Pray with expectation – believing God will answer, lead, guide and direct.
The book of Acts has some amazing teachings.
One teaching I see (not only in Acts but all throughout the Bible) is the teaching or idea that God prepares people to meet prepared people.
God prepares people (you and me) through experiences, gifts and calling to meet prepared people (people that He is reaching out to or that are reaching out to Him based upon their experiences in life).
In the 8th chapter of Acts, a Ethiopian Eunuch is reading a scroll from Isaiah 53. He is not understanding it. He needs someone to explain it to him. God speaks to one of the disciples, Phillip, and sends him to this Ethiopian leader, who is being prepared in his heart to receive God’s word. Phillip arrives, shares, and the Ethiopian receives Christ as his Savior, is baptized and receives the Holy Spirit. God uses prepared people to meet prepared people.
In Acts 9, a man named Saul is persecuting Christians. The Lord Jesus reveals himself to Saul and Saul receives Christ as his Savior. At the same time there is a disciple in Damascus named Ananias whom the Lord speaks to. Ananias received this word from the Lord, and brought Saul to Damascus where he laid hands on Saul (who had been blinded) and Saul received back his sight and was baptized.
In Acts 10 a Roman army official named Cornelius, had great respect for God, helped to provide resources to the poor and prayed regularly. I believe while praying, he received a vision and word from the Lord to send for Simon Peter.
At the same time, in Joppa, Simon Peter is praying and through that prayer, the Lord speaks through a vision and shares with Peter that Peter needs to go and share Christ with Cornelius. Cornelius is a Gentile and would be considered unclean by Jews; however God, through the vision, let’s Peter know that which was previously unclean is now clean... i.e. it’s ok to go to Cornelius.
Peter goes to Cornelius, shares Christ, Cornelius receives Christ as Savior, receives the Holy Spirit and is baptized.
God uses prepared people to meet prepared people.
I believe that there are people God is preparing right now for me or you to reach... and He wants to do this through the gifts, experiences and calling He has given to us. There are people in my church who can reach others that I cannot because of specific gifts, experiences and calling that God has for them.
It all begins with prayer. Praying and being open to let God use us (as He has prepared us) to reach those whom He has prepared for that moment.
Therefore, as we continue in 21 Days of Prayer, may we be people who pray with their eyes wide open, hearts to heaven, and are looking for others whom we can reach, whom God has quite possibly prepared for us.
Don't Leave God Out of the Loop - December 3, 2014
Today I'm sharing my daily devotional by Joyce Meyers which I found touching my heart and spirit so much. Thank you Lord!
DON’T LEAVE GOD OUT OF THE LOOP
“I will say of the Lord, He is my Refuge and my Fortress, my God; on Him I lean and rely, and in Him I confidently trust!” Psalm 91:2
When we are frustrated, it is often because we are trying to do something in our own strength, instead of putting our faith in God and receiving His grace and help. Let us learn to pray for what we would like to be changed, and then cast our care on God. If He leads you to take some kind of action, then do it; but if He doesn’t, then wait with peace.
I had to practice trusting God for a lot of things, but particularly finances. At one point in the beginning of my ministry, God asked me to trust Him to provide for my family financially without my working outside the home. I knew that I needed time to prepare for the ministry He had called me to. And working full time in addition to being a wife and mother to three small children didn’t leave much time to prepare to be an international Bible teacher.
As an act of faith, and with my husband’s consent, I quit my job and began learning to trust God to provide for us. Dave had a good job, but his salary was forty dollars a month less than our bills. This meant we had to have a miracle from God every month.
I remember what a struggle it was to not go back to work-after all, I was a responsible woman and wanted to do my part. But I knew that God was asking me to keep preparing for the ministry He was calling me to and to trust Him for provision. Each month, He provided for our financial needs, and seeing His faithfulness was exciting, but I was accustomed to taking care of myself – all this “walking by faith” was crucifying my flesh big time.
Trusting God for the forty dollars per month we needed to pay our bills and for anything extra we needed was often difficult, but it helped us gain a strong foundation of faith that has helped us throughout our lives. I strongly encourage you to obey God and trust Him in every area of life. Each victory you have will increase your faith for the next challenge you faith.
TRUST IN HIM THOT: Little faith can become great faith when we see the faithfulness of God as He meets our needs. You can become a person who enjoys great peace by trusting God.
** excerpt from Trusting God day by day, 365 Daily Devotins, Joyce Meyers, p. 403-404
Sharing God's Word Against All Odds - October 14, 2014
This morning I was reading in Luke 8 about the sower. I was reminded of the statistics of sowing the gospel (the Word about Jesus). There’s a 75% failure rate in this. The seed (the word of God) was sowed across a field, and on a footpath in which it was stepped on or eaten by birds.
Other seed was sowed among rocks but didn’t have soil to grow and soon withered. Other seed fell (as it was sown) among thorns and was chocked by the thorns and thereby could not be fruitful and reproduce.
However there was some seed (1 out of 4) that fell on fertile soil and produced an amazing increase.
One thought from this passage is despite the statistics of only a 1 in 4 return; the seed is still sown. The sower still walks along and spreads the word of God despite the very difficult conditions that exist.
The business community in our culture looks for sure ways to make a profit. It might be siad that they look for a “sure thing” or at last for the most favorable conditions. Market analysis is done so that the investment can yield the best and most profitable results. I think there is wisdom in this and there are times in which we should use the shrewdness of the world around us (Luke 16). However, we also balance that with walking in faith and trusting God to supply.
Our encouragement is to, as Jesus said in Matthew 28, “Go!” We are to go and share. We know ahead of time that the work is diffiult but if we will keep at it, God will honor His word. His word goes out and will not return empty (Isaiah 55). Even if only 25% receive the Word, we are to continue to share. The Bible says “Faith comes from hearing and hearing from the Word of God” (Romans 10:17).
What’s the worth of a soul? Is there value in just one person receiving Christ as Savior as a result of sharing the Word of God with many others knowing ahead of time there is a 75% chance of rejection or failure? The Lord Jesus thought so!
The sower of Luke 8 went out and faithfully delivered the Word and left the results with God.
May we be faithful seed sowers. May we faithfully share Christ with others. May we faithfully tell people what God is doing in our lives. May we faithfully invite people to church to hear God’s word shared. The enemy will work against us. We know that going into this. We know that not everyone will respond; but we go and sow Gospel seed – regardless.
So today, no matter what anyone tells you and no matter how you feel, go out in faith and share with others what God is doing in your life – share the truth of God’s word about Jesus – and leave the results with Him!
