September 6, 2019
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living
When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases,
(Luke 9:1 (NIV))
It is human nature to seek power. It seems that everyone wants to be in charge. If you don’t believe this simple truth, just look at a family with more than one child. There will always be bickering between the children as to which child has the final say. If you had brothers or sisters, you know how true this can be. If you have more than one child, if you haven’t experienced this yet, you will!
Even the disciples who walked with Jesus tried to play the power game with each other. If you simply look at the details of the Passover meal in the upper room, you see that there was a power play to see who would sit at the highest place. Sadly, they got it all wrong. Fortunately, they soon realized that the power they truly were seeking was equally theirs through the power and authority that was given to them by the Holy Spirit. They grew up Jewish and could recite the Torah. They knew God’s Word. They recognized the power of God’s Word. They walked with Jesus. They had seen firsthand the miracles that the power of God was able to do. All that they needed was the power of the Holy Spirit to fill them and enable them.
Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.
(John 14:12 (NIV))
Jesus knew from the very first time that He called each of the disciples that He would need to equip them for the time when He returned to the Father. He opened up their eyes and their hearts to the Father. He gave them true insight into the Word. He taught them how to utilize the power of God. He prepared them for the Holy Spirit. Once the power of the Holy Spirit descended upon them, they were fully equipped, they were fully charged in the power of God. They changed the world!
We may not be able to physically walk with Jesus, but we still have God’s Word. We still have the redeeming power of the blood of Jesus and we have access to the power of the Holy Spirit if we will only embrace it. It takes all three to truly embrace the Lord, for God is three in One – God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit. If you think about it, you could even look at them as God the Creator, Jesus the Redeemer, and the Holy Spirit as the empowerer. You are alive because of God the Father. You are redeemed because of Jesus. Have you fully embraced the power that is yours through the Holy Spirit? Are you ready to change your part of the world?
Are you fully charged?
Copyright 1998 – 2019 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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awesome power of God, Christ Jesus our Lord, come to Jesus, come to the Father, Father, follow Jesus, follow Jesus Christ, glorify the Father, God and Father, human nature, overcoming human nature, power of God, power of the Holy Spirit, power of the Word, the power of God, the power of Jesus, the power of the blood, the power of the cross, Uncategorized | Tagged: authority, Be still, called, changed, charged, cure, demons, disciples, diseases, drive, enable, equipped, eyes, Father, firsthand, fully, God's Word, hearts, human, insight, Jesus, miracles, nature, opened, out, power, power game, prepared, taught, truth, twelve, Upper Room, utilize, walked, Word, world | 
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Posted by dailylivingministries
November 6, 2014
Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ©
`Any Israelite or any alien living among them who eats any blood–I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from his people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may an alien living among you eat blood.”
(Leviticus 17:10-12 (NIV))
Life is in the blood, and Jesus freely gave His blood (His life) for us. We partake of this life through the symbolic blood of communion. But, this is not the true symbol of our redemption. It is possible to partake of the symbolic blood of communion without having taken part in the spilled blood of Jesus’ gift of His life for our sins.
Perhaps it is communion that makes many people, including those of the Jewish faith, to shy away from belief in Jesus. After all, the thought of drinking blood is repulsive to most people even if it is only symbolic.
Just what is it that Jesus has given us? Life IS in the blood. Jesus freely shed His blood for us so that we may have eternal life. Jesus often set the traditions upside down. Perhaps it is for this reason that He chose to use the symbol of blood as the outward symbol of salvation. Accepting Jesus requires accepting all of Him, including the blood. If we can get past our societal hang-ups about the one, then we can accept the other, after all, when Jesus walked the earth, He often taught against the traditions of society without fully understanding the reasons behind them.
Have you freely accepted the blood of Jesus?
Copyright 1998 – 2014 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
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Posted by dailylivingministries
Daily Living Ministries 