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- Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus
Acts 4:13

How did these fishermen stand up and preach and see five thousand come to Christ? It was because He lives, and they were not dependent on their power of speech, their logic, or their winsomeness to bring these people to Christ. There was the living Christ inside of them. Anything I can talk you into, somebody else can talk you out of. We are not preaching facts about a dead Christ of history. We present the living Christ to you. Do you know what convinced Thomas? He had an encounter with the living Lord (John 20:24-29). When he had an encounter with the living Christ, he was convinced. Do you know what you need today? An encounter with Jesus Christ. In Acts 4, these people were brought in contact, by the Holy Spirit, with the living Christ, and they were convinced.

You see, other leaders come and go. But Christ is risen. It is an encounter with the living Christ that convinces people. I don’t have to depend on my ability to cause anyone to believe when I preach. My ability, my job, my joy, my responsibility is to bring you to an encounter with Jesus Christ. When you meet Christ, you will never be the same.

~~Adrian Rogers

https://www.crosswalk.com/devo....tionals/loveworthfin

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For thou, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, hast revealed to thy servant, saying, I will build thee an house: therefore hath thy servant found in his heart to pray this prayer unto thee
2 Samuel 7:27

Prayer is not a formula but rather it is a conversation with our Heavenly Father; with the One Who is greater than any need or burden we may have. So often we wait until our situation is hopeless, until we have exhausted all other means to an end before we bring our situation to God. I’m sure you’ve heard it said before or even spoke it yourself; "well we’ve tried everything else, now we just need to pray". Prayer should never be our last resort; it should be our first resource. It’s vital that we remember that God longs to meet our need. He waits for us to run to Him with even the slightest care and place in it His all sufficient hands of power and provision. The truth is, most of us do not run to God with our needs first and foremost because we find it far easier to try and fix it ourselves rather than find the courage to lay it down in prayer.

Prayer requires faith and trust, trying to fix it ourselves doesn’t. Until prayer becomes like breathing to us, we will continue to allow the stress of "fixing" to thrive in our life. Anxiousness and stress are both fertile grounds for stumbling and disappointment. There is a harvest that comes in its season upon the fields where anxiety has been sown. The fruit of independency, that trying to fix everything yourself mentality, will never satisfy and never sustain in the winter months when our soul so desperately needs feeding.

True prayer does not require an elegant tongue or even scripture memorization; it only demands a sincere heart. God longs to hear His child utter His name, "Father, Papa, Daddy" in child like trust desiring no one but Him. His heart responds to this name, this relationship between father and daughter. He moves quickly to secure her heart and to enfold her in His infinite embrace of tender mercy. He wants to be our hero, our security, hope, strength, joy, supply and anything else our soul shall desire or need. Until all other security, hope, heroes, strength, joy and provision are taken from us He will never be given the chance to become this for us.

The question that each of us must ask ourselves is, "do I really need God in my life"? Your lifestyle will unfold before others how much you need God – really need Him. Some of us know no other way of life than turmoil, unrest and anxiety so we fear the change of letting go of these all too familiar companions. But God desires better things for us. I believe if we were to take an inventory of our emotional companions there would be some He would recommend us to ditch. Praying brings comfort and even peace because it is the remedy for all anxiety. Prayer is medicine to the troubled soul. Prayer has been His design from the very beginning; Him speaking His love to us and hearing our love spoken to Him. His perfect will is to fellowship with us where we are, in our garden, in the land where He placed us to labor and live for Him. Prayer is the fulfillment of His heart’s greatest desire; to commune with you, the love of His heart, every day we live.

Volumes have been written, no doubt, on prayer. Upon their pages the urgent message arises for the Church of God to pray, to seek the face of the Lord. These faithful writers have discovered this message upon the eternal pages of the Bible. It’s the constant call of Heaven for every Christian to take up spiritual arms and pray. Though it is a constant, it’s often the most neglected. Woven through the pages of Holy Scripture is the urging to pray, the power of praying, and a faithful God Who answers every prayer offered by a believing heart. Prayer is clearly revealed as God’s urgent will for every child of His. Yet it is still clothed in Holy wonder, veiled for those eyes who have yet to look Heavenward for anything and everything. It’s been said, "One should never initiate anything that he cannot saturate with prayer." Sidlow Baxter said, Men may spurn our appeals, reject our message, oppose our arguments, despise our persons, but they are helpless against our prayers." A woman is never more powerful than when she is on her knees before God in Holy Communion seeking His face no matter the cost. No sweeter life will she find than that of unbroken dialogue with Him; living, thinking, breathing, working and ministering out loud to Him and for Him.

Those who have left the deepest imprints upon the timeline of history have been men and women of prayer.

~~Pearls of Grace

https://www.crosscards.com/dev....otionals/pearls-of-g

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𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐃𝐰𝐲𝐞𝐫: 𝐀 𝐑𝐞𝐦𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐌𝐚𝐲 𝐁𝐞 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐩 𝐀𝐧𝐝 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐁𝐲 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐫𝐝𝐬, 𝐁𝐮𝐭 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐁𝐲 𝐆𝐨𝐝’𝐬

At present, there are two words that I hear a lot amongst likeminded believers: remnant church. Quite simply, a remnant is something that forms part of a larger portion, usually thought of in the negative sense. In other words, remnants may be looked upon as scraps. For instance, remnant food from a meal may be destined for the rubbish bin. Remnant material from making garments may also be considered worthless and therefore discarded.

But to God, those He considers “remnants” are assigned a high value indeed, since He sets them aside to undertake His high and holy calling. Likewise, the remnant church may be hated by the world and disliked by Laodicean-era churches, but God has a distinct purpose for them.

Naturally, the concept of a remnant does not only apply to the modern church. The Scriptures speak much of God’s work through faithful remnants, usually referring to a small group that is able to withstand the persecutions and temptations of the world and remain truly faithful to the one and only God.

The Expository Dictionary of Bible Words makes this helpful comment: “The doctrine of the remnant underlines the Old Testament teaching of faith. It is not mere physical birth that brought a personal relationship with God. Those who were born within the covenant still needed to respond personally to God and to demonstrate an Abraham-like trust by their response to God’s Word.”

Very early in the book of Isaiah, as God outlines the wickedness and rebellion of Judah, we read this in chapter 1, verse 9: “Unless the LORD of hosts had left to us a very small remnant, we would have become like Sodom, we would have been made like Gomorrah.”

Even in the midst of His judgement, God showed mercy to His people. Some would survive the judgement and restoration would follow through His work in the remnant.

This is also a concept Paul referred to in Romans 9:27-29 when he points to a small remnant that would survive the Tribulation Period and enter into the Millennial Kingdom: “Esaias also crieth concerning Israel, Though the number of the children of Israel be as the sand of the sea, a remnant shall be saved: For he will finish the work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth. And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.”

We also see the principle of a remnant play out in the life of Elijah. After escaping from Jezebel, he has an exchange with God wherein he claims to be a remnant of one.

1 Kings 19:10 says: “And he said, I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts: for the children of Israel have forsaken thy covenant, thrown down thine altars, and slain thy prophets with the sword; and I, even I only, am left; and they seek my life, to take it away.”

Yet, God gently corrects him in verse 18 of the same chapter: “Yet I have reserved seven thousand in Israel, all whose knees have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”

Paul also draws on Elijah’s experience when, in Romans 11:2-5, he says: “God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew. Wot ye not what the scripture saith of Elias? how he maketh intercession to God against Israel saying, Lord, they have killed thy prophets, and digged down thine altars; and I am left alone, and they seek my life. But what saith the answer of God unto him? I have reserved to myself seven thousand men, who have not bowed the knee to the image of Baal. Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.”

Eventually (and perhaps in our current time) it is in that remnant that God will fulfill all of the promises of the Abrahamic Covenant and those which were built upon it, affirmed in Joel 2:32, who is also referencing a remnant of Jews through which God’s prophetic program will proceed: “And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the Lord hath said, and in the remnant whom the Lord shall call.”

So, what we see is that there was a remnant in the Old Testament, there will be a remnant at the end of the age and there is a remnant today. Such a view is not defeatist, it is biblical. .............

https://harbingersdaily.com/a-....remnant-may-be-cheap

A Remnant May Be Cheap And Worthless By The World’s Standards, But Not By God’s - Harbingers Daily
harbingersdaily.com

A Remnant May Be Cheap And Worthless By The World’s Standards, But Not By God’s - Harbingers Daily

But to God, those He considers “remnants” are assigned a high value indeed, since He sets them aside to undertake His high and holy calling. Likewise, the remnant church may be hated by the world and disliked by Laodicean-era churches, but God has a


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