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Gleanings From The Word

Tag: Gleanings

  • God’s Promises – The Holy Spirit

    the BIg Book of God's Promises

    We have all made promises, some we have kept and others we have broken, for reasons, good, bad, and unknown. The Lord made many promises throughout the Scriptures, and God’s promises are never broken.

    We all know people whose promises are not dependable. Their word is less than trustworthy, and you can almost count on them not keeping it. The Scriptures are full of verses affirming the trustworthiness of God’s Promises. Here are a few: Hebrews 10:23, 2 Corinthians 1:20, Titus 1:2, Joshua 21:45.

    Numerous places in the Old Testament God promised to pour out his Holy Spirit:

    And it will be afterward that I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind; And your sons and your daughters shall prophesy; Your old men will dream dreams; Your young men will see visions. Even on the male slaves and female slaves I will in those days pour out My Spirit. Joel 2:28-29

    Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to do Ezekiel 36:26–27

    That particular promise was made in many places and affirmed by Jesus. We see it fulfilled in Acts.

    And when the day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues like fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance. Acts 2:1-4

    That fulfillment of God’s Promise is critical for believers today. Every one of us has the Holy Spirit.

    He intercedes for us. He empowers us. He illuminates Scripture for us.

    The Holy Spirit seals us in our salvation with a seal that no one and nothing can break. Once He seals us, we belong forever to the Lord. He gifts and equips us for life and ministry.

    God promised to pour out His Helper, the Spirit, and He has done just that for our benefit and His glory. 

    My friends that is worth celebrating.

    Praise God for His faithfulness.

    Be blessed
    Kevin

    A campfire devotional. Infrared light and faith

    Read the Word – A devotional on it’s importance

  • God’s Story

    God’s Story

    The Bible - God's Story

    I recently listened to a sermon that had so many personal anecdotes and unrelated attempts to be relevant to the pastor’s audience that it lost almost all relevance to the Bible. Instead of being God’s story and letting the Scripture speak, it became the preachers’ story.

    God works in us and through us, but He should always be the main event. It is, after all, God’s story. It often happens when we share our testimony, and it becomes all about us, rather than about what God has done.

    I’m sure every preacher has done it to some degree. I know I’ve done it at times with Gleanings. I’ve often heard it done in personal testimonies. We’ve all been guilty of doing that.

    The Bible is God’s story. It reveals Him to us and tells us of His expectations and plans for us. It doesn’t hide from the truth or embellish.

    The bible wasn’t written to us, but it was written for us. We have a place in God’s incredible story, but we are not the main characters. The world revolves around Him, not us.

    Now, please don’t think that I’m saying your story or mine is unimportant. Our Lord loves us, died for us and filled us with His Spirit. We matter far more than we can imagine. It just isn’t all about us.

    There is a sense in which we are like extras in an old-time epic movie. The movie wouldn’t be complete without the extras, but our roles are not the center of the story.

    From the opening scene,

    In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. And God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. And God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day Genesis 1:1-5

    To the closing credits,

    He who bears witness to these things says, “Yes, I am coming quickly.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus. The grace of the Lord Jesus be with all. Amen. Revelation 22:20-21

    It’s about Him.

    We are blessed to have small but important parts, but the whole story is designed to bring attention and glory to God.

    Let’s try to keep that in mind, as we live under His blessings and tell our small parts.

    To God be the glory.

    Be blessed
    Kevin

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