Prayer Changes Everything

This is the second lesson/sermon I wrote for school. This one really got me excited. I must tell you that Prayer certainly changes everything!! 

 

Paul's Sound Counsel

How many of you feel that prayer is important? Today I would like to talk about Paul's Counsel to Timothy about the church. My main focus will be on prayer and its importance.

" FIRST OF all, then, I admonish and urge that petitions, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be offered on behalf of all men, For kings and all who are in positions of authority or high responsibility, that [outwardly] we may pass a quiet and undisturbed life [and inwardly] a peaceable one in all godliness and reverence and seriousness in every way. For such [praying] is good and right, and [it is] pleasing and acceptable to God our Savior, Who wishes all men to be saved and [increasingly] to perceive and recognize and discern and know precisely and correctly the [divine] Truth." (1 Timothy 2:1-4, AMP)

 How many of you have seen people bashing our president on facebook or heard it on the news or in person? In these verses in 1 Timothy, we are called to pray for our leaders. It says, "For our kings and all who are in a position of authority or high responsibility." I know this has been a hard last four years for a lot of people and we feel like we need to blame someone. So instead of praying for our leaders we speak badly about them. I struggle with this sometimes too. We get so caught up in the moment even though we know what we are doing is wrong. The awesome thing is God can help us through it!

           

 Not only did Paul say to pray for our leaders, but he also said to pray for all men. We are to be intercessors in prayer on behalf of others. When we see people hurting or a person comes to mind we are to pray to for them. Paul says this type of prayer is "Pleasing and acceptable to God."

           

 Just a few weeks ago, before youth service I was praying in a chair over the service when I felt the prompting of the Holy Spirit telling me to pray for the person who would be sitting in that chair. As I prayed for that person to see Jesus in a brand new way; I again felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to pray for that entire row. I felt like something big was going to happen! Fast forward to the end of youth service. We had an altar call and three people on that row got saved including the person that was sitting in that specific chair. This is such a great example of what prayer can do.

          

  God wants everyone to be saved and to know the full truth of the Word. We, as Christians, have the heart of God. We should want everyone to be saved just like Jesus does. My challenge for you and for myself, is to think before we speak badly about others and instead get on our knees and pray. We should be praying for our leaders, our pastors, and our families. Prayer changes things because God gets involved. So today I challenge you to pray for others just as Paul teaches Timothy to do in this passage of scripture.

Be Confident in ME!

Be Confident in ME!

Apostle Paul's faith and hope are found all throughout the book of Philippians. Today I would like to focus on just one verse that I believe can give us all hope and faith in Jesus Christ.

"And I am convinced and sure of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will continue until the day of Jesus Christ [right up to the time of His return], developing [that good work] and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you." (Philippians 1:6, AMP)

A few months ago the Lord spoke to me during a prayer experience. He said, "Be confident in ME!" This was one of the verses He showed me in my study of this phrase that He gave to me. As I was reading through Philippians and came across this verse again it brought faith and hope to me. I believe this verse can also give faith and hope to you as well.

Now Paul said, "He is convinced and sure." This means that Paul had no doubt, at this time, that Jesus would finish in him what He had started. Paul had put his complete faith in Him. We to, can have complete faith in Him if we trust Jesus with our lives just as Paul did. We don't have to go on this journey alone and Jesus wants to lead us through everything we are going through and will go through in our lives.

Paul was in prison when he wrote this verse. Can you imagine being this full of Joy and hope if you were in prison knowing that you could be put to death at any moment? Paul was so confident that the Lord would complete in him that good work which He had started even in his worst days. I don't know about you, but the last part of this verse where it says, "He will continue developing and perfecting and bringing it to full completion in you," is so exciting! Jesus has a plan for each of our lives. The great part is He will continue to mold us and shape us into the person He wants us to be. We can have great hope in the fact that he will never, ever leave us nor forsake us. (Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5) He will always be by our side guiding us into His perfect plan for our lives.

You may be saying, I am not where I feel like I should be or I still do things and say things that I shouldn't. Do not get discouraged! God knows exactly where you are at right now. What matters is the state of your heart. Are you striving to be more like Jesus? Do you have hope that He will complete in you His perfect will for your life? If you do then just keep on praying, seeking, and reading His Word and He will continue working in your life, moving you to greater things in the future.

The Samaritan Challenge

The following paper was one of our assignments for school. It was really awesome reading about the first outpourings of the Holy Spirit. How Jesus predicted what would happen when He was on this earth in human form. I am very thankful I got the opportunity to study this subject a little more. Enjoy!

The First Apostles faced many challenges spreading The Gospel to different people. They were told to go out and spread The Gospel to many different people who spoke many different languages. This first challenge of spreading The Gospel to so many different people was resolved when the Holy Spirit fell on the Apostles during Pentecost. The Holy Spirit gave them utterance in different languages that they didn't speak otherwise. In Acts 2:4 it says, "And they were all filled (diffused throughout their souls) with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other (different, foreign) languages (tongues), as the Spirit kept giving them clear and loud expression [in each tongue in appropriate words]."(The Everyday Life Bible, Acts 2:4) To me the verses that follow this one are really amazing! It says, "Now there were then residing in Jerusalem Jews, devout and God-fearing men from every country under heaven. And when this sound was heard, the multitude came together and they were astonished and bewildered, because each one heard them [the apostles] speaking in his own [particular] dialect. And they were beside themselves with amazement, saying, Are not all these who are talking Galileans? Then how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own (particular) dialect to which we were born?" (The Everyday Life Bible, Acts 2:5-8) The Holy Spirit got all of these men so excited about what was happening. The Holy Spirit started a great thing in the Apostles in this first outpouring. He gave them the ability to preach to many nations. Just as Jesus said in Mark 16:15, "And He said to them, Go into all the world and preach and publish openly the good news (the Gospel) to every creature [of the whole human race]." (Mark 16:15) Not only did Jesus tell of the spreading of the word He also told of this very outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the things to come. "And these attesting signs will accompany those who believe: in My name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new languages." (Mark 16:17) The Holy Spirit was what gave them the languages to spread the Good News to all Nations.

            The next big outpouring of the Holy Spirit was on the Samaritans. The Samaritans were half gentile by descent and still practiced heathen worship. Philip went to Samaria and shared The Gospel with the Samaritans. The Samaritans believed the Gospel of Jesus that Philip preached and men and women were baptized. Now when the Apostles in Jerusalem found out that the Samaritans were accepting the Gospel of Jesus I believe they were shocked. It says in Acts that they sent Peter and John right away. The Apostles laid their hands on the Samaritans and they received the Holy Spirit. This was a huge moment! This was the first time the Spirit was poured out onto just regular (Non-Apostle) People. This to me shows us today that if we believe we too can receive the Holy Spirit. This particular story of the Samaritans is an add on to what Jesus said in Samaria to the woman at the well. It is like He planted the seed through this woman and now the Samaritans are more willing to listen to the Gospel about Jesus. Jesus told the woman at the well, "A time will come, however, indeed it is already here, when the true (genuine) worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth (reality); for the Father is seeking just such people as these as His worshipers. God is a Spirit (a spiritual Being) and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth (reality)." (John 4:23-24) Jesus foretold what would happen on this day when the Samaritans would worship Him in Spirit and Truth.

            The third outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened in Corinth when Peter was telling the Gentiles about the importance of believing in Jesus. The Spirit fell on the Gentiles while Peter was still speaking. Certain Jewish Christians became angry with the Apostles and this gave them an opportunity to show how the Holy Spirit works and how they should not discriminate against people. Jesus came for all men no matter what their background. This is so important for all of us to remember because we can judge people before we even now their situation. We could be the only Jesus they ever see.

            Paul spoke to many people in Ephesus that had only received the Baptism that that John the Baptist had taught them. They received the Baptism of Jesus and the Holy Spirit that day. Later many of them became hostile and spoke evil of the Lord before the congregation. This forced Paul to take the disciples and move to a different place where he could teach. Even though some were lost; Paul still managed, with the help of the Holy Spirit, to preach The Word to all of the people of Asia, Jews as well as Greeks. Even though we may try again and again to share the love of Jesus with people sometimes we will have to move on and just continue to pray for that person. We can pray that someone else will be able to get through to them in a way that we were not able. This passage gives us hope that we can still keep trying to reach people because we are planting seeds that can one day come into fruition.

            I have mentioned the four main times the Spirit was poured out onto the people and how the Apostles overcame the challenges they faced. So what does this all mean for the church today? The Holy spirit helped grow the Church. Without Him it would never have been possible to spread the Gospel to all of the nations. If you have received the Holy Spirit, then you know that you just want to tell everyone when He shows you something new. This is how the Word of God is spread. The Holy Spirit sets us on fire for God and we want to go out and share this love and joy we have with everyone. God gave the church, which is the people, this amazing gift of the Holy Spirit to guide us through life. He gives us boldness to share the word. From the very first time the Holy Spirit was poured out, people's lives were changed! Today we are able to share the good news of The Gospel because we have Him inside us. We can go out and change the world today just as the they did on the very first day because we have the same Holy Spirit within us.

Meditate on the True Meaning of the Verse!

I was reading the other day in my devotional and I was blown away by what Kenneth Copeland had to say. It really opened my eyes and now I can't go through the Bible without translating the word Christ. Below is the devotion in its entirety.

Translate and Meditate

When the Bible was translated into English, the translators failed to translate the Greek word Christ. Through this error, the devil has been able to steal a major revelation from the Church.
The word Christ is a Greek translation of the Hebrew word Messiah. Translated into English it means "Anointed" or "the Anointed One."
If you want to see just how much this translation has cost us, read through the New Testament and find every time the word Christ is mentioned. (It will take awhile because it's in there 341 times!) In each instance translate Christ into the Anointed One and His Anointing. Then meditate on the new meaning it gives each scripture.
Take, for example, Colossians 1:27, "Christ in you, the hope of glory." Translate and mediate. "The Anointed One and His Anointing in you, the hope of glory."Hallelujah, intensive expectation of experiencing the Glory of God in our lives!
Therefore, when the New Testament refers to the gospel of Christ, it's talking about the gospel of the anointing, the good news of the sin-annihilating, sickness-crushing, poverty-pulverizing, bondage-breaking, yoke-destroying power of God. Jesus brought that anointing into our midst. That's the reason its called the gospel of Jesus Christ!
Can you see how this can transform our thinking? Can you see what revelation has been kept from the Church? Get you Bible out. Go through the New testament. Just mark it every time you see Christ. Translate and meditate. Christ, the Anointed One and His Anointing. You'll never be able to just read over Christ again. You will understand the revelation of that anointing in you, on you and poured all over you, if you'll translate and meditate!

Jesus is the Christ-the Anointed One- the son of the living God. He removes every burden and destroys every yoke of the devil. Matthew 16:16, Isaiah 10:27

Pursuit of His Presence by Kenneth Copeland and Gloria Copeland copyright 1998

If you don't have this devotional I would strongly suggest it! It is my favorite one to read and I always learn something new. 

This one stood out to me! I just love how reading it in it's original context brings out the true meaning! This is what He really wanted us to read! So as you read the Bible from now on make sure you translate the word Christ  and get the true meaning of the verse!