Ask, seek, knock, read, worship, meditate on His promises, get FILLED

Acts 4:31 (ESV)

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

Bloomberg reported that according to a recent study, Americans can add as many as two years to the nation's life expectancy if they stand up more often and watch fewer hours of television. What a concept -- move around and you'll live longer!

A story I read helps illustrate this. A family threw a party for their daughter. Her little one-year-old brother was playing with a left over balloon which suddenly popped in his face. He was startled, and about to burst into tears. Thinking fast, his dad grabbed an uninflated balloon from the table, blew it up real big and then let it go. Boy did he love that! He laughed hysterically as he watched this balloon zipping around the room until it ran out of air and plopped down on the floor. He was fine, and as they played the new balloon game.   .

We need to be like these balloons, filled to the max with God's breath, and then..... let go, to experience the ride of our lives! And...equally important, we need to recognize when we're running out of air -- when we're deflated and depleted of His power and anointing. Then we need to run back to Him for more, because receiving the infilling of the Spirit is not a single event, but a lifetime of repeated refilling, so that we aren't living or serving in our own strength.

The Lord hasn't entrusted us with His power to sit around and watch TV -- but to activate us for the work of the Gospel, and the blessing of the saints; to do great things for Him in the power of His Spirit wherever He may take us. Let's be filled again today!

Dear Lord, we want to be filled with Your Spirit so that we may do the work of the Gospel. In the Name of Jesus, Amen. 

The Most Foolish Mistake of All

Psalm 53:1 (NIV)

The fool says in his heart,

    “There is no God.”

They are corrupt, and their ways are vile;

    there is no one who does good.

Lefkos Hajji was a man in love and decided to pop the marriage question to his girlfriend in a way she would never forget.

She won't.

Lefkos had his twelve thousand dollar diamond engagement ring placed into a helium-filled balloon. He planned to give his girl the balloon along with a pin to pop it. Then, when she picked up the ring from the popped balloon, he would pop the question.

Lefkos' plan was great; his execution, on the other hand, was a disaster. As he left the shop where he had the balloon filled with air, a gust of wind took it out of his hand. The balloon, along with the diamond ring, sailed away.

Lefkos, who lives in London said, "I couldn't believe it. I just watched as it went further and further into the air. It cost a fortune and I knew my girlfriend would kill me." The frustrated suitor jumped into his car and followed the balloon for two hours before balloon and ring sailed out of sight.

The story carried in the Telegraph reported Lefkos hopes someone will return the ring. I really hope that will happen, but I fear Lefkos will get that ring back at just about the same time his angry girlfriend starts speaking to him again.

You know, all of us do foolish things. True, we may not put a diamond ring in a helium-filled balloon, but we still manage to do our own foolish acts. But of all the foolish things we can do, Scripture is clear, nothing is MORE foolish than refusing to believe in God.

As Christians we believe there is a God because the heavens show us His handiwork. We believe in God because knowledge of His existence is written in our hearts. Most of all we believe there is a God because we have seen Him. We have seen His Son born in Bethlehem and crucified on Calvary's cross. We have stood before Jesus' empty tomb and, by God's grace, joined with Thomas in saying, "My Lord and my God."

The odds are, if you're like me, before today is over you will have done something very foolish. If that happens, won't you say a short thanksgiving prayer that the Lord has given you a faith that keeps you from making the most foolish mistake of all?

Dear Lord, may our foolish mistakes be small ones, and may they be mistakes not sins. Keep us in the faith, and bring others who say, "There is no God" to a trust in You. In Jesus’ Name. Amen.