March 22, 2017

                                            

DAY TWENTY-NINE

March 22, 2017

Can Jesus Do A Mighty Work Here?

“He could not do any miracles there, except lay his hands on a few sick people and heal them.” Mark 6:5

Here we have a sad picture.  Jesus came to church but could do no mighty work because of their lack of faith.  It was not a good first year of ministry for Jesus as far as His reputation among the hometown people of Nazareth was concerned.  He experienced a tremendous amount of rejection.  Nazareth was where the Scriptures say, “And Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.”  (Luke 2:52) 

It started out well enough when He took the pulpit on a Sabbath and read from the prophet Isaiah, the 61st chapter.  This event (recorded in Luke 4:16-30), tells how they  “were amazed at the gracious words that came from his lips.” (verse 22)  But when He told them, “Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing” (verse 21), they became enraged.  In fact, they ran Him completely out of town to a cliff where they wanted to kill Him by casting Him off the edge.  “But He walked right through the crowd and went on His way.” (verse 30)  Talk about rejection!  Most preachers would have dusted their feet off and pronounced judgment, never to return.  Jesus, however, is not like most preachers, thank God.  He still had a burning desire to do a mighty work among them.

Jesus still has a burning desire to do a mighty work through His church and people today.  Are you willing to live by faith and have a prayer relationship with Him?  He is ready, willing, and able to perform powerful works through us.  Our faith will either turn the switch on or off.  Jesus will either do a mighty work here, or He will go elsewhere to do His mighty work.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that He will do a mighty work through Fredericksburg Wesleyan  Church because we are of strong faith.  Ask God to show you if there is a roadblock of unbelief in your life.

March 21, 2017

                                           

DAY TWENTY-EIGHT

March 21, 2017

We Have Never Done It This Way Before!

“He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.  This amazed everyone and they praised God, saying, ‘We have never seen anything like this!’” Mark 2:12

Ancient sailors recorded many times that in the midst of a coming storm the top of their ship’s mast would be circled with a mysterious circle of light.  Many times their hair would begin to stand straight out from their heads as this light appeared.  They called it St. Elmo’s Fire.  Any experienced sailor knew it was then time to take cover because the air was so electrically charged that a lightning strike was imminent.

The air must have been so charged in Capernaum at the time this Scripture passage took place.  There was a crowd, and this crowd was curious about the ministry of Jesus.  Scribes surely were scowling as they watched this new Rabbi closely, hoping that they could catch Him in an error.  The room was charged with excitement.  Everyone knew that something dramatic was about to take place.  It was not St. Elmo’s Fire; it was the King of King’s fire.  For when He is present, something miraculous is going to happen.

Sure enough, excitement mounted as four men began to tear up the roof in order to let a friend down in the presence of Jesus so that he could be healed.  The Bible says they literally “took off the roof.”  When believers at Fred Wes gather, it ought to be a “roof-raising experience.”  And we too should be able to say, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

According to this passage, three things are needed to have a “roof-raising” experience with Jesus:

We must have a Savior who can save.

We must have a preacher who can preach.

We must have a flock who has faith.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that Fredericksburg Wesleyan Church will be filled with people of faith like these four roof removers, for they did everything possible to bring their friend to Jesus.  Ask the Lord to make you like one of these four.

March 20, 2017

                                         

DAY TWENTY-SEVEN

March 20, 2017

Are You Dangerous?

“Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and courageous.  Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

When we are called by God our Savior out of sin’s bondage, we begin to journey with Him.  We follow Him as our Captain and Leader into the promised purpose of the future, our destiny.  Along the way, God will stretch us.  He will enlarge the horizons of our vision.

Jim Elliot, the great missionary who gave his life trying to reach the Auca Indians said,  “Am I Dangerous?”

If we are honest with ourselves, we may find that we are utterly ordinary and commonplace.  We profess to know a power the world cannot reckon with.  We are all sideliners, coaching and criticizing the real wrestlers, while content to sit by and leave the enemies of God unchallenged.  We are often spiritual pacifists, conscientious objectors in this battle to the death with principalities and powers in the heavenly places.  The world cannot hate us; we are too much like its own.  Oh, that God would make us dangerous! 

How do we get there?  According to Joshua there are several principles:

Choose to be strong.

Choose to be courageous.

Choose to be obedient.

Read Joshua 1 and write down everything God commands him to do.  Then reflect how these commands compare with what the Lord is calling you to do.

Prayer Focus:  Pray 2 Chronicles 15:7 for our church,  “But as for you, be strong and do not give up, for your work will be rewarded.”  Ask the Lord to embolden us with strength, courage, and submission to Him to follow the path He has placed before us.  Pray these traits for yourself as well.

March 19, 2017

DAY TWENTY-SIX

March 19, 2017

From Defeat to Victory

“I will give you every place where you set your foot, as I promised Moses.” Joshua 1:3

Abraham Lincoln is widely recognized as one of the greatest presidents in the history of our country, Abe stood tall and strong in a very critical and decisive time in our history.  We certainly would regard him as a successful man.  But this man also experienced many failures throughout his life.

When Abraham Lincoln went off to the Black Hawk War he was a captain.  Through no fault of his own, he returned a private.  That brought an end to his military career.  His little country village shop “winked out” as he used to say.  So he failed as a businessman.

As a lawyer in Springfield, Illinois, he was too impractical, too unpolished, and too temperamental to be successful.

Turning to politics, he was defeated in his campaign for the legislature.

He was defeated in his first attempt to be nominated for Congress and in his application to be Commissioner of the General Land Office.

He was defeated in the Senatorial election of 1854 and in his aspirations for the Vice Presidency in 1856.

Finally, he was elected President of the United States and fulfilled his destiny and the destiny of a nation.  Although maybe not as dramatic, Lincoln’s experience is the experience of many of God’s people.  The enemy of our soul comes to us after repeated defeats and whispers in our ears, “You’re a failure!”  He tells us we will never win, are trapped forever where we are, and will never fulfill our God-given destiny.

The first chapter of Joshua tells the story of God’s people who escaped the cycle of defeat and moved into the new day of victory.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that Fredericksburg Wesleyan will possess all the land and build all the facilities on it that God intends for us.  Pray Galatians 6:9, “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”  Ask the Lord to encourage you in your walk with Him.  In your prayer time, claim victory over evil for our church and for yourself.

March 18, 2017

                                              

DAY TWENTY-FIVE

March 18, 2017

The Corporate Anointing

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.”   Psalm 133

This Psalm was written on the occasion of David’s coronation as King over all of Israel.  And what a struggle it was between the times he was anointed king by Samuel until the day of his coronation when he ruled over a united twelve tribes.  It was David who united these warring tribes.  David understood that harmony could only be achieved when they practiced the unity of their faith.  These days of unity for Israel under David, and later his son Solomon, were without question the most glorious days of their history.  Never has Israel possessed all of the land that God gave her except in these days.  Even in our current time, Israel is but a shadow of what she was, despite her being in a united state.  In fact, Israel will know no greater glory until Jesus rules in regal splendor from His throne in Jerusalem.

There is a message in these verses for the church.  For as the people of God united under one king in the Old Testament, so the people of God must unite today under the King of Kings.  As they experience great glory in this unification in the Old, so we will experience a greater glory in the New.  As they experienced a tremendous victory over their enemies because of unification, so we will enjoy freedom from the enemy’s control in the New.

Unity is not uniformity.  You can tie two cats’ tails together and have unity but not peace!  Seek ways to be harmonious.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that the FredWes believers will experience and demonstrate true unity of purpose.  Pray that we will be one so that the world will be won.  Ask God how you can help our church be unified.

The Anointing Brings Harmony

                                             

DAY TWENTY-FOUR

March 17, 2017

The Anointing Brings Harmony

“How good and pleasant it is when brothers live together in unity!  It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes.  It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion.  For there the Lord bestows His blessing, even life forevermore.” Psalm 133

Remember the television show M*A*S*H?  It was based on an American emergency medical unit in the Korean War.  This group of people was composed of some very different personalities.  There was Hawkeye Pierce, B.J., and Father Mulcahy.  There was Colonel Potter, Radar, and Hotlips Houlihan.  They were always playing jokes on one another and arguing over different political views and the war.  But there was always one thing that brought these characters together.  It did not matter what particular argument was going on or what particular practical joke was being pulled, when they heard the sound of the choppers bringing in wounded, they always were united in the O.R.

In our day of hurting and wounded people, we cannot afford to be one more church that spends all of its time arguing over things that will not matter in the light of eternity.  We must bring our differences together and allow the Lord to merge them in unity of the Spirit.

Just as Aaron, the high priest, was anointed on his head and the oil ran down his body, so the Holy Spirit descends from our great High Priest, Jesus Christ.  Anointing always brings harmony.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that, throughout the fulfilling of this dream that the Lord has given Fredericksburg Wesleyan Church, we will experience genuine harmony resulting from the Holy Spirit’s presence among us.  Ask God to show you specific ways that you can contribute toward the unit of believers at Fred Wes.

March 16, 2017

                                          

DAY TWENTY-THREE

March 16, 2017

All Power

“Then Jesus came to them and said, ‘All authority in Heaven and on earth has been given to me.’” Matthew 28:18

The Roman Empire was at one of its greatest moments in terms of size and influence.  The borders of the empire were larger than ever before.  Their elaborate governing system was in full operation.  Tax money was coming in at a higher rate than ever.  Truly the Roman Empire was operating in one of its finest hours.  It was the most modern civilization the world had ever known.

If it were possible for the leader of this great empire, Tiberius Caesar, to have looked from his palace in Rome all the way to a distant remote mountain somewhere in Galilee where eleven men were gathered around their leader, and if he were able to hear what this leader was saying to these eleven men, there is little doubt that he would have laughed out loud.  The leader said to His disciples, “I have been given complete authority…”

However, if Caesar could have seen about 350 years into the future, he would have been aghast to see his successor naming Christianity as the official state religion.  It took less than 400 years for Christianity to conquer the great Roman Empire.  History would later show that this act of being made an official religion of the empire would become a blight rather than a blessing to Christianity.  However, it is still significant to see how a church of only eleven impacted the entire known world in such a short time.

How were they able to achieve this feat?  It was through power - Holy Spirit, God-given power.  We can impact our world because we have the same Holy Spirit living within us, thus the same power.

Prayer Focus:  Pray that the leaders of Fredericksburg Wesleyan Church will be mightily filled with Holy Spirit power and thus impact the world for Christ.  For yourself, pray or sing the words of this song:

“Breathe on me, breath of God, love and life that make me free.  Breathe on me, breath of God, fan the flame within me.  Teach my heart, heal my soul, and speak the mind that in Christ we know.  Take me to your sanctuary.  Breathe on me.  Speak to me, voice of God.  Comfort, heal, restore with love.  Breathe on me.”