Sunday, June 7, 2015

A prayer by the apostles

A prayer...

Act 4:24  And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is:

Recognition - The LORD GOD who MADE heaven and earth and the sea and ALL in them.  The God of ALL that exists. We CAN call upon our GOD.

Act 4:25  Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things?
Act 4:26  The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.
Act 4:27  For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together,
Act 4:28  For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

God- using David, a servant of God, uttered a prophecy that Jesus would face rulers and kings and it came to pass!

Those same rulers and kings which had a hand in killing God's only begotten Son now persecuted those who chose to follow the teachings, the message of that Son, the Savior.

Act 4:29  And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,
Act 4:30  By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus.

They prayed for power to speak God's word with boldness.
They prayed for God to heal others through them.
They prayed for God to makes signs and wonders through them.
All through the name of God's Son, Jesus Christ our LORD, God's HOLY CHILD, for He will FOREVER and EVER be the ONLY BEGOTTEN CHILD, SON OF GOD.

Act 4:31  And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

THEY PRAYED and their prayer was HEARD by GOD and the HOLY GHOST filled them! The power of God was working in them!

Act 4:32  And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common.
Act 4:33  And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

GREAT GRACE was upon them!
GREAT POWER was upon them!
Witness of the resurrection- TRUTH!

They were all of one accord, they were all believing, all of them were ONE HEART, ONE SOUL, all agreeing in ONE.

We call this communism, w e call this socialism, and we call this wrong because of the abuse of such things.  When people say the following this is what is being distorted-

'Neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own, but they had all things common.' 

We have been taught in our society, the western world, to possess things fiercely and at all costs, to die to protect what belongs to us.  WE are taught to believe that the things we have are the real treasures of life and that being able to leave these treasures to others is our goal so they in turn can keep our treasures and continue to pass them on down, but forever keep them selfishly in the family at all costs. WE are taught to own things is the goal of our existence. How many people do NOT feel complete because they have next to nothing of societal value. They have no home, no car, no earthly treasures of great value and they are told they are to believe they are FAILURES because of this lack. The poor are truly despised.  Those who are rich and willfully make themselves poor by giving to others are told they are crazy.  Those who say we should all share our resources so none lack are told they are wrong, that people should just take care of themselves and give of their excess, not of their means.   Do I say I want to live in a socialistic society, no, I want to live in GOD'S society.  At this time of the early church they lived as they had to, am I saying we no longer need to live this way? No. I'm saying this--

Mat 19:24  And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
Mat 19:25  When his disciples heard it, they were exceedingly amazed, saying, Who then can be saved?
Mat 19:26  But Jesus beheld them, and said unto them, With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

Truly only by God will we enter the kingdom of God.  We must give our lives, our entire lives to Him and His will.

May we live by the POWER OF GOD!

May we pray the prayers God can answer, all through the Holy Spirit, in the love of our Savior, Jesus Christ.


Amen.

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