Jesus Prays 7/20/15

Day199 - Reading the New Testament in one year.

Today's Song - Where You Go I Go - Kim Walker Jesus Culture
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oyBw_DrEv34
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https://www.biblegateway.com/audio/mclean/niv/Acts.22

Acts 22:1-16

1 “Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense.”

2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet.

Then Paul said: 3 “I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. I studied under Gamaliel and was thoroughly trained in the law of our ancestors. I was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as the high priest and all the Council can themselves testify. I even obtained letters from them to their associates in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.

6 “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’

8 “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.

10 “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked.

“ ‘Get up,’ the Lord said, ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.’ 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

12 “A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, ‘Brother Saul, receive your sight!’ And at that very moment I was able to see him.

14 “Then he said: ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will and to seethe Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all people of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.’

Supplied Life Devotional by Bill Freeman

July 20th 
Spiritually insistent

"For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory." Colossians 3:3- 4

The emphasis here is on your life hidden with Christ. It is your life! You are in an organic union with Christ. You are joined to Him. The issue of this joining is your life. It is subjective. Since it is your life, you can initiate Him or you can let Him just be there. Because of the union, the organic "I," you and I can exercise our spirit to take the initiative to let Christ be Christ in us and through us. Or we can remain passive in the realm of the flesh, wasting more hours under the law, and getting reminded once again that we cannot make it on our own. We need to cultivate an intimacy from our inner being to learn how to live off of Him, how to bring everything to Him, and how to be spiritually insistent. We need to learn how to be bold. Tell Him, "Jesus, You have to live, or it is not going to happen. It has to be You, Lord!" We can be this bold because the arrangement in our union is that we are joined to His life, and it is His life that we participate in.

When Colossians 3:4 tells us that Christ is our life, it means He is our person. As our person, He is our righteousness. Experientially this means that He is how you feel about yourself. On the level of our feelings and consciousness, Christ being our righteousness means that I can own His state and condition as my very own. I no longer have to identify with my state and my condition. Is He condemned? His state is out of the reach of condemnation. If Christ could be condemned then I could. But if Christ cannot be condemned, then I cannot Rom. 8:1). No wonder Paul says, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect?" (Rom. 8:33). He does not investigate whether the charge is legitimate, whether you feel that you deserve the charge, or whether there are some facts behind this case. He boldly says, "Who shall bring a charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?" (vv. 33- 34). Paul does not refer to anything related to the actual state of the person. There is no examining of preexisting conditions, no introspection. He simply says, "It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God" (v. 34). Thus, Paul is saying, "If you lay a charge against me, then my Father will turn you to His Son who loved me and gave Himself for me" (cf. Gal. 2:20)

Pray Until Something Happens (PUSH)

Anna, Ariana, Ariel, Pat,  Rene, and Willie.

Health and Healing

Vonetta's mom and Willie

Support and Comfort

Praise Alert
Anna is out of the hospital.

National
Conflict between citizens and  police officer. 

International

Israel and Palestine
Iraq

Syrians

Ukraine

Missing plane and passengers.
Missing Nigerian Christian girls.
Families of slain Kenyans.
Families of all the recent plane crashes.

Song(s) of the Day
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=REc6uRQRnV0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRTJUezIAb8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5HKfN4_Oe94
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pxuhwGvrIBE
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