Are you fully charged?

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
Subscribe to daily email delivery
Visit us on facebook

Are you bold with the power and authority?

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, and he sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. He told them: “Take nothing for the journey–no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra tunic. Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. If people do not welcome you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave their town, as a testimony against them.” So they set out and went from village to village, preaching the gospel and healing people everywhere.
(Luke 9:1-6 (NIV))

He gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases!

He sent them out to preach the kingdom of God and to heal the sick!

Do you see anything in these words that says the disciples of Jesus are to be timid and roll over and play dead?

Too many people believe that professing a faith in Jesus means that we are to be quiet and love everyone as if in a 60s peace movement. This is not what Jesus told us to do!

We are to be bold!

We are to be witnesses for Jesus. We are to do the things that Jesus told us to do. He did not tell us to accept whatever sin someone is committing as something that is ok. He did not tell us to give in to the ways of the world. He did not tell us to tell people about Him only if it does not offend them.

We are to be bold!

Can you be bold enough to walk in the power and authority that Jesus says that we have?

Copyright 1998 – 2016 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery

Have you ever betrayed someone?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

When evening came, Jesus was reclining at the table with the Twelve. And while they were eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me.”
They were very sad and began to say to him one after the other, “Surely not I, Lord?”
(Matthew 26:20-22 (NIV))

Have you ever betrayed someone? What did it feel like?

As I read these words, I wonder what these men felt when Jesus said that one of them would betray him. I honestly believe that each and every single person in that room questioned themselves at this time. They were only human, and who among us has never had a negative thought about something that you profess an allegiance to. I can picture these men and what they were thinking. Each was probably saying to themselves, “Please, don’t let it be me. I don’t think I could do that, but I have never been put to the test before. Could I pass that test or will I fail and betray His love? Please, don’t let it be me!”

That is so very hard to know.

Now, think about how each of them felt when they knew that it was not them. They breathed a big sigh of relief. Even in this hour when all of God’s plans to save humanity hung in the balance, they still could only think about themselves.

Something changed in these men. Something changed these men. They went from being afraid of what would happen to them to bold proclaimers of the truth. They experienced the next three days. They saw Jesus crucified. They saw Jesus buried. They saw the greatest miracle of all time. They saw Jesus resurrected from the grave.

“Perhaps the transformation of the disciples of Jesus is the greatest evidence of all for the resurrection.”
(John R. W. Stott)

These men were transformed from insecure, self-centered people to boldly proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God.

God took simple men who all felt the pains of potential betrayal and gave them a hope and a faith that made them turn the world upside down.

Copyright 1998 – 2015 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery

Can your testimony help change the world?

Be Still . . .
Devotionals for Daily Living ^©

With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
(Acts 4:33 (NIV))

Do people give their lives to something that they do not know to be true? Are people willing to boldly proclaim something as the truth if they know that it is not? Do people willingly go to their own deaths for something that they have made up?

Carefully consider the twelve who were with Jesus. All of them were timid with respect to public speaking, especially if it meant that they might be put to death for their words. They all wanted an end to the Roman rule, but I have not found any evidence that indicated they were willing to die to see this happen.

What made these ordinary men speak out with such extraordinary power and authority even when their very lives were threatened because of what they said? They possessed a zeal that only comes when someone has had a life changing experience. This experience had proven to them beyond any doubt that what they testified to was true. They had all witnessed it!

Because of their faith and willingness to testify to what they knew to be true, the world has forever been changed. It all started with a handful of people who had the power of truth on their side; people who were willing to share that truth no matter what the cost. They knew that nothing in this world could change that truth that had empowered them.

Their testimony literally changed the world for they testified of the truth of the grace and mercy offered through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. They were willing to offer that to any and all who would hear it.

Are you willing to offer what they offered in power and authority?

Copyright 1998 – 2013 Dennis J. Smock
Daily Living Ministries, Inc.
http://www.dailylivingministries.org
Subscribe to daily email delivery