Spreading the Gospel

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Act 1:8

I can’t imagine what the disciples were thinking. Jesus last words to them were two fold, they would receive power, and they would be His witnesses to all earth. Peter had to be thinking Lord what if I fail again. Matthew might have been thinking how would those that he had wronged ever listen to what he now had to say. And the others were they ready for such a great task. For just a few verses earlier they ask Jesus. “Lord will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel”

You see they had a plan, but God had a much bigger plan. They wanted the Kingdom restored back to Israel as in the great days of King David. God wanted the Kingdom restored back to His Son. It is in the spreading of the Gospel that the Kingdom of Christ will be restored. They did not yet understand that Christ did not come to rebuild Israel, but to save the world. He did not come to restore Israel, but to restore mankind.

So I ask you do you want to be part of the plan of God, or are you to busy with your own plan. Go and make disciples.

Excel in the Act of Grace

Have you ever wondered about Grace? If I were to ask you what is Grace what would you say. When I look up Grace here are the definitions that jumped out at me.

a : unmerited divine assistance given humans for their regeneration or sanctification
b : a virtue coming from God
c : a state of sanctification enjoyed through divine grace

So I know that God is full of Grace, but what would happen if we would become people that would excel in the act of grace? Not the type of unmerited grace that only God can give.
But there was another definition given (disposition to or an act or instance of kindness, courtesy, or clemency) What if we became the type of people that lived our lives with a disposition towards kindness and courtesy? What if we where people who excelled in the Act of Grace? I’m sure that we would be much more effective in changing the world for Christ, If we would just excel in the act of Grace.

One needs to live in community to realize the problems in his own soul.

Often times when we live in isolation we cannot see who we really are. It is only when we have community and intimate fellowship with Jesus and others can we see the needs of our own soul. We as Christians need a place where there can be true examination and self-disclosure. In his book The Mind Of Christ Dennis Kinlaw states “As we serve together in the Kingdom, we learn who we are. If we are ever to see ourselves as we truly are we must look at ourselves through the eyes of Jesus and others. Are you will to to look at yourself through the eyes of Jesus and others? For only then will we see the things that we need to see.

You Will Not Have to Fight This Battle

Often time in life we are faced with battles that just seem too big for us to fight. These battles can overwhelm us just at the thought of them. It is these types of battles that our God will fight for us. In 2 Chronicles, King Jehoshaphat faced this type of battle, and then God spoke to King Jehoshaphat and said in verse 20:17 “ You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions; stand firm and see the deliverance the LORD will give you, Judah and Jerusalem. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Go out to face them tomorrow, and the LORD will be with you.” So often I feel that we forget that our God is with us and we need not try to fight the battles on our own. There are times when we just need to stand firm and trust in God and watch Him fight for us and give us victory. So today stand firm and trust in your God for he is big enough to win the battle.

Intimate Fellowship

One of the true realities of my Christian life has been my inability to maintain my spiritual strength when I try to do it on my own. Think about it, for me the harder I try to focus on not sinning the more I sin. The more I try to love people the more people bug me. The more I try to be humble, the more prideful I become. So I ask myself the question, why is it that when I fight harder I seem to suffer more and more defeats. But wait a minute, how could I miss it. Look again at my words. The more I try, the harder I try. Where is Jesus in all of this? How could I think that my efforts alone could bring me victory? Its like I forgot that I need to keep my eyes on Jesus, that a close intimate fellowship with Him is needed. For greater is He who is in me that he who is in the world. Unlike all the other challenges we face, spiritual challenges can only be met and overcome, by the one who has overcome the world. No matter how hard I fight in my own strength, until I am walking in close intimate fellowship with Jesus Christ, I will not have consistent long-term victory over sin in my life. I will not be able to live a life that is useful and effective for God unless I am walking with Him closely. Today Lord help me to walk with you as a friend walks with a close intimate friend.

Ex-nihilo

When you think of creation, how everything came into being! What you believe determines so much of your personal worldview. What ever you believe about the creation of the universe, random chance, intelligent design, or somewhere in between, your belief about how the universe was created will determine your worldview on creation and on God for the most part. The Greek word (Ex-nihilo, which means to create out of nothing,) gives you insight to my worldview. Being a firm believer in God as defined by the Bible, I believe that God being the only person that has always been, without beginning or end created all that is out of nothing, (Ex-nihilo.) Most people feel that this is a naive or UN intelligent worldview . I have often been asked how can I believe in a God that has no beginning? A God that spoke the universe into existence, or created out of nothing, how could I believe all of this? My response is simply this, I believe because God says so. I have come to understand that I am not here to prove God. And even if I wanted to, it would be completely impossible for me to do so. How does anyone prove that which is beyond our comprehension? Now I’m not saying there is not any evidence of the existence of God there is, and if you want to know more about that there are many Good books on the subject. Such as The Reason for God by Timothy Keller, The Case for Christ by Lee Strobel, just to name a few. But what I am saying that when it comes to creation all worldviews end up being an argument in faith. I can’t prove it absolutely but for me there is enough evidence to know that God is the creator. The Universe did not happen by random chance, but by the intelligent design of an all-knowing God. And he created Ex-nihilo out of nothing.

Rich In Mercy



I love music and one of my favorites bands is a band called POLEN Band. They are a Christian worship band, and as I have gotten to know them, there is no doubt that they love the Lord Jesus Christ. Check out their website, www.polenband.com their song Rich In Mercy has captured my heart. In the song they state, “because of His great love for us, God who is Rich In Mercy made us alive in Christ even while we were dead” I can’t get that out of my mind. Often time when we think of rich, mercy is not one of things that we think about. What does it mean to be rich in mercy? To love someone enough, even though you have the right to deal with him or her with Justice, you choose to deal with him or her with Love. You see that’s what God did. He and His Son Jesus Christ dealt with the punishment, that would have been our, so that God could offer us mercy. Being Rich in Mercy does not mean to forget the offence, but paying for the offence yourself so that the ones you love will not have too. If you are someone that believes that God is unloving, just look at the cross. He loved us so much, as did Christ that Christ died so that we might have life. Why would anyone not want to accept the Mercy of God? I know there are those who say how can a loving God kill His own son, but your missing the point, God did not kill his son Christ gave his life that we might have life. And then God raised Christ from the dead saying I accept you sacrifice and give you the name that is above every name, So that all who turn to you and put their trust in you will have life also. That is a God who is Rich In Mercy!