Pastor Stephen Dedman

Tag: grace

Incredible Greatness

Encouragement

and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
Ephesians 1:19-20

We read in the Bible the most miraculous things that man could ever imagine such as creating everything from nothing, parting the Red Sea, making the sun stand still for a day, and causing the wall around Jericho to fall with shouting voices. These are great things but still not the greatest of all.

The mightiest work of God ever recorded is raising Jesus from the dead. The Resurrection of Jesus Christ is the greatest display of the power of God. And God wants us to know what happened in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Jesus died on the cross but He is alive and well today. He is seated at the right hand of God, which is the seat of authority. Jesus has all authority over everything. Paul writes these things for our spiritual understanding; so that we may know the authority that we hold since we are “in Christ.”

The New Living Translation says it this way, “I (Paul) also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God’s power for us who believe in Him. This is the same mighty power that raised Christ from the dead and seated Him in the place of honor at God’s right hand in the heavenly realms.” (Ephesians 1:19-20) Meditate on these words and let the Spirit of God speak to you.

Pray

Lord, You are the head of the church and the head of my life. You have full control and I submit to Your Lordship. Help me to understand the authority that I hold as I believe in You.

God Will Take Care Of It

Encouragement

Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him.
‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭26:27‬

What goes around comes around! 

Turnabout is fair play! 

You reap what you sow!

Do these phrases sound familiar? They have a lot of truth in them. God has an interesting way of punishing those who do evil. 

Solomon, in all his wisdom, shares in this verse about the truth of God. God will not allow a wicked and evil act to go unpunished. There are many examples in the Bible where people tried to do wicked things to God’s people but they didn’t get away with it. 

Pharaoh wouldn’t let the Israelites out of slavery, but God did. Joseph was sold into slavery by his brothers, but God used him in a powerful way to save the nation. The Jews crucified Jesus, but He is alive!

Do you know a hypocrite? Do you have an enemy? Is someone causing you pain and suffering? Their wickedness will be exposed and God will turn their cruelty on their own head as described in Proverbs 26. 

The lesson of this proverb is to trust God to protect you and let Him punish your enemies. “Vengeance is mine,” says the Lord. (Romans 12:19) 

Even if your enemies strategically try to attack you, God knows what they are doing and He will take care of you. 

Be careful not to be a hypocrite yourself! Make sure you do no evil to anyone lest you fall in a pit as well.

Pray

Lord, keep me safe from my enemies. Thank you for putting a hedge of protection around me. Fight my battles and give me peace that passes all understanding.

Waiting On The Lord

Encouragement

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me;
Acts 1:4

No one likes to wait. Especially for something great and wonderful. We want what we want, right now.  And sometimes we jump ahead and force things to happen on our timing. Waiting on the Lord and His promises is not a simple task to do.

Jesus instructed His disciples to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Holy Spirit to come to them.  That’s all the details that they were given.  They didn’t know how long they would have to wait.  They didn’t even know what to expect. But what we see them doing is great.  They were together in the upper room praying and seeking the direction of God.  

The disciples were spending time together preparing for the next big thing to happen.  They were eagerly awaiting the presence and power of God to come down.  The next important thing was to replace Judas with Matthias. They were focussed on the things of the Lord.

What do you do when you are in a time of waiting?  It is important to focus on the things of God and never jump ahead of God’s timing.  Waiting is sometimes referred to as suffering, but the suffering is part of our character building.  

Patiently waiting on the Lord requires self-control and wisdom.  The reward is worth the wait.  When you are in a waiting period of your life consumeyourself in the Word of God, surround yourself with godly people, and focus on doing the Lord’s work.

Pray

Lord, help me to wait for Your direction. Give me wisdom and courage to wait for You to instruct me and guide me. I will patiently wait on You.