The Daily Dose

The Sword of the Sprit

“But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’ ”  Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the LORD your God.’  Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the LORD your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ” Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.”   Matthew 4:4,7,10-11

These verses in Matthew were taken from the passage when Jesus was led into the wilderness to be tempted by Satan.  I wanted to highlight Jesus’ responses because He responded with divine wisdom, but not beyond what we can do.  He is our ultimate example, and if we follow what He did in His life we can be successful in our life.

So, in this passage, He gives us such a clear path to follow when we face temptation.  First of all, if Jesus was tempted, we know it isn’t sinful to be tempted.  It is only sin when you yield and give in to temptation.  Next, Jesus is clear on how to resist it.  He doesn’t argue with Satan, He doesn’t ignore or avoid the temptation.  He cuts it down with His Sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God. (Eph. 6) Each response He gives to all of Satan’s temptations are quotes from God’s Word.  That is why the Apostle Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10:13 that with every temptation, we have a “way of escape”.  That “way” is the Word of God!

When you read this passage in full, notice that Satan also quoted Psalms 91 (He will give His angels charge) to Jesus to try to trick Him.  But the power of God’s Word was only released when spoken in faith from the mouth of Him who believed it,  Jesus.

God’s Word has that same potential for power when we speak it in faith, but we have to believe it.  We know that faith comes from hearing and hearing the Word of God according to Romans 10:17.  That is why it needs to be spoken out loud.  So, we continually “hear” it to grow our belief and faith.  The verse doesn’t say faith comes from reading and reading the Word of God, we must hear it.

Today I encourage you to start overcoming temptation by speaking God’s Words every day, then believe what you hear.  The difference is speaking in faith and believing, not simply knowing what God said!  Follow the example Jesus gave us and draw your Sword of the Spirit to take down temptation as soon as it comes.  Speak the truth of God’s Word to the enemy’s lies and defeat him every time!

Today’s scripture reading: Matthew 4:1-11

1 Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.

2 And when He had fasted forty days and forty nights, afterward He was hungry.

3 Now when the tempter came to Him, he said, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.”

4 But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

5 Then the devil took Him up into the holy city, set Him on the pinnacle of the temple,

6 and said to Him, “If You are the Son of God, throw Yourself down. For it is written: ‘He shall give His angels charge over you,’

and, ‘In their hands they shall bear you up, Lest you dash your foot against a stone.’ ”

7 Jesus said to him, “It is written again, ‘You shall not tempt the Lord your God.’ ”

8 Again, the devil took Him up on an exceedingly high mountain, and showed Him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory.

9 And he said to Him, “All these things I will give You if You will fall down and worship me.”

10 Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’”

11 Then the devil left Him, and behold, angels came and ministered to Him.

Finally

Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.  Acts 28:16

Have you ever been on a long trip with young passengers that inevitably ask that dreaded question, “Are we there, yet?” Sometimes it comes very early on in your travels.  Children just don’t seem to understand time and distance and get impatient when they have to sit still for a very long time.

I wonder if the apostle Paul ever felt this way as he traveled to Rome.  It was not just a few short hours or days.  His journey took months to reach his destination.  When he left Caesarea, it was probably a few weeks before they landed at Fair Haven, which was before they ran into the 14-day storm.  Then after swimming ashore at Malta, they spent another three months there for the winter.  Finally, they boarded a ship and headed for Rome with another series of stops that added over another week to the journey.  Through it all, I didn’t once hear Paul say, “Are we there yet?”  If fact, I don’t even know if her was really ready to reach Rome.  It was an uncertainty for sure.  Except, he knew that God was taking him there for a reason and he was ready to tell others about the way of salvation when he got there.

Notice, all along the way as he traveled, he did the same thing that he was called to do at Rome.  Preached the love of God in the gospel message.  He didn’t wait until he got to Rome to start up his ministry again, he just continued to do it wherever he was forced to be at the time.  Through many test, trials, setbacks and even shipwreck, he used each opportunity to lead others to Jesus.  There was no, “Are we there, yet?” questions because to Paul, he was always there.  Wherever he was, he was there to do ministry and fulfil his mission.

Finally, he made it to Rome, and once again, time to get to work.  Not time to wait until he went before Caesar, but time to lead others to the Lord Jesus.  Paul really didn’t know that when he arrived at Rome, he would be separated from the rest of the prisoners and be permitted to live by himself with his own private bodyguard.  Of course, his friends, Luke and Aristarchus were with him also.  It really looked like God had thought of every detail because He did.

This leads me to ask the question to myself.  Do I get impatient on the journey of my life, or do I just do what I am called to do each day no matter where I am on the journey?  Ideally, I recognize the hand of God on each step I take and proclaim His goodness and empowering grace wherever I go.  I don’t want to get impatient and ask, “When are we going to get to the good part?” or “When will things start to be easier?”  I want to enjoy where I am each leg of the journey knowing that my God is with me and taking me through every storm and shipwreck that may happen along the way.

Today I want to encourage you to love and enjoy the life you have been given.  Live each day on your mission and purpose.  Don’t let stress of the unknown weigh you down, instead, trust that the Holy Spirit is leading you and making each step to take plain and clear.  When it feel like it is taking a long time to get to where you want to be, don’t complain about having to sit and wait.  Praise God right where you are and make ways to do your ministry no matter what is going on around you.  I want to leave you with this final encouraging scripture in 1 Peter 3:10-12 that says: “He who would love life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from speaking deceit.  Let him turn away from evil and do good; Let him seek peace and pursue it. For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and His ears are open to their prayers; But the face of the Lord is against those who do and speak evil.”

The actual formula for loving life and seeing good days:

1. Refrain your tongue from evil speaking, complaining and speaking lies and deceitful words.
2. Turn aways from evil ways and do good acts of kindness and love.
3. Seek peace in every situation and chase/pursue after it.

The rewards of loving life and seeing good days:

1. God’s eye of protection and grace will be on you.
2. His ears will be open to your prayers and requests.
3. His face will not be against you but for you.

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 28:11-16

11 After three months we sailed in an Alexandrian ship whose figurehead was the Twin Brothers, which had wintered at the island. 

12 And landing at Syracuse, we stayed three days. 

13 From there we circled round and reached Rhegium. And after one day the south wind blew; and the next day we came to Puteoli, 

14 where we found brethren, and were invited to stay with them seven days. And so we went toward Rome. 

15 And from there, when the brethren heard about us, they came to meet us as far as Appii Forum and Three Inns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage.

16 Now when we came to Rome, the centurion delivered the prisoners to the captain of the guard; but Paul was permitted to dwell by himself with the soldier who guarded him.

kindness has a cost

And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold.  Acts 28:2

 When Paul and the rest of the shipmates arrived on the island of Malta, the natives there showed them unusual kindness.  They all made it to shore, which was great, but once there, it was about to turn into another decision.  Now what?  I’m sure they wondered when they got there, what do we do next?  But just on time, the natives showed up and showed kindness and hospitality.  We know this was not their normal response because the passage says that it was unusual kindness, meaning it didn’t usually happen.

As I read through the passage, it struck me that each group of people there had a part and they all contributed in some way to what was playing out.  Notice first, that the natives welcomed them to the island by using their resources to supply heat and a dry place for all to dry out after swimming to shore.  Keep in mind that there were 276 of them that made it to land.  It must have been quite a big fire to be able to reach 276 people.  Even Paul got involved by putting more wood on the fire.  He was not the host or even someone working there, but he helped out with kindness by giving of his hand.

This is not an isolated instance for Paul, throughout the entire chapter, we have seen that Paul was a worker and always gave of his time and resources.  His kindness to others was demonstrated by valuing people no matter what the cost.  That’s what kindness is.  It is giving of your time, resources and energy to make others feel more important than the things around you.

I have never thought of kindness as a gift.  The scriptures tell us that it is fruit that shows up when the Holy Spirit is present.  However, the gift part is when giving kindness.  When you show kindness to others, you are giving and giving is the way that we become and example of Who Jesus is and what He gave to save us.  He spared no expense in His act of love and kindness to give everything He had down to His last breath so we could be reconciled to God our heavenly father.  Now we are the ones that spare no expense to show others the love of God in our lifetime.  You cannot be kind without giving something.  Don’t set a limit on what you will give to show others God’s love today.  When you are willing to give it all, kindness will show up where ever you go.

Today I want to encourage you to do your part in being kind to all people.  Don’t let selfishness, pride and lack of resources stop you.  Instead, give of your time, energy and money to invest in the eternity of those around you.  When you do, you will begin to understand that this is the reason you have been given life, health and resources, to help others in this world.

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 28:1-10

1 Now when they had escaped, they then found out that the island was called Malta. 

2 And the natives showed us unusual kindness; for they kindled a fire and made us all welcome, because of the rain that was falling and because of the cold. 

3 But when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat, and fastened on his hand. 

4 So when the natives saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he has escaped the sea, yet justice does not allow to live.” 

5 But he shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 

6 However, they were expecting that he would swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But after they had looked for a long time and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

7 In that region there was an estate of the leading citizen of the island, whose name was Publius, who received us and entertained us courteously for three days. 

8 And it happened that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever and dysentery. Paul went in to him and prayed, and he laid his hands on him and healed him. 

9 So when this was done, the rest of those on the island who had diseases also came and were healed. 

10 They also honored us in many ways; and when we departed, they provided such things as were necessary.

Suffer Loss

And the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land. Acts 27:44

 A couple weeks ago I was editing a project on my computer. The program that I was using did not have an “auto save” option so I purposefully remembered to select the save button regularly so I wouldn’t lose all my progress.  I was down to the last day after a week of shifting, correcting and enhancing when I was about to make one last change, the document had disappeared.  When I finally found it, I immediately selected save to make sure that I wouldn’t lose the work I had done the week before.  A message box appeared and said that I was about to change a saved document.  In my panic, I said “yes”.  Before I realized what I was doing, all the adjustments I had made were gone and the document saved back to it’s original form.  I was frantic now as I searched my history and all of the places, I could have possibly saved a backup copy.  Still nothing.  I sat hopelessly looking at my computer, totally giving up all hope of recovering the important report I had spent so much time on. I thought about praying and even did some, but I knew that I had caused the error, and I also knew there was little chance of finding it again.  I felt like crying, and I thought about other times when this had happened to others and even myself. 

In the grand scheme of things this was really a very little matter.  The only person that it really affected was me.  I considered my options and came to the conclusion that I would just have to start over again.  My greatest concern was that I would remember all the changes I had made and be able to duplicate them. With God’s help this would be possible.

I am sure we have all experienced the loss of possessions or even important documents at different times in our lives.  Some of the bigger things that I can think of was when my son lost his first car in an auto accident.  Of course, I was so thankful that he was completely without injury.  Yet it deeply hurt to watch him go through the disappointment and even regret of how the situation could have been different and he would still have his car.  Of course, now, many years later, he never even thinks about that car and has had many since.  Things are replaceable, yet they still cause great disappointment when they are gone.

In today’s reading, the apostle Paul was finally off the weather-beaten ship that had now broken apart in the storm.  Everything on the ship was lost and although Paul was technically a prisoner, I am sure he had some belongings with him.  He also had some friends with him, Luke and Aristarchus, who also made it to shore safely.  I think about what personal items they may have lost along the way and the potential that they could have lost some of their writings.  Especially Luke who documented accounts of their journeys daily and Paul wrote letters often.  How devasting if those were lost.  At the time, I am sure they had no idea that those documents would encourage and lead the church for years to come.  I am so thankful that God protects His words so that they will never be lost.  In the grand scheme, I know they were thankful to be alive and although they probably felt bad about losing some things, they still trusted God to restore what they needed.

I am so thankful for the things I have in life that make ministry possible and quite frankly make my life easier.  If I were to lose my comforts, would I still be thankful for my life and use it to the fullest or would I sulk because of the things I no longer possessed.  God is not against us having things, but he is against things having our heart.  He knows that material belongings will always wear out, get broken and disappoint us.  However, when we give our heart to him, He will always provide what we need to get His purpose accomplished. That is where our greatest joy and fulfilment come from.

Today I want to encourage you not to cling to earthly things.  Yes, they can make life easier and even more enjoyable, but they can never fill the empty space inside of each one of us that was made for God to live in.  Invite Him each day to sit on the throne of your heart then when you suffer loss, whether it is something big like a vehicle or as small as a document, He will comfort and supply you with whatever you need to get through those times.  Get a “big picture” view today and realize what is most important in this world . . . your life saved and all others.

If you have never received God’s great gift of salvation, do that today.  You can ask Him to come in right now and sit on the throne of your heart.  Pray this prayer from your heart and He will come in and save you.  He will provide everything that you need to accomplish the plan He has designed you for.

Pray: God in heaven, I know I’m a sinner and I need a Savior.  I want to turn away from my sinful life to the life You have planned for me.  Please forgive my sins, cleanse me from my past, and make me new today.  I know Your Son, Jesus died for me.  I believe in my heart that You raised Him from the dead.  At this very moment, I accept, confess, and proclaim Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior . . . to be Lord of my life from this day forward.  I now have a right relationship with God my Father through this salvation in the blood of Jesus. I thank You for giving me Your Holy Spirit to guide me and to empower me to accomplish the things You have planned for my life in Jesus’ name, Amen

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 27:39-44

39 When it was day, they did not recognize the land; but they observed a bay with a beach, onto which they planned to run the ship if possible. 

40 And they let go the anchors and left them in the sea, meanwhile loosing the rudder ropes; and they hoisted the mainsail to the wind and made for shore. 

41 But striking a place where two seas met, they ran the ship aground; and the prow stuck fast and remained immovable, but the stern was being broken up by the violence of the waves.

42 And the soldiers’ plan was to kill the prisoners, lest any of them should swim away and escape. 

43 But the centurion, wanting to save Paul, kept them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should jump overboard first and get to land, 

44 and the rest, some on boards and some on parts of the ship. And so it was that they all escaped safely to land.

The big turnaround

And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat.  Acts 27:35

Wouldn’t it be great in this life if you could take everyone around you to heaven with you when you go?  That everywhere you went, all people would have the opportunity to hear the message of salvation and then receive it?  That’s what happened with the apostle Paul, everywhere he was, he told everyone there about the good news of Jesus.  Some received salvation and some received seeds, but all receive something.

In today’s reading, it is truly amazing that Paul went from being the person on the ship that no one would listen to, to being the one making all the decisions.  After he spoke up and told the crew that an angel had stood by him, and reminded the leaders that his advice was to stay at the last port for the winter, he gained great credibility.  Now he was able to keep prisoners from escaping, got everyone to eat, prayed with them all and every life was saved on the ship.  Everything he said, they did because they believed his words. This was a big turnaround in this voyage.  If they had continued to go by their own wits and not heeded Paul’s advice, they all would have lost their lives out in that storm.

Paul depended on God to get him through the storm, but he also did his part.  He didn’t just tell people what to do, he told what he heard from God.  It didn’t always make sense and it wasn’t always easy, but he followed what the Lord showed him and he spoke what the Holy Spirit told him.

You can have a big turnaround in your life too.  By pressing in and listening to what the Holy Spirit is showing you today in your life, you can have an immediate change in your direction in life.  You will also bring those with you along.  Even if they have not yet received God’s great love for them, they will watch as your life transforms in front of them.  Following what you hear the Holy Spirit speak to your heart or what He shows you in the scriptures will not always make sense to those watching.  In fact, you may even experience some resistance as others give you feedback but stay the course and you will avoid tragic outcomes that your enemy is trying to lead you to.

Today I want to encourage you to move toward your great turnaround.  If you have been caught in a storm for a while or even if you just don’t have His peace in every area of life, step close to Him today by spending time praising and worshiping and listening intently to the direction He is pointing you.  Your storm may not stop immediately, but you will have His peace. Then ask Him for His empowering grace to get you through to your victory and thank Him that your great turnaround is on the way!

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 27:27-38

27 Now when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven up and down in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors sensed that they were drawing near some land. 

28 And they took soundings and found it to be twenty fathoms; and when they had gone a little farther, they took soundings again and found it to be fifteen fathoms. 

29 Then, fearing lest we should run aground on the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern, and prayed for day to come. 

30 And as the sailors were seeking to escape from the ship, when they had let down the skiff into the sea, under pretense of putting out anchors from the prow, 

31 Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men stay in the ship, you cannot be saved.” 

32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the skiff and let it fall off.

33 And as day was about to dawn, Paul implored them all to take food, saying, “Today is the fourteenth day you have waited and continued without food, and eaten nothing. 

34 Therefore I urge you to take nourishment, for this is for your survival, since not a hair will fall from the head of any of you.” 

35 And when he had said these things, he took bread and gave thanks to God in the presence of them all; and when he had broken it he began to eat. 

36 Then they were all encouraged, and also took food themselves. 

37 And in all we were two hundred and seventy-six persons on the ship. 

38 So when they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship and threw out the wheat into the sea.

Encouraged in your storm

Saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed, God has granted you all those who sail with you.’  Acts 27:24

Sometimes the storms of life rage so violently that it can be hard to hear anything not to mention the still quiet voice of the Holy Spirit on the inside.  When the craziness of life turns things upside down, if often feels like all you can do is panic.  Trying to make good decisions in that time of urgency can almost feel impossible, but you got to do something, right?  If you are anything like me, you pretty much feel obligated to do something in those stressful seasons to try anything possible to calm the storm, but the truth is, you can actually have peace right in the middle of it.

In today’s reading, the ship Paul was sailing to Rome on got caught in a storm and could not get out.  It was days, even weeks that the crew battled to keep the ship on course.  Everyone on board was seasick from being tossed around in the winds for nearly two weeks.  The passage says that they were at the point where all hope of surviving the tempest was gone.  They had given up the fight because all hope was lost.  Finally, Paul heard from God.  He had sent an angel to stand with Paul and encourage him.  Paul was given peace right in the middle of the storm and he was able to share that peace and message with the entire crew.  He encouraged them to cheer up and eat so they could have enough strength to make it to shore.  Nothing really changed in that moment, the storm didn’t go away.  Yet, they were all given hope that changed the way they were thinking.  That is when they got up, ate and pressed on until they were able to get to land.

That’s what happens when you hear from the Holy Spirit on the inside of your heart.  Nothing is going to change in your circumstance until it first changes in your heart.  When you hear something on the inside or a scripture resonates with your spirit to let you know that God is with you and will take you through to victory.  That is when peace comes.  Though the storm may still be raging and the winds still blowing you around, you have hope and now you have something to anchor it to . . . the “word” that He gave you.

Today I want to encourage you in whatever storm you are in, to press in to what the Lord wants you to hear and say about your situation.  Wait there with thanksgiving until you hear those encouraging words that bring peace.  Then take hold of that scripture or Word and begin to thank Him for it.  Thank Him that He has given you hope and peace and thank Him that He is calming the circumstances around you.  Then continue to thank Him every time you think of the storm or see the results of it.  It won’t be long at all when you begin to see a shift and the end in sight.  Thank Him for the victory that He has planned and prepared for you because you know He will always take you there.  Then remember and even write down how He rescued you so that you are ready when the next storm comes to try to push you around.

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 27:13-26

13When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their desire, putting out to sea, they sailed close by Crete. 

14But not long after, a tempestuous head wind arose, called Euroclydon. 

15So when the ship was caught, and could not head into the wind, we let her drive. 

16And running under the shelter of an island called Clauda, we secured the skiff with difficulty. 

17When they had taken it on board, they used cables to undergird the ship; and fearing lest they should run aground on the Syrtis Sands, they struck sail and so were driven. 

18And because we were exceedingly tempest-tossed, the next day they lightened the ship. 

19On the third day we threw the ship’s tackle overboard with our own hands. 

20Now when neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest beat on us, all hope that we would be saved was finally given up.

21 But after long abstinence from food, then Paul stood in the midst of them and said, “Men, you should have listened to me, and not have sailed from Crete and incurred this disaster and loss. 

22 And now I urge you to take heart, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship. 

23 For there stood by me this night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve, 

24 saying, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must be brought before Caesar; and indeed God has granted you all those who sail with you.’ 

25 Therefore take heart, men, for I believe God that it will be just as it was told me. 

26 However, we must run aground on a certain island.”

Well pleased

But Jesus said, “It should be done, for we must carry out all that God requires.” So John agreed to baptize him.  Matthew 3:15

John the Baptist objected to baptizing Jesus, but when I think about this I wonder, who else would have done it.   There was no one else around that had the revelation of baptizing people.  At least not that we can see in scripture.  He finally agrees to do it with a little coaxing from Jesus. Jesus tells John that this is the way God the Father planned it to work out.  When Jesus came out of the water, there was a voice from heaven saying: “This is my beloved Son, in whom I whom very pleased.”

I always thought that God was pleased with Jesus because He was perfect and was better than everyone else.  However, the real reason Jesus pleased the Father was because He fulfilled His plan and mission in the world.  Yes, He was perfect and never sinned, but God the Father was glorified in Jesus submitting His will to God each day.

Think about it, why did Jesus need to be baptized?  He didn’t have an old sinful nature that needed to be put to death, buried, and raise up with Jesus.  Jesus hadn’t even died yet, so He couldn’t be baptized into the body of believers.  Jesus was baptized because it was a step of obedience in the assignment He was given to complete here in the world.

We too have an assignment and mission while we are here in the world.  When we submit to our Father in heaven each day and walk out the plan He made for us, He is well pleased with you and me in the same way.  Psalms 139:16 tells us that God planned everyday of our lives before we even took our first breath.  You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.

Today I want to encourage you to submit every area of your life to the plan God has written for you.  Thank Him for His good plans and that He knows you so well to put together such a unique and special assignment.  Then thank Him for making it clear and plain so that you can follow that path and accomplish all that is in His heart for you.  Glorify His name as you reach others and impact your world for the Kingdom of Heaven and look forward to the day at the end of your deployment to hearing those words: “This is my precious and love child in whom I am well pleased!  Well done My good and faithful one!”

Today’s scripture reading: Matthew 3:13-17

13 Then Jesus came from Galilee to John at the Jordan to be baptized by him.

14 And John tried to prevent Him, saying, “I need to be baptized by You, and are You coming to me?”

15 But Jesus answered and said to him, “Permit it to be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he allowed Him.

16 When He had been baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened to Him, and He saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and alighting upon Him.

17 And suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

Ministry of baptism

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.  Matthew 3:11

John the Baptist was baptizing people to repentance before Jesus stepped out into His public ministry.  These were not believers, but they were people ready to dedicate their life to following the Messiah when He came.  This was a new concept.  There was no one else baptizing at that time.  John was the only one and as He was baptizing people, he told them that the Messiah was coming at any time.  He spoke of the Messiah as if he knew Him personally and He did.  They were actually related, they were cousins.

Interestingly enough, John didn’t tell people who the Messiah was before it was the right time.  Even though John had known Jesus for his entire life, he wasn’t going around telling people that his cousin was the Messiah.  He did tell people that he, John was not the coming One and there was One coming after him that was greater than John.  John kept himself in check by remaining humble when he could have been boasting about their connection.  He kept the focus on the one that was coming after him and said he wasn’t even worthy to tie up his sandals.  He also said that when the Messiah comes, He will baptize His followers with the Holy Spirit and fire.

Now this was something that got attention.  Up until that point, only prophets and sometimes kings and priest had the Holy Spirit.  Now they were hearing that they too could get baptized with the Holy Spirit and His fire.  This was something to get excited about back then and it is for us today, too.  As believers and Jesus followers, we sometime forget the supernatural work that He did when we invited Jesus into our lives and made Him Lord.  We were a walking dead spirit brought to life by the resurrection power of the Holy Spirit of God.  Oh, that we would revel in knowing that God has done an amazing supernatural work and transformed us into a new creation that never existed before.  Think about it.

Today I want to encourage you by first of all saying: Messiah has come and paid the penalty of the sin of the world!  Take some time to think about and cherish the relationship you entered into at the point of your salvation.  Now think about how that relationship has grown over time and you are so much closer to Him today than ever before.  Lastly, share that repentance message with someone today and tell them how they can know Him personally.  Keep yourself humble and submit to His ways and you will see the work of the Lord show up in supernatural ways each day.

Today’s scripture reading: Matthew 3:7-12

7 But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to his baptism, he said to them, “Brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

8 Therefore bear fruits worthy of repentance,

9 and do not think to say to yourselves, ‘We have Abraham as our father.’ For I say to you that God is able to raise up children to Abraham from these stones.

10 And even now the ax is laid to the root of the trees. Therefore every tree which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.

12 His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

Missed opportunity

And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.  Acts 27:12

I wrote earlier in Acts about alternate endings.  When the apostle Paul was trying to go to Asia to preach the gospel, but it wasn’t working out.  Then he had a dream about someone calling him to go to Macedonia.  If Paul had pressed through and ignored the Holy Spirit, the results would be a totally different world than what we live in today.  There definitely would have been an alternate result of his ministry.

In the reading today, once again there could have been an alternate ending.  Paul was on his way to Rome and the ship that was taking him there needed to harbor for the winter.  However, because the majority of the crew did not find the harbor suitable to stay for that length of time, they decided to try to get to a harbor in Crete.  If they had heeded the warnings of Paul, they could have saved their cargo and their ship, not to mention spent the winter there with Paul and significantly impacted that region with the message of salvation.  As we know, anywhere Paul was there were signs, wonders and salvation.  This crew could have spent the entire winter becoming disciples of the good news message instead of almost dying in the great sea and losing all but their lives there.

As I consider alternate endings today, I sometimes see them as missed opportunities.  Many times, when following the plan of God, they are missed opportunities for failure, which I am happy to miss.  In the case of the passage today, it was a missed opportunity to spend time with Paul and mission out on learning much about the revelation he had been given in his lifetime.  We often do not recognize the opportunities we are missing because we are moved by the things we can see and figure out on our own.  If we would instead be led by God’s Spirit, we could capitalize on every opportunity He brings our way.  No matter how outlandish it may seem. 

Today I want to encourage you to be on the lookout for opportunities your heavenly Father may be trying to get you to step into.  One way to recognize them is if you are constantly being offered the same thing over and over.  For example, a job opportunity or a move of some kind that has some questions or even looks like a step backwards.  Often times, God is rerouting your life, and it can look like backtracking when it is actually a set up for a turn around.  Listen closely for the subtle hints He is giving you and when you have opportunities, don’t make your decisions based on your own understanding or what you think that others would expect you to do, or they would do themselves.  Instead, wait until the direction is plain and clear from the Holy Spirit, then ask Him to increase your faith, give you His empowering grace and strengthen His peace inside of you as you take steps in that direction.  Most times the steps will be slow and subtle so you can see things working out as you are faithful to get there.  We have an advantage over those in the world of the Holy Spirit inside of us.  Let’s start following His direction instead of following the blind leaders of the blind.  Before long, others will be wanting to hear how things always seem to work out for you and you can tell them about your secret weapon of your divine connection.

Today’s Scripture Reading: Acts 27:9-12

9 Now when much time had been spent, and sailing was now dangerous because the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 

10 saying, “Men, I perceive that this voyage will end with disaster and much loss, not only of the cargo and ship, but also our lives.” 

11 Nevertheless the centurion was more persuaded by the helmsman and the owner of the ship than by the things spoken by Paul. 

12 And because the harbor was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised to set sail from there also, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete opening toward the southwest and northwest, and winter there.

Out of Control

And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment.  Acts 27:1

 If you are anything like me, you like feeling as if you are in control of most things in your life.  Even if it is just on the surface, I feel safest when I am the one who is determining the choices I will make.  Many years I made decisions based on what was popular or what I wanted to do at the time, but I always seem to get myself in a place where I had little or no control over what happened next.  It was not wisdom that I followed or based my choices on, so often I would have to bear the consequences of foolishness.  It was very frustrating at times because I would have to call out to someone for help, usually financial, because I lived my life only thinking about me and mine.  In that position, it would have been easy to fall into a victim mentality, and sometimes I actually did.  But mostly, I was determined that I had gotten myself into the mess and it was up to me to get out. Thank goodness I had enough sense to call on God even when I was leaving Him out of most of my life.

Now I try to make my decisions base on God’s direction.  When I don’t know what is the right thing to do, I don’t go asking other people who don’t follow the Lord, I get godly counsel and especially press into to my heavenly Father for the plan.  He is faithful to be there and He always has a plan but what I do after that is follow it.  Most times it is totally different than I would have thought of and always it requires faith steps to believe that God is going to do His part after I make the way doing mine.

So in the reading today, it looked like Paul was up against some circumstances that he had no control over.  First of all, he was a prisoner, and most prisoners were at the mercy of the guards watching over them.  However, because Paul was trusting God and actually on the path God had planned for Him, there was favor with him wherever he was.  A man name Julius was in charge and actually showed kindness to Paul and those traveling with him.  Paul was even given permission to see friends and receive care and provisions from them.  This is amazing!  He was completely released on his own while they were in port at Sidon.  Even though he was obviously not in control, he was given freedoms.  Of course, we know this was only because he was living step by step following the plan of God for his life.

This is great news because we can have the same kind of favor and freedom right in the middle of storms and places that we are obviously out of our control.  Think about it at your job or when you go out any place in public.  Or those times when you are in a troubling trial, God’s favor can even reach you right there in the middle.

Today I want to encourage you to get in line with the plan of God for your life.  Listen and follow the directions He is speaking to your heart.  Then when you have times in life that are out of your control, you will see the One who is in control show up right in the middle of your struggle.  He will give you favor, and He will get you through to victory.  You can really only control one person in your life and that is you. Decide today that you are not going to make any more decisions without God’s help from His Spirit and His Word.

Today’s scripture reading: Acts 27:1-8

1 And when it was decided that we should sail to Italy, they delivered Paul and some other prisoners to one named Julius, a centurion of the Augustan Regiment. 

2 So, entering a ship of Adramyttium, we put to sea, meaning to sail along the coasts of Asia. Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, was with us. 

3 And the next day we landed at Sidon. And Julius treated Paul kindly and gave him liberty to go to his friends and receive care. 

4 When we had put to sea from there, we sailed under the shelter of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary. 

5 And when we had sailed over the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia. 

6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing to Italy, and he put us on board.

7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, the wind not permitting us to proceed, we sailed under the shelter of Crete off Salmone. 

8 Passing it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.