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In Luke 24 Jesus has risen and begins appearing to the disciples and on the road to Emmaus he opens the scriptures to some of them.
After the encounter the disciples say, “Were not our hearts burning within us while he talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?”
Then a few verses later Jesus appears to the disciples again and after showing them his hands and feet and having something to eat Luke 24:45 says, Then he opened their minds so they could understand the Scriptures.
Yesterday we asked God to help us magnify his word and make it bigger in our lives. In today's communion we are asking God to open our minds to help us understand the scriptures. Colossians 1:6 says that the Gospel bears fruit in our lives ever since the day we understood God's grace. Having an open mind that understands the scriptures and God's grace is an important key to being fruitful.
I am praying for you.
Daniel
The fall is a time of transfers and transitions, where God often starts to reposition things in order to move us to the next level. As I was looking back over the last several years, it seems that most of the major transitions in my life occurred during this time of the year. But, most of them never happened until l created a written prayer about what I wanted to happen. If it seems like you have been waiting on some answers to prayer try writing out a prayer.
Writing out prayers is very powerful. This is something I have done for years, and it really works. Here is how I write out the prayers.
Psalm 138:2 NKJV says, " I will worship toward Your holy temple, And praise Your name For Your lovingkindness and Your truth; For You have magnified Your word above all Your name."
Apparently this is a hard passage to translate from Hebrew into English so here are a few other versions to give us a little better understanding.
God has magnified his word or exalted it above all things and he backs it with the power of his name. His name is his character, reputation, and who he is. When someone makes a promise we want to know that they are going to be faithful to fulfill, and God has exalted his word by backing all o...
Now that we are past the Feast of Tabernacles it is time for transfers and transitions. During the next several weeks be prepared for things to start shifting around. God does this to reposition us to the next level of what he has for us. Time and space are very related which means that as time moves forward every year positioning must also change. It is during this season that many of these shifts begin to occur.
First it usually starts with transfers. In the next couple of weeks be prepared for some miraculous transfers as God begins to move people and things from one place to another.
After the transfers be prepared for transitions. To transition means to change from one state, phase, or style to another.
God will often create a shift that transfers things or people from one place to another and then a transition will happen to move people to a new phase of their growth and development.
All of the change can seem scary, but if it starts happening in this ...
For God's word to be effective in our lives it must be mixed with faith.
I think of faith as the emotion of believing and the opposite is fear.
Based on what we truly believe in our hearts either faith or fear will begin to rise up.
In Hebrews 4:1-2 it says, "Let us therefore fear, lest, a promise being left us of entering into his rest, any of you should seem to come short of it. 2 For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it.
In the Old Testament God promised to take the people to the promised land but his word was not mixed with faith.
Upon spying out the land most of the people came back with a bad or evil report that magnified the size of the giants rather than the greatness of God who had already parted the Red Sea, defeated the Egyptians, fed them manna, and gave them water from the rock. The result was that all of the people who magnified the gi...
John 1:16-17 says, " From His fullness we have all received grace upon grace. 17 For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.…"
Grace upon grace reminds me of stacking and layering. In science and art beautiful images are often created from very simple patterns that are repeated over and over.
The simple patterns when repeated over and over become very complex and beautiful.
Stacking is a powerful principle God has built into the world... He builds things in layers.
Our DNA only has 4 basic building blocks but it is the way those building blocks are stacked that makes everyone unique.
Out of the fullness of Jesus, God wants to layer one grace upon another upon another and the way he layers in our life will be unique to each of us.
And it is the stacking and layering that leads us to a beautiful place.
I am praying for you.
Daniel
P.S. Due to some technical difficulties today's video/audio were cut off a little early be...
Have you ever tried to communicate by email or phone with someone who isn't responding or been working on your phone/computer and it wasn't responding? This can be very frustrating. To respond is to acknowledge that you received their message and take the appropriate action. God wants our hearts to be responsive to him in that we acknowledge and appreciate all he is doing in our lives and make quick adjustments when needed.
In both 2 Chronicles 34 and 2 Kings 22 is the story of King Josiah. He has workmen who are restoring the temple and they find the Book of the Law, which was the Bible they had at that time. When his officials read it to him, he hears about all of the ways they have missed it. Immediately he begins to repent and humble himself before God. After humbling himself God tells him...
Because your heart was responsive and you humbled yourself before God when you heard what he spoke against this place and its people, and because you humbled yourself b...
Today is the 8th Day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which was called the last and greatest day. This was the day when Jesus stood up and said, "whoever believes in me, out of his innermost being will flow rivers of living water."
This day is symbolic of a fresh start or new beginning. The yearly cycle is coming to a close and starting over, which is like a fresh start. It is a reminder to dedicate ourselves to a new standard in our lives, where grace is our interface. We all have buttons that can be pushed in our lives that make us respond in a way that is not so graceful, but God's grace is available to help. This new way of living pays attention to how we are responding in life and makes fast adjustments by relying and trusting in God's grace and power to change us from the inside out. When done this way we can stay refreshed all the time, because we can rest in our soul while God does his work through us.
As we take communion today let it be a reminder that Jes...
Today is day 7 of the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a reminder that God's glory is within us. And tomorrow is the 8th Day, which was the last and greatest day, and the close of the yearly cycle. Tomorrow the yearly cycle starts fresh again. As I was thinking about the close of the yearly cycle I came across Philippians 4 which has a subtitle that reads... Closing Appeal for steadfastness and Unity. As I read through the chapter it was a good review of many things we have discussed this past year.
Here is Philippians 4...
Closing Appeal for Steadfastness and Unity
4 Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!
2 I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to be of the same mind in the Lord. 3 Yes, and I ask you, my true companion, help these women since they have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel, along with Clement and the rest of my co-worke...
Today is day 6 of the 7 days of the Feast of Tabernacles, which is a reminder that God's glory is within us.
I once heard someone say that we can be sitting right next to someone but living in two different worlds. Not only that but two people can be in the exact same situation and respond in completely opposite ways. Last night I was reminded of this while reading Luke 17, where Jesus says that two people will be lying in a bed, one taken and the other left, two women grinding grain together, one taken and one left.
Then this morning I read 2 Kings 6 where Elisha is surrounded by a huge army and his servant is terrified. But, Elisha says "Don’t be afraid. Those who are with us are more than those who are with them.” And Elisha prayed, “Open his eyes, Lord, so that he may see.” Then the Lord opened the servant’s eyes, and he looked and saw the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.
In science it has been shown that what we can see with ou...
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