May 2019 Passages
May 1, 2019
Threats from people to you are no match for God! So be bold in your convictions, speak truth in love because you may bend like trees in a storm, but you won't be uprooted!
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
May 2, 2019
God can't and will not be stopped! Charged by God to do his will, know a way will be made for you. Trust. Be obedient.
Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
May 3, 2019
Like Stephen who was opposed by the Sanhedrin for his faith in Jesus we will also be met with opposition. Yet, being filled with the power of the Holy Spirit we can show the glow of his glory on us as we witness in his name.
All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.
May 4, 2019
Resist being yoked/connected to people who demonstrate deceit, are self-absorbed, power - hungry, use others for their own gain. These are ones adamant to do life their way. Instead, seek the Holy Spirit's guidance to prevent being like them for God does not appreciate the behavior.
"You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!"
May 5, 2019
Favoritism, partiality, stereotyping, "clicks", are all human acts devoid of God. As Christians, we must rise up above this behavior setting the example for others.
Then Peter began to speak: “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right.
May 6, 2019
God does not discriminate.
God does not stereotype.
God does not ostracize or alienate.
God does not choose based upon culture, skin, status, wealth, or outward appearance.
God searches the heart and ALL who receive Jesus as Lord are His children, brothers and sisters - family.
So if God gave them the same gift he gave us who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could stand in God’s way?” When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, “So then, even to Gentiles God has granted repentance that leads to life.”
May 7, 2019
Prayer is powerful! It can break the chains of fear, addiction, hatred, loneliness, nervousness, anger, imprisonment. Prayer also can heal the sick! So, pray earnestly!! Pray for you, pray for your loved one!
So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
May 8, 2019
Be 100% all in! Seeking direction requires total focus on Jesus. Worship Him, listen to him, give up a comfort or "want or need" for a period of time to become empty; empty of yourself and what distracts you from listening so you will become filled with the Holy Spirit who will show you the way.
While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.
May 9, 2019
Receiving flack from people and having then turn against you is no different today than for Paul and Barnabas. The only difference could be is how you respond. Be bold in your faith because your reward will be greater than anything you will receive on Earth.
But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.
May 10, 2019
The plot of some can have painful setbacks. But living fully in Christ, you may be down but not out, opposed yet supported, hated but deeply loved, powerless in your own strength,but mighty in his. As with Paul, never give up!
"Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe."
May 11, 2019
Forbidden can seem harsh, but it is not meant to be mean. The Holy Spirit is our guide. When red flags go up, an opportunity never opens, or you are warned by people - pay attention! The Holy Spirit may be forbidding you for your safety or you are not ready.
And they went through the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.
May 13, 2019
Be wise in understanding that while you will bring people to Jesus by what you say and do, there will be people who will roll their eyes,think you are nuts,argue their point, and even mistreat you. But always remember, you are in good company and your reward will be great!
But when the Jews from Thessalonica learned that the word of God was proclaimed by Paul at Berea also, they came there too, agitating and stirring up the crowds.
May 14, 2019
Your "gut feeling" to say or do something is not an additional function of the digestive tract. It is the communication between the Holy Spirit and you. If compelled to stay put or run, speak or be quiet, act or pause, do so in obedience and be covered in his power and protection.
Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols.
May 15, 2019
Praise God today because you get to... You get to walk, talk, learn, work, grow, exercise, build relationships, celebrate. And, maybe today is hard...so many things to do, a big challenge, obstacles no matter what you do. But the fact you get to... Get to live, participate, and grow in faith is simply because Jesus loves you so much and gives you life!
The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
May 16, 2019
In Christ; to be about his work, his will, his desires gives us the benefit of the Holy Spirit to empower us to do what can't be done on our own strength, our own plans, or our own knowledge. Great are his blessings!
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places,
May 17, 2019
If you believe what you do doesn't matter, what you say doesn't matter, how you work or learn doesn't matter, who you hang out with doesn't matter, that today doesn't matter, or worse, you don't matter; THINK AGAIN! You were thought of before the world was created; to be set apart to use the skills he gave you and to show how powerful he is through your weakness! To he glorified through you! Who you are, what you do, and who you want to become, ALWAYS matters!
"even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. "
May 19, 2019
What extraordinary things does God do through you? Have you opened yourself up for the possibilities? Are you willing to get out of your comfort zone and go with Jesus on a big adventure? When you are stretched beyond your capabilities, that is when you discover his power doing extraordinary things through you.
And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul,
May 20, 2019
Build those you live with, work with, learn with, and hangout with up in prayer. Give thanks to God for them in your life praying,
"that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give them the Spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, having the eyes of their hearts enlightened, that they may know what is the hope to which he has called them, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints,"
May 21, 2019
Rise up and live in the new life in Jesus, resisting old habits and the company of those who draw you away from him because,
"You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience - but God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved."
May 23, 2019
At the height of celebration, seeing the beauty of the mountains and ocean, enjoying the aromas of flowers and the garden harvest are all but a glimpse of the magnificence of the love we have in Jesus.
Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.
May 24, 2019
Take refuge in Jesus. He knows the evil plans of people. Don't get discouraged, be intimidated, or be afraid - what is done to you is also done to him. Stay the course with Jesus and you will triumph!
Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint; preserve my life from dread of the enemy. Hide me from the secret plots of the wicked, from the throng of evildoers,
May 26, 2019
Practice daily that Jesus is sufficient in every part of your life. Reach for him, pray to him, enjoy him, trust him content in all circumstances that he is sufficient with his power made perfect in you weakness!
Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.
May 29, 2019
Like the cycle of human life, from infancy to childhood to the maturity of adulthood so is the cycle of spiritual life. When mature in faith we no longer buy into the wind and deceit of people, but continue to develop wisdom with each step in faith we take.
Until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.
May 30, 2019
Avoid what provokes you to fall back to your old self. If unable, pray for strength to act as Christ would to solidify your new self.
Assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.
May 31, 2019
Ignoring or covering up issues, pretending to agree when you know it is wrong is to reject the truth. God commands us to live in truth, to stand up when no one else will. As part of the body of Christ we are to speak truth in love.
Therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to your neighbor, for we are all members of one body.