Something Greater

Pentecost And The Three Feasts "When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place." Acts 1:2 PENTECOST: "Pentekoste", fiftieth; from "pentekonta" (fifty) and "pente" (five) Pentecost, meaning "the fiftieth day", is the second of the three great Jewish feasts, celebrated at Jerusalem yearly, the seventh week after the Passover, in grateful recognition of the completed harvest. THREE FEASTS: - Feast of Unleavened Bread - Feast of Harvest - Feast of Ingathering "Three times in the year you shall keep a feast to me. You shall keep the Feast of Unleavened Bread. As I commanded you, you shall eat unleavened bread for seven days at the appointed time in the month of Abib, for in it you came out of Egypt. None shall appear before me empty-handed. You shall keep the Feast of Harvest, of the firstfruits of your labor, of what you sow in the field. You shall keep the Feast of Ingathering at the end of th...

A Poet of His Word "Be doers of the word, and not hearers only." James 1:22 (ESV) "Doers" of the word, in the Greek, means performers , especially used of poets, from the Greek word "poietes". The Apostle Paul used the same word in direct reference to poets: "In him we live and move and have our being; as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we are indeed his offspring'". Acts 17:28 (ESV) Poets perform their work by speaking to an audience or publishing books. A poem begins with ideas and emotions, feelings and desires and fears, but it is nothing until the poet uses words to create structure and meaning. Until the poem is spoken or sung or written or performed, the ideas and emotions and feelings and desires and fears are impotent and worthless. Even for the poet himself, if the poem remains unworded, unrealized, vague and internal, the poem does not affect or influence or satisfy . But, "doing" the poem br...

My Psalm 51 Bend low, God. How dare I even think of saying that to You? Nothing I see around me is of my creation. Even the breath and the blood in my body that enables me to see and think is not of my making. You are Creator, and I am as dust in comparison to You , in all ways. Bend low, God. I am without any power or authority to command you to stoop to my level, to listen to my heart, to hope for favor, to depend upon mercy . Bend low, God. You are the Only Source and the Only God, and I can't reach You. You must come near to me . God, my sin is fresh before my eyes. And behind the sin of today is the sin of yesterday, and the sin of last week, and the sin of last year, and the sin of all my past . I depend upon Your mercy , Your kindly, undeserved favor and Your tenderloving touch. Please take away the guilt of my sin. Erase my debt of rebellion against You. I know You have mercy on those who do not deserve mercy. I know that You provide forgiveness through...

Merciful Vengeance "Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.' To the contrary, 'if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.' Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." Romans 12:19-21 (ESV) AVENGE: "Ekdikeo", to vindicate, retaliate or punish; from "ekdikos" (carrying justice out, a punisher) and "dike" (right, as self-evident, justice) and "deiknyo" (to show) WRATH: "Orge", desire, reaching forth, excitement of the mind, violent passion, punishment; from "orego" (to stretch oneself, reach out, long for) REPAY: "Antapodidomi", to requite (good or evil); from "anti" (opposite) and "apodidomi" (to give away) HEAP: "Soreuo", to pile up; from ...

Fleeing Idolatry, Fearing God "I want you to know, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, 'The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.' We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example...

Bitter Jealousy and Selfish Ambition "But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." James 3:14-16 (ESV) Bitterness and selfishness are two inescapable evidences of a heart that is controlled by Satan . Satan is able to influence and deceive human hearts , appealing to their natural self-love, making them believe that their carnal, selfish desires are paramount, above the needs and concerns of any other person, including the God Almighty Who created and sustains them by His general mercy. Appeals for assistance from others and opportunities for self-advancement all are filtered by the natural man's filter, often producing a false appearance of an attack or a threat to the natural man's desires. The demon-control...

SPIRITUAL POWER "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth." Acts 1:8 POWER: "Dynamis", force, specially, miraculous power; from "dynamai" (to be able or possible COME UPON: "Eperchomai", to supervene, i.e. arrive, occur, impend, attack, (figuratively) influence; from "epi" (upon) and "erchomai" (to come or go) WITNESSES: "Martys", a witness END: "Eschatos", farthest, final (of place or time); from "echo" (to hold) WHAT DO YOU THINK? To this point the disciples had not experienced the indwelling Spirit of God. Why not? And what would change not many days later when they would? Why would God delay sharing His Spirit? Was there some change required in the lives of the disciples? The primary purpose of the indwelling Spirit of God was to empower Christians to b...