JOINT FORCES

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 31, 2013

JOINT FORCES

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
 For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up.
Again, if two lie together, then they have heat: but how can one be warm alone?
And if one prevail against him, two shall withstand him; and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. Ecclesiastes 4:8-12

And five of you shall chase an hundred, and an hundred of you shall put ten thousand to flight: and your enemies shall fall before you by the sword. Leviticus 26:8

ABIDING TOGETHER

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 30, 2013

ABIDING TOGETHER

 Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me. John 15:4

Abiding together as one is the ultimate goal and purpose of Christianity.  Christ came so that we would have the power and right to abide in Him for eternity.  This is salvation.  Without the ability to abide in Christ we are... without, in darkness, dead already, cut off, outsiders and good for nothing.  However, as we abide together in Christ we abide in God and have blessed communion and eternal praise, peace, and glory.
All success with God  is contingent upon this abiding in Christ.  For the word of God says: "If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you, ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you"( John 15:7). Yes, our hopes and dreams and expectations shall be fulfilled as we hold to this divine unity of the Spirit.
But what about the man that does not abide.  The word of God says of this man:   "If a man abide not in me, he is cast forth as a branch, and is withered; and men gather them, and cast them into the fire, and they are burned" (John 15:6).  Perdition is promised to the one outside and unconnected.  

Today, let us stay abiding together in Christ Jesus, our Savior, our Lord and King!

GREAT MOUNTAIN SHALL BECOME A PLAIN

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 22, 2013

GREAT MOUNTAIN SHALL BECOME A PLAIN

Who art thou, O great mountain? before Zerubbabel thou shalt become a plain: and he shall bring forth the headstone thereof with shoutings, crying, Grace, grace unto it.  The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it; and thou shalt know that the LORD of hosts hath sent me unto you. Zechariah 4:7,9

A RUSHING MIGHTY WIND

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 21, 2013

A RUSHING MIGHTY WIND


And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
  And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
  And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
 Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
  And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
  Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
  Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
 Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
 But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:

Acts 2:2-27

TWO SHALL BE ONE

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 20. 2013

TWO SHALL BE ONE


For we are members of his body, of his flesh, and of his bones.
For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall be joined unto his wife, and they two shall be one flesh.
This is a great mystery: but I speak concerning Christ and the church.
Nevertheless let every one of you in particular so love his wife even as himself; and the wife see that she reverence her husband. Ephesians 5:30-33

LET US CONTINUE WITH ONE ACCORD

 IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 19, 2013

LET US CONTINUE WITH ONE ACCORD

And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James.
These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren. Acts 1:13, 14

The Day of Pentecost

And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place.
 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled all the house where they were sitting.
 And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them.
 And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
 And there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, devout men, out of every nation under heaven.
Now when this was noised abroad, the multitude came together, and were confounded, because that every man heard them speak in his own language.
 And they were all amazed and marvelled, saying one to another, Behold, are not all these which speak Galilaeans?
  And how hear we every man in our own tongue, wherein we were born?
Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia,
 Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes,
  Cretes and Arabians, we do hear them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God.
  And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying one to another, What meaneth this?
  Others mocking said, These men are full of new wine.
  But Peter, standing up with the eleven, lifted up his voice, and said unto them, Ye men of Judaea, and all ye that dwell at Jerusalem, be this known unto you, and hearken to my words:
  For these are not drunken, as ye suppose, seeing it is but the third hour of the day.
  But this is that which was spoken by the prophet Joel;
  And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
  And on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in those days of my Spirit; and they shall prophesy:
  And I will shew wonders in heaven above, and signs in the earth beneath; blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke:
  The sun shall be turned into darkness, and the moon into blood, before that great and notable day of the Lord come:
 And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Acts 2:1-21

God's design is that we dwell in oneness with the Father and the Son--through the power of the  Holy Ghost.  Just as the early Apostles were with one accord in one place on the day of Pentecost, we must continue in the Spirit and remain unified, speaking the wonderful works of God. Moreover, we must subject our desires to the desire of God and allow the Holy Ghost to show us God's heart in every situation.  By Grace, the Holy Spirit will cause our hearts to be conformed to the heart and will of God.  Through this conformity of Spirit we shall please the Father, and His Kingdom shall come; His will shall be done on earth-- as it is in heaven.  

Today, may the Holy Spirit work in and through us, as He causes His countenance to shine upon us and give us Peace!

ONE IN US

IN THE BEGINNING...THE WORD
DAILY DEVOTIONAL FOR TODAY, MAY 18, 2013

ONE IN US


 These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee:
 As thou hast given him power over all flesh, that he should give eternal life to as many as thou hast given him.
  And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.
 I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou gavest me to do.
 And now, O Father, glorify thou me with thine own self with the glory which I had with thee before the world was.
  I have manifested thy name unto the men which thou gavest me out of the world: thine they were, and thou gavest them me; and they have kept thy word.
  Now they have known that all things whatsoever thou hast given me are of thee.
  For I have given unto them the words which thou gavest me; and they have received them, and have known surely that I came out from thee, and they have believed that thou didst send me.
 I pray for them: I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me; for they are thine.
  And all mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am glorified in them.
  And now I am no more in the world, but these are in the world, and I come to thee. Holy Father, keep through thine own name those whom thou hast given me, that they may be one, as we are.
  While I was with them in the world, I kept them in thy name: those that thou gavest me I have kept, and none of them is lost, but the son of perdition; that the scripture might be fulfilled.
  And now come I to thee; and these things I speak in the world, that they might have my joy fulfilled in themselves.
  I have given them thy word; and the world hath hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
  I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.
  They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world.
Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.
 As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world.
  And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth.
  Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
  And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:
  I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.
 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.
 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.
  And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.  John 17