ENGAGED
Rev. Verna Brown - Oct.-Nov. 04
“In Him we live and move and have our being.”
Acts 17:28
In other words, in Him we are engaged (in gear)
and moving forward. The word engaged means:
1.To be interlocked: MESHED.
2. Committed to. 3. Being in gear
4. To be involved: PARTICIPATING.
The only way to get a car to move forward is to
“engage” or put the motor into gear. God never
intended for us to be in park, neutral, or reverse.
He never intended for you to set on the side
lines and watch everyone else move into new
seasons of strength and glory. He never
intended for you to push the car in your own
strength, in order to get where He wants you to
go. He said “we” are to be the vehicle that
carries the message, and “He” (the Holy Spirit)
would be the “powerful motor” to get us there.
Religion says, “Religion is the vehicle, and “we-
humans” are the motor that gets us there.”
Religion denies the power of the Holy Spirit,
and will cause you to be ineffective and
spiritually dead.
The final command of Jesus before leaving
earth was to “go” make disciples of all nations,
and he promised that He would be with us by
His spirit. You can’t “go” if your not in gear,
interlocked, meshed, participating with the Holy
Spirit. I believe there are many Christians who
are trying to move forward independent of a
real, intimate relationship with God the Holy
Spirit. They have been involved in nothing more
than “religion.” They’re good people, doing
good things, but they are exhausted, stuck in a
religious rut, and saying, “Is this all there
is?”
Well, the good news is “no, there is more.” But it
means that you must renounce all fear, or lack of
understanding about the Holy Spirit and ask
Him to fill you, and take control of your life. He
will not reject that kind of request. It is what He
desires more than anything. He wants you to
say, “Precious Holy Spirit I desire to know you,
and I give you control of my life. I ask you to fill
me now.” “I need your power in my life, and I
surrender to you.” So like Paul you can say,
“Lord, in You I live, I move, and have my being.”
Acts 17:28
Maybe you’re the person who “used to be
moving in God” but somewhere along the line
you’ve “slipped out of gear,” stalled, and setting
on the sidelines. Maybe you’re engaged with
“something or someone” other than the Holy
Spirit, that has moved you away from His divine
purpose. It’s time to break that engagement,
and re-engage your life with the Lover of your
soul.
May The Force Be With You
Dana Waller - Oct.-Nov. 04
VIOLENCE-It seems like every time we pick
up the newspaper or turn on the television we
see more of it. It’s in our movies, our video
games, our comic books, our schools, and
sometimes in our own neighborhoods! Too
often nowadays when a person wants
something, they just TAKE it. By force when
necessary, and sometimes even when it’s not
necessary, but simply because they CAN!
My friends, we don’t have to be afraid or
dismayed by all this. Jesus said in John 16:33
“...In this world you will have trouble. But take
heart! I have overcome the world.” NIV. Did
you know that God wants US, even expects us,
to ask for and take what we want for the
kingdom of God by force? Yes, in Matthew 11:
12, Jesus spoke these words: “And from the
days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom
of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent
take it by force.” KJV. The NIV says, “...the
kingdom of heaven has been forcefully
advancing and forceful men lay hold of it.” That
means we must be in EARNEST. We must
PRESS, we must be FORCEFUL.
Now, I don’t want to be misunderstood. We
don’t use earthly weapons like guns or knives.
Paul makes it clear in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 “for
though we live in the world, we do not wage
war as the world does. The weapons we fight
with are not the weapons of the world. On the
contrary, they have divine power to demolish
strongholds. We demolish arguments and
every pretension that sets itself up against the
knowledge of God, and we take captive every
thought to make it obedient to Christ.” NIV.
My brothers and sisters in Christ NOW is the
time. We can’t afford to live wimpy,
complacent, powerless lives. We’ve got to “lay
hold” of the POWER of God and USE it to
demolish the strongholds in our world, our
country, our state, our city, our neighborhood,
and our SELVES! How do we accomplish
this? We MUST get to know the HOLY SPIRIT-
the source of our power, and keep in step with
Him. If we deny him, we are denying the very
thing we need the most-His power within us.
Without it, we are impotent. Like soldiers
without armor or weapons. We are doomed to
fail. That’s why Jesus promised his followers in
Acts 1:8 “but you will receive power WHEN the
Holy Spirit comes on you…” NIV.
Then and only then, can we be victorious in
EVERY battle we face. “If God be for us, who
can be against us?” Romans 8:31. “No, in all
these things we are more than conquerors
through him who loves us.” Romans 8:37. I
urge you to read (or re-read) the entire 8th
chapter of Romans. The “force” (the POWER
of the Holy Spirit) MUST live in us, and be with
us at all times. Paul also tells all believers in
Ephesians 5:18 “….be filled with the Spirit.” It’s
the only way we can EVER get victory over sin
, and the ONLY WAY we can wage war
against the enemy-and WIN!
May you get to know the Holy Spirit-personally
and intimately. May His presence invade and
fill you to the top and overflowing. And may His
mighty power, His “force” be with you always.
