Stop and help (acts3)

God has a purpose for all things Romans 8:28 tells us.

The first detail in Acts 3 given to us by the Holy Spirit regarding this beggar is that he had expectancy.He expected to recieve something from Peter and John.
We also see that he had no where to turn to but up, due to his medical condition. I love the fact that those whom he had been looking towards for help had no silver and gold. They too were poor servants of Jesus. God calls not many wealthy to the kingdom. What Peter had, he was willing to give.

Then taking him by the right hand and raising him up, immediately his ankles and feet were made strong.
This beggar was now a leaping praiser, rejoicing everywhere in the temple. The people who had witnessed this miracle were filled with wonder and amazement.

God had a purpose, a time, and place for this beggar's healing, albeit, the road getting there came with great humiliation, discouragement, and difficulty. He had even become a burden upon those who were forced to take care of him.

But let's forget about the beggar for a moment and take a look at two other points in our narrative.

Firstly, Peter and John had to take him by the hand- and then, they had to raise him up. Oh how this man was dependant upon some other person God had granted position and authority too. They had to believe God for him! Life's circumstances had crippled his ability to walk upright. They had to excersize enough faith to take him by the hand and trust that God would have done the rest... and the rest is what God had done.He was healed!

This man's restoration came three ways. He had to ask and expect. Peter and John had to be willing and believe, and God then completed the task.
In all three positions, the beggar, the believers, and the Restorer had a part in the miricle.God used a broken vessel which He had made. He used the faith of His chosen vessels, which he had given, which in turn, gave God the opportunity to display His power and glory. The best part about the miracle was that everyone who witnessed it were amazed.

We all fit today in one of two positions. Either we are sitting, being wholly dependant upon the Lord for our very sustenance, vitality and service,or, we are those who are dependantly walking realizing that that may be us sitting one day.

To refuse to sit at the temple and be helped by others is pride, but to turn our heads away from an opportunity would be equally as bad, as it would rob God, and a person and many others the opportunity to rejoice, and thus be a witness to the love and mercy of God.

We see Jesus illustrated in both ways here. As a beggar, He is in the poor, the weak, the helpless, the sick, seeing if we will stop and help. Likewise as servants, He is seeing if we will stop and help.

Shock & Awe (Act 2)

You may be hard pressed today to find someone who has forgotten the US invasion on Iraq. In 2003, America displayed to the world our sovereign power by executing Operation “shock & Awe“.

That one decision from the US has had a major global impact. Everything has changed in our world because of it.

But that war was only a taste of what is to come. The Old Testament patriarchs and prophets were but a taste of what was to come. And then came Jesus- the incarnate Christ, the crucified and now risen Savior. Then just as planned, Pentecost arrived in Shock & Awe fashion.

It first came with a mighty sound of a rushing wind, with tongues of fire, then continued with Peter’s prophetic sermon with three thousand being saved because of it. Soon awe came to every soul!

Pentecost came and conquered and most likely will never be repeated again. I am thankful that God never duplicates. I am also thankful that a new form of shock and awe is right around the corner.

In the mean time, while Pentecost, the event is over, the spirit of it lives on today in the lives of the people it has effected.

How are we appropriating the spirit of pentecost which empowered the Apostles and graced the early church?

Perhaps we need a little shock and awe?

A wireless Thanksgiving message

I am thankful today that Jesus atoned for my sins, and that He adopted me, that He justified me, that He reconciled me, that He sanctified me, and that He will glorify me. I am thankful for my family, and friends, and to all who show their love to me. Happy Thanksgiving!

Intel brain interface implants

For all you end of the world junkies...like me!!

http://current.com/items/91510805_intel-wants-brain-implants-in-its-customers-heads-by-2020.htm

No In & Out here...

Here is a painted rock cheeseburger from Wyoming. It is much like the deception in the church today.

God’s promises are worth waiting for (acts 1:4)

Right from the start of the book of Acts we find Jesus speaking differently than the Apostles. (remember the boat discussion back in Mark 12?)

Here the Apostles wanted to know when Jesus would restore the Kingdom back to Israel,
but Jesus had something different in mind. Jesus had been thinking of them personally. God’s methods are always different than man’s. Jesus’ method here would come with a personal promise now, while the Apostles methods were based on future promise later.
Which promise needed to come first? The personal promise.

How often do we see the big picture and immediately shoot for it, only to end up with a gigantic failure? Criticisms, finger pointing, closed door discussions, and nasty little labels get tagged on to our reputation only because we placed the general revelation pre-maturely above our own spiritual necessities?

God wanted Israel’s restoration His way. His ways are pre-determined by the Father’s counsel and are hidden and fixed by His authority alone.
Once we get a handle on this truth, the revelation we once engaged in will eventually come super-naturally by divine decree. What we need to do presently counts forever, and until we do the things we need to do now, the greater vision will not come to pass
(until much later than perhaps intended.)

So let’s prioritize. Let’s not fail to understand the promises He has for us today because we are too focused on the promises of tomorrow.

The Apostles had to wait, because the promise of God to them was the gift of the Holy Ghost. Once they were endowed with the Spirit, they became satisfied with just being about Jesus’ mission, and not kingdom restoration.

Is Jesus dead or alive? (mark 16:9-20)

We finish Mark’s gospel with a rebuke!

After Jesus had risen, He appeared first to Mary Mag. and she was instructed to go tell the others He was alive. The problem was, they did not believe her. Again, two witnesses on a country road met Jesus and He commanded them to do the same. The disciples did not believe them either. Then the Master Himself shows up and rebukes them (as they were reclining at the table) for their unbelief and hardness of heart. This must have been about the thirtieth time they had been rebuked over the same issue.

How would you like to be reclining at a table with a group of friends, let’s say after dinner, over a cup of coffee of coarse, and Jesus show’s up and shellacs you for your stiffness? Almost as if to say that the group assembled was nothing more than a bunch of posers because of their lack of faith and hardness of heart?

What are some of the promises of God that have been spoken over your life that you’ve stopped believing Him for? I know, Jesus is dead right? All you have to hold onto anymore is a memory of what could have been. So what do you do now? How about repent? Guess what? If Jesus is dead, you will live like that. But if Jesus is alive, you will live like that. So what is it? Is Jesus dead or alive?

The rebuke followed up with a commission.

Go! Get up… Stop reclining. Start believing that what could have been can still be if you live like Jesus is alive.
Make it a point today at this very moment to seek God and believe that He is the rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. (Hebrews 11:6)