The midrash, an ancient collection of jewish folklore and Biblical commentary, states that the Spirit of God that is spoken of in Isaiah that is resting upon the Messiah is the same Spirit of the Lord that moved over the primeval waters of creation.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
– Genesis 1:2
A young Jewish carpenter stood up in the synagogue in Nazareth; he stood up to read the Torah. The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to him. He unrolled it and began to read from chapter 61: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He anointed me to preach the gospel.”
He looked at those in attendance that day and said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” Doing this, Yeshua (Jesus) declared himself to be the Anointed One of God—the Messiah.
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Stephen’s presentation in Acts 7 emphasized a pattern of failure: that Israel repeatedly failed the first time, and then succeeded on their second. The Scriptures extensively portray a “God of the Second Chance.”
One of the essential preludes to victory is to learn from our failures. And the ultimate resource for victory in life is, of course, the record in the Word of God itself. The record of Israel—including its failures—is there for our learning.
One of the most interesting chapters in the Bible is the critical assessment of Israel’s history, presented by a young deacon named Stephen and recorded in the seventh chapter of the Book of Acts. He aggressively brought his challenges before the most august body of the nation—the Sanhedrin itself—in what is one of the most remarkable passages in the Bible.
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The stakes have been raised in the ethical question: “Does it take a life to save a life?” The choice is ours—especially when one of those lives has no choice.
In the wake of the biotech nightmares of which we have learned so much, a ray of sanity is beginning to beam brightly. A movement, which began at the beginning of the new millennium to provide “pro-life” alternatives to products and vaccines developed with aborted fetal cell line material, is gaining momentum. It is a wake-up call for us all.
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Why is it so hard for some people to believe in God? The answers would probably be linked to personal, social, and possibly some intellectual reasons. Let’s explore this in more detail…
Bringing a person to a belief in God is a process. This process consists of three steps:
- It takes as much faith to not believe in God as it does to believe in God.
- It takes more of a leap of faith in the dark to disbelieve in God than to believe in God.
- While one can reason to a point of probability that there is a God, it takes personal commitment to get to know that God exists as a certainty.
If one progresses through these three steps, they can come to know God. Last month, we explored the first step. This month we will consider Steps #2 and #3.
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Until our souls are broken of their own strength through the Cross, they will continue to influence, lead, and direct us. Once our souls are submitted to the Cross, however, and our natural strength broken, we’ll be able to serve God as He desires, in His power and in His strength.
When we learn to love (agapao) God the way He desires, not only will His Agape Love be freed to come forth from our hearts, but also His supernatural power and strength.
God’s empowerment is what will enable us to become sanctified, to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil and to produce “fruit.”
This supernatural empowerment is given to every believer by the Holy Spirit at his new birth. It’s a part of the Life of God that He instills in our hearts, but we are the ones who must make the appropriate choices in order to partake of that power.
We must be totally surrendered and relinquished to His will in order for His strength to work.
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