Supernatural annointing

Acts 19:11‭-‬12 NIV

God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them.

I am taking baby steps toward the healing anointing that Jesus, Peter, and Paul demonstrated.  Yesterday, I prayed for the swelling and pain to leave Brenda's hand immediately.  Well, it didn't leave immediately like I wanted, but she sent me a message this morning telling me that her hand is less swollen and painful this morning.  Praise the Lord!  I will keep asking the Lord for more!

Heavenly Father, I praise you for your goodness.  You are good, and you give good gifts to your children.  You desire wholeness for us, and you use us to bring wholeness to each other.  Thank you for the examples that Jesus, Peter, and Paul demonstrated.  Please grow me into that level of anointing.  Holy Spirit, please annoint me and use me today.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

Fruit of the Spirit

Galatians 5:22‭-‬25 NIV
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit.

I want to live by the Spirit.  I am crucified with Christ, and He now lives in me (2:20); I have been crucified to the world, and the world to me (6:14).  The Lord is producing in me a crop of righteousness.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your mercy of sacrificing Jesus to pay the penalty for my sin, and thank you for the grace of giving me your Spirit of freedom.  Lord Jesus, thank you for your example of life lived in freedom, demonstrating the fruit of the Spirit.  Holy Spirit, please produce more fruit in me, and continually remind me that my flesh has been crucified.  I want to walk in step with you. May others see your goodness and good work through me.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

seed, sons, and heirs

Galatians 3:14, 26-29, 4:4‭-‬7 NIV
He redeemed us in order that the blessing given to Abraham might come to the Gentiles through Christ Jesus, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit. ... So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. ... But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.  Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Abba , Father." So you are no longer a slave, but God's child; and since you are his child, God has made you also an heir.

I believe in Christ, and I was baptized into Christ, and He gave me His Spirit.  I am a son of God and an heir of His Kingdom.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your grace through faith.  Jesus, thank you for your sacrifice and victory.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your presence.  Help me live as a son of God and an heir of the Kingdom.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

Stop letting anger control you

James 1:19‭-‬20; 2:12-13; 3:10,18 NIV
My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires. ... Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment. ... Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers and sisters, this should not be. ... Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness.

Pretty clear.  The issue with this passage is not with understanding the principle, but with the degree of implementation and obedience.

The Lord is convicting me to be more gentle in how I speak to my boys, especially when they have been disobedient or disrespectful.  I want to sow seeds of peace in their hearts so that they grow a crop of righteousness.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love, gentleness, and patience with me.  Lord Jesus, thank you for your example of gentleness with sinners.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your conviction in my heart.  Deliver me from anger, from angry behavioral habits, and flow your peace through me into the lives of my children.  I love you and thank you for your work of sanctification.  I pray in the name of Jesus.

Simple Gospel

I want to more faithfully preach the Gospel message.  I love how Peter preached to Cornelius's gathering:

Acts 10:34‭-‬43 NIV
Then Peter began to speak: "I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, announcing the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout the province of Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached— how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him.  "We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a cross, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen—by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name."

I want to share these fundamental truths, this simple message of Good News, with people and invite them to come to the altar in Heaven where Christ's blood was given to pay the sin debt for every person, once for all.  The Father's arms are open wide.

Heavenly Father, thank you for stirring me to share the good news of Christ. Jesus, thank you for the privilege of being your ambassador.  May I be a faithful witness of your love, sacrifice, and power to heal and restore.  Holy Spirit, empower me to demonstrate your authority and power, so that people will put their faith in Jesus and be part of God's eternal family.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

Collaboration with angels

Yesterday morning, I asked the Lord to show me something that I have never noticed before. 

Acts 8:26‭-‬29 NIV
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, "Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza." So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means "queen of the Ethiopians"). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, "Go to that chariot and stay near it."

It is interesting to me that an angel told Philip where to go, and then the Holy Spirit told Philip to stand by the chariot.  I have known that angels on our side who help us, but I don't think I've thought about intentionally trying to listen to them.  As I think about the whole canon of Scripture, there are a lot of interactions between people and angels. I am particularly curious about the case when angels came and ministered to Jesus after 40 days of fasting and being tempted by Satan. My conclusion is that it might be beneficial to our Kingdom work to be aware of the presence of angels and to be prepared to listen to them. 

I feel like I'm still a novice at listening to the Holy Spirit, let alone angels, but the Lord is gracious.  He will help me.

Heavenly Father, I want to be mindful of you and your work.  Jesus, you focused on saying and doing what you saw the Father saying and doing.  I trust that you will increase my spiritual sensitivity to be aware of angels and how we collaborate to advance your Kingdom.  Also, please improve my understanding of the role and type of work of angels so that I can more effectively partner with them in our collaboration.  Holy Spirit, please lead me.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.

Hearing God's voice

On Monday afternoon, I was helping a PhD  student try to find an error in her modeling code that was returning negative chloride concentrations in the RO concentrate.  We had tried to figure this out several times over the previous weeks, so she was frustrated with the program.  I whispered to the Lord, "Please help me figure this out." I had a pen and a note pad, and I suddenly got the idea to try to think about a different way of calculating the concentrate concentrations.  Within about five minutes, we had generalized the algebraic calculation of the concentrate concentration to a multiplicative form instead of a difference form, and that solved the problem.  This was a significant breakthrough for my student to continue moving forward in her research, and I wish I had prayed out loud for her to hear the prayer and see the Lord answer.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your love and goodness.  Holy Spirit, thank you for your faithfulness in speaking to me and helping us solve that coding problem.  Help me be bold in speaking to you for others to observe you.  I want them to see you and your kindness.  I love you, and I pray in the name of Jesus.