And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. Acts 2:4 REFERENCE Acts 2:1-4 Speaking in tongues is one misunderstood topic in Christendom today, and yet it is a KEG OF GUNPOWDER that God has given to us. If you do not know the use of something, NEGLECT is oftentimes the result – and today, many people have neglected speaking in tongues or they do it sporadically. Unlike the other gifts of the Spirit that manifested in the Old Testament, the gift of tongues is reserved exclusively...
Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him; and also, O king, I have done no wrong before you.” - Daniel 6:21-22 REFERENCE Daniel 6:6-23 The circus often presents its vast spectators with a wonder – Lions, the king of the jungle, made to jump through hoops, step dance, do balancing acts and even play with rubber balls. Although strong, ferocious, wild and a predator by instinct, the Lion can be and...
See, I have called by name Bezalel the son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah. Exodus 31:2 REREFENCE Exodus 31:1-11 It is a commendable thing to work hard at one’s work, but there is a certain ‘something’ that causes some people to be outstanding. They stand out as ‘world class and pacesetters’ in their field. They come up with breakthrough ideas and outperform those who were in their field ahead of them. Different people attribute this to different things, based on their beliefs – the stars, luck or their personal effort. But is that really...
By faith he dwelt in the land of promise as in a foreign country, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. Hebrews 11:9 REFERENCE Hebrews 11:8-10 & 13-16 The dictionary defines a pilgrim as a traveler on a long journey to a holy place. Abraham lived in tents in the land which God told him (by a divine declaration), was his own inheritance. He lived like a pilgrim who usually would possess little luggage or a few belongings; constantly looking forward to returning to his city or country of residence. Abraham did this because...
Then Abram took Sarai his wife and Lot his brother’s son, and all their possessions that they had gathered, and the people whom they had acquired in Haran, and they departed to go to the land of Canaan. So they came to the land of Canaan. Genesis 12:5 REFERENCE Genesis 12:1-5, & 13:1-15 This is God’s plan for Abram: remove him from the idolatry of his family and turn his life around. Often, we can't get to where God wants us to in life without leaving where we presently are. The call for Abram to leave his familiar was transgenerational; God was moving him...
Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits. - Psalm 103:2 REFERENCE Psalm 103:1-14 As we look back on our goals and plans which we set up at the beginning of the year, and as we look forward to the remainder of the year, we might be wondering about some things that are not yet in place. But, we mustn’t forget the benefits of God. Sometimes, we are so consumed by what we yet have to accomplish that we forget to look back and see what distance we have covered, and what we have accomplished. We often suffer amnesia...
Our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace… But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up. Daniel: 3:17-18 REFERENCE Daniel 3:1-25 Amongst the multitude of people who bent their knees when king Nebuchadnezzar made his infamous decree for everyone in his kingdom to bow down and worship the graven image he had set up were Jews who had been taken as prisoners from Judah. Amongst them must have been priests, rabbis...
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” John 5:7 REFERENCE John 5:1-9 Painfully, this man had been ‘there’ for 38 years, yet he didn’t (and couldn’t) find ONE PERSON who paid enough attention to his situation to render him help. No surprise, this is simply because man is naturally selfish and largely driven by his own needs. Besides, it is unlikely that people help others when they are also in a helpless situation. The sick...
Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him. I Samuel 3:7 REFERENCE I Samuel 3:1-9 Though Samuel had been ministering in the temple of God for some years, he still didn’t know the Lord. He read the scrolls, but it was just a closed book to him, and he never received a word from God through it or from it. It is possible to be serving in church and not know the God of the church. You can be so faithful and overburdened with church activities that...
And they said to him, “Thus says Hezekiah: ‘This day is a day of trouble and rebuke and blasphemy; for the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. Isaiah 37:3 REFERENCE Isaiah 37:1-3 The picture here painted is that of a woman at the point of delivery, yet lacking the strength to give the ‘final push’; it is indeed a disheartening one. Sometimes in our everyday lives, we get to this point, the point where something or an idea we have been pregnant with for “9 months” (indicative of its full term)...