Overflowing With Amazing Testimonies of God’s Love

God is still speaking to me that I should continue to blog here weekly. So here I am. I am excited that as I continue to meet with him daily He is speaking to me a lot. I am going to keep blogging here on this quiet blog the things God is speaking to my heart.

Acts 2:42 – Acts 7

I love reading about the Acts 2 community! What stood out to me this time that many signs and wonders were taking place. I like to think that one of the wonders was how everyone got along and shared with one another. Later in chapter 3 we find out that healings were a part of the signs and wonders.

I was praying for my church, River City Community Church, and wondered what it would be like if my church acted like the Acts 2 community. I think that if many miracles were happening everyone would be telling their story. I then had a vision of testimonies of God’s power pouring into the church office from all the different ministries and individual people. The church office would be so overwhelmed with testimonies that they would have to dedicate a whole Sunday service telling these incredible stories.

Faith is going to grow at RCCC. God is alive and wants us to call out to him. Oh, I can’t wait! I will be praying for this vision to come true.

Another scripture that stood out to me is what Stephen told the Council. Stephen was being falsely accused of blasphemy and he replied explaining how the leaders of the Jews have rejected prophets in the past.  Stephen said, ” ‘You stiff-necked people, with uncircumcised hearts and ears! You are just like your fathers: You always resist the Holy Spirit!’ ” (Acts 7:51)

The Message puts it this way, “And you continue, so bullheaded! Calluses on your hearts, flaps on your ears! Deliberately ignoring the Holy Spirit”

I know I can be stubborn and hardheaded. Our hearts can be hard toward the work God wants to do in us. This verse is certainly a warning of what not to be!

Lord Jesus, soften our hearts towards your will for our lives. Please help us trust you and have faith that you know what is best. Open our hearts and ears for what you want to say to us. I pray that we would not ignore the promptings of the Holy Spirit. We don’t want to miss you! Let us focus on you and know when you speak to us. Forgive us for our stubbornness and our selfish  motives. We love you, Lord. Speak to us and give us faith! Amen.

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John 18: “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”

In John 18 the story of Jesus’ crucifixion begins to unfold in a garden where he often taught his disciples. Judas brings the officials and soldiers to arrest Jesus. Jesus is brave and boldly says that he is the one they are after. He doesn’t run as a coward would. His proclamation stuns the officials and they ask him again.

Peter is mad and cuts off a soldier’s ear with his sword. He probably would have continued with his sword if Jesus hadn’t stopped him. Jesus tells Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” Jesus is resolute on following God’s plan.

They bring him to Annas and then he sends them on to his son-in-law, the high priest, Caiaphas. They question Jesus about his disciples and his teachings. He then points them to the people He has taught. I do wonder what would these people say. I am sure the people who weren’t Pharisees or Jewish officials would have nothing but good things to say about Jesus. They didn’t like this answer and accused Jesus of being disrespectful. I love that Jesus stand up for himself here.

Because the Jews can’t have someone killed they get the Roman Governor to do it, except Pilate can’t find anything wrong with Jesus. Following a Passover custom Pilate asks the crowd which prisoner they want to release by asking, “Do you want me to release ‘the king of the Jews’?;” The crowd yells in reply, “No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”

Jesus is sentenced to die. I found it interesting that they had a hard time pegging Jesus to a crime. Of course, He didn’t have any sin and they would find it difficult. I don’t really know the weight of blasphemy. If someone claimed that they were God today we would probably just laugh at them and say they were crazy. But Jesus had His teachings and signs and wonders to back up his claim. What would move people to want His death? We find out more in the next chapter, John 19.

John 19 is heavy and full how Jesus gave his life for us. I couldn’t wait and already started reading the next chapter.

I didn’t even mention Peter denying Jesus 3 times just like Jesus said he would. I definitely think it shows how human he was.

On to John 19…

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John 17: Jesus’ Prayer For Us

John 17 focuses on “The High Priestly Prayer.” I think it is cool that we get to eavesdrop into how Jesus prayed here. It seems a little different than the Lord’s Prayer. This prayer in John 17 is more like a conversation with God.

There are many things that we can take away from this chapter: Jesus did everything God asked of Him, they must be glorified together, Jesus wants to give us His joy.

One verse that stood out to me is verse 11:

¹¹“I am no longer in the world; and yet they themselves are in the world, and I come to You Holy Father, keep them in Your name, the name which You have given Me, that they may be one even as We are.” (NASB)

What does it mean “keep them in your name?” It reminded me of a wife taking her husband’s name when they get married. She has entirely new name and is known by her new name. She becomes a part of her new family. In the same way we are married into God’s family and we take His name. There is power in His name!

The second verse that stood out to me is verse 15:

¹⁵“I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one.” (NASB)

This is a good reminder of how we can pray for our family and friends. We can pray for God’s protection from the evil one that comes to steal, kill, and destroy their lives. We can even pray for our protection.

There is a lot more to Jesus’ prayer than these two little things. My quiet time was good and I wrote down a vision I had at church. Basically I saw the Holy Spirit washing each person. He was washing away the grime in our lives with the truth of the Word of God.

Also, while I was in my quiet time God changed my desires for something I wanted to do and gave me some clarity about my goals for this year. I was bursting at the seams to tell my husband. When I told him about what I felt God said I had peace come over me. It was also neat that my husband was in full agreement too. I knew it was God that changed my heart in that quiet time. I need to remember this experience so I am motivated to meet with God more consistently!

Did any verses stand out to you in John 17?

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