Beyond Ourselves Podcast

Are you a Christian? In other words, you’ve acknowledged you’re a sinner. You’ve asked the Heavenly Father to forgive you on the basis of Jesus taking your sins on Himself and dying for them. You’ve been cleansed. But are you living an empowered life? You see, John the Baptist baptized people in water, but in John 1:33, he explained that Jesus baptizes us in the Holy Spirit. “‘He upon whom you see the Spirit descending and remaining upon Him, this is the One who baptizes in the Holy Spirit.’” Jesus explained in Acts 1:8 that we receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon us at our salvation. God’s provision for believers is Holy Spirit anointed power! If we’re trudging through life and living in our own strength, it’s time to check the pulse of the Holy Spirit in our lives. Learn more about the Holy Spirit in the Listen UP DVD or How to Live by the Divine Nature Bible study.  2 Resources to help you grow.

Thank You, JESUS, that when we come to You in repentance, confessing You as Lord and Savior, You BAPTIZE us with the HOLY SPIRIT. Help us be mindful of the gift of Your Spirit in us so we walk and live by the Spirit.

This is 1 of 365 facets of our wonderful Lord. To get this free devotional in your inbox, click HERE. 

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You need hope. I need hope. Our loved ones need hope. Where do we find it? Do we practice “self-talk” and tell ourselves we are “happy and fine” when we aren’t? Or, do we kneel, look up in praise, and cry out to the One who has gone before us to heaven and intercedes for us?  Hebrews 6:19 describes our relationship with Jesus in this way, “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, a hope both sure and steadfast and one which enters within the veil, where Jesus has entered…” Jesus is the ANCHOR OF OUR SOUL. He wants us to bring our worries and fears to Him.  If waves of “life” are about to overwhelm you, hold tightly to Christ. He’s holding tightly to you from the security of heaven’s shores.

Jesus, sweet Savior, thank You for being the ANCHOR of OUR SOUL. Thank You that we can fling our arms around You and hold tightly to You when our emotions and thoughts drift toward worry and fear.  We love and praise You. 

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Throughout the Bible, the word “AMAZED” is used to describe people’s reactions to God.  Mark 1:22 records that people “were AMAZED at His (Jesus) teaching; for He was teaching them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.”  The New Testament word “amazed” means astonished, thrown into wonderment.  Jesus’ teachings astonished people. Matthew  12:23 records that when Jesus healed a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute so that he could see and talk, “All the crowds were AMAZED and were saying, ‘This man cannot be the Son of David, can He?'”  When Jesus rose from the dead, they were “thrown into wonderment.”  Oh, that we be amazed, astonished, and thrown into wonderment at our Lord. Keep your eyes open, friend, for how Jesus is working in your life. You may just find that you’re amazed!

Lord Jesus, we praise You, our AMAZING Lord.  

*Amazing” is 1 of 365 ways God is described. Learn the other ways He is described by signing up to get this 60 second devotional in your inbox.  HERE. 

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“I don’t know where this is going.” Have you ever said or thought those words in regard to the unrest in our world, nation, or perhaps your family or a personal situation? The past may be a blur and the future uncertain. It’s no wonder that we can sometimes feel uneasy. Yet in the midst of our ever-changing days, believers have this hope and promise: Jesus isn’t going anywhere. He’s right here with us, just like He has been in our past and just like He will be in our future. Revelation 1:8 records His words of assurance, “I am the Alpha and the Omega,’ says the Lord God, ‘who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.’” Our Lord was with us in our past. He’s with us this moment. He’ll be with us tomorrow. We have an ever-present Lord to see us through our days. Breathe deeply, look up, and praise Him.

Christ Jesus, ALPHA and OMEGA, we praise YOU, who is and who was and who is to come. 

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THANK YOU for YOUR PRAYERS for “Starting Strong with 2020 Vision.”  Here are just a few of the comments we received: 

• “I want you to know that was the most powerful, from-the-well- of-truth message I  have heard you give. I got goosebumps. The Holy Spirit was surely present.”
• “I was so blessed by the whole morning and by the poem God put on your heart! Thank you for being His mouthpiece to me.” 

If you weren’t able to attend, you can watch “Starting Strong with 2020 Vision” here. Prayers of My Heart Journal.

Do you have enemies?  Are you fearful? Is there trouble anywhere? David, the psalmist, can relate. But he kept his eye on the ball. That is, he kept his eye on God, His past and His present faithfulness. He knew God to be the beauty in the ashes; the righteous in the midst of evil. And David chose – just like we can (and are) to gaze and meditate on God’s beauty and His eternal temple to which we’re headed. In the midst of the agony and defeat, discouragement and doubt, we can say, “One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek: That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple.” Psalm 27:4 

BEAUTIFUL LORD, we praise You. Thank You for being the beauty in our day and the One on whom we can gaze and meditate. 

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Whether we’re shopping for a car or a computer, we typically ask, “How powerful is it?” Why do we ask? We want to know if what we’re considering to buy is sufficient for what we need.  We may not realize it, but sometimes we may question God’s power. Why would I say that? Because we pray about something and then we worry. If we really believed that nothing is impossible with God, then worry wouldn’t have a place in our lives. If you tend to be a worrier, 1 Chronicles 29:11 is a verse you might want to carry with you and read throughout the day, “Yours, O LORD, is the greatness and the POWER and the glory and the victory and the majesty, indeed everything that is in the heavens and the earth; Yours is the dominion, O LORD, and You exalt Yourself as head overall.”  If we’ve given our concerns to God, we can rest assured that He is all-powerful to accomplish what is in His will. We can confidently trust in Him.

Lord, You are the ALL POWERFUL, omnipotent God! We praise You that nothing is impossible with You.

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Do you get frustrated when you “blow it” in regard to your Christian walk? I certainly do. Almost every day, I’m mindful of something I should have done, could have done that would have brought honor to Christ. The reminder in  2 Corinthians 3:5  helps me in those times of frustration. It says, “Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.’”  The word “adequacy” in this verse means sufficiency, ability, or competency. Here we find a key to our desire to live “for” Christ. We can’t live “for” Him in our own strength. Rather, we need to let Christ live His life IN and through us. His adequacy is the key. Our ability to be and do that to which God calls us is from God. We can pray, ”Fill me with YOUR Spirit so I walk by Your ADEQUACY.” That is our hope-filled prayer.

Thank You, LORD, for the adequacy You give us in Christ Jesus. 

*This is one of God’s 365 attributes for which we can look up, praise, and trust Him. To learn about His other attributes and ways you can know God and praise Him, join us HERE.

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