Verse of the Day 2/1

 

Verse of the Day 2/1

Acts 1:8 But you will receive　power　when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and　you will be　my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and　Samaria, and　to the end of the earth." English Standard Version (ESV)

For today and tomorrow, Lord willing, we'll take a look at a couple of verses that speak of God's power working in us to save us and to do His will. Have you ever felt "His power come upon you"? Likely, it happened during a quiet moment between you and God. Perhaps God spoke to you through His Word, in response to prayer or perhaps from being moved by a message that you heard that turned you back towards Him. It is a personal matter when the noise of the world is filtered out and you draw near to God. You may be in a crowd at the time, but you are tuned in to what God is doing within you.

I enjoy modern Christian music and I enjoy the old hymns. I enjoy the praise band and have no problem with them being in church. But they are not the focus of our "worship". True worship is getting back to the basics, even if it is the middle of a modern service. One of my favorite authors of the past century, often quoted in these posts; A. W. Tozer writes, "You know, the Church started out with a Bible, then it got a hymnbook, and for years that was it—a Bible and a hymnbook. The average church now certainly wouldn't be able to operate on just a hymnbook and the Bible. Now we have to have all kinds of truck. A lot of people couldn't serve God at all without at least a vanload of equipment to keep them happy……As I see it, the great woe is not the presence of these religious toys and trifles—but the fact that they have become a necessity, and the presence of the Eternal Spirit is not in our midst!　The Counselor, 41."

I guess a question that we could ask would be, if there were a power outage and all that you had was your pastor with a Bible and a hymnbook, would you still receive the same message? Would it move you the same, would it challenge you the same? Would it perhaps move you more, empower you?

Throughout the Bible the power spread when God's Spirit moved through His people through His Word, through song, even with cymbals and stringed instruments, they didn't need a vanload of equipment. We may have the truckload of equipment in our day but may we realize that the power of God and His Spirit is now in the equipment, it is in the power of His word, working in us and through us every Sunday, indeed every day and every hour.

How I praise Thee, precious Savior,
That Thy love laid hold of me;
Thou hast saved and cleansed and filled me
That I might Thy channel be.
• Refrain:
  Channels only, blessed Master,
  But with all Thy wondrous pow'r
  Flowing through us, Thou canst use us
  Every day and every hour.
Just a channel full of blessing,
To the thirsty hearts around;
To tell out Thy full salvation,
All Thy loving message sound.
Witnessing Thy pow'r to save me,
Setting free from self and sin;
Thou who bought me to possess me,
In Thy fullness, Lord, come in.

Blessings,

Mike

Acts 1:1-8The Message (MSG)

To the Ends of the World

1　^1-5Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but "must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon."

6　When they were together for the last time they asked, "Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?"

7-8　He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business. What you'll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world."

　

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