For thought and meditation [Archive]

rl69

05-10-2017, 06:53 AM

And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness. —Acts 4:31 (https://www.bible.com/bible/NKJV/Acts.4.31)Sometimes I’ll hear people say, “We need another Pentecost.” No, the original Pentecost was more than sufficient. However, can what happened to them still happen to us today? The answer is yes and no. Nowhere else in the Bible do we read of a mighty rushing wind, and the Spirit coming upon people like flames. But in Acts we do frequently read of the Holy Spirit empowering, speaking to, and using the believers.
The power given by the Holy Spirit to the first-century church at Pentecost is available to the twenty-first century church today. The power that was given to them then is available to us now.
The Holy Spirit filled the first-century believers again and again and again. We read of Peter at the Beautiful Gate being led by the Spirit to pull a crippled man to his feet. Then we read of how the Lord filled him with the Spirit, and he stated that Jesus was the Messiah.
This same power came upon the apostle Paul when he was trying to preach the gospel to the governor, and a sorcerer was opposing him. And the Bible tells us in Acts 13 that Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, turned to this man and rebuked him. It took a boldness from God.
When the believers were preaching the gospel and were told to stop, they prayed for even more boldness to do so. And in Acts 4:31, after this prayer, the building where they were meeting shook, and they all were filled with the Holy Spirit and preached God’s message with boldness.
If you have ever been afraid to speak up for your faith, if you have ever been opposed or mocked as a Christian, then you are a candidate for being filled with the Holy Spirit.

Blackwater

05-10-2017, 03:01 PM

Great post RL! We Christians have succumbed to PC FAR too much! It's reduced us to a near dysfunctional status in our world today, I'm afraid. We should always be humble, but NEVER "mousey," and should never demure and just walk away when challenged. I'm afraid many of us don't really know, or know how to explain why we have our Faith. And unless and until we know ourselves WHY we believe, how can we speak to others, and convince them it's NOT just an "emotional decision" that's not really based on good, solid facts?

We in the modern world have come to depend almost exclusively on our 5 senses, and tend to regard anything that's not perceptible with those 5 as being "questionable" or "willful" choices, and not really based on firm grounds. But we can't see the sun's rays, but we CAN see what they can do - how they make the grass and flowers grow, and warm us in the summertime, and so much more. So we don't really HAVE to be able to see something, or touch it, or hear it with our ears, or feel it with our skin, or taste it with our tongues, or with any other of our normal "5 senses" to know it's real. If God truly exists, and he MUST, then why is it not "rational" and "logical" and "true" that He would have, probably when He breathed the Breath of Life into us, fixed within us some means by which we can and do come to "know" him without using our 5 "normal" senses? We perceive Him in our hearts, and it IS real when we do that. It is beyond our understanding just how this works, perhaps, but we can know this, just like we can know there are sun's rays, because of what it DOES!

We Christians need to quit being "mousey" and turning away using "shake the dust" as our excuse. Leaving mockers and unbelievers unchallenged just lets them fester and grow, and gives them an air of "validity" that we CANNOT rightly excuse ourselves of allowing! We NEED to speak up, but first, we have to know why we believe OURSELVES, so we CAN tell others why we believe, and counter the nihlists and deniers. If we don't ..... well, just look around at our world today to see what our lacking and "mousiness" engenders, and allows to fester and grow!

We Christians NEED to do a LOT more to defend and explain and popularize our Faith. If we can't or won't or don't .... nothing will ever change, and our world will continue to go downhill, and faster and faster as time progresses. We are NOT to just hide our light under a bushel, and be satisfied with our OWN salvation. We're to "pay it forward," as folks like to say these days, and bring more and more into the fold. Failing to do that, I think, is what will eventually allow Armageddon and all that. And it'll be largely because WE didn't do what Christ instructed us so diligently and clearly to do! So if Armageddon comes, it'll really be OUR fault - we CHristians - and NOT the fault of the profane! Strong medicine, I know, but .... who can deny it? As we languish about like cattle in a meadow, the "farm" around us is crumbling and failing. We need to do a LOT more than we're doing. We CANNOT lose our salvation. That we've been VERY assured of! So why don't we do more? I think we need a great leader. Billy Graham was once a great leader, and he brought many, many souls to Christ. But he did NOT do it by being "mousey!" He strode to the fore of the battle, and cast his bread without fear or shame. And look what HE did with that simple attitude!

More than anything, I think it's our ATTITUDE that needs to change, so that we CAN and WILL do a LOT more than we've been doing for a long time now. Not with fear or anger about disbelief in others, but with certainty, assurance and confidence in our faith. That's how Billy did it. He provided us with a great "model" to follow. And I've heard some stories of how when he was out and about, he simply struck up conversations with strangers oftentimes, whenever he perceived they had something gnawing at them. When folks have some concern, they are most vulnerable and receptive of the Word, and of a promise that better things are available and forthcoming. In short, we just need to crawl out of our shells, and be less concerned about whatever WE have concerns about, and in witnessing, not with flaming words and Bible pounding, but with love in our hearts and with assurance of our beliefs. This instills assurance and confidence in those we deal with, and inspires them.

I think many pound their Bibles and quote scriptures, because that's simply all they know how to do. Discuss why they believe, and they don't know what to say. So that's why I've come to the conclusion, and seen it bring fruit, that the best way to reach others is to simply talk to them with assurance, confidence and love, and simply respond to their condition and situation with kindness and understanding. THIS is how to witness, in my book, at least.

We've come to a point that many of the profane, if not all of them, have come to EXPECT us to beat our Bibles and quote scriptures, and never really deal with any insight into their situation or plight. And that, my friends, is OUR fault! We need to do better, so that we can be more effective. If we were more effective, and more "active" in this way, I believe it wouldn't take all that long for us to literally change the world for the better. We'll never "get them all," but we don't have to. All we need to do is bring ENOUGH of them to light to change the world. And yeah, that's a very big job, but .... who else COULD do this, BUT us????

We cannot afford any longer to be "mousey" Christians! Our world languishes for the lack of better and more activity on our part! What else could lead our world to the point it's at now???? And too, I think this is why Christ assured us that if WE CHRISTIANS would simply do what He's directed, and repent, and change our ways, He'd hear our prayers in Heaven and would heal our land! It all adds up, and fits together like a hand in a tight glove. What else could He have meant?