A Beautiful Description of the Beautiful Woman

June 18, 2012 (From writings of Audrey Hepburn) For attractive lips, speak words of kindness (*kind words are like apples of silver in pictures of gold. You can even say something good about the devil - he is determined). For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people (*Try to walk in their shoes, and remember we all have feet of clay). For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry (*exercise your gifts of love and mercy, take long walks while you meditate on the Word of God, and run to help fulfill the needs of others) . For beautiful hair, let a child run his/her fingers through it once a day. For poise, walk with the knowledge that you never walk alone (*God is always with you, be confident in Him). People, even more than things, have to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed (*Jesus is the restorer, the renewer, the reviver, the reclaimer, the Redeemer); never throw out anyone (*including yourself, “God don’t make no junk”).. Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you will find one at the end of each of your arms. As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands; one for helping yourself, and the other for helping others (*to lift up someone else is to be lifted up yourself because “you reap what you sow”). *(italics are mine)

Abba Father - The Father Knows Best

June 16, 2012 “Because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out, Abba Father. “ (Galatians 4:6) Back in the 50’s and 60’s the television cereal-type programs were all wholesome and usually taught a moral lesson. Since television was our main source of entertainment there were several we tried to watch faithfully. One was, “Father Knows Best.” The Father’s name was Jim Anderson and he was portrayed as a father who was dedicated, self-sacrificing, wise, moral, understanding and loving. Even when he failed in some way, he would quickly acknowledge his failure and make amends. He seemed to be the “perfect father” (although there is not such a person). But we have a heavenly Father Who is perfect in every way, and when we choose to accept His Son into our life, we become a “child of God,” and have the privilege of calling Him, “Abba Father,” which is an affectionate, informal term (Daddy). As His child, the yearning of our heart is for Him. As His child we desire to crawl into His lap and tell Him how much we love Him, to confess our sins to Him, to tell Him how we are hurting (although He already knows), to thank Him for all He has done for us and for how He will be there for us in the future, and to get counsel for the problems facing us (because He only has the answers). Since tomorrow is Father’s Day I want to share something good about: “How to Become A Successful Father,” by Charles Stanley “No human father is perfect. But with the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Scripture, and godly mentors, a man can become a successful dad by intentionally leading his children in these areas: Spirituality – Help your children to trust in Jesus Christ as early as possible, and they’ll grow with the understanding that He is to be at the center of everything they do. Morality – In homes where honesty, purity, and loyalty are lived out, boys and girls learn to value integrity and listen to their conscience. Relationships – Teaching about love, respect, and mutual encouragement is good preparation for friendships and marriage. Vocation – Model cooperation and doing work “heartily, as to the Lord and not to men” (Col.3:23), and your children will form a healthy work ethic. Finances – Teach your kids the right way to handle money; to earn honestly, give generously, invest intelligently, save prudently, and enjoy heartily (I Tim.6:17). Authority – Unless children learn how to function properly under authority – of parents, school, church and government – rebelliousness can easily develop. Our sons and daughters notice when there’s a disconnect between our conduct and words, so setting a good example is essential. The way to build guiding principles into a child’s life is by precept (teaching) and practice (modeling). Dads, if you plant these heartily concepts in your children’s hearts, what a joy it will be to see them equipped and motivated to fulfill God’s purpose for their life." ----------------- Some will read this blog who are not fathers, but you may be an authority figure to someone, and these principles are for everyone: father, mother, grandparents, teachers, friends, boss, etc. They are timeless, practical, and essential to be a successful mentor and to leave a footprint of integrity in which others want to walk. If you have failed in the past it is never too late to start today applying these principles. Remember, you reap what you sow – if you sow godly principles some day others will “rise up and call you blessed.” Integrity will be your badge. Go for it Abba (Daddy)! “Faith of our fathers, we will love both friend and foe in all our strife. And preach thee too, as love knows how, by kindly words and virtuous life.” (Frederick W. Faber)

Have You Had Hematohidrosis?

June 8, 2012 “And being in an agony of mind, He prayed all the more earnestly and intently, and His sweat became like great clots of blood dropping down upon the ground.” (Luke 22:44) (Amp) In my studying I came across a new word to me, a medical term called, Hematohidrosis. Wikipedia describes hematohidrosis as “a very rare condition in which a human sweats blood. It may occur when a person is suffering extreme levels of stress, for example, facing his or her own death. Several historical references have been described; notably by Leonardo da Vinci: describing a soldier who sweated blood before battle, men unexpectedly given a death sentence, as well as descriptions in the Bible, that Jesus experienced hematohidrosis when he was praying in the garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).” Jesus is the only one recorded in the Bible to have possibly experienced hematohidrosis. Outward stress moves from the brain through the body causing the vessels to dilate and rupture, releasing blood into the sweat glands which release the blood onto the skin, mixed with sweat. So it is possible that Jesus experienced hematohidrosis in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His arrest. He was not in “agony” over facing physical torture and death but agonized over having to take upon His pure, holy personage (the One Who knew no sin), all the sins of the whole world – every person’s sins who ever lived and who would ever live. Although Jesus was in great stress we don’t think of Him as being “anxious” or “fearful.” Webster defines “anxious” as, “characterized by extreme uneasiness of mind or brooding fear – worry.” My definition of worry is, “unbelief that God is in control of our situation.” To be either anxious or fearful would be sin because God tells us in His Word “not to be anxious for anything” (Phil.4:6,7) and that “God has not given us a spirit of fear but of power, and of love and of self-control” (II Tim.1:7,8 - Amp.). Jesus agony was not over the fear of torture and death, but His agony was indescribable pain and anguish of spirit over the prospect of Him being the pure, Holy God becoming filthy, vile and desecrated with our sins. It is important to notice what He was doing when this condition happened – He was praying. He took His pain and agony to the Father in prayer, trusting Him for the outcome. As long as we live in this world stress of some kind will be a daily occurrence (consider that we bring a lot of our stress on ourselves by our own willfulness), but in John 16:33 Jesus said, “In this world you will have distress, but take courage, be confident and undaunted for I have overcome the world” (Amp.). II Cor. 4:8-10 says, ”We are troubled and oppressed in every way, but not crushed; we are unable to find a way out, but not driven to despair; we are persecuted and hard driven, but not deserted to stand alone; we are struck down to the ground, but never struck out and destroyed; always carrying about in the body exposure the same putting to death that the Lord Jesus suffered, so that the resurrection life of Jesus also may be shown by and in our bodies” (Amp.). David Jeremiah describes stress as “being a mirror – it reveals better than anything else what is inside.” The way we handle stress defines who we are. In times of fear is the time to trust. I wrote in my blog, “Let Faith Be Your Doorkeeper” - “When fear knocks at the door, let “faith” answer. “God did not give us a spirit of fear, anxiety and worry but of love, power and of a well-balanced mind” (II Tim.1:7, 8). So when fear, anxiety and worry try to dominate your mind go to the Lord in prayer. Remember the verse in Philippians 4:6 which says, “Do not be anxious about anything but in everything pray, with thanksgiving, and let your wants be made known to God. And God’s peace shall be yours, that tranquil state of soul assured of its salvation through Christ, and so fearing nothing from God, that peace which transcends all understanding shall mount guard over your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus” (Amp.). When you intentionally trust your anxiety to God and walk in peace of mind, your character becomes stronger and more peaceful and filled with faith. We will never experience the kind of stress and agony that Jesus went through, but however great our agony of spirit if we focus on Jesus and His sufficiency to keep us, go with us and love us through it all, we can experience that wonderful peace that comes only from prayer, thanksgiving and trusting God. Wonderful Peace (W. D. Cornell) O Soul, are you here without comfort and rest, walking down the rough pathway of time? Make Jesus your friend ere the shadows grow dark, O accept this sweet peace so sublime! What a treasure I have in this wonderful peace buried deep in the heart of my soul, So secure that no power can mine it away while the years of eternity roll. I am resting tonight in this wonderful peace, resting sweetly in Jesus’ control, and I’m kept from all danger by night and by day, now His glory is flooding my soul. Peace! Peace! Wonderful peace, coming down from the Father above. Sweep over my spirit forever, I pray, in fathomless billows of love. , in fathomless billows of love.>

Give Me This Mountain

“Give me this mountain of which the Lord spoke, He said there would be giants, bigger and stronger and fortified stronghold cities.” (Joshua 14:12) Many an unbeliever has said the Bible was boring, but to anyone who knows the author it is the most exciting, insightful, adventuresome and informative book there is. And what is so wonderful is that every word in It is true. Jonah really was swallowed by a big fish; the Red Sea really was rolled back like a scroll to let Moses and the Children of Israel cross on dry land; David really did kill the giant, Goliath, with a sling shot and five stones; and Jesus really was born of a virgin, He did live on this earth, was crucified and died for our sins, was buried and rose from the dead by God’s resurrection power. God’s righteousness is a wonderful gift we are given when we are saved. It is our “breastplate” to protect us against the onslaughts of the enemy. His righteousness covers us so we never have to fear that Satan can steal this gift away or inflict a fatal wound to us so we would be lost to our Savior or hope to spend eternity in heaven. Our struggles are not with physical opponents and circumstances but with the master powers of this world and spirit forces of wickedness, so we must daily appropriate all of God’s gifts to stand against these forces and God will help us to be victorious and take the mountains and fight the giants in our life (Eph.6:10-18). We are promised victory in Jesus (Philippians 4:13). Consider Joshua because he was a man of faith who listened to what God said and led his people on a conquest to conquer the enemies’ territory which the Lord had promised his people. There were mountains to scale, giants to overcome and fortified cities to invade and conquer. What a hero, what a role-model, what an example! He was all those things not because he did any of them on his own and or that he was so courageous, but because he sought God for direction when he didn’t know the next step to take. He sought God for protection and courage when he knew there were great dangers ahead and enemies to destroy. There were walls he had to tear down and idols he had to destroy, and he did great exploits, but he chose to trust God through it all, and he challenged those under his command to, “Choose today whom you will serve, but for me and my house we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15). He lived an intentional, faith-filled life to the end and died at 110 years old. He was buried on that mountain for which he had asked God. Have you, or are you now facing circumstances in your life that loom before you like an insurmountable mountain? Are your circumstances overwhelmingly big? Satan has a way of holding a magnifying glass of worry up to our mind’s eye that brings fear and anxiety to make our problems seem like mountains. When we are in a valley of discouragement it may seem like we are not only in the valley but under an immovable boulder of circumstances in that valley. We may be paralyzed with all kinds of fearful thoughts not knowing how we can possibly solve our heap of problems. But God has some leverages to roll that boulder off our back and a broad, level path on which to climb that mountain. God gives us some powerful spiritual weapons to fight those opposing giants and reminds us of His promises to give us “the mountain.” He tells us in Isaiah 54:17 that “no weapon formed against us shall prosper and every tongue spoken in judgment against us will be shown to be in the wrong because we are servants of the Lord and this is our inheritance.” The fundamental piece of our weaponry is the Word of God, which is the Sword of the Spirit. We must study It, meditate on It, appropriate It in our life and let It change us. God’s Word will show us our sin, instruct us in the Truth, guide us in life, comfort us in sorrow, encourage us in our failures and It gives us hope for this life and for eternity. As we skillfully wield this most powerful weapon It will destroy our enemies and build our faith in God. The Bible is God’s Word and It will never fail, become extinct nor pass away. God’s Word will stand forever! "Try It, you’ll like It." Prayer is another key weapon we have been given to climb our mountains and kill our giants. “The earnest, heartfelt and continued prayer of a righteous person makes tremendous power available – dynamic in its workings” (Jas. 5:16b Amp.) We are told in Psalm 66:18 that if we see and approve sin in our hearts that God will not hear us when we pray; so before coming before the Father in prayer we must agree with Him about the sin in our life so we may be forgiven, cleansed and healed from all unrighteousness (I John 1:9). When cleansed we can come boldly before the “throne of grace to present our needs” (Heb 4:16); and a big need we have is to conquer those mountains in our life. Because of prayers Peter was delivered from prison when he was chained, there were two guards by his side and there were sentries at the doors guarding the prison (Acts 6:6-19). “But urgent prayer was made to God by the Church.” This scripture tells of the mighty miracle of Peter’s release, all as a result of prayer. “That force of earnest prayer is mightier than any King’s or President’s authority, and mightier than all of hell.” There is no force that can stand against the power of earnest, faith filled prayer. If we have accepted Jesus as Lord in our life we have been given God’s own righteousness and we can come right into His presence to talk with Him about anything. We can tell Him about the areas in our life in which we are struggling and ask for help. We can pour out our heart over the hurt or fear in our life, or in someone else’s. Because of His righteousness He has given us we are filled with praise for Who He is and are so thankful for all He has done in our life and all He will do for us in the future. The Word tells us that God inhabits the praises of His people (Psalm 22:3), so God is there! Praise and thanksgiving are mighty weapons to dispel anxiety over taking the mountain. Consider the mountain Jehoshaphat conquered in II Chronicles 20. Although he was afraid, he set himself determinedly, and all of Judah, to seek the Lord with all their heart by prayer, fasting, believing God’s Word for possession of their mountain, which was their inheritance, but was inhabited by their enemies who were strong and many in number. They acknowledged their weakness and that they didn’t know what to do, but their eyes were on God. The Lord heard their cries and told them, “The battle is not yours but God’s.” Jehoshaphat, with Judah and Jerusalem, obeyed, sang praises to God and thanked Him for His everlasting mercy and loving kindness. The results: the enemy was self-slaughtered and Jehoshaphat and Judah received their mountain – Victory! As Joshua conquered and overcame by faith and courage. We also must live by faith in the only One Who can and will fight our battles for us and will enable us to conquer and overcome the mountains in our life. The first weapon we must acquire is our salvation from sin and the devil’s kingdom and power. Our salvation and all our weapons are gifts given by our Father Who has wonderful plans for us, to prosper us; to give us peace and a hope for the future (Jer. 29:11). He has given us His Truth and we don’t have to be deceived by the lies of Satan. We can know the Truth of Who Jesus is, Who the Father is, and who our enemy is and his tactics to defeat us. Faith in the Truth will set us free from the bondage of Satan. Don’t forget Esther (Esther 2), who learned obedience when being raised by Mordecai, her cousin. She learned sacrificial courage to climb her mountain when presented with Mordecai’s challenge (4:14-16). Taking Esther’s mountain meant life or death to her and all her people, and because of her courageous obedience God gave Esther her mountain (her life and the lives of her people). We also can be God’s victors by fully committing to Him, seeking the Truth in His Word and then in prayer and faith courageously obey His will and His ways and rejoicing in “Him Who is able to do abundantly all we could ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3:20). Got any rivers you think are uncrossable? Got any mountains you can’t tunnel through? God specializes in things thought impossible. He’ll do for you what no other one can do. (Oscar C. Eliason)

Why Did Jesus Come?

May 8, 2012 "I am come that you might have life and have it more abundantly!" (John 10:10) Have you ever thought about why Jesus, the Son of God would leave the glories and wonders of heaven to come to earth to live as a human and be rejected by friends and family and persecuted and killed by His own people the Jews. There are many scriptures answering that question, “Why?” My findings are certainly not complete but I thought I would give the scriptures I have found so far that tell us as to Why He came to earth. 1) One of the reasons the Son of God was made manifest (visible) was to undo (destroy, loosen, and dissolve) the works the devil has done. (I John 3:8b). Some of the devil’s work was to bring sin into God’s perfect world by Adam and Eve’s falling into his temptation, and consequently bringing sin into every human heart through all generations. Satan continues to “work” to try to steal, kill and destroy mankind, God’s handiwork (John 10:10a). The thief (the devil, Satan) has come to steal all Jesus came to give us – our abundant life with its joy, peace, love, provision, etc., he tries to do it by deceiving us (Rev.12:9). Satan works to deceive us by coming as “an angel of light” (II Cor.11:14). One of Satan’s works is to bring fear (I Peter 5:8). 2)Jesus came to do the Father’s work to reconcile fallen man to Holy God. By virtue of Adam’s sin we all are born estranged from the Father, but Who had a “plan” to fix the chasm that had been created by our sin. Jesus’ death did the “work” which brought us, by our faith, back into fellowship with the Holy Father (John 5:17, 35-40). 3)Jesus came to “make all things work together for the good of those who are in Christ Jesus and fitting into His purposes” (Romans 8:28). He came to open their eyes that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness and release from their sins and a place and portion among those who are consecrated and purified by faith in Him (Acts 26: 18). 4)Jesus did not come to condemn the world but that the world through Him might be saved (John 17). Jesus was born to die for our sins (I Timothy 1:15) and this would satisfy the Father (I John 4:10; John 3:16). He came to triumph over sin (John 12:31, 32; Acts 26:18), then to vanquish death by rising from the grave and ascending to glory (Acts 2:24). Therefore, He delivered us from the fear of death (Heb.2:14, 15). 5)Jesus came to adopt us into His family (Galatians 4:5); and to lavish all His good things on us (Ephesians 1 & 3; Romans 8:28; Ephesians 3:20; Jeremy 29:11; John 10:10. 6)Jesus came to show us the Father (John 14:6). To look at Jesus with all His attributes was to look at the Father – “like Father, like Son.” 7)The Lord came as man so we could understand Him (I John 5:20). Finite man cannot comprehend the sovereign God and His ways, so Jesus and His love helped us to understand this Almighty God. 8)Jesus was born to be king (John 18:37). Thank You, King Jesus, for coming! To believers He now reigns as King of our hearts, but one day He will reign in His new earthly kingdom where we will reign with Him forever. These are reasons why Jesus came. Aren’t you glad He did?

The Lord's Prayer (How I Pray It)

“Our Father, Who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name. Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil, for Thou is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever! Amen!” (Matthew 6:9-16)

As a child I learned the “Lord’s Prayer” by rote memorization, and when with a group I love to recite together as I learned it in the “King James” language. But, as I have grown older I have loved to pray this prayer, when by myself, with more elaboration and more understanding. When I pray by myself it is not always the exact words, but the thoughts of elaboration that come to me. Praying this prayer with my elaborations has become much more full and meaningful to me. Jesus gave His disciples (and us) this form and is just as an example of how to pray.

Our Father, thank You for the privilege and honor to call You our Father, by virtue of becoming your child through the redemption of Your Son, Jesus, and You have adopted me into Your family – “The Family of God,” and You have given me a new name, “The Righteousness of Christ Jesus,” instead of “sinner.” Thank You, that as a loving earthly father would, you invite me to come boldly into Your presence to tell you what is on my heart. You take me in Your arms, and on Your lap (like the child that I am) and You are never too busy to listen to all my praises, heartaches, intercessions, confessions and cries for help. Thank You, that with the rest of “the Family” I can say “Our Father.”

You are high and lifted up above me in all Your attributes, and Your righteousness fills the temple of my heart, because Your Holy Spirit lives there.

Holy is Your name, and Your name is exalted above every name, and I choose to bow my knees to Your precious name, as every knee some day will bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, Master, and Sovereign over all.

Your kingdom come, and Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. I invite You to reign in my heart as Lord and Master in righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, and I relinquish my will to Your will, here and now. I pray for Your soon reign here on earth – “Lord Jesus, come quickly!”

Give us this day and our daily bread. Father, You know the needs of my life, spirit, soul, and body, and I thank You for supplying my every need according to Your riches in glory (which are unfathomable and readily available). Thank You, for forgiving me when I confess my sins and for molding me into the perfect image of Your Son, Jesus. Thank You, for giving me the mind of Christ and for renewing it as I absorb Your Word and appropriate it in my life. Thank You, for Your touch when I need physical healing. Thank You for daily providing my every need!

Forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors. Father, I daily (sometimes momentarily) need your forgiveness of how I fail You. You know my heart, and You know I don’t want to fail You, but so often I fail to walk in the power of Your Spirit and sin against you and others, so I ask for your forgiveness and cleansing. As I ask forgiveness for my sins, please help me to forgive others who I feel has sinned against me, in the same way I expect You to forgive me. This isn’t possible without You enabling me to forgive, so I choose to forgive all who I feel have wronged me.

Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil. Father, don’t permit my heart to be inclined toward any evil thing, and make a way out of any overwhelming temptation, for You tempt no man. Deliver me from the evil one who wants to steal my joy, peace and witness.

For Yours is the kingdom, and the power and the glory forever, Amen. Father, You are the sovereign God Who reigns over all, and You are Almighty and all the honor, glory and majesty belong only to You, and I bow at Your feet and worship You, Holy Father.

Change - The Sure Sign of Life

“We shall not fall asleep in death, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye.” (I Corinthians 15:51b-52a)

They say that one sign of “old age” is that you don’t like change. In some respects I think that is true. The older I get I have noticed some inevitable changes: grey hair, less strength and energy, set in my ways, new pains nearly every day, memory loss. I don’t like the grey and thinning hair, the fast enumeration of wrinkles and my memory loss. I don’t like running out of energy before I finish my task, etc. But changes in my old body is inevitable and go with the territory, so I try to grin and bear it.

But some changes we should embrace. There is a quote on the wall of Alcatraz Penitentiary that reads, “If you do not change your direction, you may end up where you are heading.” In Acts 22, Paul testified of how he experienced some very dramatic changes that turned his life and his future around 180º, for the good - I am so glad! His changes went from being a terrorist bent on destruction of believers and the Church of Jesus Christ, to becoming a teacher and co-laborer bent on heaven and loving and building up the Church and evangelizing the known world for Christ. He went from fighting the Church to fellowship with the Church. Physically he changed from having sight to being blind, but spiritually he went from blindness to having his eyes opened and seeing clearly the Truth of the Gospel. He changed from being full of pride and rebellion to being humble and obedient. He went from self-sufficiently to being completely God dependent. He was changed from being self-assured with all of his education and status to being desirous to “only know Jesus and Him crucified,” and knowing he could do all things only through Christ, Who strengthened him (Philippians 4:13). This is what I call, "change and awe." For Paul, all of these changes were growing him into the perfect image of Jesus Christ. He was changed from glory to glory, until one day in God’s time, He would take Paul to live with Him in a changed and glorified body to not have the scars anymore, his sight was perfect and his hope was changed to reality.

To get a smile, a church put a sign on their nursery door which said, “We shall not all sleep but we shall all be changed.” Although some of us will still be alive when Christ returns all believers will then be changed and transformed into His perfect likeness – pure, holy and altogether righteous (II Cor. 15:51-52). As we now read, meditate and appropriate God’s Word we will see God’s glory and will be changed from one degree of glory to another(II Cor.3:18).

Here it is spring and there are changes in everything in nature. The trees have changed from their fall colors of red, yellow and gold to their winter attire of bare, naked branches to the beautiful green clothes of spring and summer. This change only comes because the trees are full of life. The same is true of the flowers and plants which have faded away during the harsh cold of winter, but as warm days have returned change is taking place in all the living plants. The stems first appear, then a bud, then the flower.

The resurrection of our Savior was so like the springtime. Just as the trees, grass and plants stand (or lie) dormant through the winter, then in the springtime they "resurrect" and grow and bloom because of the life within, just so is the resurrection of our Savior. His change from humanity back to divinity was “awesome.” Jesus was changed from death to life. Therefore, we also who believe are changed in this life from the curse of sin’s death to the hope of eternal life and from “glory to glory” to become more like Jesus, here and now.

That first Easter the whole world was full of change! The long awaited Savior of the world had finished the work of redemption for the hearts of all mankind. He was, is and will be the only One Who does not change,because He is God. He is the Creator of all things. The heavens and earth grow old like a garment but when they vanish away (and they will), God remains the same. He is the immutable God (Hebrews 1:10-12). None of His attributes will ever change!

Because God is love, His love never changes. Just as you can’t stop the waves from rolling into shore, you can never stop God from loving you. His love is constant and unconditional. There is no sin is so black that He cannot forgive, nor any pit so deep that God’s love cannot reach and save. And there are no chains so strong and binding that He cannot break and free. There is nothing so dark that the power of God’s love cannot change into light and joy! He is the CHANGER!

Look at the changes the Holy Spirit made in the lives of the disciples. Before Pentecost and them being “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:1-4), they were doubtful, fearful and weak. But because of the Holy Spirit’s filling they were changed into bold, faithful and strong witnesses, even in the face of death. What made the difference? They were changed by the power of the Holy Spirit filling them – they were “born again,” old ways of thinking and acting had passed away – all things had become new. They saw Jesus with new eyes and their relationship with Him was changed. Where Jesus had been their teacher and friend, after Pentecost Jesus became their Savior and Lord. They had new hearts, new resolve, new speech, new purpose and new hope of eternal life. They had been changed into new men by the power of the Holy Spirit within. They no longer ran away and denied Christ, but boldly ran to the defense and proclamation of Jesus, the risen Christ.

If we are not changing we are not growing and have never truly come alive in Jesus. Coming face to face with the claims of Jesus and accepting His love and sacrifice for us means an instantaneous change, and that changing to be like Him will continue until we see Him - then we shall be perfectly like He is!

CHANGE ME, LORD
(author unknown)

To come into the presence of the living God is to be changed.
We cannot come into His high and holy place and stay the same.
So change me Lord, Remake me Lord, Conform me to the image of Your Son!

So change me, Lord, Remake me, Lord, Conform me to the image of Your Son!