Acts 4:31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
According to a study reported by Bloomberg, Americans can add as many as two years to the nation’s life expectancy if they stand up more often and watch fewer hours of television. What a concept — move around and you’ll live longer!
Watching the report reminded me of an incident which happened during a party that we threw for our daughter Elianna. Her little one-year-old brother Obadiah was playing with a leftover balloon which suddenly popped in his face. Obi was startled, and about to burst into tears.
Thinking fast, I grabbed an uninflated balloon from the table, blew it up real big and then let it go. Boy did he love that! He laughed hysterically as he watched this balloon zipping around the room until it ran out of air and plopped down on the floor. Obi was fine, and as we played this new balloon game, a funny analogy floated into my mind.
I was thinking… we need to be like these balloons, filled to the max with God’s breath, and then….. let go, to experience the ride of our lives! And…equally important, we need to recognize when we’re running out of air — when we’re deflated and depleted of His power and anointing. Then we need to run back to Him for more, because receiving the infilling of the Spirit is not a single event, but a lifetime of repeated refillings, so that we aren’t living or serving in our own strength.
The Lord hasn’t entrusted us with His power to sit around and watch TV — but to activate us for the work of the Gospel, and the blessing of the saints; to do great things for Him in the power of His Spirit wherever He may take us. Let’s be filled again today! Ask, seek, knock, read, worship, meditate on His promises, get FILLED — you don’t want to sit idly watching life pass you by…. do you?
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[worthy_plugins_devotion_single_body]The word for “restitution” in this passage is the Greek word – “apokatastasis”. This is the one and only place it is found in the New Testament. The word literally means to “restore again” or “to repair”. The plan of God in sending His Son Yeshua (Jesus) was to restore that which had been broken and ruined. The Lord’s saving work is a global repair job. Each one of us has come to Him already ruined by sin. But God’s will and His promise is to restore and renew us through His Son.
These past few days, writing about the will of God, has reminded me of the prophet Jeremiah, and how the Lord knew him – even before he was in his mother’s womb, and he was sanctified by God as a prophet to the nations. A similar foreknowledge and ordination of God belongs to us who are under the New Covenant. God’s foreknowledge of His people is clearly stated in scripture. We were chosen in Him before the foundation of the world to be holy and blameless, and created in Messiah Yeshua (Christ Jesus) unto good works which He foreordained that we walk in them.
Writing daily devotions throughout the years I’ve often been asked the question, “How do I find the will of God?” There are probably many good scriptural approaches to answering this question; but I want to offer something very basic as you think about understanding the will of God. That is, simply, that you’ll know His will when you come to know the heart of God.
For the past few days we’ve been delving into the multiple meanings of “Amen”. While “Amen” is most commonly found at the end of prayers, the Lord Yeshua (Jesus) often used it at the beginning of a statement: “Truly, truly, I say unto you …” more accurately translated, “Amen, Amen, I say unto you…”
Murmuring or complaining is one of those sins that are overlooked. Sometimes we get so focused on the “big sins” such as murder and adultery that we overlook this sin — but the Lord doesn’t give this sin a free pass — quite the opposite. It’s a hidden killer! This sin unleashed a plague that killed thousands of Israelites! [Numbers 16]
The city of Laodicea was founded nearly three centuries before the birth of Christ. Built on a trade route, Laodicea was quite prosperous. The wealth of the city was legendary, as Jews who lived there sent 9 kilograms (20 lbs) of gold to the Temple in Jerusalem on a yearly basis according to historical records.
Laodicea was an idyllic city except for its lack of a water supply. It depended on water from an external source, the city of Hierapolis was located six miles to the north, the site of mineral hot springs which were used for medicinal purposes. These steaming hot waters were piped to Laodicea, arriving there… lukewarm, hence the metaphor in Yeshua’s warning to the Laodicean church.