Do Not Hesitate

Often in prayer, or any situation, the Spirit of the Lord speaks into your very soul, your very essence of being and thought.  How do you respond?  You know what was just whispered into your heart was in direct response to the moment.  When thoughts out of your normal attitude nudge you to get up, overcome barriers, and capture the moment to reveal Christ enters your heat:  do not hesitate—that is God talking to you.  

“While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the

Spirit said to him,
‘Simon, three men are looking for you.
So get up and go downstairs.
Do not hesitate to go with them, for I have sent them.’”
~ Acts 10:19-20

Peter had trouble being a guest and sharing the table fare with non-Jewish, non-Hebrew, unclean gentiles.  What he had to overcome was changing his thinking and do what God’s Spirit had whispered into his heart. 

Peter submitted to the whisper of the Lord’s Spirit. 
Then, what happened?
He got up, and did not hesitate to accept an invitation.

Cornelius met him, and fell down at his feet,

and worshiped him.  But Peter took him up, saying,

“Stand up: I myself also am a man.”

Acts 10:25-26

Peter was welcomed into the home of Cornelius, a good man who gave to the poor and sought God, a Roman Centurion and of all things, a gentile!

Peter shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ to Cornelius and others at his house.

“While Peter was still speaking these words, the Holy Spirit came on all who heard the message. The circumcised [the Jewish] believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles.”  (vv. 44-46).   

Do not hesitate: overrule your reservations—submit to doing what God’s Holy Spirit plants in you, and today you will reveal the gospel of Christ to someone who is perishing.       

Get up, … Don’t Hesitate,

Owen <><

Read Acts 10

Glorify the Lord: Generation to Generation

“My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior,
for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.
…His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.”   Luke 1:46-50

A young teenager gave us the wisdom above, a girl who was bout fourteen, maybe sixteen.  She was from a poor and dusty little town called Nazareth; her name was Mary. 

 

Her testimony was, “my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.”  What you speak will become a precursor, the very foundation to the legacy you will leave to future generations.  Every child (or adult) you are near can be influenced – you can tell them about the love of God through Jesus and the comfort of the Holy Sprit; or leave a legacy of frivolous, vain things that remain in this world. You have a choice.  The words you speak have impact, just as the teenage girl, Mary said, “from generation to generation.” 

Your words and influence have everlasting impact, do you lift up life in Christ, whereby the Lord’s “mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation”? 

You have the floor, … speak your “peace”.

Bless you,
Owen <><

The Truth is this…

The Truth is this, …, says Rev. Andrew Murray—and so lives Jesus!

“The truth is this: Unless pride dies in you then nothing of heaven can live in you.” 

—Andrew Murray
         
How do we go from the pride of “me-me-me” to being “yes, Lord, yes” is a matter of attitude.
We are to think like Jesus—God’s Holy Spirit is within the born again—our task becomes one of transformation: changing our thinking process to be the same a Christ (see Romans 12:2).  As we read in the Word of truth: 

“Your attitude should be the same as that of Christ Jesus:

Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,
but made himself nothing,
taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
and became obedient to death —
even death on a cross!”                             

—Apostle Paul, Philippians 2:5-8

“Humility, the place of entire dependence on God, is, from the very nature of things, the first duty and the highest virtue of the Christian.”  —Andrew Murray

Consider, if you will, without humility, one cannot confess they need Christ. 

You cannot think that:
1) You are not good enough for God (pride of self-pity).
2) You a strong and good enough on your own (pride of self-worth)
3) You don’t need God, humankind’s beliefs are good (pride of self-humanist-truth)

Filling yourself with pride leaves no room for God’s love, mercy, grace, and Spirit to fill you.

“Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.”  — James 4:10

Don’t be down, … be lifted up in all humility!

Owen <><