Unleashing Potential in God

Luke 1:37

New International Version - UK (NIVUK)

³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.

When I seek to do God's work through my energy, strength, knowledge and effort it limits the potential I have in Christ to live for God's Glory and expand His kingdom.  I get nowhere, really!  But when I allow God to work in me and through me by His Spirit, in His power, in His strength, in His knowledge, God will bring Himself Glory through my life, not because of my efforts but because of His grace and will!  The potential my life has in God working in me and through me is limitless.  God can expand His Kingdom through me, even though I face impossibilities around me, nothing is impossible.

God I pray that you will work in me, use me, despite my sinfulness.  Please, bring yourself Glory in and through me.  Please do the impossible things through me, change people by your spirit, lead people to understand the Good News of Jesus Christ!  Please do the impossible!  Unleash great potential through my life for Your Glory!  Amen.

Getting Closer to the Last Days

Getting Closer to the Last Days

Acts 2:14-21

¹⁴ But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. ¹⁵ For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. ¹⁶ But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

¹⁷    And in the last days it shall be, God declares,

       that  I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,

       and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,

and your young men shall see visions,

and your old men shall dream dreams;

¹⁸    even on my male servants and female servants

in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.

¹⁹    And I will show wonders in the heavens above

and signs on the earth below,

blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;

²⁰    the sun shall be turned to darkness

and the moon to blood,

before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.

²¹    And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

Comment:  Many of those who had gathered to hear and see this phenomenal sight of the disciples (Galileans who were unlearned) speaking in different languages were convinced that the disciples were drunk.  Yet Peter stand up among the people and address them saying that it is basically too early to be drunk but that actually there was something greater going on!  He quotes the prophet Joel from the Old Testament sharing that a new day, a new era was being ushered in that was a partial fulfillment of Joel’s prophecy which will be like that of the last days, God would pour out His Spirit on people.  Peter was telling his people that it was time to wake up, that the Day of the Lord is coming, and as he finishes in verse 21, “Whoever calls on the name of the Lord will be saved!”

Application:  God is working out His sovereign plan for this world.  He sent Christ who is now alive and risen, awaiting the go-ahead from God to come back and gather the elect (those who believe in Christ as Saviour and Lord).  It is a reminder to me that God is preparing His final judgment for all of humankind.  We must be busy doing the work that God has called us to, to reach out and share Christ, or as Christ says, “make disciples of all nations.”  I am reminded that I go in God’s power, through the Holy Spirit and not on my own strength because it is actually God who saves people and not me!  He is our salvation from beginning to end.  Otherwise, we could boast in our own salvation. 

Thank you God for your grace and salvation.  For finding me and saving my life from sin, giving me purpose and hope that far exceeds anything that this world can offer!

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

Acts 2:1–13 (ESV)

2 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. ² And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. ³ And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. ⁴ And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

⁵ Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. ⁶ And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. ⁷ And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? ⁸ And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? ⁹ Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, ¹⁰ Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, ¹¹ both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” ¹² And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” ¹³ But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

COMMENT:  In this passage Luke, the writer of Acts shares many of the immediate details of this marvellous event.  He shares that it is the time of the celebration called “The Day of Pentecost” which was a Jewish celebration that occurred 50 days after Passover and was one of the 3 celebrations throughout the year that the people of Israel were to come to Jerusalem.  The word “Pentecost” means “fiftieth.”  What is beautiful in this story is to see the hand of God at work, working His sovereign plan.  He chose to launch the beginnings of the church, the new covenant, at this event when faithful Jews from almost all parts of the world were present.  Here, after the disciples were praying, God pours out His Holy Spirit on the disciples.  The signs of God working was that at this moment the disciples started talking in different languages that were understandable.  There was a loud sound of rushing wind that caught the attention of those in the area who were visiting from all over the world.  They came to see what was going on and when they came they heard the disciples (whom they were surprise were speaking as they noted they were Galileans!)  God was preparing them for something big, something amazing that would change the known world and has affected us today!  In v. 12 it says, “And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?”  The anticipation for the reader is clear, something awesome is going to take place!

APPLICATION:  There are a few reminders that I have learned from this passage.  1) Again, prayer, is so vital and important to our lives.  If we want God to work, if we want God to be glorified, then we must pray.  The disciples did not know what was going to happen, so they did not turn to their television, to their playstation, to the newspaper (or cultural equivalent entertaining themselves to burn time through frivolous means), but they turned to God in prayer.  When I am going through periods of time that I need answers, when I am uncertain of what is next, the reminder again is to pray.  2) When God invades our lives, by His Holy Spirit, our lives change.  The disciples did not know, nor understand how much of a tremendous impact that the Holy Spirit would have on the life of the church from the point and into the future.  Jesus promised that the Holy Spirit would come (John 14:25-27) and teach them and remind them.  Here the Holy Spirit comes into the life of the church, changes the disciples and changes cultures for all generations to follow!  May God continue to change our culture through His Holy Spirit today as He did at Pentecost!  3)  God used simple people, Galileans.  They were not aristocrats, philosophers, people of nobility, hence the shock among the people in v. 12 to note that they were Galileans.  The reminder for me, is that God uses simple, humble people.  God can use me, and others who are just normal people.  He is the one that picks us up and uses us.  What an awesome God we serve that he would take “the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong.” (1 Corinthians 1:27).

Genealogical Hope!

Matthew 1:1-17   The Genealogy of Jesus Christ

1 The historical record of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the Son of Abraham:

2 Abraham fathered Isaac, Isaac fathered Jacob, Jacob fathered Judah and his brothers, 3 Judah fathered Perez and Zerah by Tamar, Perez fathered Hezron, Hezron fathered Aram, 4 Aram fathered Aminadab, Aminadab fathered Nahshon, Nahshon fathered Salmon, 5 Salmon fathered Boaz by Rahab, Boaz fathered Obed by Ruth, Obed fathered Jesse, 6 and Jesse fathered King David. Then David fathered Solomon by Uriah's wife,

7 Solomon fathered Rehoboam, Rehoboam fathered Abijah, Abijah fathered Asa, 8 Asa fathered Jehoshaphat, Jehoshaphat fathered Joram, Joram fathered Uzziah, 9 Uzziah fathered Jotham, Jotham fathered Ahaz, Ahaz fathered Hezekiah, 10 Hezekiah fathered Manasseh, Manasseh fathered Amon, Amon fathered Josiah, 11 and Josiah fathered Jechoniah and his brothers at the time of the exile to Babylon.

12 Then after the exile to Babylon Jechoniah fathered Salathiel, Salathiel fathered Zerubbabel,13 Zerubbabel fathered Abiud, Abiud fathered Eliakim, Eliakim fathered Azor, 14 Azor fathered Zadok, Zadok fathered Achim, Achim fathered Eliud, 15 Eliud fathered Eleazar, Eleazar fathered Matthan, Matthan fathered Jacob, 16 and Jacob fathered Joseph the husband of Mary, who gave birth to Jesus who is called the Messiah. 17 So all the generations from Abraham to David were 14 generations; and from David until the exile to Babylon, 14 generations; and from the exile to Babylon until the Messiah, 14 generations.

Comment:  Sometimes we look at genealogical lists in the Bible and think, oh, dull, boring!  However, I was amazed and actually overwhelmed again by this list of names in the book of Matthew.  There is so much Biblical history oozing out of this passage with reminders that God is always, faithfully working out His sovereign plan! 

Take for instance verse 3.  If you go back to into Genesis you can read about Judah who did not take care of Tamar his daughter in law the way that was custom, so she prostituted herself unknowingly to get what she wanted.  What a mess!  Then born to their offspring was Boaz whose mother was, get this ... the prostitute that changed her life to follow God after saving the lives of two spies in Jericho before God destroyed the city.  God saved her and her family!  We see hope in this story! 

Then to add to this story was the fact that Boaz married Ruth, who was not a Hebrew but a Moabite, who... get this... turned from her pagan life to follow God and to them was born Obed who was the granddad of King David!  We must remember that King David was promised (The Davidic Covenant) that his house would be established forever!  How can this happen???  We will see in a minute...

Then, there was the BIG mess!  David, after sinfully lusting after Bathsheba, kills her husband.  This was a big mess, and David was punished, the first child born to them died.  What a tragedy!   But, we are not without hope...  eventually, as Matthew records in this genealogical list, eventually, the promise to David (The David Covenant) is fulfilled through a Mary who conceived not through human means but by the Holy Spirit, her son Jesus Christ who as Matthew states is “called the Messiah,” the Anointed One, the GREAT HIGH PRIEST Jesus Christ!!!! 

Application:  What this text indicates is that throughout the mistakes and messes we see and experience in life.  The messes and sin of the past, God works through all of this His sovereign plan of redemption to use these people who had checkered pasts to show His mercy, grace and love! 

This gives me and all of us hope that though at times we intentionally or not mess up, sin and run amuck that God can work through us to accomplish His sovereign will.  This is not an excuse to mess up, to sin or make intentional mistakes, but is an encouragement that even through all this God is at work and will use us to redeem this world by serving and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ in this world.  One day he will redeem us all from this mess!  What a beautiful picture of God’s grace and mercy we see in this passage by show us that our Saviour came into this world through such a checkered history by his ancestors.