Tuesday, May 5, 2009

They had been with Jesus

I need some insight...

the first few chapters of Acts are powerful, and i love peter's preaching!
i am tripped up on something though


Here is some background:
2:38
repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit

2:43
and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles


after the lame man gets healed through peter's faith in Jesus and they are arrested and before the council, the council has this to say:
3:13
now when they saw the boldness of peter and john, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

acts 4:29-31
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

5:12-13
now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. and they were all together in solomon's portico. none of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem.




why would that be? why would the apostles be the only ones walking in the power and boldness of the Holy Spirit? The others were also filled with the Holy Spirit. All I have seen so far in healings and miracles are by the faith of the apostles.

thoughts??

To be known...

It is a wonderful thing to be known. The times I fear it before the Lord are the times when I do not realize that I am known. I am already known.


Romans 5:8
"But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"


I have this deep desire in me to be known- it feeds so much of my interaction and a lot of my thoughts. And yet the Lord must constantly remind me that He knows me fully. Every crisis I come to, it is my peace and new-found adoration that He knows me. I rest in the knowledge that the Lord knows. And we may also rest, knowing as we lay ourselves naked before Him, that He loves us fully. He is unshockable. And yet I believe He is moved. He knows all, and yet His Son asks that we speak with Him.


Song of Solomon 2:14
"My dove in the clefts of the rock, in the hiding places on the mountainside, show me your face, let me hear your voice; for your voice is sweet, and your face is lovely."


What if the sound of His Name coming from our lips moves Him? What if He loves the sound of His Name when uttered by His betrothed? What if it brings Him joy as it would a Father to hear His children call to Him by Name.


John 16:26-27
"In that day you will ask in my name. I am not saying that I will ask the Father on your behalf. No, the Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."


We speak to the Father under the Name of His Son, not so that Jesus will ask for us, but because the Lord is moved at the Name of His Son. And any who love His Son love Him.


Song of Solomon 1:3
Pleasing is the fragrance of your perfumes; your name is like perfume poured out. No wonder the maidens love you!


His Name is like perfume poured out. When I need Him most and He proves Himself faithful; when I am left dependent upon Him and He shows Himself trustworthy; when all else fails and yet He remains stable: it is in these moments when His Name upon my lips is like perfume poured out. When there is nothing so sweet as His Name. Simply His Name. And no one says His Name like I do. And no one says His Name like you do.

To be known...

Psalm 139:1-17

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.
1 O LORD, you have searched me
and you know me.

2 You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.

3 You discern my going out and my lying down;
you are familiar with all my ways.

4 Before a word is on my tongue
you know it completely, O LORD.

5 You hem me in—behind and before;
you have laid your hand upon me.

6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
too lofty for me to attain.

7 Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?

8 If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, a]"> you are there.

9 If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,

10 even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

11 If I say, "Surely the darkness will hide me
and the light become night around me,"

12 even the darkness will not be dark to you;
the night will shine like the day,
for darkness is as light to you.

13 For you created my inmost being;
you knit me together in my mother's womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
your works are wonderful,
I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16 your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.

17 How precious to me are your thoughts, O God!
How vast is the sum of them!

Monday, May 4, 2009

someone write something! i miss you all and your thoughts/revelations!!!! LOOOOOVE