John 14:16-20 And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, so that He may be with you forever, 17 the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it does not see Him nor know Him. But you know Him, for He dwells with you and shall be in you. 18 I will not leave you orphans. I will come to you. 19 Yet a little while and the world does not see Me any more. But you see Me. Because I live, you shall live also. 20 At that day you shall know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you.
Reading the gospels I find myself considering and identifying with the very human experiences and emotions of the Apostles, especially as the pace and intensity of the events of their lives with Yeshua were unprecedented. I have to wonder if the pace and intensity of the days of our lives can compete with theirs. Witnessing His miracles, His authoritative and concise way of teaching, His inevitable rejection, torture and crucifixion, His astounding exuberant resurrection, and eventual returning flight to Heaven from whence He came…all this must have had a rather relentless effect upon those who walked in any way closely with Him. Would it be fair to compare our present day scientific and technical accomplishments, political gymnastics, information explosion, pandemics, media magic, and the plethora of personal events, encounters and challenges, with their apostolic roller coaster ride?
Pop yourself into the sandals of an Israelite follower of Messiah, having tracked with Him through the dust of ancient Jerusalem and watched Him float up into the clouds after having commanded you to hold tight for ten days. “Tarry in the city of Jerusalem until you are endued with power from on high”, He said. After all that went before, now, what did that mean? Of course they soon found out when the Holy Spirit arrived and gave them another experience to chew on…Tongues of fire! And an unprecedented power to communicate God’s word with tremendous conviction.
Are you feeling at all lost or bewildered lately? A little unhinged? Overwhelmed by the pace, quantity and quality of new and unexpected experiences? There are others like you, living now, today, and back then too in the old days of Biblical history. Our God has never spared humanity from the trepidatious and unexpected adventure of life in a fallen world. But one thing He has insured us with….Himself… His Holy Spirit, His real Presence. The Lord’s desire to know and be known, His opportunity for personal intimacy has now arrived for all humankind to enjoy in the very context of uncertainty, intensity, danger, and challenge.
If you are bewildered, bemused, battered, or confused, feeling lost in the frantic flow, wondering where to go; if you’re recovering from a loss, fearing a boss, or just being tossed by real circumstances beyond your control; if you’re losing the helm. on the verge of overwhelm, or simply squirming in some mud puddle, muddled and befuddled…remember the apostles and their ups and downs. It will sober and encourage you to reconsider what they went through with Yeshua. But even more encouraging will be when you reconnect with His present day power, your own personal deposit of His Holy Spirit. He can get you successfully through anything!
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]From the beginning of Genesis (Genesis 4:4) to the end of the Bible (Revelation 22:3), there is a common theme — the Lamb! In Revelation 6 we read about the Lamb who sits in the midst of the throne — worshiped by all of heaven because the Lamb was worthy to take the book and open the seals therein. The most harmless of creatures — the object of sacrifice, becomes the authority of heaven. Isn’t it interesting that the focal point of heaven is a Lamb?
So often in ministry, the Lord deals with my own spirit, saying – “You need to step back and get refocused!” And we all know how hard it is at times when we get so busy with the normal every day stresses of life tugging at our limited time.
Throughout the United States today, everyone will be celebrating the anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence — a document through which leaders of the colonies in the New World broke free from the King of England.
The Hebrew expression in this verse from Isaiah is rich with meaning. The root “nus” (from the expression “raise up a standard”) is related to or sounds like numerous words which mean “sign”, “miracle”, “to drive away”, “to flee”, “cause to disappear”, “a waving flag”. This abundance of meanings in Isaiah’s poetic style reveals the multiple dimensions of God’s revelation; in this case, the way he deals with evil. The assertion in this word is that the Spirit of YHVH will be powerfully activated when evil comes.
The word contrite in Hebrew is ‘dakah’ which means one that is crushed to pieces. Paul wrote of being a ‘living sacrifice’ holy and acceptable to God. Being a living sacrifice means we often can walk off the altar. To be a continual living sacrifice we need to renew our minds day to day!
Recently, I’ve been impressed by the Lord to address the anxieties many are feeling about the future– how to be strong in the face of the intense opposition we’ll be facing as believers. One of the founders of the modern state of Israel, David Ben-Gurion once said, “Courage is a special kind of knowledge, the knowledge of how to fear what ought to be feared and how not to fear what ought not to be feared. From this knowledge comes an inner strength that inspires us to push on in the face of great difficulty. What can seem impossible is often possible with courage.”
For a season, I worked in Washington, D.C., for one of America’s largest Christian political organizations. Sometimes I saw how politics could get ugly and, more often than not, how it changed people — not for the better…but usually for the worse!