A man in deep thought.....
Pondering the unseen, unexplained things of the universe....
Nah...
It's just me wondering if I locked the door before I left home.
Nothing deep about me...
I choose to be careful about how I wasted my ponders.
Big shout out to Chase and Tiffany for being with us Saturday night.
Always good to see you both..
They came from Birmingham to be with us.
I want to include Steve in that shout also. He was the "one" last Saturday evening who received from God. He let me know, after the meeting, that God had spoken directly to him and gave him words of encouragement and strength (not to mention that the way it happened really shook him up..in a good way).
That is why we gather every Saturday night like a bunch of wide eyed children. We gather because we have no clue as to what God is going to do, so we're excited about the possibilities. How cool is that? Way cool.
Debbie Handy is on the upswing and we give thanks to God for that. Had surgery last Wednesday and it was touch and go there for a while. Lot of prayers split the heavens on her behalf. Father heard and acted. Healing by the boatloads came falling upon her. We are very grateful this morning for Debbie, Lanny and Esther.
"You did good, God.....real good!"
Acts 2:17
"And it shall come to pass in the last days," says God, "that I will pour out My Spirit on all flesh."
Acts 2:21
And it shall come to pass that whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
So the time where God gave His Holy Spirit to all who believed was in the Last days. Lot of time has passed since that morning in Jerusalem when the Spirit came with the sound like a mighty,rushing wind. Every one of the 120 gathered in that upper room was covered, smothered, and filled with the Spirit. Then they began to speak in different dialects and languages. Sounds pretty chaotic to me. But isn't that the manner of God? To put things in order. To arrange things to function at a higher level? I think maybe yes. As I have noticed over the years...you can't have order unless you have chaos first.
So the Spirit of God has been given to believers...but at the same time, has been poured out in liberal amounts on everyone. Why everyone? Because it is God's Holy Spirit that convicts, or makes us aware of our sin. The thing I like about being convicted and not condemned is that conviction always leads to salvation. Condemnation leaves wallowing in guilt and shame. Condemnation simply points an accusing finger to the very center of our being and tells us we are terrible, no good, never going to be saved people. Trouble is, we buy that load of bunk. Sometimes when God's Spirit comes to us with conviction, we cut and run because it kind of seems like condemnation. Believe me, there is a difference between the two.
V17 - God's pouring out the way to salvation and restoration
V21 - The solution...
A.) Whoever calls on the name of the Lord.....
1.) Who fall under "whoever"? why everyone.
B.) Shall be saved...
1.) No questions asked. No forms to fill out. It's real and it
happens.
Such a cry on our part, coupled with the response on God's part, puts us in a place where our lives can truly change from what we've experienced in our past.
The ability to change is instant when we receive this salvation from God.
The process of change takes a bit. In fact it is a day to day event that is ongoing. Some call it recovery, some maturity in the Lord. I just call it normal when you're really listening and doing what God is instructing you to do.
Reading His word....
Hanging out with others who are hungry for God.
Giving back to others who are where you use to be, helping them to see what this God can do to them.
All part of the process....
If I can help in any way, leave a comment here at the Greene Street Letters, or message me on face book (Michael Bynum)
God on you....
mb
No comments:
Post a Comment