The Place of Power

Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto Me.

Acts 1:8 (KJV)

   Look at it! Think of it! A hundred and twenty men and women having no patronage, no promise of any earthly favor, no endowment, no wealth—a company of men and women having to get their living by common daily toil, and busied with all the household duties of daily life—and yet they are to begin the conquests of Christianity!  To them is entrusted a work which is to turn the world upside down. None so exalted but influence of this lowly company shall reach them, until the throne of the Caesars is claimed for Christ. None so far off but the power of this little band gathered in an upper room shall extend them until the whole world is knit into brotherhood! Not a force is there on the earth, either of men or devils, but they shall overcome it, until every knee shall bow to their Master, and every tongue shall confess that He is Lord.

   A thing impossible, absurd, look at it as you will, until you admit this—they are to be filled with the Holy Ghost. Then difficulties melt into the empty air. Then there is no limit to their hopes, for there is no limit to their power. Their strength is not only “as the strength of ten,” it is as the strength of the Almighty. This is Christ’s idea of Christianity; the idea not of man—it is infinitely too sublime—the idea of God!—Mark Guy Pearse

My God shall Be my Strength

my God shall be my strength.

Isaiah 49:5 (KJV)

  Oh, do not pray for easy lives! Pray to be stronger men! Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers; pray for powers equal to your tasks! Then the doing of your work shall be no miracle. But you shall be a miracle. Every day you shall wonder at yourself, at the richness of life which has come in you by the grace of God. –Phillip Brooks

 

Where's your source of power?

The secret of peace within, and power without, is to be always and only occupied with Christ.

E. Schuyler English

Strength in the Storm

“Have mercy upon me, O Lord; consider my trouble which I suffer of them that hate me, thou that liftest me up from the gates of death: 14 That I may shew forth all thy praise in the gates of the daughter of Zion: I will rejoice in thy salvation.”

Psalms 9:13-14 KJV

 

       These verses depict our lives as followers of the Way. We are persecuted, yet can petition the throne of grace and receive empowerment to praise in the midst of our trouble, to rejoice in our salvation! David shows the same life analogy: he is persecuted, yet petitions the Lord for mercy: that he will be lifted up; and declare the praises of God and rejoice in His salvation. Let’s boldly approach the throne of grace, let’s praise the Lord, let’s rejoice in our salvation amidst the struggle and hardship. Let’s stay our minds on Jesus, listen for the Holy Spirit, and stand in awe of the Father’s gracious plan for the salvation of our souls. Amen!

The Source of My Strength

The Source of My Strength

“In You, O Lord, I put my trust; let me never be ashamed; deliver me in Your righteousness. Bow down Your ear to me, deliver me speedily; be my rock of refuge, a fortress of defense to save me. For You are my rock and my fortress; therefore, for Your name’s sake, lead me and guide me. Pull me out of the net which they have secretly laid for me, for You are my strength. Into Your hand I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord God of truth.”

Psalm 31:1-5 (NKJV)

 

Pause and contemplate this verse—may The Holy Spirit speak to you.

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With God all things are Possible

With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Matt 19:26 (KJV)

     You can do anything that God wants you to. It is important that we believe this in our hearts and let the peace of Christ rule in our minds (Phil 4), because our thought life can build walls that hinder us from following God. One’s thought life is very, very important.

     I remember a car ride home with my Father and Brother where my Dad was teaching my little brother the importance of how powerful our thoughts are. He started off telling how the son of our Self-Defense Teacher was going to break a board that night and said before he hit it that he wasn’t good at this and didn’t break it. Then my Dad said something that stuck to my mind and heart, “You can do a lot more than you think you can….but Satan wants you defeated because then you’re [useless].” Does the vision God has given you seem too large? Too hard? Too out of your skill set? Not your personality? None of that matters. God can do the impossible; yea, He can do anything through us!

      Think of Noah, Joseph, Daniel, Samson, John the Baptist, Nehemiah, David, Ruth, and the many others we find in Scripture—they did extraordinary things because of God! If they would have just given up because it was hard or too big, they would have disobeyed God and the people of God may have been destroyed. Pause for a moment or two and contemplate how important your thought life is.

Thought 346: Pick up Snakes? from Ryan's devotional book series Thoughts

 

 

Thought 346

Pick up Snakes?

“Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you.” Luke 10:19 KJV

¹⁵ And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature. ¹⁶ He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. ¹⁷ And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; ¹⁸ they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

¹⁹ So then, after the Lord had spoken to them, He was received up into heaven, and sat down at the right hand of God. ²⁰ And they went out and preached everywhere, the Lord working with them and confirming the word through the accompanying signs. Amen.   Mark 16:15-20 NKJV

 

“Thou shalt tread upon the lion and adder: the young lion and the dragon shalt thou trample under feet.” Psalms 91:13 KJV

¹ Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. ² And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. ³ But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. ⁴ So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” ⁵ But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. ⁶ However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

⁷ In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. ⁸ And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. ¹⁰ They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary. Acts 28:1-10 NKJV