I never cease to marvel at God’s timing. February of this year the Holy Spirit descended on Asbury University in Wilmore, KY. Seventeen days later the Jesus Revolution movie came out and is presently playing in theaters and on ROKU. It’s an account of the times of turmoil in the 60s and 70s and the Jesus movement which began in California. It’s the true story of Greg Laurie, pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship, a church of 15,000. From what I…
Matthew 10:8 Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Jesus, how can we do these things? We can’t do this on our own. My child, invite My Spirit to indwell you for You can’t do this alone. Put your trust in Me. Step out bravely and you’ll see things you thought were only history. Zechariah 4:6b ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the Lord of…
Romans 10:17 So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ. Left to ourselves, we would never come to the conviction of the truth unless the Holy Spirit opened our ears and allowed the truth about Jesus to pour into our hearts. We hear with our ears, but also with our hearts. If we carry anger or bitterness or unforgiveness, we hinder the Holy Spirits work in our lives. That pipeline to our heart plugs up. The…
Luke 11:13 (Jesus said) “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him?” When I read that scripture for the first time my first reaction was, “I’ve spent my whole life in church. Why have I never heard that scripture?” I decided to stop right then and there and ask for the Holy Spirit. My life was never the…
Luke 10:19 Behold, I have given you authority to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall injure you. When Jesus sent out seventy disciples, they returned rejoicing that even the demons were subject to them (Luke 10:17). Before Jesus left earth, He gave the same charge to all believers (Mark 16:17-18) when He said, “And these signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons,…
Recently someone asked me if Jesus was God. “Yes. He’s the third part of the trinity. He’s God with skin on. God with a face.” “I don’t understand that trinity stuff,” she said. Looking down into my lap and prayed the Lord to show me how to answer her. My hands rested there with the verigated yarn I was knitting on three needles. Suddenly, I had the answer. “The trinity is like this piece of knitting. It’s all one piece,…
A person posed a question to me recently. This person asked, “What if the church prayed with the same fervor as those who waited for what Jesus called ‘The promise of the Father.’” The apostles and 120 believers gathered in a common place and prayed for this unknown gift for 40 days after Jesus resurrection. Acts 2 tells us that Jesus sent the Holy Spirit like a mighty rushing wind. Those same disciples who ran like scared rabbits the night…
What is it to have faith, exactly? The Bible tells us that faith is “the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). It’s believing that God is going to do what He says He will do, even before you have seen the evidence of it. Faith is not some magic saying of words or believing for what you want to happen. It is listening for the Lord’s voice, praying what He says to pray,…
There is none so deaf as he who will not hear, none so blind, who will not see, none so lame as those who choose their own destiny headed for utter darkness, alone, for all eternity. In this day of increased knowledge, theories abound. People who embrace these ideas consider them new and enlightening. In essence, these are the old lies dressed up in new clothes. Satan has been at this deception since the beginning. He told Eve to go…
Recently I spent the day with one of my granddaughters. She’ll be a senior in high school next year. We spoke of many things, but one stands out in my memory. She told me of accompanying a friend to a Planned Parenthood facility. Her friend’s mother instructed her to go there to get a pregnancy test. I’ll let you hear the conversation we had. “Mandy’s * mother was out of town so Mandy asked me to go with her.” “Why…