Power From On High

Today’s Bible readings are Judges 9:22-10:18, Luke 24:13-53, Psalm 100:1-5, & Proverbs 14:11-12

Luke 24:49

⁴⁹ “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

As Jesus was preparing to depart from His disciples, He shared with them the message that He believed they would need to know. Of all the things that He could have spoken to them about, we see that He spoke to them about the Holy Spirit, specifically, the baptism of the Holy Spirit.

These people were already saved. They already had the Holy Spirit living in them. They received the Spirit when He breathed on them & caused them to become born again. This is what we read about happening in John’s gospel:

John 20:22

²² Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.

Yet, we see that Jesus stresses to this people that there is another event that He desires for them to experience. It is important enough that Jesus didn’t want them to try to fulfill the mission without it. Jesus had just declared what the mission of the church would be:

Luke 24:45-48

⁴⁵ Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. ⁴⁶ And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. ⁴⁷ It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations, beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ ⁴⁸ You are witnesses of all these things.

First He tells them that the message He has taught them, the things they have witnessed, & the truth He has given them, will be preached to all nations. He goes on to tell them that they are the witnesses that will take this message to the nations. But then He tells them to WAIT.

Jesus wanted them to be baptized in the Holy Spirit before they started out on the mission. He knew what they would be up against. He didn’t want them to be unarmed. He didn’t want them to fail. He didn’t want them to get overly discouraged. So He told them to wait until they were clothed with power from on high!!!

That power would:

1.      Enable them to be powerful witnesses.

2.      Equip them with supernatural ability & gifts (tongues included) to fulfill their mission.

3.      Help them understand truths that they had never fully understood.

4.      Open their eyes to new insight & revelations.

5.      Give them boldness to stand against the opposition.

6.      Fill them with a loving, fiery zeal to proclaim the message.

7.      Give them a loving & living faith.

As we later read through the book of Acts, we will see all of these in motion. It is the proof of the power that was given when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit. We will also see how the power from on high made them accomplish what they never could have accomplished otherwise.

The early church was hungry for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. It was fresh in their minds because Jesus told them directly. They didn’t have years of people teaching against the gift. They didn’t have other denominations denouncing it, as well as tongues. They were open & hungry for it. They pursued it. The desired it. They received it.

I pray that there is a holy hunger rekindled in our churches today for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I pray that people will once again be just as open to the gift, & promise, as the early church was. I am convinced that GOD NEVER CHANGES. If He wanted the early church to be baptized in the Holy Spirit & speaking in tongues, He still wants if for us today. If they needed the power, so do we. And just maybe, if we would be pen to the power, we too could see the results that the early church saw. Let it be so I Jesus name!

Pastor Richard Schlotter

Make Sure You Have Acted Honorably

Today’s Bible readings are Judges 8:18-9:21, Luke 23:44-24:12, Psalm 99:1-9, & Proverbs 14:9-10

 

Judges 9:16

¹⁶ Jotham continued, “Now make sure you have acted honorably and in good faith by making Abimelech your king, and that you have done right by Gideon and all of his descendants. Have you treated him with the honor he deserves for all he accomplished?

Gideon was a man who risked his life to bring freedom to this people. He fought for them as a mighty warrior empowered by the Holy Spirit. God did great exploits through him. Great victory was brought to the people as a result of Gideon’s obedience to the God.

Honor is a big thing to God. It matters to Him in ways that we often don’t realize. We so many times are people who pay no mind to honor, but God is a God of honor.

Revelation 4:11

¹¹ “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

 

1 Samuel 2:30

³⁰ “Therefore, the Lord, the God of Israel, says: I promised that your branch of the tribe of Levi would always be my priests. But I will honor those who honor me, and I will despise those who think lightly of me.

Deuteronomy 5:16

¹⁶ “Honor your father and mother, as the Lord your God commanded you. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God is giving you.

1 Timothy 5:17-18

¹⁷ The elders who direct the affairs of the church well are worthy of double honor, especially those whose work is preaching and teaching. ¹⁸ For Scripture says, “Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain,” and “The worker deserves his wages.”

Romans 12:10

¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Romans 13:7

⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

All this talk about honor leads me too place where I think it is important to define what honor is.

Honor:  to esteem, respect, revere, place value on something

Honor is a spiritual thing. It flows out of humility. It is a result of us having gratitude in our hearts. It leads to us being honored. Some people always complain about being dishonored. It is usually because they dishonor others that they should be honoring. The law of sowing & reaping plays a huge part in honor. When we sow honor, we receive honor. When we sow dishonor, we receive dishonor.

I have learned that going to church is on the best ways for me to honor God. There are other things that a person could do on a Sunday. Some of those things may even seem more fun to do. Yet, I know that honor God matters. That is why I choose to put Him first. It shows value when He is placed above my wants.

The other thing that is important to remember about going to church is that there are others there who need you. There is ministry that needs to be done. There are children that need to be taught. There are people who need to be prayed for. There are new comers who need to be greeted. To show honor to these individuals is to put their needs ahead of mine. When I make this step to honor others, God will make sure that I am honored. He will bless me.

Our culture today is losing this emphasis on honor. I sat & talked to an elder lady who is caring for her husband who is nearing his last days. As we talked, she said many things that made me realize that we need to place a greater emphasis on honor. Honoring God matters! Honoring our spouses matter! Honoring each other matters!

My prayer today is that honor would once again begin to take a greater place in all of our lives. I pray in Jesus name that each of us would put a greater focus on honor God, our parents, our spouses, our families, our leaders, & each other. Let our cry today be: 

“Give us clean hands, give us pure hearts, oh Spirit come make us humble.”

Pastor Richard Schlotter

THIEF

Today’s verses are Judges 7:1 - 8:17, Luke 23:13-43,

 Psalm 97:1-98:9 and Proverbs 14:7-8 

Thief

Luke 23:39-43

New Living Translation 

³⁹ One of the criminals hanging beside him scoffed, “So you’re the Messiah, are you? Prove it by saving yourself—and us, too, while you’re at it!”

⁴⁰ But the other criminal protested, “Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? ⁴¹ We deserve to die for our crimes, but this man hasn’t done anything wrong.” ⁴² Then he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”

⁴³ And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Every time I read this I feel like a new Christian again.  If you have ever listened to the Christian band Third Day you would probably have heard the song Thief.  As new Christian’s Richard and I really like this band and still do.  This particular song helped us to realize that Jesus takes us just as we are.  We came from a world filled with evil and sadness.  We were people who had a dark past.  With all of our baggage that came along with us Jesus took us in and cleaned us up.  He made us new. 

 Thief is a song about the man beside Jesus that was condemned to die for his sin.  He was alone and in need.  He wanted peace.  He knew this man was the Messiah.  He knew he deserved what he was receiving.  He asked Jesus to remember him when he came into his Kingdom.  Jesus said today you will be with me in paradise.  Jesus wants us.  All we have to do is listen to his calling and ask.

Kelly Schlotter

The Most Important Part Of Your Day

Today’s Bible readings are Judges 6:1-40, Luke 22:54-23:12, Psalm 95:1-96:13, & Proverbs 14:5-6

Psalm 95:6-7

⁶ Come, let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker, ⁷for he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would listen to his voice today!

What is the most important part of your day? Is it your morning coffee? I know for me, I really look forward to the cup of coffee each morning. It warms me. It wakes me. I need it. I want it. I don’t want my day to go far without it.

My kids really like breakfast. I have watched them stagger through the house barely able to open their eyes, go straight to the fridge, & get something to eat. Many times, I wonder if they can even see what it is that they are eating.

We all have things that really matter to us. We make time for tem each day. It doesn’t matter if we wake up late. It doesn’t matter what day of the week it is. The reason is because it is important to us.

What would happen if worship became that important in each of our lives? What would happen if we decided to be people of action? What if we all decided to live out this Psalm in our lives?  What if we all made the decision that we were going to worship our Father, God, & Savior every day NO MATTER WHAT?

I am somewhat convicted, that a cup of coffee can take precedent over my Savior. There is nothing that is going to rob me of my morning Joe. If I don’t get it at home, it is the first thing that I do when I get to the office. The point is that IT MATTERS ENOUGH TO ME TO MAKE SURE  THAT IT IS A PART OF MY MORNING—EVERY MORNING!!!

When we look at all that God has done for us, it only makes sense to worship Him. I send out a challenge today; “Are you willing to make worship the most important part of your day?”

Worship in more than songs. It is more than singing. Worship is a way of life. Here are a few over looked ways to express worship to our God:

1.      Reading the bible.

2.      Giving

3.      Fasting

4.      Praying

These are all ways that we show worth to our God. Don’t be shy about. Worship is a lifestyle. Let’s make the change to make the most important thing in our life each day is to give worship to our King!

Pastor Richard Schlotter