Thursday January 28th - Exodus 21-22 / Psalm 12 / Acts 4

^{ACTS 4
13}They couldn't take their eyes off them—Peter and John standing there so confident, so sure of themselves!
31They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak God's Word with fearless confidence.

People seek so many worldly things and attributes to gain confidence. They think if I have that or if I'm good at this, I will be confident and successful.

But all it really takes is the Holy Spirit.

When you let the Holy Spirit operate and organize in you life, that self-assurance and confidence will come naturally!

Wednesday Jan 27th - Exodus 17-20 / Acts 3

Exodus
²⁰ Moses spoke to the people: "Don't be afraid. God has come to test you and instill a deep and reverent awe within you so that you won't sin."

A deep and reverent awe!

Such a strong statement.
Achieve it and overcome sin!
Simple?
Not so much!

Deep:
-great in measure; intense; extreme
-heartfelt; sincere
-not superficial
-difficult to penetrate
-coming from far down
-extending far down from the top or surface

Reverent:
-a feeling or attitude of deep respect tinged with awe

Awe:
-an overwhelming feeling of reverence, admiration, fear, etc., produced by that which is grand, sublime, extremely powerful
-power to inspire fear or reverence

Something to strive for.......

Tuesday Jan 26th - Exodus 14&16 / Acts 2

^Exodus
14:13 Moses spoke to the people: "Don't be afraid. Stand firm and watch God do his work of salvation for you today. Take a good look at the Egyptians today for you're never going to see them again.
^14:14 God will fight the battle for you.
And you? You keep your mouths shut!"
^16:6-7 Moses and Aaron told the People of Israel, "This evening you will know that it is God who brought you out of Egypt; and in the morning you will see the Glory of God. Yes, he's listened to your complaints against him. You haven't been complaining against us, you know, but against God."

14:13-14
God has a work of salvation for us everyday. Everyday there is something He wants to overcome in our lives for us; there is something He wants to heal; something He wants to change for good!
God wants to do this for and all we need to do to receive this salvation is "stand firm and watch" God do it.
How many times do we miss out on our daily salvation from God?
We don't "keep our mouths shut"; we don't trust God; we don't stand firm.
So we miss out.
I want my daily salvation.
I'm not going to be afraid, I'm going to shut my mouth and stand firm, and watch God deliver me.

16:6-7
There are so many "unhappy" people in the church. They are always complaining, always having meetings with leaders and pastors to express their discontent.
I even have been there. I've complained; I've gone to my leaders and criticized.
But do we realize that we're not really complaining to the pastors and the leaders,
but actually we're complaining to
GOD!
Pastors and leaders are put where they are for a reason according to God's plan. Yes they're not perfect, yes they make mistakes, but they are God's servants for the church.
So next time we act to complain to our leaders,
at least go to God first and pray about it.
Most likely God will satisfy your complaint then and there
and there will be no need for a meeting with a leader!

Monday Jan 25th - Acts 1:15-26

Replacing Judas

Acts 1
^15-17During this time, Peter stood up in the company—there were about 120 of them in the room at the time—and said, "Friends, long ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David regarding Judas, who became the guide to those who arrested Jesus. That Scripture had to be fulfilled, and now has been. Judas was one of us and had his assigned place in this ministry.

^18-20"As you know, he took the evil bribe money and bought a small farm. There he came to a bad end, rupturing his belly and spilling his guts. Everybody in Jerusalem knows this by now; they call the place Murder Meadow. It's exactly what we find written in the Psalms:

Let his farm become haunted

So no one can ever live there.
"And also what was written later:

Let someone else take over his post.

^21-22"Judas must now be replaced. The replacement must come from the company of men who stayed together with us from the time Jesus was baptized by John up to the day of his ascension, designated along with us as a witness to his resurrection."

^23-26They nominated two: Joseph Barsabbas, nicknamed Justus, and Matthias. Then they prayed, "You, O God, know every one of us inside and out. Make plain which of these two men you choose to take the place in this ministry and leadership that Judas threw away in order to go his own way." They then drew straws. Matthias won and was counted in with the eleven apostles.

Did Judas really have a choice?

The scriptures prophecised that someone would betray Jesus and contribute to Him being arrested. In order for scripture to be fulfilled this had to happen, and it did in the form of Judas.

Acts states that Judas chose to throw away his position of leadership and go his own way. But his own way was the way of fulfilling the scripture. So was it really HIS choice?

If Judas had not chosen, would someone else have done it, or was it Judas' destiny?

Even though the initial perspective is that Judas was in the wrong, what he did had to be done to lead to what Jesus had to do. So was what Judas did actually the right thing and righteous? and was it Judas' God chosen destiny?

If it was wrong, then was Judas destined to do wrong. Did he really have a choice?

If it was actually the right thing....

Does God call us to do things that we may perceive as bad or negative or wrong, but it retrospect is the right thing?

?

October 20th <> Job 8

That's what happens to all who forget God—
all their hopes come to nothing.
They hang their life from one thin thread!

I don't think people realize the full extent of straying away from God.
This verse reminds me that even though people forget about God they still have dreams and hopes. The difference is that they won't come true.

There is a false sense of hope, but hope only exists with God.

October 19th <> Job 5

I've found your strength to stand to my feet
Eyes high, standing tall
After all this time we finally meet
Now I know I can break through it all

My heart was as empty as the night
Now it has nothing to fear
My knees tremble at your very sight
Now I know my place is right here

Touch,
breathe,
Bring your intimacy

I'm ready, so ready for you
Fearlessly, endlessly, I'm ready
So ready...for you

October 6th <> Luke 19

^1-4Then Jesus entered and walked through Jericho. There was a man there, his name Zacchaeus, the head tax man and quite rich. He wanted desperately to see Jesus, but the crowd was in his way—he was a short man and couldn't see over the crowd. So he ran on ahead and climbed up in a sycamore tree so he could see Jesus when he came by.
²⁶"He said, 'That's what I mean: Risk your life and get more than you ever dreamed of. Play it safe and end up holding the bag.

Zacchaeus was willing to do anything to get the opportunity to see Jesus. He wasn't going to
let the EXCUSE of "the crowd was in his way" stop him from getting to Jesus.

He took a risk, climbed a tree, and reaped the rewards.

How many times do we let excuses stop us from getting to Jesus. There are always going to be things in the way, and there are always going to be excuses.

But it is our choice to not let them ruin our chances and it is our initiative to take a risk and do everything we can to get to Jesus.

And as Jesus promises, if we risk our lives for him we will be rewarded above and beyond!