Changed in an Instant

Acts 9:17

Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

And in an instant, Paul not only received his physical sight, he also received the filling of the Holy Spirit.  Thus, he received wisdom, understanding, counsel, might, knowledge of God and a holy reverence for God.  All of these gifts came on him at once. His vision of who He was in Christ, along with all of its associated power, served to allow him to replace the evil man that he had become with the new, righteous man that he was to become. 

So it is for those of us who have received Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior.  Just as the sinner and prosecutor of the early church, Saul, became the new man Paul, we become new men and women in Christ.  The teaching of the Holy Spirit reveals to us the faulty mindset that the world provides, allowing us to escape our ignorance and our pride.  The power of the Holy Spirit within us allows us to become new creatures who proclaim the Good News and serve as conduits of God's love.

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the anointing that we receive as disciples of Jesus Christ.  We pray that You will open our eyes to the things of the world that are creating ignorance and pride in our lives so that we may turn away from them.  We ask that You release the gifts of the Holy Spirit into our lives so that we may see the vision that You have for our lives and be empowered to go out as messengers of hope in the world that surrounds us.

Praying in Agreement with the Will of God

Romans 8:26

Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.

In our prayer lives, we often seek the hand of God for protection and provision for ourselves, our families and those close to us.  Our Savior opened His arms for all mankind to benefit.  He wants us to do the same.  

In His ministry, Jesus often argued with the apostles because He wanted to be among those in the most need of His redemptive work, not those that were more socially acceptable.  Jesus wants us to intercede for the world around us, whether we feel drawn or repulsed by the ones that we pray for.  This is not natural for us, but His Spirit within us will help us to see the will of God in our prayer lives.

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Holy Spirit to teach us how to pray and how to come into agreement with Your will for the lives of the people around us.  Be they far or near, be they friend or foe, Father, teach us how to pray for their needs. May You perfect Your strength in our weakness.

The Wondrous Nature of Jesus

Isaiah 11:2

And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding, the Spirit of counsel and might, the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.

In this passage, Isaiah was prophesying of the nature of our coming Savior.  Because we are indwelled by Jesus Christ when we accept Him as Our Savior, we inherit this wondrous nature for ourselves.  Some summarize our inheritance as the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit.

To receive the full benefits of an inheritance of any type, one must be alive at the time of the death of the one who leaves the inheritance behind.  To receive the full benefits of the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, we must allow our old man to die and allow our new man to come alive in Christ.  

Prayer,

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the wondrous nature that You have given us in Jesus Christ, Our Lord and Savior.  We pray that the fullness of the Holy Spirit will rest upon us.  We seek Your wisdom so that we may have understanding in all matters.  We seek your counsel that we may become mighty warriors for Your kingdom.  We ask Lord that You inspire us to take the knowledge that we have of You and turn into a reverent awe that changes how we live every moment of our lives. 

Standing Before the Throne for Others

Isaiah 59:16

He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede; then his own arm brought him salvation, and his righteousness upheld him.

Jesus is the perfect intercessor for all mankind.  He takes the mantle that no one else can take.  He stands before the Father in righteousness on behalf of all men.

Intercessory prayer is the perfect service for each of us to enter.  We communicate with God on behalf of others.  We go before the Father in worship and solicitation for His divine assistance.  We seek His will for those that we pray for.   Through the process, the needs of many or met and our relationship with the Father grows to be like the relationship that the Father has with The Son.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Son to stand before Your Throne on our behalf.  We pray that You will teach us how to stand before You on the behalf of those that You have placed around us.  May You open our eyes and hearts so that we may see their needs and prayerfully respond to them.  May You strengthen us so that we will not falter in our prayer life.  May our relationship with You become like the relationship that You have with Your Son, Jesus.

Preparation for the Kingdom Through Service on Earth

Luke 12:40

You also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.

God's Holy Word inspires us to turn our thoughts toward the day that Jesus will return to the earth.  This will be a great and magnificent day for which all of us should prepare ourselves.  On this day the Lord will separate those who knew Him and served Him from those that did not.  We certainly want to be in the group that inherits His Kingdom.  

But our human nature makes it difficult for us to prepare for an uncertain date and time.  We may even be uncertain about how we should prepare for the King of Kings.  The Lord in His mercy gives us simple ways to prepare.  He teaches us that those who feed Him when He is hungry, give Him drink when He is thirsty, clothe Him when He is in need and visit Him when He is sick or in prison will be the ones that inherit His Kingdom.  He adds that even though we may not see Him in these conditions that when we serve those who are in these conditions we are serving Him.  Conversely, He adds,  "Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me."

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that Your Holy Word prepares us to receive Our King, Jesus Christ.  Open our eyes, Lord, so that we may see the opportunities to serve Our King everyday.  Prepare our hearts, Lord, to freely give of ourselves to others just as we would if we were serving Jesus Himself.  May the presence of the Holy Spirit within us by Our Guiding Light.

The Fullness of His Love

Ephesians 3:19

May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Jesus loves each one of us unconditionally.  He loves us so much that He gave up His position as Son of God to become Son of Man.  He endured the pain and shame of the Cross so that He could become the sacrificial lamb that was necessary to provide the blood to wash away our sins, to make us acceptable to the Father.  

He extended His unconditional love by sending the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sins, so that we would understand His offer of salvation and accept it.  He continues to extend His unconditional love by dwelling within each of us that have accepted Him as Our Savior, so that we may have the strength and the power to overcome the sinful nature that still tries to rule in our lives.

He continuously pours out His perfect love and forgiveness to each of us.  He places no limit on the love that He pours into us because He wants it to overflow our cups.  He wants us to become living vessels of His perfect love and forgiveness so that the world will know Him and know the fullness of His love.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You for the perfect love and forgiveness that You have poured out into our lives.  We pray that we may become instruments of Your good work and vessels of Your perfect love and forgiveness for the world around us.

No Man is Strong Enough

Matthew 26:56

Then all the disciples left him and fled.

Imagine.  The men who had lived with Jesus for three years, sat under His teaching and witnessed all the signs and wonders of His ministry abandoned Him in His time of trial.  How could this happen?

It is the weakness of the flesh that failed the disciples.  They did not yet have the strength of the Holy Spirit to overcome their weaknesses.  What a dramatic difference the Holy Spirit made in their lives.  After their baptism of the Holy Spirit, all of the apostles boldly proclaimed the Good News of Jesus Christ.  All but one, John, died as a martyr while sharing the salvation plan.

We can be sure that in the flesh we are no stronger than the apostles.  If we try to live by the flesh without calling on the Holy Spirit to guide us and strengthen us, we will fail in following Our Savior.  Thankfully, God promises us in His Holy Word that He will perfect His strength in our weakness if we abide in Him.

Prayer

Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have provided Your Wonderful Counselor to be with us, to guide us and to strengthen us in our weaknesses.  We proclaim our weakness before You, Lord.  We ask forgiveness for straying from You.  We boldly claim Your promise to perfect Your strength in our weakness as we surrender to Your reign in our lives.