I read this quote the other day on Facebook...
“There is nothing that our God cannot do. He will do everything if you will dare to believe.” - Smith Wigglesworth, Ever Increasing Faith
I know very little about this great man of God. I do know he was a man of great faith, he was used by God to raise the dead (one being his own wife). So, I thought I'd look into who this man was. As I was reading some exerts from an interview with him I find this...
"...from time to time when reading the Acts of the
Apostles I always saw that the signs were not following as
I am led to believe ought to be after a real Pentecost, according
to Mark xvi. The desire more and more increased in my very
inner soul, giving me a holy breathing cry..."
He is referring to this...
Mark 16:17 (KJV)
"And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;"
Mark 16:20 (KJV)
"And they went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working
with them, and confirming the word with signs following. Amen."
It struck me that he was just as stupefied that they weren't seeing miracles and signs then as I am that we don't see them now. If people say they are baptized in the Holy Ghost and they believe that God can, then why don't we work in the gifts of healing and miracles? Why don't I?????? There are several reasons why we don't see this. Some don't believe that God works like that anymore. Some think it should be as easy as just believing. Some think they deserve whatever is against them. The list could go on. Instead of wondering why not, I need to focus on what I need to do to have God use me in the gifts. I urge you to do the same!
I plan on reading some of Smith Wigglesworth's sermons. Diving into the Bible. Seeking God. I leave you with some of Smith's famous quotes... I pray you are encouraged and challenged!
“In me is working a power stronger than every other power. The life
that is in me is a thousand times bigger than I am outside.”
“It is better to live ready than to get ready!”
“There is nothing impossible with God. All the impossibility is with us when we measure God by the limitations of our unbelief.”
“You are in the right position when you allow the glory of the new life
to cause you to act. Live in the Acts of the Apostles, and every day you
will see some miracle worked by the power of the living God.”
Friday, January 16, 2015
Monday, January 12, 2015
Worship Not Routine
I was thinking today about church. About what church is. About how a church {service} should be. We moved out of our church that we served in together for 6 years to help work in a brand new church very dear friends of ours started.
First we met under a tent, then as the weather got cold we met in the Pastor's living room. In October a church in the community who only met on Sunday mornings offered to let us use their building when they weren't having services.
I grew up in a traditional church setting. There was a basement with Sunday School rooms, there was an auditorium with pianos and people who knew how to play them, there was a choir loft. Same with the church I went to in college and the same with the church I attended after marrying Todd.
Then everything changed. I went from all that I knew of how church should be outwardly to being under a tent with a small sound system. No piano and an occasional guitar player. A dog that would help himself into service that we would have to usher back out. The kids just wanting to play because of course we're outside.
My head had to unwrap from around all I ever knew about church and how it should be. Get rid of my preconceived ideas and everything I knew and let God teach me about HIS church not my idea of church.
We have Sunday School at 5pm on Sunday evenings and then church hour at 6pm. Our midweek service is on Thursdays. We still have the same small sound system. We have two men that can play guitar... our pastor (who will stop in the middle of a song if someone would like prayed for {of course that comes first}) and another man who comes when he's able to get off work in time. We have no piano player.
Even though the routine of church is nothing like I'm used to and I've struggled at times over the last four months to actually worship God because "it doesn't feel like church", God has been teaching me tremendous things about what church is.
Mainly.... its not a routine, its not in how many musicians you have on stage, its not about what time you do what.... Its about gathering together and worshiping God... Below are a few scriptures that have helped me open my mind about how to embrace church, not routine....
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)
First we met under a tent, then as the weather got cold we met in the Pastor's living room. In October a church in the community who only met on Sunday mornings offered to let us use their building when they weren't having services.
I grew up in a traditional church setting. There was a basement with Sunday School rooms, there was an auditorium with pianos and people who knew how to play them, there was a choir loft. Same with the church I went to in college and the same with the church I attended after marrying Todd.
Then everything changed. I went from all that I knew of how church should be outwardly to being under a tent with a small sound system. No piano and an occasional guitar player. A dog that would help himself into service that we would have to usher back out. The kids just wanting to play because of course we're outside.
My head had to unwrap from around all I ever knew about church and how it should be. Get rid of my preconceived ideas and everything I knew and let God teach me about HIS church not my idea of church.
We have Sunday School at 5pm on Sunday evenings and then church hour at 6pm. Our midweek service is on Thursdays. We still have the same small sound system. We have two men that can play guitar... our pastor (who will stop in the middle of a song if someone would like prayed for {of course that comes first}) and another man who comes when he's able to get off work in time. We have no piano player.
Even though the routine of church is nothing like I'm used to and I've struggled at times over the last four months to actually worship God because "it doesn't feel like church", God has been teaching me tremendous things about what church is.
Mainly.... its not a routine, its not in how many musicians you have on stage, its not about what time you do what.... Its about gathering together and worshiping God... Below are a few scriptures that have helped me open my mind about how to embrace church, not routine....
Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. (Hebrews 10:25)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Colossians 3:16)
For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. (Matthew 18:20)
Thursday, January 1, 2015
One Word: Fruitful
There is this "thing" going around to encourage you not to just make a list of resolutions, but to pick One Word (see my original post about it here). Like the post says I pick a word then it kinda dwindles as the year progresses. I was doing my Bible study this morning about God being El Shaddai (God Almighty; All Supplying) and the scripture references for it included the words "be fruitful and multiply". I start meditating on the word "fruitful"
To be fruitful means "fertile, producing good or helpful results; productive"
Of course, I'm all over that word because I'm expecting to have Jeremiah Ryan in my arms before 2015 is over, but I quickly started a thought process going (I have that a lot).
There are so many things I need to be fruitful in... Finances, homemaking, my job, my health, the Kingdom.
So, as I've done in years past... I'm choosing a word, praying over that word, finding scriptures that compliment not only the fruitful, but also that is specific to areas I want to be fruitful in.
This is going to be a fruitful year!
To be fruitful means "fertile, producing good or helpful results; productive"
Of course, I'm all over that word because I'm expecting to have Jeremiah Ryan in my arms before 2015 is over, but I quickly started a thought process going (I have that a lot).
There are so many things I need to be fruitful in... Finances, homemaking, my job, my health, the Kingdom.
So, as I've done in years past... I'm choosing a word, praying over that word, finding scriptures that compliment not only the fruitful, but also that is specific to areas I want to be fruitful in.
This is going to be a fruitful year!
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