Last week I was thinking and praying about what I wanted to share with the new baby thetas at our first week of Freshman Biblestudy, and the Lord brought me to Acts 17 verses 24 through 28. It says this,
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the bounderies of their lands... for in him we live and move and have our being."
With a new semester and hundreds of new students, I think this is our wake up call. We serve a God who is so powerful and brilliant that he created the whole world and every single thing in it... He created each one of us to inhabit the earth at this very time. It isn't by chance that I'm here in 2012 at OU, or that you are sitting at that new law firm or recruiting nurses for a hospital or bringing hope to families every day while they sit alongside their dying loved ones... He is so mighty that he doesn't need any of us. However, he created all these things so that we might search for him, and reach out for him... He is so fond of us. If that doesn't pump you up to wake up in the morning and walk in all that the Lord has for you, maybe this will...
Move on to chapter 19 of Acts. Now, Paul is talking to the people of Ephesus. Verse 11 is where it starts getting wild...
"God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them."
....what???? This is like Jesus status people... Paul was obviously not Jesus. He was fully man. He was sinful like any one of us, but he was determined to fulfill his calling, and he desired to walk in all that the Lord had for him. The Holy Spirit was so heavy upon him that he literally sneezed, and anyone who touched that hanky was healed....
I've been thinking about this all week, and I just can't let it go. I don't want to let it go. Do you understand the weight of this story? Paul was mere man, just like you and me. He wasn't special in any way. He was called and chosen by God... just like you and me. He responded to God, and millions of people have been impacted because he said "yes".
Man, my hearts desire is for the Holy Spirit to be so heavy upon my life that who ever I come in contact with will be healed and set free instantly. Isn't that what we are here to do? To be the hands and feet of Jesus? I guess he wasn't kidding when he said, "whoever believes in me will do the same and even greater things than I am doing" (John 14:12)
Please, I am begging you to say "yes". I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have that same power that Jesus and Paul had at our fingertips. If we would be bold enough to tap into it, to even ask the Lord to set his spirit ablaze inside of us... we would have no other choice than to watch this city or nation or even world turned upside down.
This has to drive you to do something. You were not placed on this earth, and appointed this time frame in history to simply live and die. You were created to come alive and light this world on fire for Jesus.
Please, please say yes.
"The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands. And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else. From one man he made all nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the bounderies of their lands... for in him we live and move and have our being."
With a new semester and hundreds of new students, I think this is our wake up call. We serve a God who is so powerful and brilliant that he created the whole world and every single thing in it... He created each one of us to inhabit the earth at this very time. It isn't by chance that I'm here in 2012 at OU, or that you are sitting at that new law firm or recruiting nurses for a hospital or bringing hope to families every day while they sit alongside their dying loved ones... He is so mighty that he doesn't need any of us. However, he created all these things so that we might search for him, and reach out for him... He is so fond of us. If that doesn't pump you up to wake up in the morning and walk in all that the Lord has for you, maybe this will...
Move on to chapter 19 of Acts. Now, Paul is talking to the people of Ephesus. Verse 11 is where it starts getting wild...
"God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them."
....what???? This is like Jesus status people... Paul was obviously not Jesus. He was fully man. He was sinful like any one of us, but he was determined to fulfill his calling, and he desired to walk in all that the Lord had for him. The Holy Spirit was so heavy upon him that he literally sneezed, and anyone who touched that hanky was healed....
I've been thinking about this all week, and I just can't let it go. I don't want to let it go. Do you understand the weight of this story? Paul was mere man, just like you and me. He wasn't special in any way. He was called and chosen by God... just like you and me. He responded to God, and millions of people have been impacted because he said "yes".
Man, my hearts desire is for the Holy Spirit to be so heavy upon my life that who ever I come in contact with will be healed and set free instantly. Isn't that what we are here to do? To be the hands and feet of Jesus? I guess he wasn't kidding when he said, "whoever believes in me will do the same and even greater things than I am doing" (John 14:12)
Please, I am begging you to say "yes". I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that we have that same power that Jesus and Paul had at our fingertips. If we would be bold enough to tap into it, to even ask the Lord to set his spirit ablaze inside of us... we would have no other choice than to watch this city or nation or even world turned upside down.
This has to drive you to do something. You were not placed on this earth, and appointed this time frame in history to simply live and die. You were created to come alive and light this world on fire for Jesus.
Please, please say yes.
