The Promise…..

“Now when all the people were baptized, and when Jesus also

had been baptized, and [while He was still] praying, the [visible]

heaven was opened

And the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily form like a dove,

and a voice came from heaven saying, You are My Son, My

beloved!

In You I am well pleased and find delight!”

Luke 3:21, 22

 

This is a very familiar passage of scripture we can all agree. Pretty

straight forward as well but there is something else I saw that I

would like to share.

Jesus was about to start His ministry. But before He started He

had to be baptized. Something powerful happened as He got

baptized. The Holy Spirit came upon Him.

As I read this scripture I couldn’t move on. There were some

things which stood out for me.

 

Jesus would not be able to accomplish His mission without the

Holy Spirit. He would not be able to do all the things He did

without the Holy Spirit. He wasn’t getting baptized because it

was a “nice” thing to do.

Without the baptisim of the Holy Spirit Jesus would be powerless

and He would fail His mission.

As I was getting these insights I couldn’t help wonder if I really

understood the role of the Holy Spirit in me.

 

“However, I am telling you nothing but the truth when I say it is

profitable (good, expedient, advantageous) for you that I go away.

Because if I do not go away, the Comforter (Counselor, Helper,

Advocate, Intecessor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you

[into close fellowship with you]; but if I go away, I will send Him

to you [to be in close fellowship with you].”

John 16:7

 

I have not fully understood the role of the Holy Spirit in my life.

I have taken Him for granted but I see now.

I was wrong!

 

But it makes sense right, all the sense in the world! It makes

sense how God uses the foolish, the broken, the weak, to do

great things.

I have issues, major issues, flaws, weaknesses……..

I don’t do the right thing a lot,

I think wrong,

I get afraid at times,

I struggle speaking to strangers about Christ,

I struggle with self esteem,

I am lazy,

I am selfish…..the list goes on and on

 

We are broken but God knows that and He has the answer….

 

Let’s look at one man who had major issues, Peter.

He was afraid, he doubted Jesus a lot, and he denied the Lord

three times. He had issues like we do but….

 

“But Peter, standing with the eleven, raised his voice and

adressed them: You jews and all you residents of Jerusalem,

let this be [explained] to you so that you will know and

understand;

listen closely to what I have to say.”

Acts 2:14

 

He was bold!

 

“And [Peter] solemnly and earnestly witnessed (testified) and 

admonished (exhorted) with much more continuous speaking and

warned (reproved, advised, encouraged) them, saying, Be saved

from this crooked (perverse, wicked, unjust) generation.

Therefore those who accepted and welcomed his message were

baptized, and there were added that day about 3000 souls.”

Acts 2:40, 41

 

He wasn’t afraid anymore. He spoke with power and authority,

something he didn’t have before.

 

“But Peter said, Silver and gold (money) I do not have; but what I

do have, that I give to you: in [the use of] the name of Jesus Christ

of Nazareth, walk!

Then he took hold of the man’s right hand with a firm grip and

raised him up. And at once his feet and ankle bones became strong

and steady, “

Acts 3:6, 7

 

I could give you more examples but you get the idea. There

was an amazing transformation in Peter’s life. He wasn’t perfect

but there was a change. He was spirit-filled!

He did amazing things for God because he had the Holy Spirit

living in him.

May we get a revelation of what it means to be spirit filled.

As I end I would like to share one more scripture:

 

“And if the Spirit of Him Who raised up Jesus from the dead

dwells in you, [then] He Who raised up Christ Jesus from the

dead will also restore to life your mortal (short-lived, perishable)

bodies through His Spirit Who dwells in you.

Romans 8:11

 

The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead lives in me, lives

in you. I missed it somewhere but I see now.

I want to walk in the same power Jesus did? I need Him…

Without Him there is no power, no impact, no fruit!

What about you?

Will you seek Him, cry out to Him?

We all need Him if we are going to impact this world for Christ!

God bless you friends……

 

Rolain

 

photo credit: google images

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will you hold on…???

I had an amazing couple of days this past weekend.

The month of April in my country

marks the end of the first school term so that means holiday

time and holiday camps! And since I serve in our kids ministry

I went for camp with the kids I teach.

This was one of the best camps I have been on. Yes, I was

involved in the planning and organizing of it but I still had fun!

The kids we went with had a blast! As a leader it was a privilege

serving the children.

But what stood out the most for me was how God came and

ministered to me and the other leaders. I have been trusting

God for a lot of things and I have to admit it gets hard. It’s

hard holding on in faith and this weekend my faith was tested.

But in the testing God used the three days I was on

camp to re-adjust my focus.

This is what He spoke to me about:

 

“Now when Jesus returned, a crowd welcomed Him, for they

were all expecting Him.

Then a man named Jairus, a synagogue leader, came and fell

at Jesus feet, pleading with Him to come to his house

because his only daughter, a girl of about twelve, was dying.

Luke 8:40-55″

 

We all know the story very well but there are a few things

that I saw that jumped out at me that I would like to point out:

 

– Jairus came to Jesus because he had faith in Him. He believed

Jesus would heal his daughter. Jairus was desperate! He may

of tried a few doctors but with no luck.

 

– Jesus stopped walking when the woman with the issue of

blood touched Him. I am sure Jesus knew how desperate and

serious Jairus’s situation was but He still stopped?? How do we

know the woman with the issue of blood had that problem for

twelve years and how do we

know she used all her money on physicians with no change?

We know all this because one of the disciples must of taken

the time to speak to her. He must of spent some time asking

questions or Jesus must of simply listened to a healed ecstatic

woman tell Him how she had spent

all her money on physicians with no results and tell Him how

long this went on for!

Whatever the case, Jairus was waiting! What was on his mind as

all this was happened? Did he push Peter to speak up…?

 

“When they all denied it, Peter said, Master, the people are

crowding and pressing against you.” Luke 8:45

 

Where was his faith then?

Did he convince Peter of the absurdity of Jesus question? We

don’t know…..!

Then it happened….!

 

“While Jesus was still speaking, someone came from the

house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. ‘Your daughter is

dead,” he said. “Don’t bother the teacher anymore.” Luke 8:49

 

What exactly was going through Jairus mind? It was faith

and desperation that led him to Jesus but was that faith

still there? Did Jesus take His time with the woman knowing

Jairus was desperate?? Did He want Jairus to endure

in his faith???

Having faith and enduring in your faith are two completely

different things. We do well when we trust God but is that enough?

We must also learn to endure in our faith. That’s the lesson

I learned on camp.

Jairus had faith in Jesus but his faith was tested. He had to

learn to endure in his faith he soon found out.

Don’t lose hope along the way! Jesus has not forgotten your

faith! Jairus may of felt like Jesus didn’t care or had forgotten

him but He didn’t!

 

“But Jesus, on hearing this, answered him, Do not be seized

with alarm or struck with fear;

Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she will be

made well.     Luke 8:50

 

When Jairus faith was failing, Jesus was right there

to encourage him. Jesus wants us to endure in our faith.

You may be trusting God for something and weeks,

months and years have passed without anything happening

but be assured,

something will happen as long as you endure in your faith!

Don’t give up in your faith. Don’t let fear cloud the truth

about your faith.

The truth is, God will come through!

God has heard you and will not let you down!

He wants to help you more than you will ever know!

Your faith is precious to God!

Your faith pleases Him.

As long as you have faith, the enemy will always lose!

 

At the end of the day, Jairus got his daughter back. Jesus

did a miracle in his life because he endured in his faith no

matter how bad things seemed!

Jesus knows where you are at. He has not forgotten about

you. He says,

 

“Simply believe [in Me as able to do this], and she shall be

made well.” Luke 8:50

 

Believe He is able to help you.

Believe He has heard you because He has.

 

As I sign off I want to encourage you to endure in your faith.

That is what I was challenged to do on camp!

God bless….

 

Rolain