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Devotionals
Preserved by Integrity
Taking a Towel
Raised Up by the Lord
Going Hard After Christ
The Power of the Church
Rekindling a Romance for Jesus Christ
The Wonderful Cross
When is it too late?
Sowing the Gospel
Abiding in Christ
The Power of the Church
"And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting...and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit..."
Acts 1:2-4
In reading the account of the birth of the church in Acts, my attention was drawn to the reality of the Holy Spirit's work. It was in God's outpouring of the Holy Spirit upon the believing disciples that sprang the church to life. The Holy Spirit was the very dynamic that empowered the early church to impact the world with the life-changing message of the resurrected Christ. Without a program devised by the ingenuity of man, nor the use of modern technology, the disciples were able to ignite a movement for the glory of Jesus Christ through God's provision of the Holy Spirit. In studying the book of Acts, I see the power which resided within the disciples that relentlessly drove them to make known the resurrection to all, allowed them to witness an uncontrollable increase of converts and caused a passion for Jesus to blaze up within their hearts. I am asking with all my heart, "God I want this. I want this dynamic in my life.
God's strategy today has not changed. He intends His church to be empowered by the energy of the Holy Spirit. The means by which God began the church at Pentecost is the same resource that He intends us to draw from till the day we are raptured. If you draw from the flesh, self-resource, or your natural abilities you will never be greatly used of the Lord or experience His anointing in abundance. Christ will only be greatly magnified in our lives when we are first emptied of ourselves and are then filled with the Spirit of God. "He (Holy Spirit) will glorify Me (Jesus), for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you." John 16:14
Beloved if you are feeling as if you are just going through your religious motions with no life or dynamic or if you feel as if you have lost your first love for Christ, realize that today God is desiring to fill your cup to overflowing. He is waiting for you to simply yield to Him so He may release torrents of living water upon your life to revitalize you. In humility would you respond to our Lord’s invitation?
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.’"
John 7:37-38
Grow in the grace of God,
Kyle Shimazaki
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