What is your faith resting on?

Paul tells us in 1 Cor. 2:5, "My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power."

So the title of this blog post is, "What is your faith resting on?"  Is it your own strength or skills or abilities?  Are you telling yourself, "I got this!"?  Or are you coping with difficult situations by escaping - spending time on your phone on social media for example?  Instead, let's try resting our faith on God's power!  I love the first sentence of our scripture reading for today (Luke 4:14-21).  It starts, "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit..."  How much good comes from that?!  Struggling with what is ahead for you today?  Face it in the power of the Spirit!

In Luke 4:18, Jesus is handed the scroll of the prophet Isaiah and He reads, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor."  We also are called to preach the good news.  Mark 16:15 says, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation."  Do you feel like this is too big of a job for you?  You are correct!  However, we find encouragement from God in His Scriptures.  Acts 1:8 says, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you".  Not only does God give us the Holy Spirit, but He gives without limit! How do we know this?  John 3:34 tells us, "For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without limit."

Luke 24:49 gives us a great picture of what this looks like.  It says, "I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high."  Let's bring to mind the image of being clothed in power when we are faced with difficult situations.  Have a great week!

Now is the time to Break Free

Many years ago, at a women's Bible Study, I began my personal relationship with Jesus.  It was my first in-depth study, one requiring 5 days of homework and reading scripture. Looking back I can see God's hand all over this experience. The study was by Beth Moore and it was called, "Breaking Free."

I will never forget this study and have shared it a number of times since, with other women who were in the same place I was at that point my life; broken, alone, lost and hopeless. I was poor in spirit, a prisoner chained to an empty life. The key verse for this entire study was Isaiah 61:1-2.

The words in Isaiah were fulfilled by Jesus and told in the text for today by Luke. As we spend this final week studying about repentance and prayer and the Holy Spirit, these words speak to me and remind me of the days when God used 9 women at my study table to encourage and teach me how to embrace Jesus Christ as Savior.

The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
  because he has anointed me
  to preach the good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for
  the prisoners
  and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.  (Mark 4:18-19)

I will never be the same again and I thank God for that.  Where are you right now? Do you need someone to come alongside you to help you through a rough patch, or do you need a mentor to show you the way to Jesus? I would love to speak with you. Send a confidential message to me here.

These past weeks as we studied the Book of Joel we learned repentance is forgiveness and restoration. We learned that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord will be saved (Romans 10:13). It is about time we take this message seriously. It is time for a revival in our land.

Luke 4:14-21