The angels said; "Why stand ye gazing?" (Acts 1:11a) A few years ago my father and I were about to go fishing and he was left holding the tied up boat at my dock. Dad stood there gazing at the beauty of the river while I had to go pick up a few more things at the house. Somehow the boat slipped away and went floating down the river. When I got back I thought my 50-year-old body could swim faster than the current and the tides. Little did I know how close I would come to my last breath in life.
After Jesus had died and risen from the dead, He stayed here on earth some 40 days speaking to His disciples the things pertaining the kingdom of God. The last words of Christ were to go back to Jerusalem and be endued with power. Jesus ascended into the heavens and the angles said; "Why stand ye gazing into the heavens, he shall come back in the same manner."
The disciples had experienced a traumatic window of time from the night Christ was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to his suffering on the cross at Golgotha. Christ had just given His life as the perfect Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Praise the Lord! After 3 days He comes forth from the grave and shows himself alive to His disciples and others.
Where would the dream go from here? Peter had blown it 3 times by denying that he even knew Christ. Judas had betrayed him and went out and hung himself. All of the disciples forsook him. What would become of their dream?
Jesus gave them the key to keeping the dream alive. Notice that Peter had already said; "I'm going fishing." He'd gotten so discouraged, disheartened, and discombobulated with the dream. Jesus even shows up on the shoreline asking Peter if he caught any fish. Peter had caught nothing and Jesus says: "Throw the nets on the other side," ....the nets fill up.
Jesus said something very critical to success; "John baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. He says; "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you." As they went back to Jerusalem they waited for this promise. Acts 2:1-4 shows us they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Would anything be different about their life and their dream?
Peter is a new man. He stands up on the day of Pentecost and preaches with a new fire; dynamite on the inside. Was this what Jesus was referring to when He said; "Out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water? It was indeed.
The dream would have drifted away had they not followed Jesus command to be baptized with the Holly Spirit. I believe that many dreams are drifting away from God's servants because they have attempted to move forward with their exhausted plans and without the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
I almost lost my life that day attempting to swim to the boat against the currents and the tide. Totally exhausted, somehow outside of my own strength, God empowered me, saved me from drowning and got me safely to the boat. This is not a day to be gazing. Dreams slip away when we only gaze at our challenges. "We walk not by sight, but by faith." (2 Corinthians 5:7)
It's a day to focus on our call and the dream of the Master. We'll never accomplish our assignment or our mandate without the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter would now be determined instead of discouraged. He would now be developed instead of distracted. He would now have dynamite in his spirit instead of being doubtful of the dream.
Friend, don't allow the dream to drift away. Peter would now move with power and purpose and passion to finish the dream that Christ placed in his life. Will you?
dannysdevotional.com
After Jesus had died and risen from the dead, He stayed here on earth some 40 days speaking to His disciples the things pertaining the kingdom of God. The last words of Christ were to go back to Jerusalem and be endued with power. Jesus ascended into the heavens and the angles said; "Why stand ye gazing into the heavens, he shall come back in the same manner."
The disciples had experienced a traumatic window of time from the night Christ was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane to his suffering on the cross at Golgotha. Christ had just given His life as the perfect Lamb of God for the sins of the world. Praise the Lord! After 3 days He comes forth from the grave and shows himself alive to His disciples and others.
Where would the dream go from here? Peter had blown it 3 times by denying that he even knew Christ. Judas had betrayed him and went out and hung himself. All of the disciples forsook him. What would become of their dream?
Jesus gave them the key to keeping the dream alive. Notice that Peter had already said; "I'm going fishing." He'd gotten so discouraged, disheartened, and discombobulated with the dream. Jesus even shows up on the shoreline asking Peter if he caught any fish. Peter had caught nothing and Jesus says: "Throw the nets on the other side," ....the nets fill up.
Jesus said something very critical to success; "John baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not many days hence. He says; "Ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost has come upon you." As they went back to Jerusalem they waited for this promise. Acts 2:1-4 shows us they were all filled with the Holy Ghost. Would anything be different about their life and their dream?
Peter is a new man. He stands up on the day of Pentecost and preaches with a new fire; dynamite on the inside. Was this what Jesus was referring to when He said; "Out of your bellies shall flow rivers of living water? It was indeed.
The dream would have drifted away had they not followed Jesus command to be baptized with the Holly Spirit. I believe that many dreams are drifting away from God's servants because they have attempted to move forward with their exhausted plans and without the infilling of the Holy Spirit.
I almost lost my life that day attempting to swim to the boat against the currents and the tide. Totally exhausted, somehow outside of my own strength, God empowered me, saved me from drowning and got me safely to the boat. This is not a day to be gazing. Dreams slip away when we only gaze at our challenges. "We walk not by sight, but by faith." (2 Corinthians 5:7)
It's a day to focus on our call and the dream of the Master. We'll never accomplish our assignment or our mandate without the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter would now be determined instead of discouraged. He would now be developed instead of distracted. He would now have dynamite in his spirit instead of being doubtful of the dream.
Friend, don't allow the dream to drift away. Peter would now move with power and purpose and passion to finish the dream that Christ placed in his life. Will you?
dannysdevotional.com
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