The Holy Spirit's True Identity 5/29 Friday Faith

I'm going to break with my custom and give you a link to Charles Stanley's daily devotional on Who the Holy Spirit really is.  This is a great devotional for the week of Pentecost.

 http://intouch.org/read/magazine/daily-devotions/the-holy-sprits-true-identity

The Word 5/28 Thursday Thoughts

So you are to study the Word, pore over the Word, feed on the Word, act on the Word until the Word is built into you and becomes a part of your prayer life.  Then it is no longer an exercise of praying for faith but a fellowship with the Father.

--E.W. Kenyon 

Blessed Because We Believe 5/27 Wednesday Wisdom

Because of Ephesians 1:3, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenlies in Christ."
Notice that He has blessed us with every spiritual blessing -- that we are blessed.  He doesn't say that we are blessed if we believe.  We are blessed because we are believers.

-- E.W. Kenyon

The Failure of Christianity 5/26 Tuesday Truth

The failure of Christianity is not the failure of the nature of God in man, but it is because man has substituted church organization for the New Creation.
Sense Knowledge has gained the supremacy in the church, and Jesus is no longer Lord or Head of the Church.  Worldly-minded men rule most of the churches.

-- E.W. Kenyon 

Imitators of God 5/25 Monday Meditation

In Ephesians 5:1-2 he told us that we are to imitate God.  Now Paul says to "imitate me." Paul could not say that unless he was an imitator of God.
What does it mean to imitate God?  It means to walk in love.
I Corinthians 13 tells us that love seeketh not its own.  Love beareth all things.  The marginal rendering is "covers closely all things" so that no one can see or hear the unsightly scandal.  And above all things, love never fails.

-- E.W. Kenyon 

Pentecost 5/24 Weekend Bonus Devotional

This coming Sunday, May 24, is Pentecost.

 Pentecost is called "the birthday of the church".  It is the day that the Holy Spirit came to be with us  and in us.  Jesus told his disciples to wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came upon them.   Every male Jew was required to come to Jerusalem for Pentecost.

 

The Old Testament Pentecost celebrated God giving the Law to Moses on Mount Sinai.  According to non-Biblical tradition, the soul of every Jew who would ever be born was present  at Mount Sinai to hear God give the Law, each in his own language.

On the New Testament Pentecost, every male Jew from the known world heard the Gospel in his own language.

On the Old Testament Pentecost, 3000 who had worshipped the golden calf were put to death. 

 

On the New Testament Pentecost, 3000 who heard the Gospel received new life.

 

the letter (of the Law) kills, but the Spirit gives life

 

Quoting Pastor Robert Morris:    When the Law was given to Israel through Moses, no one could keep it.  The Law gave the Israelites an understanding of what pleased God, but it couldn't give them the internal ability to live it.

 

However, when the Holy Spirit fills a person's life, amazing things happen.  A dead human spirit is regenerated by the Holy Spirit, who writes a new law on the heart of the believer.  This law isn't the Ten Commandments; rather, it's the "Law of Love."

 

We receive the empowerment to walk in love.   In other words, we can't walk righteously without the power of the Holy Spirit.

 

Before that day, the disciples were timid and afraid -- hiding in locked rooms and dreading the knock at the door.   After Pentecost, the disciples were filled with boldness and confidence.  They proclaimed Jesus in public squares and synagogues.  The transformation brought by the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost was astounding.

 

I encourage you to read the story of Pentecost in Acts 2. 

 

It is traditional to wear red on Pentecost.

Let Love Rule Your Life 5/22 Friday Faith

Do you want to be a soul winner?  Do you want to be a teacher of the Word?
Let love rule your life.  You can never amount to anything unless you do, for you can never be a blessing to the world until love dominates you.

-- E.W. Kenyon