Spiritual Power
Note from Jesus Dear Friend, To understand your verses today from the book of Acts, you need to be aware of two challenges facing My early followers in Ephesus. The first issue involved disciples of John the Baptist and My apostle Paul. John was both My cousin and My predecessor in preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God. John had gained a huge following before I started the primary part of My earthly ministry. Many people were baptized by John as they turned their lives from sin (as they repented) and got ready for My coming. Many who never heard the full story of My coming and the full good news about Me were baptized (Mark 1:4-8). In Ephesus, Paul met a group of these disciples who had been baptized by John. They had a fundamental gap in their understanding: they knew nothing about the Holy Spirit and the Spirit’s connection to spiritual rebirth, to the gospel, and to baptism (John 3:3-7; Acts 2:36-39; Titus 3:3-7). Paul taught the importance of the Spirit: But you do not live in the flesh. You live in the Spirit, assuming, of course, that the Spirit of God lives inside of you. The truth is that anyone who does not have the Spirit of the Anointed living within does not belong to God. (Romans 8:9) So Paul taught these disciples of John in Ephesus the truth about Me and the Spirit and then baptized them. Paul then laid his hands on them, and they received the Spirit in a demonstrable way just as Jews did at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-21; Acts 2:32-39), Samaritans did after Philip’s ministry (Acts 8:14-17), and Gentiles did with the conversion of Cornelius and his household (Acts 10:34-48). In this same way, the Holy Spirit also made clear that the people in Ephesus who had been baptized by John had become My disciples. A second issue was the challenge that demonic power represented for faithful disciples in Ephesus. Not only was Ephesus one of the Mediterranean world’s four largest cities and an important port, but this city was also the most important banking center in the Mediterranean world. When you think of banking centers in your world today, you think of financial institutions. However, Ephesus was an important banking center for Asia Minor because of the many temples, the places where money was exchanged, held, and connected to religions. Ephesus was a huge place where eastern cultures, western cultures, and ancient magical spiritual practices collided. Pilgrims came from all over the world to receive healing, to have demons cast out of people they loved, and to connect to spiritual powers of all kinds. In addition to preaching and teaching, Paul did all sorts of miracles showing My power at work through him. The people of Ephesus needed to know I was more powerful than the false gods and demons they worshiped. If Paul’s great miracles were not enough to convince them, the confrontation of demons with the sons of Sceva demonstrated that My power was stronger than the demons and could not be manipulated! This story, both humorous and sad, should serve as a reminder to you of what Paul said to the Ephesians when he wrote to them later: Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12) I want you to realize today that when I sent the Holy Spirit to you at your conversion, I sent you Our — Father, Son, and Spirit’s — presence and power. My victory over sin, death, and demons was won in the cross and the resurrection and gives you spiritual power. While you live in a world where sin, death, and demons influence many things, these forces no longer have power over you and can no longer control you if you follow Me (Colossians 1:9-13). Verses to Live The challenge for believers in Ephesus revolved around Our spiritual power — My disciples had it and there were impostors aligned with demons who didn’t have that ultimate power. My disciples demonstrated through their lives and their actions that I have the power over all demonic forces and that the Holy Spirit gives My disciples confidence not to live in superstition and fear. While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul’s overland journey brought him back to Ephesus. He encountered a group of about a dozen disciples there. Paul: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers? John’s Disciples: We’ve never heard about the Holy Spirit. Paul: Well then, what kind of ceremonial washing through baptism did you receive? John’s Disciples: We received the ritual cleansing of baptism that John taught. Paul: John taught the truth — that people should be baptized with renewed thinking and turn toward God. But he also taught that the people should believe in the One Whose way he was preparing, that is, Jesus the Anointed. As soon as they heard this, they were baptized, this time in the name of our Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in the same way the original disciples experienced at Pentecost: they spoke in tongues and prophesied. For three months, Paul continued his standard practice: he went week by week to the synagogue, speaking with great confidence, arguing with great persuasiveness, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Once again, some members of the synagogue refused to believe and insulted the Way publicly before the whole synagogue community. Paul withdrew and took those with him who had become disciples. For the next two years, he used the public lecture hall of Tyrannus, presenting the Word of the Lord
Caring for the Family of Believers
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Father, You live in an interconnected world more than any other human beings in the history of planet earth. You can travel quickly by air, sea, and land. You can speak to people on the other side of your planet by phone or over the internet. You can rally people for great causes through social networking, special funding tools, and circles of online friends. For you, the world is an interconnected place. So I will share with you a great disappointment that I have: those of you who have much seem so reluctant to share it with your brothers and sisters who have so little. Please remember what My apostle John said so many years ago: We know what true love looks like because of Jesus. He gave His life for us, and He calls us to give our lives for our brothers and sisters. If a person owns the kinds of things we need to make it in the world but refuses to share with those in need, is it even possible that God’s love lives in him? My little children, don’t just talk about love as an idea or a theory. Make it your true way of life, and live in the pattern of gracious love. (1 John 3:16-18) One problem is that you have not put in the effort you should to learn about the needs of others. Unfortunately, your preachers, elders, pastors, and other leaders have not been as diligent as they should in informing you of the needs that exist. They also have not been as diligent as they should be in calling you to share with and care for your brothers and sisters who are in need in your own area and in other parts of the world. But today, I want you to know that I have called you to share My message and care for others! You have brothers and sisters who are enduring great atrocities because of their faith. They have been tortured, beheaded, crucified, mutilated, sold into sexual slavery, raped, and imprisoned. Help them. Use your governmental system to cry out for justice and protection. Research organizations that help those in My church who are persecuted. In addition, well-trained and passionate evangelists and church planters have opportunities to take My message to many places all over the world. Support these messengers. You can encourage and build up churches in other areas and in other nations when you go on vacation or travel for business, so don’t forget to assemble with believers when you travel. Bless them and encourage them by sharing your offering with their congregation. Go on mission and service trips. Connect with other churches wherever you go and give them encouragement and financial support. You have brothers and sisters who are hungry and who need medical care. Support programs and people that are ministering to these needs and get involved yourself. When you see the elaborate and comfortable places rich Christians have built for themselves, I want you to remember two things. First, I want you to think about your poor and suffering brothers and sisters in other places and how monies that have gone into buildings could have been used to bless them. Second, while some of these buildings can be marvelous tools of outreach, I want to remind you that every building will one day be nothing more than rubble. However, every lost person who is saved and every brother and sister in need who is helped is eternal. Each is someone who will share with you in My glory. Think about these things and invest wisely in growing My kingdom! My earliest followers were generous with each other and offered hands-on care to each other. Today the final reading from Paul’s letter you call 1 Corinthians is among the passages below. As you read these verses, let them remind you of the generosity of the early Christians. I want you to let the Holy Spirit touch your heart with great generosity for those in need in your own spiritual family — both those who are geographically near and those who live in places far from you. Verses to Live Your verses today come from several places in the New Testament. The first verses are from Galatians and relate to Paul’s meeting with key leaders in Jerusalem. Those leaders recognized his ministry to Gentiles but requested that he and his fellow missionaries help the poor in the Jerusalem church. The other passages show Paul responding to this request and encouraging Gentile churches to participate. The last passage, from a later letter to the Corinthians, holds up the Macedonian churches as an example to the Corinthian church and to you: be generous, excel in the grace of giving to the needs of your brothers and sisters in Christ. This kind of generosity offers tangible love to those in need who are part of your spiritual family. As a result of a revelation, I returned to Jerusalem 14 years later; and this time Barnabas and Titus accompanied me. When I arrived, I shared the exact gospel that I preach to the outsiders. I first shared God’s truth privately with those who were people of influence and leadership because I thought if they did not embrace the freedom of my good news, then any work I had done for Jesus here and any in the past would be spoiled. … When James, Cephas (whom you know as Peter), and John — three men purported to be pillars among the Jewish believers — saw that God’s favor was upon me to fulfill this calling, they welcomed and endorsed both Barnabas and me. They agreed that our ministries would work as two hands, theirs advancing the mission of God among the Jews and ours toward the outsider nations, all with the same message of redemption. In parting, they requested we always remember to care for the poor among us, which was something I
Our Glorious Future
Note from Jesus Dear Follower, Resurrection is coming. I will return for those who belong to Me. At My coming, everyone who belongs to Me will be given an immortal body. Just as you have carried the body that has been part of your human existence and that is mortal because of Adam’s rebellion against the Father, you also will be transformed because of My victory over death. You will have an immortal body far more glorious than you can fully imagine. My resurrection from the dead is the assurance of your resurrection. My glorious body after My resurrection is the assurance of your glorious body after your resurrection. I know you would like to know all the details about life after death. Let it be enough to know that when you are My disciple, the Holy Spirit Who is alive in you ensures that you will never be separated from Me and that your resurrection is assured (Romans 8:32-39; 1 Corinthians 15:21-26). When death claims your physical body, you come to be with Me (Philippians 1:19-24; 2 Corinthians 5:1-8). Then, when the Father says it is time, I will return and change all who belong to Me to have immortal bodies to share in the resurrection and reunion (Philippians 3:20-21). You will share in the glory of all that the Father has promised you. Your future existence in this immortal state is impossible for you to grasp fully now. Paul helps you catch a glimpse of this glorious future by using an example from your earthly existence. A seed that you place in the ground is not particularly beautiful. It is simple and earthy. But when it is placed in the ground and dies to its current existence, a transformation happens that is a part of a new life. The seed germinates, grows, and becomes something glorious. The seed is not glorious when compared to the flower of the fully-grown plant. Your physical bodies, though marvelously made, are just a seed compared to the glory of the new bodily existence that you will enjoy with Me when we share in glory together. Death is an intruder that wounds hearts. However, when someone you love and who is My disciple is separated from you by death, remember that death is not only My enemy but that I also have ultimately defeated death and its power. While death may separate you for a short time from those you love, My resurrection ensures your resurrection and your reunion with all those who are Mine! So, no matter what your earthly life throws at you — how it disappoints you, wounds you, beats you down, or discourages you — I have defeated death. Death will not have the ultimate victory over you. Death will not determine the ultimate outcome of your life. You are Mine! Your future glory beyond death is in My hands! Transformation, reunion, victory, and a life in glory are your future! Verses to Live The following words come from what many people have called the resurrection chapter of the Bible. Paul wanted the Corinthian Christians to know that because I was raised from the dead, they will also be raised from the dead. Please, take the time to savor Paul’s words. Dwell on them. Let them give you hope. Commit the phrases that mean the most to you to memory for those times when you need them most. Remember, your faith in Me is not wasted, and your hope in Me is not in vain! Now if we have told you about the Anointed One (how He has risen from the dead and appeared to us fully alive), then how can you stand there and say there is no such thing as resurrection from death? Friends, if there is no resurrection of the dead, then even the Anointed hasn’t been raised; if that is so, then all our preaching has been for nothing and your faith in the message is worthless. And what’s worse, all of us who have been preaching the gospel are now guilty of misrepresenting God because we have been spreading the news that He raised the Anointed One from the dead (which must be a lie if what you are saying about the dead not being raised is the truth). Please listen. If you say, “the dead are not raised,” then what you are telling me is that the Anointed One has not been raised. Friends, if the Anointed has not been raised from the dead, then your faith is worth less than yesterday’s garbage, you are all doomed in your sins, and all the dearly departed who trusted in His liberation are left decaying in the ground. If what we have hoped for in the Anointed doesn’t take us beyond this life, then we are world-class fools, deserving everyone’s pity. But the Anointed One was raised from death’s slumber and is the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep in death. (1 Corinthians 15:12-20) Now I know what some of you are thinking: “Just how are the dead going to be raised? What kind of bodies will they have when they come back to life?” Don’t be a fool! The seed you plant doesn’t produce life unless it dies. Right? The seed doesn’t have the same look, the same body, if you will, of what it will have once it starts to grow. It starts out a single, naked seed — whether wheat or some other grain, it doesn’t matter — and God gives to that seed a body just as He has desired. For each of the different kinds of seeds God prepares a unique body. Or look at it this way: not all flesh is the same. Right? There is skin flesh on humans, furry flesh on animals, feathery flesh on birds, and scaly flesh on fish. Likewise there are bodies made for the heavens and bodies made for the earth. The heavenly bodies have a different kind of glory or
Out of Phase
Note from Jesus Dear Servant of the Lord, Yes, I have called you My sibling, My beloved, and My friend. I have even called you a child of the King of Glory and a child of your Father in heaven. Today, however, I call you a servant of the Lord. When Lord is used in your Bibles in all capital letters, the translators are referring to YHWH — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. YHWH is Our name in Hebrew and is sometimes translated as “I AM” in English Bibles (Exodus 3:14). I could call you a bondservant or even a slave rather than simply a servant. These terms are tough ones and speak of hard service, but they indicate that I do want you committed to being a servant even when hardships are involved. Remember I demonstrated being a servant when I washed My disciples’ feet in the upper room (John 13:1-17) and in many other ways. My ultimate demonstration of being a servant was when I died for you on the cross. To be a servant like I demonstrated in My birth, life, and death, you must serve willingly. My earliest servants were not forced to minister and sacrifice. I called them to follow Me. By grace, I invited them into the Father’s family. Each accepted his or her role as a servant voluntarily. Each saw the life I lived on earth and chose to follow Me. Each recognized My example and chose to serve others. (Of course, there were some who gave the appearance of following Me but actually rejected Me.) I came to this world as a servant. I gave up heaven’s glory for mortality. I left heaven’s safety for human vulnerability. I stepped down from the throne of glory for the shame of a cross. I did it to serve the lost and also to serve you (Philippians 2:5-11). Those who led My followers after My ascension were also servants. They completely changed their lives. Many give up their lives in death because they followed Me to do My work in the world and serve lost humanity. Their lives were molded into the character and compassion of My life. Each of My apostles, except for the one who gave his heart to Satan (John 17:12), followed My example and was a sacrificial servant. When Paul wrote to the Corinthians, he had to defeat their false sense of self-importance. He had to confront their pride in believing that they had fully arrived spiritually. He had to help them understand that they had missed My greatness and had sunk into selfishness and worldly ambition. So after spending what now comprises three chapters in your Bibles trying to teach them that they had missed the mark on greatness, Paul then turned to examples. He pointed to his own life. He directed the Corinthians’ attention to the example of My original apostles. He reminded them of the example of his beloved son in the faith, Timothy. All of these lived for Me and for others, not for themselves — so much so that Paul could say: For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. (2 Corinthians 4:5 NIV) Paul directed the Corinthians to think about the people in his examples because those people all had one thing in common: each of them was a servant. Paul held them up as examples because their lives were much more like My life than they were like the lives of the so-called “super-spirituals” who were causing problems in Corinth. The things these “super-spirituals” boasted about themselves were exactly opposite to the things they saw in Paul’s life, in Timothy’s life, in the apostles’ lives, and in My life. Since I AM the prime example of spirituality, it wasn’t Paul who was out of phase with greatness, but the prideful Corinthians! As the Corinthians’ “father in the faith,” Paul wanted them to awaken from their arrogant stupor of pride. He wanted them to follow My example and the example of My emissaries. He wanted them to turn away from gratifying their own egos. You also need to recognize that greatness is not found in things that build your ego. Greatness is not found in status, wealth, a certain spiritual gift, high position, lofty titles, worldly prestige, or any earthly achievement. Verses to Live Since greatness is not found in human accolades, then where is true greatness found? What are the qualities of greatness in My kingdom? What does it really mean to be a servant? Look at the list of things that were true of My emissaries (apostles) in the verses below. They faced these hardships out of love for Me. They risked their lives to share the Father’s grace and the gift of the Holy Spirit with those who were lost. This concerted effort is true greatness — greatness, as I repeatedly said and demonstrated in My earthly ministry, that is found in those who are willing to pay the price to serve others for Me! Rather than power brokers, think of us as servants of the Anointed One, the Liberating King, caretakers of the mysteries of God. Because we are in this particular role, it is especially important that we are people of fidelity and integrity. It makes little difference to me how you or any human court passes judgment on me. I even resist the temptation to compare myself to the ever-changing human standard. Although I am not aware of any flaw that might exclude me from this divine service, that’s not the reason I stand acquitted — the only supreme judge, our Lord, will examine me in the proper time. So resist the temptation to act as judges before all the evidence is in. When the Lord comes, He will draw our buried motives, thoughts, and deeds (even things we don’t know or admit to ourselves) out of the dark shadows of our hearts into His light.
You Don’t Have to Have an Apostle
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, I appointed My apostles as My emissaries to the world. I commissioned them to take My message everywhere to everyone. The original apostles, except for Judas, of course, had all seen Me alive after My resurrection. They knew with certainty that the Father had raised Me from the dead. I entrusted them with authority to lead My early church. They mentored others to speak My message. They did signs and wonders to confirm their message about Me. My apostles were a special group. That being said, I want you to realize something that is very significant to your faith. You don’t have to have a living apostle personally teach you for you to have received the truth. Living thousands of years after My resurrection and after the death of the last of My apostles, I know there are times when you long to be able to witness Me do miracles and teach the crowds. I know you would love to know an eyewitness and an apostle personally. But, dear child of the Father, you need to be confident that you have received and believed the truth. The apostle Paul made clear what this message of truth is when he wrote the Corinthians: Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me… (1 Corinthians 15:1-8) Paul reiterated these same basic principles when writing to the Christians in Rome about the gospel and baptism: Did someone forget to tell you that when we were initiated into Jesus the Anointed through baptism’s… washing, we entered into His death? Therefore, we were buried with Him through this baptism into death so that just as God the Father, in all His glory, resurrected the Anointed One [Jesus Christ], we, too, might walk confidently out of the grave into a new life. To put it another way: if we have been united with Him to share in a death like His, don’t you understand that we will also share in His resurrection? We know this: whatever we used to be with our old sinful ways has been nailed to His cross. So our entire record of sin has been canceled, and we no longer have to bow down to sin’s power. A dead man, you see, cannot be bound by sin. But if we have died with the Anointed One, we believe that we shall also live together with Him. So we stand firm in the conviction that death holds no power over God’s Anointed because He was resurrected from the dead never to face death again. When He died, He died to whatever power sin had, once and for all, and now He lives completely to God. So here is how to picture yourself now that you have been initiated into Jesus the Anointed: you are dead to sin’s power and influence, but you are alive to God’s rule. (Romans 6:3-11) Paul emphasized that this message, this good news, should not be compromised by anyone. This simple message is still the gospel that you must believe in your day. It does not need some special new novel knowledge, fresh revelation, or deep philosophical additions to make it true, relevant, and effective. What makes My message trustworthy in every generation is the content of the message. However, people in the first century struggled with this gospel being so simple and clear, just as some struggle to accept it in your day. This struggling was a problem for the people in My church in Colossae. Paul had not preached the gospel there. They heard the message from one of their own, a man named Epaphras. Since he was one of them, he was no one special in their minds. Some false teachers inserted themselves into My church in Colossae. They taught certain forms of asceticism (denying the body and only eating certain foods), celebration of some days as more special than others, and worshiping angels, and they claimed to have secret wisdom that was necessary to be a spiritual person. Since the Colossians had not received their message from an apostle, they thought maybe they hadn’t heard the whole gospel. They were being persuaded away from the gospel Epaphras had taught them. Paul specifically addressed the problem this way: Make sure no predator makes you his prey through some misleading philosophy and empty deception based on traditions fabricated by mere mortals. These are sourced in the elementary principles originating in this world and not in the Anointed One (so don’t let their talks capture you). (Colossians 2:8) I want to warn you about the same kind of danger. There is a dangerous hunger in the fallen human appetite for something new and secret. Satan and his false teaching partners prey on people using this fallen appetite. Don’t be misled by the faddish practices endorsed by
Bedrock Belief
Note from Jesus Dear Disciple, All religions, in fact, all worldviews including those couched in the language of unbelief, are built on a belief in something. This something may be an idea, a theory, an ideology, an explanation, a feeling, a skepticism, a method, or other things. However, I want you to realize two truths that Paul reveals in the verses that you are to read today: The basic Christian faith, the good news about Me, is very straightforward and easy to understand. Believing that good news might be hard, but understanding what you must believe is very clear. Christian faith hinges on My resurrection from the dead. My resurrection was an event in history that was investigated and verified. It emboldened fearful and confused disciples to become powerful witnesses. They had no expectation of My resurrection, but then they met Me alive from the dead. They boldly confirmed My resurrection before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council that had condemned Me to death. They then risked their lives to verify My resurrection to others all over the world, some ultimately becoming martyrs for what they proclaimed. Paul summarized this bedrock Christian faith with four truths, all culminating in My verified resurrection: I died for your sins as the Scriptures had prophesied. I was buried in a tomb. On the third day, I was raised from the dead just as the Scriptures had said. After My resurrection, I appeared to those who knew Me and thought I was still dead. Paul mentions some of these people by name and points out that some of them were still alive as witnesses to My resurrection. I also appeared to Paul, who was one of My fiercest opponents. Those appearances changed all of their lives forever. Paul made very clear to the Corinthians that these truths form the bedrock Christian gospel that is necessary for salvation. Notice the words below in bold to see how emphatically he makes this point. Paul’s summary sentence at the end of these verses adds emphasis to this claim of bedrock belief: In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it was I [Paul] or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message. A few verses later he also made the unequivocal observation that “if Christ has not been raised, then your faith is useless…” (1 Corinthians 15:17 NLT). You must build your life of faith on the bedrock historical truth of My resurrection if you are going to be My disciple. Verses to Live Some people try to make faith depend on an elaborate set of principles that are difficult to understand. Paul reminded the Corinthians, and I am reminding you, that the bedrock truths of your faith are not difficult to understand. The challenge is found in believing these four truths and building your daily life upon them. Let me remind you, brothers and sisters, of the good news that I [Paul] preached to you when we first met. It’s the essential message that you have taken to heart, the central story you now base your life on; and through this gospel, you are liberated [saved] — unless, of course, your faith has come to nothing. For I passed down to you the crux of it all which I had also received from others, that [Christ] the Anointed One, the Liberating King, died for our sins and was buried and raised from the dead on the third day. All this happened to fulfill the Scriptures; it was the perfect climax to God’s covenant story. Afterward He appeared alive to Cephas (you may know him as Simon Peter), then to the rest of the twelve. If that were not amazing enough, on one occasion, He appeared to more than 500 believers at one time. Many of those brothers and sisters are still around to tell the story, though some have fallen asleep in Jesus. Soon He appeared to James, His brother and the leader of the Jerusalem church, and then to all the rest of the emissaries He Himself commissioned. Last of all, He appeared to me; I was like a child snatched from his mother’s womb. You see, I am the least of all His emissaries, not fit to be called His emissary because I hunted down and persecuted God’s church. Today I am who I am because of God’s grace, and I have made sure that the grace He offered me has not been wasted. I have worked harder, longer, and smarter than all the rest; but I realize it is not me — it is God’s grace with me that has made the difference. In the end, it doesn’t matter whether it was I or the other witnesses who brought you the message. What matters is that we keep preaching and that you have faith in this message. (1 Corinthians 15:1-11) Response in Prayer Father, forgive me. Forgive me for getting distracted when I pursue theological tangents. Forgive me when I become distracted from what is important and make essential Christian doctrine so much more complicated than it has to be. Thank You for loving Me enough to have Jesus pay the price for My sins. Thank You that Jesus faced death and the realities of human frailty and mortality so that I can trust Him to help me when I face such difficult times. Thank You for raising Jesus from the dead and verifying His resurrection with human witnesses who were not expecting His resurrection and who first hid in fear when He died. I am emboldened to believe when I see how their fear turned into fearlessness because of their experience with the resurrected Jesus, in Whose name I pray. Amen. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by
Build Up Each Other!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, I love those times when you lose yourself in worshipful praise as you are filled with the Holy Spirit. To see your heart moved in love to praise the Father for what I have done to save you is precious. You can worship Me and praise Me anywhere you are. You can be in your car, at a park, on a hike, at a coffee shop, in town walking, or at home getting ready to begin or end the day. Because of the Holy Spirit within you, you can always have access to the Father. Because of the Holy Spirit’s presence, you can passionately worship Me in any place or at any time. Because of the Holy Spirit’s dwelling within you, you can be blessed personally by your time of worship no matter where you are. However, I want you to hear Paul’s warning about being so focused on your own fulfillment in worship that you forget an essential purpose of coming together with other “believers” in shared worship. There are things you can do in your personal worship that bless you and connect you to Me that you should not do when assembled with others. Something the Spirit may lead you to do in personal worship may not bless others because they don’t understand it. Remember, you are assembling with “believers,” “unbelievers,” and “inquirers” who are all together in the worship gathering with different needs to know Me. They need to understand the Father’s grace and see you display My character and compassion in the way you treat them in that assembly and also in how you live your lives each day. In today’s verses, Paul makes clear that one of the primary purposes of “believers” gathering together in worship is to “build up” other “believers.” Notice “edify,” “strengthen,” and “build up” are keywords used in the translation below. In addition, what you do should lead non-believers to understand the message of truth and fall down with you in reverent worship offered to the Father. Notice these two statements of Paul in the verses below: Since you are eager for gifts of the Spirit, try to excel in those that build up the church. … But if an unbeliever or an inquirer comes in while everyone is prophesying, they are convicted of sin and are brought under judgment by all, as the secrets of their hearts are laid bare. So they will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, “God is really among you!” The Corinthian Christians had become so focused on speaking in tongues that their worship gatherings had become chaotic. Each person focused on his or her private experience and forgot about other worshipers and their needs. Paul twice emphasized that God is a God of order, and things must be done in an orderly way. Seven times Paul emphasized the need to “build up” and “edify” each other as disciples come together in worship. (See the words in bold in the verses below.) Paul even made a special point to emphasize objectives that are related to three different groups of people and that need to be considered in these worship gatherings: He reminds the Corinthians that “believers” should be built up. He emphasizes that “inquirers” should be able to understand what is said. He says that even “unbelievers” should be able to hear, understand, and be convicted so that they can join in the worship. Paul then gave several key guidelines for them to use. These guidelines are equally relevant today: Strive to do what is not only filled with the Spirit but also understandable and intelligible to others. If folks can’t understand what you are doing, then you should enjoy that kind of worship in private between you and Us — Father, Son, and Spirit — or do so privately and to yourself in your worship gatherings. Focus on the needs of others when you are gathered together as “believers” and there are “unbelievers” and “inquirers” present. Help those who are present and worshiping with you to understand the good news found in Me, to turn their lives around and worship Me, and to be blessed and built up to live for Me. Eagerly desire spiritual gifts, but recognize that your gifts should be used to build up all who are present or should be practiced privately and celebrated between you and Us. Remember the most important principle of all. As Paul said it: “Follow the way of love…” Verses to Live Before focusing on Paul’s words to the Corinthians, I wanted to share a special passage that reminds you of an essential focus of the Christian assembly: considering others and inspiring each other to love and good deeds! Let us consider how to inspire each other to greater love and to righteous deeds, not forgetting to gather as a community, as some have forgotten, but encouraging each other, especially as the day of His return approaches. (Hebrews 10:24-25) Paul’s words to the Corinthians provide a great example of applying these principles: Follow the way of love and eagerly desire gifts of the Spirit, especially prophecy. For anyone who speaks in a tongue does not speak to people but to God. Indeed, no one understands them; they utter mysteries by the Spirit. But the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort. Anyone who speaks in a tongue edifies themselves, but the one who prophesies edifies the church. I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy. The one who prophesies is greater than the one who speaks in tongues, unless someone interprets, so that the church may be edified. Now, brothers and sisters, if I come to you and speak in tongues, what good will I be to you, unless I bring you some revelation or knowledge or prophecy or word of instruction? Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the
A More Excellent Way!
Note from Jesus Dear Precious One, Some words are simply more important than others. In the human vocabulary that We — Father, Son, and Spirit — use, one word stands above all others: love. Our nature is love — as John beautifully stated: [A]nyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love. God showed how much he loved us by sending his one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love is brought to full expression in us. (1 John 4:8-12 NLT) I came to earth to walk among you and share your mortality because of Our love. We came to your world to save you from what is broken and dying so we can redeem both you and your world (John 3:16-17; 1 John 3:16-18; Romans 8:22-25). While I lived among you, I taught you that the whole law could be summed up in two love commands: Love God with all that you are and love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:36-40). I demonstrated love with what I did in My life (John 13:1-5) and in My death (Romans 5:6-11; 1 John 3:16). I called on you, again and again, to love each other showing the fruit of the Father’s loving grace in your own dealings with each other (John 15:9-13). Our example of love is the basis of what the apostle Paul told new Christians in Thessalonica: Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other. And in fact, you do love all of God’s family… Yet we urge you, brothers and sisters, to do so more and more,… (1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 NIV) The last verses below from the apostle Paul — chapter 13 of 1 Corinthians — are some of his most famous and celebrated words. Many people call these words the love chapter of the Bible. However, I want you to realize that these words were written to a church where spiritual gifts were being misused because of pride and rivalry. Notice the words Paul uses to set up his teaching, which he points out is “a more excellent way” and leads to “the greater gifts”: Are all members gifted as emissaries [apostles]? Are all gifted with prophetic utterance? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? Or are all gifted in healing arts? Do all speak or interpret unknown languages? Of course not. Pursue the greater gifts, and let me tell you of a more excellent way — love. (1 Corinthians 12:29-31) Paul is making clear that no matter how talented, rich, smart, generous, spiritual, or gifted in other ways you are, without doing what you do in love, your giftedness means nothing. People fuss, fight, and divide My body, the church, over things that are temporary. And the result is they end up neglecting the things that really matter — faith, hope, and love — and especially the one thing that matters most: LOVE! Verses to Live What Paul says here is not only true, but it also is essential for you as My disciple. You must be loving. But also remember that you cannot love others fully and sacrificially on your own power. Loving others must be your commitment, but you can also turn to Us and ask for Our help to live this way of love. We will supply you with the power to love! So I give you this promise, through the words of Paul: When our characters are refined, we learn what it means to hope and anticipate God’s goodness. And hope will never fail to satisfy our deepest need because the Holy Spirit that was given to us has flooded our hearts with God’s love. (Romans 5:4-5) Now carefully read, consider, and commit to applying this beautiful teaching from the apostle Paul! What if I speak in the most elegant languages of people or in the exotic languages of the heavenly messengers, but I live without love? Well then, anything I say is like the clanging of brass or a crashing cymbal. What if I have the gift of prophecy, am blessed with knowledge and insight to all the mysteries, or what if my faith is strong enough to scoop a mountain from its bedrock, yet I live without love? If so, I am nothing. I could give all that I have to feed the poor, I could surrender my body to be burned as a martyr, but if I do not live in love, I gain nothing by my selfless acts. Love is patient; love is kind. Love isn’t envious, doesn’t boast, brag, or strut about. There’s no arrogance in love; it’s never rude, crude, or indecent — it’s not self-absorbed. Love isn’t easily upset. Love doesn’t tally wrongs or celebrate injustice; but truth — yes, truth — is love’s delight! Love puts up with anything and everything that comes along; it trusts, hopes, and endures no matter what. Love will never become obsolete. Now as for the prophetic gifts, they will not last; unknown languages will become silent, and the gift of knowledge will no longer be needed. Gifts of knowledge and prophecy are partial at best, at least for now, but when the perfection and fullness of God’s kingdom arrive, all the parts will end. When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind. For now, we can only see a dim and blurry picture of
Gifted by the Spirit
Note from Jesus Dear Precious Believer, You became a child of the Father when you turned your heart and life to follow Me, called on Me in faith to be your Savior, confessed Me as your Lord, and shared in My death, burial, and resurrection through baptism (Romans 10:9-13; Acts 2:21; Acts 2:36-41; Acts 16:25-34; Galatians 3:26-29). I poured out the Holy Spirit upon you as you were born into a new life with Me — a life filled and led by the Spirit (Acts 2:38-39; Titus 3:3-7; Romans 8:9-10). As a beloved child of your Father in heaven, you are a gifted child. The Holy Spirit is alive in you. We — Father, Son, and Spirit — have given you spiritual gifts to use to bless other believers, to touch the lost and needy, and to bring Us glory. Today, your verses come from 1 Corinthians where Paul talks to the Corinthians about their spiritual gifts. So I wanted to share several insights with you about spiritual gifts and what the New Testament teaches you about these gifts. Numerous passages in your New Testament talk about your having received these gifts. Each passage has a little bit of a different emphasis: Each of you is given gifts to use as part of My body, so use them without arrogance and with gracious commitment (Romans 12:3-8) Each of you has at least one spiritual gift, but don’t use your gift pridefully. Instead, recognize that each gift is important to the function of My body, the church, so use your gift in love to build up the church and to bless others. If your gift is to be used in your worship assemblies, use it in an orderly way to build up and bless others (1 Corinthians 12:1-30; 1 Corinthians 14:1-40). I gave gifts to help the church function as My bodily presence, so use your gifts — use equipping gifts to help others minister and use serving gifts to bring My grace to others. When you each use your gifts appropriately, then My church is matured more and more into My likeness to bring My grace to those around you (Ephesians 4:7-16). There are speaking gifts and serving gifts. Use your speaking gifts to speak My message and use your serving gifts and the strength that I supply to bless others as I would bless them (1 Peter 4:10-11). Doctor Luke, Paul’s sometimes companion, wrote two books in your New Testament, Luke’s gospel and Acts. His gospel emphasized how the Holy Spirit was at work in My earthly ministry so that you can see the connection between My ministry and your ministry — both are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Before I ascended into clouds and returned to the Father, I made this promise: [Y]ou [the apostles] will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about me everywhere — in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1:8 NLT) In Peter’s sermon on Pentecost, a similar promise was made to all disciples: Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, to your children, and to those far away — all who have been called by the Lord our God.” (Acts 2:38-39 NLT) Throughout the book of Acts, Luke emphasized how the Holy Spirit helped My disciples take My good news to all the world, beginning from Jerusalem, going throughout Judea, reaching out to Samaria, and then reaching to the ends of the earth. Not only did the Holy Spirit empower My disciples to share My story, but the Spirit also confirmed that different groups had been accepted into My family. The Spirit’s presence demonstrated that these different groups should be included in the fellowship of My disciples. This imparting of the Spirit happened first with Jews at Pentecost when the Spirit came to the apostles in a very demonstrable way. The Spirit’s coming also showed that I was alive from the dead and had authorized what occurred that day. The apostles’ preaching promised that forgiveness of sins and the gift of the Holy Spirit were available to everyone who answered My call to believe that I AM both Lord and Christ and to be baptized in My name (Acts 2:32-41). My disciples were a little slow to realize that when I commissioned them to go to all nations (Matthew 28:16-20), I meant it. At first, they were taking My message just to Jewish people. So I sent a disciple named Philip to Samaria to go to people that Jews didn’t appreciate: Samaritans (Acts 8:4-8). However, when these precious Samaritans were baptized, they didn’t receive the Spirit until a group of apostles came from Jerusalem and laid hands on them. Then, I sent the Holy Spirit in a clearly recognizable way to these Samaritan believers to show My apostles, along with the rest of My Jewish disciples, that Samaritan believers must be included in My family of grace. The Spirit’s coming showed the Jewish disciples that they must accept these Samaritan believers as brothers and sisters (Acts 8:14-17; Acts 8:25). Still, most of the world, especially the non-Jewish world, had not heard My message and had not been included in My family. To help My apostles and the Jewish people in Jerusalem realize that all people should be included in My Family, I sent a vision to the apostle Peter to show him that he should share My grace with Gentiles (Acts 10:1-43). To show Peter that these Gentile believers should be included in My family by faith and that he must baptize them, I sent the Holy Spirit to the household of Cornelius in a way that Peter recognized — Cornelius and his household received the Spirit
Vital!
Note from Jesus Dear Member of My Body, At the beginning of the 12th chapter of 1 Corinthians, the apostle Paul is about to address the chaos that had resulted from the Corinthians’ selfish approach to using their spiritual gifts: Now let me turn to some issues about spiritual gifts, brothers and sisters. There’s much you need to learn. (1 Corinthians 12:1) He makes sure his readers know what he is about to say is corrective as well as informative. He wants them to know that while they thought they excelled in knowledge, they really didn’t understand the most important principles about spiritual gifts. Paul wants all the believers in Corinth to understand that, just as a human body has many parts that function together as one body, the same is true in My church. Each person has spiritual gifts to use, but each person should use them as part of My body to bless the rest of the body. The Corinthian disciples needed to realize that none of them should try to appear, feel, or act as more important than other persons who are also vital parts of My body. God the Father is the One Who gives each part of My body its functions. He gives each person the gifts He wants each one to have with specific tasks that each part of the body is to perform. Each part needs the rest of the body to exist and function properly, so there should be no talk about which person or gift is most important. There should be no pride or arrogance exhibited by anyone. Each person is given gifts by God, by grace, not based on her or his own merit. Each is given what she or he is given to be a blessing to the rest of the body, not to bring glory to herself or himself. In a physical body, when one part of the body is hurt or ill, then the rest of the body is impacted. This effect should also be true in My body, the church. When one part of My body is suffering, other parts of the body should suffer with the ailing part. All parts of My body should work together to help, heal, and bless the ailing part. Rather than one part exalting itself, each body part should show greater concern for other parts. The goal is that all parts of the body will work together, empowered by the Holy Spirit, to do My work in the world. So before tomorrow when you will begin Paul’s discussion about spiritual gifts and the need for unity and love, I want you to carefully read these verses below. Notice Paul’s emphasis on unity, grace, interconnectedness, devotion, and care. Any practice of spiritual gifts that leads to personal exaltation or leaves out these principles is going to bring chaos, conflict, and division. Verses to Live A human body is comprised of many parts, and so is My body, the church. Each part of the body — each person in My church — is vital and precious. Each should bless other body parts, lead others to Me, and help My body, the church, share My grace with the lost world. Concerning gifts that are given by the Spirit, Paul said: Now to each one [each believer] the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. (1 Corinthians 12:7 NIV) Just as a body is one whole made up of many different parts, and all the different parts comprise the one body, so it is with the Anointed One. We were all… washed through baptism together into one body by one Spirit. No matter our heritage — Jew or Greek, insider or outsider — no matter our status — oppressed or free — we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Here’s what I mean: the body is not made of one large part but of many different parts. Would it seem right for the foot to cry, “I am not a hand, so I couldn’t be part of this body”? Even if it did, it wouldn’t be any less joined to the body. And what about an ear? If an ear started to whine, “I am not an eye; I shouldn’t be attached to this body,” in all its pouting, it is still part of the body. Imagine the entire body as an eye. How would a giant eye be able to hear? And if the entire body were an ear, how would an ear be able to smell? This is where God comes in. God has meticulously put this body together; He placed each part in the exact place to perform the exact function He wanted. If all members were a single part, where would the body be? So now, many members function within the one body. The eye cannot wail at the hand, “I have no need for you,” nor could the head bellow at the feet, “I won’t go one more step with you.” It’s actually the opposite. The members who seem to have the weaker functions are necessary to keep the body moving; the body parts that seem less important we treat as some of the most valuable; and those unfit, untamed, unpresentable members we treat with an even greater modesty. That’s something the more presentable members don’t need. But God designed the body in such a way that greater significance is given to the seemingly insignificant part. That way there should be no division in the body; instead, all the parts mutually depend on and care for one another. If one part is suffering, then all the members suffer alongside it. If one member is honored, then all the members celebrate alongside it. You are the body of the Anointed, the Liberating King; each and every one of you is a vital member. (1 Corinthians 12:12-27) Because of the grace allotted to me, I can respectfully tell you not to think of yourselves as