God is a Thought Away

The mind oscillates.

Concentration is the continuous return

to the same thing from a million angles.

Can I bring God back in my mind-flow every few seconds,

so that he will always be part of every concept and precept?

- Frank Laubach

Paul wrote, Finally brothers and sisters, 

whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right,

whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable 

- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy - think about such things.

Whatever repeatedly enters the mind occupies the mind,

eventually shapes the mind, and will ultimately

express itself in what you do and who you become.

- John Ortberg

 

Who Lives in Our Minds?

The Bible talks about mediocre spiritual life.

In the Jewish tradition, it is yetzer hara, the wayward heart.

The goal is to have a mind in which God is present

and gradually crowds out every distorted belief,

every destructive feeling, every misguided intention.

We know our minds are increasingly "set on God"

when the moods dominating our inner life are

love, joy and peace - primary components of the fruit of the Spirit.

- John Ortberg

Search Me, O God  

   During the presidential campaign of 2000, Al Gore took Scripture out of context. Something like, "The eye has not seen nor ear heard..." (what wonderful things we'll do when I'm elected). I think it's from the book of Isaiah.

   In other words, "You ain't seen nothin yet!" We'll never know what we missed in a Gore administration. Or, maybe we do know, given recent news.   

   Following the chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, President Biden also quoted Isaiah: "Whom shall I send? Who shall go for us?"

   He added, "The American military's been answering for a long time, 'Here I am, Lord, send me.'"  

   Amazing! Isaiah knew in 700 B.C. that the U.S. military would... Oh. Wait. Isaiah himself volunteered to be sent. This is getting so confusing. 

   If the Lord sent the military to Vietnam... No. No. It must have been President Johnson. 

   The fact is, Biden uses the name Lord to throw imaginary glory on a retreat that was anything but glorious. And we have seen and heard already what hell is likely to emerge from that nation in years to come. 

   It's fitting for leaders to quote the Bible - our forefathers did - but not out of context for political purposes.

   Enough of that. Let's apply Scripture to ourselves. 

   The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.

- Galatians 5:22-23

   We can receive the Spirit's enablement, one day at a time. We may not always appreciate our leaders, and we may not agree with each other on every count, but the fruit - if we allow - guides our hearts and minds...no matter what.

   In Psalm 139, David prayed: Search me O God, and know my heart! 

              Jimmy  

Lord, Have Mercy     

   It took the lone Senate parliamentarian to prevent immigrants from getting legal status in a "budget reconciliation" bill. 

   Same goes for a $15 minimum wage by the same process.

   "Congressional leaders have abandoned legislative persuasion and anointed raw political power," writes the editor of WORLD magazine. In 2013 Harry Reid muscled through a measure to eliminate the 60-vote requirement for confirming presidential nominees. In 2017, Mitch McConnell did the same for Supreme Court nominees. 

   In recent years, Congress (both parties) has shut down the federal government three times while fighting over spending bills. In 2005 and 2006, House committees met 449 times to deliberate legislation. By 2015 and 2016, that number fell to 254.

   The Senate's fall - from 252 committee meetings to 69. 

   Instead of compromise and deliberation, congressional politics has become a hunt for power. 

   The American Enterprise Institute has suggestions for reform. 

   We the voters could improve Congress by electing "candidates more serious about statesmanship and less addicted to showmanship," WORLD says. But, how many voters these days know the difference? Views wants to know.

   As our cousin in Arizona used to say, and probably still does, Lord, have mercy! 

          Jimmy

      

 Evidence for Seekers 

   Does God provide insufficient evidence, as atheist philosopher Bertrand Russell once claimed? 

   Marvin Olasky, himself once an atheist, of Jewish birth, offers a few history lessons for anyone looking for God - in human activity.

1. Thirty Years War. Catholics and Protestants fought each other, using Christian claims to pursue their subjective tendencies.

2. Enlightenment. It produced the French Revolution, exchanging God for the religion of Reason, which led to the guillotine.

3. American racism. Slaves were brutalized and 600,000 or more Civil War soldiers died. Northerners abandoned ex-slaves in 1877 and we are still paying for the sins of our patriarchs.  

4. 20th Century. Germans, Russians and others adopted the teachings of Darwin and Marx. Consider the Holocaust and Stalin's mass murders. Humans treated as products of material forces. Knowledge without wisdom. 

5. Atomic bombs. Never before in history has a potent new weapon not been used again. God, perhaps? Pray that Iran and North Korea don't join the club. 

6. Jewish nation. What are the odds that Abraham's few descendants would reassemble in Palestine amid enemy nations, after 2,000 years, and after 6 million murdered? 50-1. God keeps his promises. Stay tuned!  

   Olasky adds, of any similar population, Israel has had far more Nobel Prize winners, chess champions, and other leading intellectuals ... even more comedians.

   Blaise Pascal, he writes, was wiser than Bertrand Russell. He understood that God establishes Biblical objectivity while respecting man's subjective liberty: 

"God is willing to appear openly to those who seek him with all their heart, and to be hidden from those who flee from him with all their heart. God so regulates the knowledge of himself that he has given indications of himself which are visible to those who seek him, and not to those who do not seek him. There is enough light, and enough obscurity."

Sound Minds

Paul understood the chaos of human minds.

He warned Ephesians about "the futility of their thinking."

He told the Roman church - as for those who suppress the truth - 

God "gave them over to a depraved mind...

to sexual impurity... to shameful lusts..."

God desires that our minds are filled with life-giving thoughts.

Paul didn't tell the Romans to transform their minds.

He wrote, "be transformed by the renewing of your minds."

To Timothy: "God has not given us a spirit of fear;

but of power and of love and of a sound mind."

We can invite God to be present in our mind.

Or we can close the door to him.

- John Ortberg

Mental Chaos

The normal state of mind is chaos.

Absent demands or attention, the mind is basic disorder.

It follows random patterns.

Entropy is the normal state of consciousness.

People are naturally eager to fill their minds with something.

This explains why so much time is invested in watching TV.

- John Ortberg

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK

Tomorrow: God has a better idea.

Hope for the Lukewarm                                          

        Laodicea, in Turkey                    

   Decades after Jesus arose, he appeared in such brilliance John fell as though dead. But the Lord revived him, giving his old disciple messages for seven churches, truth for the ages. 

   The church in ancient, wealthy Laodicea received a "wake up or else." Church members were lukewarm - worse than cold, Jesus said, because they thought they were doing okay, but were not. 

   In Revelation 3:18-19, the Lord urged attendees to buy from me gold (faith) refined in the fire (no impurities) so you can become rich. He added, white clothes (righteousness) to wear so you can cover your shameful nakedness ... and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see (truth and help from the Spirit).

   Eye-salve was one of the products Laodicea was known for. 

   Come...you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. Why spend money on what is not bread and your labor on what does not satisfy? - Isaiah 55:1-2

   Jesus was harsh, but he offered hope. 

   Here I am! he told John to write to the Laodiceans. I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will go in and eat with him, and he with me. - Rev. 3:20-21

   To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne.

Imagine! 

   So, we open the door and keep overcoming, despite problems, battles and difficulties. When we need to confess, we can trust in his forgiveness and cleansing.

Source: the late Dr. Stanley Horton

   

Lukewarm Coffee Isn't Our Thing 

   Neither is a lukewarm dinner, or lukewarm friendship.

   Consider "we the people," free to excel if we are able, within the law. 

   We Americans have many goods and possessions, some of them in storage, laid up in the attic or in the garage. We just run out of room for it all.

   God has no objection to wealth, especially if someone helps the poor and supports missionaries. 

   Then again, he considers some of the rich to be, wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. - Rev. 3:17. Ouch! 

   Some early churches formed and grew hot. Blessings! 

   Some turned cold. Scolding!   

   Some were satisfied to be lukewarm. What could the Lord do with them? 

   Lukewarm churches or individuals don't respond to the Holy Spirit's enablement. Or to Jesus' instruction: Follow me! We're not cold enough to see our lostness. We don't think we need to repent.

   For those of us living comfortably, prosperity might crowd out faith. Multiplied possessions can possess us, even though we take communion.

   Jews long for the Messiah to come. Do we long for Jesus to return, or are we quite satisfied where we are? 

   Paul wrote to the Philippians (4:12-13):

 I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. 

I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, 

whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. 

I can do everything through him who gives me strength.

Continued tomorrow: A center of commerce

The Mind is Never Still

We are having thoughts at such a staggering rate 

that we don't even remember the vast majority of them.

Each thought carries a little spiritual power...

a tug toward or away from God.

Every thought is either enabling and strengthening us

to live a kingdom kind of life,

or robbing us of that life.

Every thought to some degree is God-breathed,

moving us toward love and joy and peace and patience.

Or God-avoidant, leading to death.

 

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK            

God's Silence

God's primary concern for me is not my external situation.

It's the kind of person I'm becoming.

God's silence does not mean his absence.

There are things we can do to make our minds

increasingly receptive to his presence in our thoughts.

God is never more than a single thought away.

"The mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace."

Romans 8:6

"Those controlled by the sinful nature cannot please God."

Romans 8:8

- John Ortberg

 If Not Disciples…Rocks

    The first day of the last week, the King of kings rode humbly into Jerusalem on a colt. (see Zechariah 9:9) 

    Residents, aware of his miracles, joyfully spread their cloaks and palm branches on the road, praising God in loud voices: Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!   - Psalm 118:26  

    Pharisees, not buying the "king" idea, said, "Teacher, rebuke your disciples!" Jesus replied, "I tell you, if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out."

If Not Pro-Lifers…Bones

    Marchers, lawyers and pregnancy center counselors battle long odds. We assume that some in government and media are looking for a way to silence pro-lifers. Would opposition to abortion end?

    “Maybe so,” wrote Marvin Olasky, “but the very bones cry out.”  

    He refers to a book, CHOICE WORDS, quoting 150 international authors, all committed to abortion, or at least, choice.

    Twenty of them included “poetry that shows how abortion sometimes leads to self-hatred and is always tragic,” Olasky wrote. One of them is Gwendolyn Brooks, the first African-American to win a Pulitzer Prize for poetry, in 1945.

    Pratibha Kelapure wrote of “blood, hope and the whisper of a life flowed away, leaving the elephant of guilt on your shoulder until your heart is buried too deep to pulse with life.”

    Farideh Mostafavi wrote, “Since your death in the eyes of all flowers, I am nothing but the wind with the bloody hands.”

    The book also shows how abortion hardens some. Leyla Josephine wrote, in part, “I will not be tamed. It will not be wasted. This is my body. This is my body. This is my body. I don’t care about your ignorant views.”

    In another column, Olasky wrote that abortion could be called “child sacrifice.”

            Jimmy

 

 

Let Creation Teach Us 

   You may have seen this, recently passing around the internet.

   Canary eggs hatch in 14 days.

      Barnyard hens hatch in 21 days.

         Ducks and geese hatch in 28 days.

            Mallard eggs, they hatch in 35 days. 

               Parrot and Ostrich eggs hatch in 42 days. 

   All horses rise first on their two front legs.

   All cows rise first on their two hind legs. 

   All elephants rise up on four legs, bending forward. 

   Every watermelon has an even number of stripes.

   Every orange has an even number of segments.

   Every ear of corn has an even number of rows.

   Every stalk of wheat has an even number of grains. 

   The lowest row of bananas on the bunch is an even number.

   Each row of bananas above the lowest row decreases by one.

   Waves of the sea splash on the shore at the rate of 26 times per minute, regardless of weather. 

   We're going to check that out.  

The Stairway

   We thought angels could fly. 😏 

   In Jacob's dream (Genesis 28), angels were walking up and down a stairway connecting earth with heaven. The Lord stood above it with a message that changed Jacob from self-centered to a believer worthy to carry forward grandfather Abraham's blessing. 

   So, how do we get blessed? 

   Ask the Pharisee of Pharisees, head of the class, straight A's, Summa Cum Laude. While Jesus' disciples had no formal education, Saul was an intellect and legalist, until the risen Christ surprised him (like Jacob), changing not only his name but his purpose.

   After much relearning, with the Holy Spirit's help, Paul (and others) began spreading the gospel throughout the Roman world, mostly to Gentiles. Hard and dangerous life. 

   He and other NT authors (see John 3:4-10), contrast the opposing powers of truth and of sin. Because all of us - since Adam's fall - are born in sin (selfishness; human desires), we must be born again with a new nature, into a new realm of life. 

   Children are welcomed by Christ. When we are old enough to be held accountable, we are held accountable. We are weighed down by the power of sin, like gravity. 

   When we surrender, the Lord's power enables us to rise, to begin a lifelong process of growing to be like him. It's a day by day effort.  

The above based on Romans chapter 6

   If...If there was a stairway, say - 100 steps of spiritual potential, from 1 to 100 percent - we know a man who was in church all his life. He didn't reach the first step until in his 30s. Thanks to a rough ordeal in his late 40s, he made it to step 2. All this in his opinion, not God's.  

   Should he grow cold, or even lukewarm, he risks the gravity of sin, pulling him off the stairway. The same can be said of a person on step 92. It's a grave matter. 

   Clothe yourself with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the sinful nature. - Romans 13:14  

        Jimmy

 

 

The Dead Are Judged

   We hope you followed "Power Week," from creation into the millennium. There is another exercise of power we did not include.

   Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence…  And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne and books were opened.

   The sea gave up the dead…and each person was judged… Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. … If anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire. - Revelation 20:11-15

Lord or Savior? Which Comes First?

   Paul answers the question in Romans 10:9: If you confess with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.

   Who is a lord (Greek hyrios)? A lord is someone with power, dominion, authority and the right to master.

   The earliest confession of the New Testament church was, Jesus is Lord. He is called Lord more than 450 times in Scripture; he is called Savior 16 times.

   In Acts 2:36-40, Peter, having spent time with the risen Christ, told his audience, God has made this Jesus … both Lord and Christ.

   Commentary: Jesus is worthy of power (Rev. 5:12), worship (Php. 2:10-11), trust (John 14:1; Heb. 2:13), obedience (Heb. 5:9), and prayer (Acts 7:59-60; 2 Cor. 12:8).

   Before we consider him our Savior, we allow him lordship over our life (Luke 6:46-49; John 15:14). This includes home, church, intellectual, financial, educational, recreational and vocational spheres of life. – Romans 12:1-2.

 

  

 

 

God is infinite

He is able to guide our thoughts.

He can speak to us through Scripture,

or the words of another person.

He has direct access.

He can plant a thought directly into our minds. 

Without our knowing it.

- John Ortberg 

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK             

   

Any thoughts must align with the written Word,

or they aren't from God. 

          Jimmy

Do we hear voices?

Some are distorted and destructive,

speaking of envy, resentment and fear.

Some are healthy and strong.

Christians are called to listen to one Voice.

Jesus said that he is the Good Shepherd and

his "sheep follow him because they know his voice." 

His words are variously known as "notions,"

"concerns," "promptings," or "leadings."

POWER WEEK!

5 of 5

God’s Power Made Perfect in Our Weakness

   Paul wrote to the Corinthians that he was sent to preach the gospel … not with human wisdom, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.  My preaching…is not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power.

A Time of Wrath is Coming

   God will pay back trouble to those who trouble. … This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels.                  - 2 Thessalonians 6-7 

   The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful Word. - Hebrews 1:3 

   At that time the sign of the Son of Man will appear in the sky. They will see (him) with power and great glory. – Matthew 24:30

A Thousand Year Reign

   The Spirit of the Lord will rest on him, the Spirit of wisdom … understanding … counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the Lord.              – Isaiah 11:2

   And many people and powerful nations will come to Jerusalem to seek the Lord Almighty and to entreat (ask earnestly) him. – Zechariah 8:22

   The end will come when (Jesus) hands over the kingdom to God after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power. – 1 Corinthians 15:24

And in Heaven

   You are worthy our Lord and God to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things. – Revelation 4:11

   Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise. – Revelation 5:12

   After this I heard what sounded like the roar of a great multitude in heaven, shouting, 'Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and just are his judgments.' – Revelation 19:1 

 POWER WEEK!

4 of 5

Disciples Slow to Believe

   The power that raised Christ was a hard sell to the 11 remaining disciples. Jesus suddenly appeared to them while they were eating. He rebuked them for their lack of faith and their refusal to believe the women who had first seen him. They were startled, thinking they saw a ghost.

   Look at my hands and my feet, he said, showing the scars of crucifixion - transferred to his resurrected body. Still astonished, they watched him eat a piece of broiled fish.

   From that moment on, they would never be the same. All were willing to die rather than deny the truth.   

   Jesus opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures. He told them to stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high. – Luke 24:45, 49. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses to the ends of the earth. – Acts 1:8.

   And with great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. – Acts 4:33.

Power Offered to Us

   Ever since, believers are offered the same indwelling power. The Spirit is given to all who ask. He convicts of sin, regenerates, imparts God’s love, and enables us to say, “Jesus is Lord.” He reveals God’s truth and helps to distinguish truth from error, baptizes us into the body of Christ, and gives power and boldness to witness.

   Note: This paragraph replaces one that included many ways the Holy Spirit enables believers. We don't feel qualified even to list them for you. You can find them in New Testament letters. 

   From heaven, Jesus blinded Saul (renamed Paul), saying, I am sending you to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of darkness to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sin. 

   (Paul’s own account in Acts 26:17-18).      

Tomorrow: End times, and rejoicing in heaven

 

POWER WEEK!

3 of 5

Invisible Power ... Tangible Results

    Some 420 years after the last prophet, Malachi, powerful Rome ruled Palestine. Jews were still without independence, and the Messiah had not yet come.

   God sent the angel Gabriel – not just any angel – to tell Mary, a young virgin in Nazareth, that she will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. The Lord God will give him the throne of his Father David, and he will reign (have power) over the house of Jacob forever; his kingdom will never end.

   Mary was bewildered. Gabriel explained, The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will over-shadow you. Mary believed. I am the Lord’s servant, she replied. There was power in Mary’s belief, for her cousin Elizabeth, by the Holy Spirit, exclaimed, Blessed is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!  - Luke chapter 1

He Alone Satisfied the Law

   When Jesus begin his mission at age 30, he was tested for 40 days without food or drink, but he had the power to refuse Satan’s temptations. You know of his teaching, healing, driving out demons…and once even walking on water.

   What kind of power dwelt in authorities who knew all this, who were there when Lazarus walked out of his tomb after four days? Yet they wanted Jesus dead. Of course, it was God’s plan from the beginning, that he should suffer the punishment for all our sins, and offer grace and eternal life to those who believe, repent and obey.

   Paul later wrote, At just the right time when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. – Romans 5:6.  For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful man to be a sin offering. – Romans 8:3.

  

Tomorrow: The power of resurrection

 

 POWER WEEK  

2 of 5

Kings and Prophets Attest to God’s Power

   O Lord … you rule over all the kingdoms of the nations. Power and might are in your hand and no one can withstand you.  2 Chronicles 20:6

   Do not be afraid of the king of Assyria and the vast army … for there is a greater power with us than with him. – 2 Chronicles 32:7

   How awesome are your deeds! So great is your power that your enemies cringe before you. – Psalm 66:3 

   Great is the Lord and mighty in power; his understanding has no limit. – Psalm 147.5

The Lord Himself Declares

   I am the Lord, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me? – Jeremiah 32:27

   Meanwhile, the people – like all people – were not pleasing the Lord. First the Northern Kingdom, then the Southern Kingdom (Judah) were conquered. After 70 years, some 50,000 descendants of those exiled to Babylon travelled to Judah, built homes and importantly, a new temple. Zerubbabel, the governor, led the effort to build the temple, 520-515 B.C.

   Notice the transformation in God’s dealing: An angel told priest and prophet Zechariah, This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord Almighty.’  - Zechariah 4:6

   The Messiah did not come, as people had hoped. But the Lord gave Zechariah extraordinary prophecy concerning the future.    

Commentary, the book of Zechariah:

(1) Messianic references occur in all 14 chapters.

(2) Of the minor prophets, it contains the most specific prophecies about

end-time events. (3) It merges the priestly and prophetic roles in Israel’s history.

(4) Its visions and symbolic language resemble the apocalyptic books of Daniel

 and Revelation. (5) It prophesies the Messiah’s betrayal for 30 pieces of silver.

(6) Prophecy in chapter 14 - the Warrior-King reigning over Jerusalem.

 

Tomorrow:  Invisible power. Tangible results

 

 POWER WEEK!

1 of 5

Who has power? Who doesn’t? What forms does it take?

   By his word, God created light, water, land, vegetation, stars, planets, predictable creatures and unpredictable creatures made in his image. Jeremiah wrote that creation involved wisdom, understanding and power.

   For since the creation of the world, God’s invisible qualities, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen. – Romans 1:20

   Our globe has power of its own: hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, fires, lightning, ocean waves, gravity and more. As for humans, machine power has left horse power in the dust since the late-1800s, for better or worse.

   Words have power, as the devil demonstrated in the Garden. God will allow Satan to exercise miracle power toward the end of this age.

God is Unmatched 

   Through Moses, God proved himself powerful in Egypt. His strong wind parted the Red Sea...without retaining walls. He changed bitter water into drinkable, and made such a commotion on Mt. Sinai – the mountain trembled and so did the Israelites. He wanted them to know his power, and that his Presence would go with them.

   Remember ... the Lord your God is he who gives you the ability (and power).  -  Deuteronomy 8:18.

   After the Israelites settled the Promised Land they wanted a king, like other nations. God was all they needed, but he obliged them.

Introducing Spiritual power 

   Samuel told Saul, The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you and you will … be changed into a different person. –1 Samuel 10:6. Later, Samuel anointed David king, and the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power. – 1 Samuel 16:13.

   David’s prayer: Yours, O Lord, is the greatness and the power and the glory and the majesty and the splendor, for everything in heaven and earth is yours.   1 Chronicles 29:11

Tomorrow: Spirit replaces might

 

  

The "With-God" Experiment

Pick a day. Do what you normally do. Only, do it with God.

If you can spend one day with Jesus, you can spend every day with him.

We are not meant to embrace moments, but to embrace God.

Moments are not always good. God is never anything but good.

Moments are simply the times and places where we meet him.

GOD IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK           

         Special

          Monday- Friday: POWER WEEK

                          God is love. But he is also "wonder-working power." 

An Interruption Might be a Divine Appointment

It's possible that when the phone rings

or there's a knock on the door

or somebody wants a favor 

or we see someone with a flat tire...

it may be a divine appointment.

Jesus allowed himself to be interrupted.

Many of his miracles were Spirit-prompted interruptions.

On his way into town, a blind man named Bartimaeus 

interrupted him and received his sight.

Jesus was on his way to a good deed

when a woman with chronic illness touched him and was healed.

He was interrupted by a leper and healed him.

At a Pharisee's home a "sinful woman" crashed the party,

weeping many tears at his feet, and he forgave.

The ultimate interruption, on the cross,

was in fact the Father's greatest work for him.

- John Ortberg

 

Don't miss: Views this Monday-Friday...power from Genesis to Revelation

In the Beginning

    God created the heavens and the earth.   …and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. - Genesis 1:1-2

 Commentary

    Without the Holy Spirit there would be no creation. He is a divine person with individuality. He thinks, feels, wills and enjoys fellowship.

    The Spirit brings believers into the intimate presence of Jesus. He is infinite, loving God within our hearts.

    He convicts us, reveals truth, the new birth, and associates us into the body of Christ.

(author uncertain)      

  Starting Monday:

Visible and silent power!

Don't miss this.