Author Archives: Steve

In the Good Ole Days of the Church – Acts 4:24,31

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“When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God…After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.” Peter and John were taken into custody by the Temple guard and thrown into jail for healing a man at the Temple. Then they were taken to a hearing before the council of elders, which included the high priest and the priestly family. Peter and John testified before the council how and why the man was healed. Predictably, the council didn’t like their explanation and ordered them to quit teaching and preaching (and healing) in the name of Jesus. Peter and John’s response to the council’s order was predictable as well: “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard” (vs. 19-20). Peter and John were released by the council and went back to the other believers to report what had happened. The believers reacted to this persecution from the Jewish religious leaders by praying for God’s empowerment to help them accomplish His plans and purposes according to His Word in the Scriptures: “You spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying, Why were the nations so angry? Why did they waste their time with futile plans? The kings of the earth prepared for battle; the rulers gathered together against the Lord and against his Messiah. In fact, this has happened here in this very city….And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (vs. 25-27, 29-30 quoting Psalm 2:1-2). In today’s church we would address persecution by devising a program or ministry. But the apostolic church didn’t form a persecution support group or organize a persecution outreach ministry. Back in those days they just prayed for God’s help. They prayed for God to help them confront the threat of persecution by empowering them to keep on preaching and healing in the name of Jesus. They prayed vehemently and with unity and they kept on praying until God answered them. They prayed until they were filled with the power and presence of the Holy Spirit and, thus, enabled to preach the gospel with boldness and miraculous signs. Oh, how I long for the good ole days of the church!

Doing What God is Doing – Genesis 41:16

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“It is beyond my power to do this, Joseph replied. But God can tell you what it means and set you at ease.” Pharaoh had two dreams and no one could interpret them for him. Pharaoh’s cupbearer remembered about Joseph interpreting his dream when they were in prison together and told Pharaoh. Pharaoh had Joseph brought to him and asked if he could interpret his dreams. Joseph recognized that God had given Pharaoh the dreams for a purpose. Therefore, God could tell what Pharaoh’s dreams meant and Joseph was confident that God would do so to accomplish His will. Joseph was so filled with the Spirit and wisdom of God that it was apparent to Pharaoh and his officials: “Can we find anyone else like this man so obviously filled with the spirit of God?” (vs. 38). Because Joseph was full of God’s Spirit, he recognized that God was at work and he joined with God in what he was doing. We each have God’s Spirit in us and like Joseph, by the unction of the Spirit, we should be able to recognize what God is doing within and around our lives and we should join with Him by exercising the gifts and talents He has given to each of us. “So Jesus explained, I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does” (John 5:19).

A Prelude to Future Glory – Psalm 16:8-11

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“I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for he is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. For you will not leave my soul among the dead or allow your holy one to rot in the grave. You will show me the way of life, granting me the the joy of your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever.” These verses are referenced by Peter in his sermon on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:25-28) and Paul in a sermon in the synagogue at Antioch of Pisidia (Acts 13:35). In both cases the apostles were applying the reference to the resurrection of Jesus. We can anticipate living in the presence and pleasures of God forever because the resurrected Messiah gives us hope and assurance for our own resurrection: “Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life. But there is an order to this resurrection: Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back” (I Corinthians 15:22-23). It’s interesting that Peter quotes these verses on the day of Pentecost when the powerful presence of God was experienced by the disciples when the Holy Spirit came upon them. The presence of God in our lives by the Holy Spirit links our present life with resurrection and future life: “And we believers also groan, even though we have the Holy Spirit within us as a foretaste of future glory, for we long for our bodies to be released from sin and suffering. We, too, wait with eager hope for the day when God will give us our full rights as his adopted children, including the new bodies he has promised us” (Romans 8:23). The indwelling Holy Spirit, the presence of God with us, is but a prelude to a future glorious life where we live fully in God’s presence in resurrection bodies and we will enjoy the pleasures of living with God forever!

The Coming Kingdom – Matthew 15:30-31

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“A vast crowd brought to him people who were lame, blind, crippled, those who couldn’t speak, and many others. They laid them before Jesus, and he healed them all. The crowd was amazed! Those who hadn’t been able to speak were talking, the crippled were made well, the lame were walking, and the blind could see again!” Jesus returned to a predominantly Gentile area and performed many miracles. Though Jesus was sent primarily for Israel’s sake, His coming inaugurated the Kingdom of God and also the beginning of Gentile salvation. These healings were evidence that the Kingdom of God had broken into history through Jesus’ ministry and that it was available and accessible to everyone. The Kingdom of God is a Kingdom that has come and is coming. Jesus came to this world not only to die for our sins, but also to teach us how to live in this present and future Kingdom. The Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation that is active in this world now to prepare its citizens for a heavenly Kingdom that is to come. As a citizen of God’s Kingdom, what you do today and everyday in this world, in this present life, in this Kingdom that has come, is preparation for eternal life in God’s Coming Kingdom.

The Kingdom Unemployment Rate – Matthew 9:35-38

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“Jesus traveled through all the towns and villages of that area, teaching in the synagogues and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom. And he healed every kind of disease and illness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were confused and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. He said to his disciples, The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.”

Jesus came to Planet Earth proclaiming the good news that the Kingdom of God has come to people.

By His own proclamation and through His healing ministry, Jesus made God’s Kingdom available and accessible to everyone, especially to those in this world who had been marginalized.

What Jesus said and did was the Supreme Example of what His disciples should be saying and doing.

Unfortunately, there is a high unemployment rate in the Kingdom of God! 

Those that do the work of the Kingdom of God are still few in number compared to the greatness of the need.

But if all of Jesus’ disciples are gainfully employed in proclaiming the good news of the Kingdom of God, then productivity will be increased.

Pray and ask God to use you today to proclaim the healing and redemptive power of His Kingdom to someone in need.

The One Who Sees and Hears You- Genesis 16:11,13

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“And the angel also said, You are now pregnant and will give birth to a son. You are to name him Ishmael (which means God hears), for the Lord has heard your cry of distress…Thereafter, Hagar used another name to refer to the Lord, who had spoken to her. She said, You are the God who sees me.” Sarah, Abraham’s wife, gave Hagar, her servant, to Abraham as a concubine so that she would have Abraham’s child as was the social custom for a barren wife. God had promised Abraham and Sarah they would have a son and and the number of their descendants would be as numerous as the stars (vs. 15:5). Because they were both elderly (Abraham was 99 and Sarah was ten years younger), they were skeptical that God’s promise could be fulfilled through them so they tried to work it out themselves. When Hagar became pregnant, she began to treat Sarah with contempt. In return Sarah treated Hagar harshly and Hagar ran away. Hagar was beside a spring of water when an angel of the Lord appeared to her and told her to return and submit to Sarah and promised that her son, whom she would name Ishmael, would also have more descendants than she could count (vs. 15:9). Hagar named the well Beer-lahai-roi, which means “well of the Living One who sees me.” The name of the well and the name, Ishmael, which means “God hears” were reminders to Abraham and Sarah that God sees affliction and hears the cries of those in need. Sarah and Abraham should have asked God for help (as did their son Isaac in Genesis 25:21) rather than taking the fulfillment of God’s promise into their own hands. What seems like impossible difficulties can be resolved through God’s intervention. God sees the difficulties and hears the cry of the afflicted and can miraculously resolve the problem. God is the One Who Sees and Hears you. He sees your difficulty and hears your cries for help and He will answer and intervene on your behalf.

Great Faith, Miracles Occur – Matthew 8:10

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“When Jesus heard this, he was amazed. Turning to those who were following him, he said, “I tell you the truth, I haven’t seen faith like this in all Israel.” Jesus was amazed because a Roman army officer requested Him simply to speak words of healing for his servant from where He was at rather than coming to the sick servant. While the officer’s faith was pretty amazing, so was his perception of Jesus. The Roman officer recognized that Jesus had the power and authority of God. Jesus recognized that the officer had the prerequisite faith to receive God’s help. This faith had a certain quality/quantity because it is the kind of faith that sets in motion the power of God. It is great faith; it is supernatural power-activating faith! In addition to the great faith of the Roman officer with a sick servant there are several examples of people who exercised great, supernatural power-activating faith:

  • a woman who had suffered with constant bleeding for twelve years (“Your faith has made you well.” – Matthew 9:22)
  • two blind men who followed Jesus and shouted out for Him to heal them (“Because of your faith, it will happen.” – Matthew 9:29)
  • a Gentile woman with a possessed daughter (“Your faith is great.” – Matthew 15:28)
  • some men who let down a paralytic man on a mat through the roof of a building where Jesus was teaching (“Seeing their faith…” – Luke 5:20)

These all did something and/or said something that demonstrated a level of faith that caused Jesus to acknowledge their faith and take supernatural action in response to their faith. When you have faith that can be seen, it commands God’s attention. And when there is great faith, miracles occur!

Be the Blessing – Genesis 12:1-2

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“Leave your native country, your relatives, and your father’s family and go to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation. I will bless you and make you a great nation. I will bless you and make you famous and you will be a blessing to others.” God called Abraham from Mesopotamia to a new land to become the patriarch of God’s people. God gave Abraham two commands: 1) leave your native country; and 2) be a blessing to others. Abraham obeyed God in both cases. Abraham moved with his family from Ur to Haran and he eventually departed from Haran for the land of Canaan. Abraham traveled from one end of Canaan to the other, built altars to God, and proclaimed the Lord’s name in a pagan land. The command of God to Abraham to be a blessing to others was also a promise: “You will be a blessing.” In other words, God wanted Abraham to be the blessing. God wanted Abraham to be the means through which He could bless (or not bless) others. In the same way, God wants you to be the blessing by the way you live your life and by proclaiming the name of the Lord so that others will be blessed by God.

This Little Light of Mine

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“You are the light of the world—like a city on a hilltop that cannot be hidden. No one lights a lamp and then puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your good deeds shine out for all to see, so that everyone will praise your heavenly Father” (Matthew 5:14-16, NLT)

We have all heard this familiar saying of Jesus sung about in children’s songs in Sunday School, preached about in evangelistic sermons, and used to admonish others, particularly our children.

But stop and ponder it for a few moments and see what it is saying to you.

If I walk around my house at night in the darkness, I bump into furniture and trip over shoes or toys that have not been put away as I stumble my way to the nearest light source, usually a lamp.

When I turn on the lamp, I can clearly see where I am going.

Jesus said that if we are His disciple, we are like a lamp that He has switched on so that His light can shine through us to show the way to those stumbling through life in darkness.

Jesus is our light source!

We emit the light that Jesus gives us by the way we live and the words we speak.

And by emitting light, we give direction and shine the truth on others.

The light song we learned in Sunday School as children has a profound biblical truth that calls us to action as messengers of the gospel.

So let this song be your prayer and plan of action for today: “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine, let it shine, let it shine, let it shine!”

“You light a lamp for me. The Lord, my God, lights up my darkness” (Psalm 18:28, NLT).

Living for the Future in the Present – Matthew 4:17

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“From then on Jesus began to preach, Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” When the ministry of Jesus formally inaugurated the Kingdom of God on Earth as described in this verse, what was formerly distant, far away, or out of reach to humanity came close, intimate, and available to every individual human being. Jesus declared that God’s Kingdom is so close one can personally encounter it. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is a spiritual nation that is active in this world to prepare His disciples for a heavenly Kingdom coming in the future. Many Christians struggle with how to prepare for their eternal future in the present. When you become a citizen or subject of God’s Kingdom, the old order of your life passes away and is displaced by God’s Kingdom ruling over your life. The redemptive power of God’s rule and reign enables a new way of living where your hope for an eternal future impacts the way your live in the present reality.