

– We are no more alone in our struggle against the adversary than Moses was alone in his struggle against Pharoah. Like Moses, we have been called by God to deliver His message of deliverance to a hostile audience, and like Moses God promises to be with us.

– Time and again Moses was faithful to deliver the message of the Lord to an unrepentant sinner who actually believed he had the power and authority to reject the Word of the Lord; yet the truth of the matter was and still is mercifully revealed in the following, Ex. 9:¹⁵For by now I could have stretched out my hand and struck you and your people with a plague that would have wiped you off the earth.”

– The true source of power should never be in question in the mind of the child of GOD! In fact, God raises up puny little narcissistic men and women so that the Lord’s power might be clearly demonstrated over them and so that the Name of the LORD might be proclaimed in all the earth!

– Christian, we need to know this every time we encounter a so-called force that stands in opposition to the Way, the Truth, and the Life. In stead of despising them, we ought to pity them because all such raging against the Lord is absolutely futile, Psalm 2!

– Stand not in your own strength! Battle not in your own power! Speak not in your own wisdom! Those who stand will be empowered to stand only in the authority of the Lord! Like Moses, we need not be afraid of pharaoh’s wrath, because no power on earth or in the heavenly places can compare to the power of our God!

Sunday Sermons

What Does Being, “More Than A Conqueror” Look Like?

April 23, 2023April 23, 2023

Life Lessons

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

April 21, 2023April 23, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series Friday April 21, 2023

Scripture: Genesis 19: ⁴Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. ⁵They 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.” ⁶Lot went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him ⁷and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. ⁸Look, 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. ¹⁰But the men inside reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. ¹¹Then 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: ⁷and 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

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

April 20, 2023April 23, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Acts 1: ⁸But 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: ¹⁸Do 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

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

April 19, 2023April 23, 2023

Empowered

Life Lessons Devotional Series, Wednesday April 19, 2023

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

Life Lessons

Life Lessons Devotional Series Empowered

April 18, 2023April 23, 2023

Life Lessons Devotional Series

Scripture Passage 1 Samuel 17: ⁴¹Meanwhile, the Philistine, with his shield bearer in front of him, kept coming closer to David. ⁴²He looked David over and saw that he was little more than a boy, glowing with health and handsome, and he despised him. ⁴³He said to David, “Am I a dog, that you come at me with sticks?” And the Philistine cursed David by his gods. ⁴⁴“Come here,” he said, “and I’ll give your flesh to the birds and the wild animals!”

⁴⁵David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. ⁴⁶This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands, and I’ll strike you down and cut off your head. This very day I will give the carcasses of the Philistine army to the birds and the wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel. ⁴⁷All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s, and he will give all of you into our hands.”

Life Lesson: The size of your opponent or the magnitude of the problem is never the issue for the child of God because our focus is always on the immutable, immeasurable, unfathomable power and glory of Almighty God!

– Goliath was a giant of a man. Standing at nearly 10 feet tall he dwarfed even the tallest among the people of God. In fact, every man in the Israelite army quaked with fear at the sight of Goliath.

– When the soldiers who have been trained for hand-to-hand combat are unwilling to stand against such an opponent then who would? David was no soldier, but David was a warrior! David had not enlisted in the king’s army, but David was enlisted in the army of the Living God!

– What is it that separates the courageous from the cowardly? It is faith in God! David clearly demonstrated that his faith in God was far greater than the threats of the giant Goliath. Goliath scoffed at David, hurling insults and death threats at him but David paid him no attention! David was confident that the seemingly unbeatable foe standing before him would fall, and it would not be by might, nor by power but by God’s Spirit at work through him!

– No weapon forged against the child of God will prevail who stands not in his/her own power or authority, but in the power and authority of the Lord, Jesus Christ!

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