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Waiting and Seeking

If it was in our power, often we would prefer not to wait.  When we make a phone call, we do not want to wait on hold for half and hour because it is a waste of our valuable time.  It would be amazing if we could turn on a computer or oven and have it instantly ready for us to use.  After having blood drawn, it would be of great benefit to have results immediately so a course of treatment could begin.  Rather than waiting in a long self-serve queue to process our purchase, we appreciate an associate offering to help us with our transaction at an empty register. After His resurrection from the dead, Jesus spent 40 days with His disciples and taught them of the kingdom of God.   Acts 1:4-5 tells us, " And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, " which ," He said, " you have heard from Me;  5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the H...
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Be Witnesses to Jesus

No matter how many times we have read the Bible, there will be verses and words in Scripture the LORD speaks to us in ways like never before.  Recently I heard a sermon where pastor David Rosales emphasised "be" in  Acts 1:8 :  " But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth ."  He made the point the passage did not say the Holy Spirit's coming would result in people witnessing but Christ's followers would be His witnesses.  He said, " Man's best efforts at change can only be accomplished by the help of the Spirit, a nd so we need to rely on the Spirit. We need to to rely on the Holy Spirit to do his work ."  The excellent insight from one small word makes a world of difference. One clear result of the obedient disciples being baptised with the Holy Spirit was they were made to be Christ's witnesses.  For them, ...
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Too Hard For God?

" Then the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah, saying,  27  "Behold, I am the LORD , the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me ?" Jeremiah 32:26-27 There are many things we find difficult or impossible to do, and walking by sight often leads us to project our own weakness, ignorance and inability upon God.  We cannot see how a problem could be resolved, so we fret or resign ourselves to the issue being permanently intractable.  The fact God spoke these words to a faithful prophet of God shows all His people need to be reminded of God's sovereignty and omnipotent power.  Thing that are way too hard for us are not hard for God because He can do everything. It is likely Christians who have experienced being born again by the Spirit and observed His miraculous, glorious works in God's word rarely (if ever!) say of a problem, "This is too hard for God.  He cannot do anything about it."  However, our continuing to feel troubled, fearful or anx...
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All Blessing In Christ

I have been considering lately what the Bible says Jesus Christ Himself is for us.  A lot of my life I lived focused on benefits I received from God and did not comprehend what Jesus has accomplished and all that is in Him.  It is good to have our new identity as born again Christians grounded in Jesus Christ according to Scripture, and recognition of all Jesus is for us impacts our outlook, attitude, pursuits and choices. For instance, Colossians 3:1-4 says:  " If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  2 Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth.  3  For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God.  4 When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory ."  We know Jesus gives eternal life to all who repent of sin and trust in Him, yet this passage explicitly says Jesus is our life.  By faith we are in H...
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God Rules Over All

I watched television shows like Matlock starring Andy Griffith as a kid, and there were times in court when the judge "overruled" an objection from an attorney.  I observed the judge also had authority to "sustain" an objection, which meant the question asked or evidence presented was to be disregarded according to the objection.  In the Law of Moses,  we see God granted authority to a father or husband to release his daughter and/or wife from a rash oath.  However, there was no such protection for a man who rashly made an oath before the LORD:  he was required to make good on his word. Numbers 30:3-5 says, " Or if a woman makes a vow to the LORD , and binds herself by some agreement while in her father's house in her youth,  4 and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand.  5  But ...
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Sanctified by the Word

On the night Jesus was betrayed, He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane concerning His disciples in  John 17:14-17 :  " I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  15   I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.  16   They are not of the world, just as I am not of the world.  17   Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth ."  Those who are born again by faith in Jesus Christ are not of this world, even as Jesus is not of this world.  Though Jesus would soon be received into heaven after His death and resurrection, He did not leave His people in a vulnerable state.  Our LORD did not pray we be taken out of the world, but that His redeemed followers be kept and preserved from evil in the world.  The child of God need not assume a defensive or combative posture in Christ, for tho...
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Moved By The Word

We can be troubled sometimes by things we see and hear.  We see prices go up, and this does not please us.  When we hear about big things like ongoing wars or relatively small things as people gloating over the team we support losing again, it does not fill us with happiness.  I have noticed we can also be troubled or feel frustrated over what we do not see.   Jeremiah 8:15 illustrates this:  " We looked for peace, but no good came; a nd for a time of health, and there was trouble! "  Many times I have heard Christians lament the lack of seeing spiritual revival, as if them seeing or hearing of revival is of primary importance.  We are not always able to find what we are looking for.  Even when we have the rare experience of obtaining our desire, it can leave much to be desired. In all seasons of life, in good times and bad, the child of God does well to remember to look to Jesus and consider Him.  This is put forth as a remedy to ...
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