Day #5 of 10 Days of Prayer
CHANGE ONE THING
John 15:5, 16 “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing … appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, …”
No genuine change apart from Him!
“Be the change that you wish to see in the world.” Mahatma Gandhi
Falser Words Were Never Spoken
By BRIAN MORTON (NY Times)
Published: August 29, 2011
“…it turns out there is no reliable documentary evidence for the quotation.”
Acts 1:8 (NKJV) “But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me”
Acts 1:8 (The Message) “What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses … even to the ends of the world.”
Act 10:38-39 “…how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, who went about doing good and healing all who were oppressed by the devil, for God was with Him. And we are witnesses of all things which He did…”
Look what God can do with a man smeared with the Holy Ghost … Heaven Invades Earth
When Jesus was anointed he was a noticeably different man.
Luke 4:29 “…and they led Him to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they might throw Him down over the cliff.”
Mark 3:20-21,31 “When his family heard about this, they went to take charge of him, for they said, ‘He is out of his mind.’”
1 Samuel 10:6 “Then the Spirit of the Lord will come upon you mightily, and you will show yourself to be a prophet with them; and you will be turned into another man.”
It’s being smeared with the person of the Holy Spirit that is important!!!
Anointing:– The person and power of Holy Spirit working through humanity to accomplish the or a divine purpose.
1John 2:27 (AMP) “But as for you, the anointing (the sacred appointment, the unction) which you received from Him abides [permanently] in you;”
Jesus didn’t come to be my moral example. Jesus came to be the Lord and Saviour.
Luke 3:16 “One mightier than I is coming, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire.”
Matthew 11:28-30 “Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you’ll recover your life. I’ll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you’ll learn to live freely and lightly.”
When we do things with God instead of for God we manifest our union with Him.
Genuine change only happens in relationship with Him.
Genuine change only expresses itself in community.
I live my life intentionally out of my relationship with Him so that life is not what happens to me.
Tell them to do just one thing this year.
Psalm 27:4 “One thing I have desired of the Lord, That will I 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 inquire in His temple.”
Philippians 3:10-13 “ …that I may know Him…but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,…”
Mark 10:17-22
Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?”
18 So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19 You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’”[c]
20 And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” I DID ALL THAT
21 Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.”
22 But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.
Luke 10:38-42
Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus’[k] feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.”
41 And Jesus[l] answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her.”
This was a really good time to order Chinese food … get a caterer … order pizza.
Too many cooking meals for Jesus that he never ordered.
You get all messed up and start comparing your effort to others … weird creepy stuff
John 9:24-25 “‘Give God the glory! We know that this Man is a sinner.’ He answered and said, ‘Whether He is a sinner or not I do not know. One thing I know: that though I was blind, now I see.’”
One encounter with Jesus changed my life forever.
It is all about Him … He didn’t come to accuse you or to be some unattainable moral standard … Jesus came to do what you couldn’t do so that through believing on Him you could have rest.
Learn the unforced rhythms of grace.
Prayer Directives:
Command fruit to be produced – it is a natural by-product of abiding and focusing on the “one thing”.
Pray for all Churches in the city to “do just one thing” this year.
Pray for all students returning to school today. This will be a semester of health and favour.
Thank Him for the anointing to be witnesses as many are returning to work today.
‘In Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead dwells bodily, therefore we are complete and have everything we need through our union with Christ” Col 2:9. May we have clear revelation that we actually are new creations in Christ and that God loves, accepts and approves of us just as he does Jesus. John 17:23.
As we abide in you Lord, as we truly acknowledge we can do nothing without you, as we let go of all the striving and straining, all the religious works, may much fruit be found in and through our lives. You be glorified in our lives only. We pray for further revealing of who you really are in each life, we pray for strength and wisdom for our pastors at this time, and we pray that those at work and in school would learn to relax and let you be their everything. We call forth the manifestation of healing health life in every sick body. Be our God!!!!
Thanks God for the promises in your Word – when we put our trust in You – we are blessed (Psalm 2). Thank-you that all of Your promises to us are YES and AMEN. We thank-you for the authority of Christ in us the very hope of glory – let everyone take Your courage, Your strength, Your passion, Your blessing with them this week as they go back to school and work. Thank-you God for family, thank you for fathers and mothers that are working to provide for their children, thank-you that children are honouring their fathers and mothers. We lift up the families in our city this week. It is awesome that you place those that may be orphaned or alone and put them in families – we speak blessing on everyone today and this week God.
We live out of the firm foundation of our relationship with You. Let Your rest rule and reign in Your people as they take the goodness of God into the work world and school systems. We don’t settle for ‘whatever will be’ instead we take the reality of a loving God who desires us to prosper and be in health and walk and talk out this truth.
Let the Churches in London preach one this this year – the good news. The good news of complete salvation, righteousness and sanctification that was done for mankind on the cross.
We let our light shine, we choose joy and freely give away smiles, encouraging words and know that our encounter with Your kingdom will touch lives!
Thank you Lord that it’s in the abiding, waiting on you and being filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit! There’s no striving when we abide in the vine; fruit just happens. Holy Spirit, we ask for a fresh outpouring of your spirit in 2015!
When we do things WITH God instead of for God we manifest our union with Him. I really like that statement, good to keep in mind on a daily basis in everything we do.