Powerful Witness

LORD, let there be no addition nor deletions to Your Word today.  In Jesus’ Name. Amen.

PRAY your prayer and then get into the Word for the day.
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Mark 9:2-13 (NKJV)*part 2*

emphasis :9- 13 Peter, James & John

⁹ Now as they came down from the mountain, He commanded them that they should tell no one the things they had seen, till the Son of Man had risen from the dead. ¹⁰ So they kept this word to themselves, questioning what the rising from the dead meant.
¹¹ And they asked Him, saying, “Why do the scribes say that Elijah must come first?”
¹² Then He answered and told them, “Indeed, Elijah is coming first and restores all things. And how is it written concerning the Son of Man, that He must suffer many things and be treated with contempt? ¹³ But I say to you that Elijah has also come (John the Baptist fulfilled the role prophesied for Elijah in the Old Testament), and they did to him whatever they wished, as it is written of him.”
 

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What are these verses revealing to your spirit?  Take a moment to just be silent and still; take the Scripture in. 

Take your time, there is no reason to rush this time.

It’s so awesome of God that no matter how many times we read it; or from the different perspectives of the authors of the gospels; the Word is always relevant.

In the above verses, we see that Jesus told Peter, James and John not to speak about what they had seen because they would not fully understand it until Jesus had risen from the dead.  Then they would realize that only through dying could Jesus show His power over death and His authority to be King of all.  He couldn’t just “talk about it’, He had to let God “be about it.”  The disciples would not be powerful witnesses for God until they had grasped this truth.

I know it may seem like I’m hard on the disciples sometimes.  In being a reader of these events in our history, it is easy for us to ask “How did they miss that?”  But I believe we all would have missed it, if we were in their place.  I mean we have the full Story and Guide before us now;  we know the beginning and what God has told us of the end.  We know the Key to living life- and still how many of us continue to miss the mark?  I sure do; it’s a consistent growth.  So let’s decide not to be so hard on them, not to be so hard on ourselves, and not to be so hard on one another.  The biggest lesson we can learn from the disciples (which we will read more about as we get deeper into the New Testament), is to encourage one another.

Let’s also concentrate on what will help you (each of us) to become a powerful witness for Jesus.

It was difficult for the disciples to grasp the idea that their Messiah would have to suffer.  The Jews who studied the Old Testament prophecies expected the Messiah to be a great king like David, who would overthrow the enemy, Rome.  Their vision was limited to their own time and experience.  They could not understand that the values of God’s eternal Kingdom were different form the values of the world (Kingdom thinking reminder).  They wanted relief from their present problems.  But deliverance from sin is far more important than our deliverance from physical suffering or political oppression.  Our understanding and appreciation of Jesus must, again, go beyond what He can do for us here and now.

It was natural for the disciples to be confused about Jesus’ death and resurrection because they could not see into the future.  We, on the other hand, have God’s revealed Word, the Bible, to give us the full meaning of Jesus’ death and resurrection.  So what is keeping some of you from unbelief?

Powerful witness comes from spending time with God (I can’t stress enough how important this is).  The Holy Spirit should be our number 1 “go to.”  Seek Him for understanding and discernment of what you can’t get from the reading or a sermon or conversation with another believer; but don’t forget to also ask for direction on how to live in real-time, what you do get from the Word.  To be a powerful witness is to live a genuine life, covered by Jesus, filled with the Spirit and under God’s authority (our King; remember, I want to keep Kingdom of God on your mind).  A powerful witness is natural.  It doesn’t only come from the words we speak; it comes by what others see in us.

LIFE:  Build on one thing today that comes to your spirit.  Is it being kind (TO EVERYONE NO MATTER WHAT)?  Is it showing your forgiveness to someone today.  Is it asking for forgiveness?  Is it being humble?  Is it praying instead of gossiping, lying and complaining.  Is it working in excellence?  Is it showing concern for someone you don’t know?  Is it saying hello to people?  I can’t tell you what it is; but I’m sure something came to your spirit.  With the motivation of sharing your Savior with others in the small, ordinary moments of life- TGN will continue to help us begin to build it into the fabric of our beings.  The time is now family.  I have to encourage you to start today; or do something new today.  We can all rise to the next level!  There are no glass ceilings with God.

COMMENT AND SHARE WHAT YOU WILL WORK ON TODAY - I will most definitely share whatever comes to my spirit when it comes…  Let’s share with one another; Let’s make this life real!

My last question for today: Do you know (without a doubt), if the first thing people see when they come in your presence, is the Jesus in you?

I encourage this to be our goal!  By God’s Spirit we can do it!

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Daily Prayer: Holy Spirit, I invite You to be apart of each person’s life today; in all areas, but especially those spots that we have not allowed you to enter.  Holy Spirit, come in and have Your way.  Let Your divine nature take over in each one of Your children.  Jesus thank You for the wonderful gift of the Spirit.  I know we do not make it easy most of the time, but You continue to knock on our hearts because this is where You want to be.  As we concentrate on today, and only today; help us to build a true witness for You.  I pray that Your committed children become powerfully effective for Your Word in the lives of those around them.  I rebuke the idea of it having to be larger than life to mean anything.  For You are Life!  If our actions today shows one person Who You are; we’ve hit success.  Thank You Father.  In Your Son’s Name.  Amen.

Concentrate on bringing what you understood to life today!