by George Runyan | Jun 29, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Acts 1:8 – You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth.
By this time, the eleven disciples had walked with Jesus for over three years. I say eleven, because Judas, after betraying Jesus took his own life. Many others followed Jesus as well. 1 Corinthians 15:6 tells us that over 500 brethren saw Him at one time after His resurrection. Acts 1:15 records that one hundred twenty disciples waited in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father of which Jesus had spoken.
Days after the resurrection it is recorded, “These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer” (Acts 1:14). These disciples were seeking to obey Jesus’ command to “wait” by preparing for the promise of the coming Holy Spirit. It is evident that they did not know what to expect, but they prepared the best they could to receive what the Lord had promised.
After the resurrection, when the disciples encountered the risen Lord, they did not recognize Him (Luke 24:31-32). The years in which they had walked and lived with Jesus were an encounter with the Lord in the flesh. Now, they were experiencing Him in the Spirit, and they did not really know Him (2 Corinthians 5:16). We have not known Christ after the flesh. We have only known Him by the Spirit. Although we, as they, were born of the flesh, it becomes quite a challenge to learn to respond to the Holy Spirit as He leads us in becoming a “new creation” person in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17).
It is important for us to prepare for the Lord’s presence. Many just assume He is present around us. I believe that He is present in our daily lives, but He wants to show Himself to us in ways we have not known and cannot imagine in our rational mind. These disciples “devoted themselves to prayer.” They devoted themselves to searching the Scriptures about what was happening. They sought to set some things in order in preparation for the coming Holy Spirit. Notice, the Scriptures state that, “they were of one mind,” as previously mentioned.
Father, help me to prepare myself for what You want to accomplish in and through me. I ask for You to help me prepare my heart and lifestyle for what You are planning. Give me an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying today to the church. Father, I pray for Your people to be of one mind in their willingness to allow the Holy Spirit to accomplish the Father’s will.
by George Runyan | Jun 28, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Isaiah 40:31 – Those who wait for the Lord will gain new strength; they will mount up with wings like eagles, they will run and not get tired, they will walk and not become weary.
Waiting can be one of the most difficult areas of life. I admit that I am not a good waiter. I want to know now. I want to get the job done. I want to resolve the problem sooner than later. Learning to dial down and just simply wait on the Lord will produce great benefits. As we learn to wait on the Lord we will become sensitive to His timing. As we wait upon the Lord, we will receive greater knowledge to accomplish the task before us. As we wait upon the Lord, less of our energy is required and more of His life is received.
Waiting does not mean just standing around with nothing to do. Life in Christ is a dynamic relationship. A life of prayer, studying God’s Word, and sharing one’s faith is a full time activity. Waiting means to be watching for opportunities to serve Christ and His purposes. I am asking the Lord to help me learn to wait on Him throughout the day. The other day I needed a little fuel for a project. I went to two nearby stations, neither sold diesel. I then went to one a little farther away. As I was pumping the fuel, a man came up to me. He was cordial and I knew he needed money. He told me of his need and showed me a severe physical problem. I knew it was a God moment. I prayed for him and then gave him a little money. I am waiting on the Lord for revival, but here was an opportunity to share God’s love and perhaps be used to start a revival in this man’s life.
Isaiah says that waiting will produce strength. I see many people that look older than their age. Their strength has faded. God’s people who wait upon Him seem to age much better. Isaiah also declares that those who wait on the Lord will soar like an eagle. The eagle allows the currents to move it along. It is not stressed over food or nesting. It keeps its eyes open, looking for the prize. When we allow the current of the breath of God to carry us, there is a rest we experience. Stress is set aside and new energy is given to us. It is the energy of the Holy Spirit.
Isaiah further encourages us when he says, they will run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint. When I ran cross country in my high school days, I experienced what was known as “the second wind.” After the first mile, a new energy would begin to fill your body. You established a stride and breathing becomes easier. As one learns to run and walk in God, the same results take place. Rather than hard labor you enter into a stride, a place of resting in His strength. Finally, Isaiah asks the Lord to teach him to wait. Waiting is not automatic. We must learn how to wait on the Lord. Waiting is found in one’s intimacy with the Father. In other words, it is time spent in His presence.
Father, teach me to wait upon You. I choose to spend time in Your presence. I ask for Your strength to fill my life in order to do Your will throughout my days.
by George Runyan | Jun 27, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
John 14:16 – I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may be with you forever; that is the Spirit of truth.
The Holy Spirit is the One given by the Father and the Son to help us apply the Word of God. The word “Helper” could be translated Counselor. We should not need a human counselor because we have both the Holy Spirit and the “Counselor’s Manual,” the Bible, to instruct us. As we read and apply the eternal principles recorded in the Word of God, the Holy Spirit is present to help us by giving counsel. It is the Holy Spirit that breathes life on the Word and causes us to have understanding. Sometimes that understanding comes through others. Counsel can come through life experience. Other times, counsel can be given by a trained individual, such as a pastor or a licensed counselor. Our main source of counsel should be God’s Word and our relationship with God’s Holy Spirit.
One of the most powerful scriptures is found in 2 Timothy 3:15. Paul instructs Timothy by reminding him that from a child he had known the sacred writings, which are able to give wisdom that leads to salvation through faith in Christ.
First, we must know the writings of Scripture. Wisdom comes as a result of knowing God’s Word. It is that wisdom which leads to salvation, not only eternal life, but wisdom that delivers and helps make us free in this life, by helping to transform our thinking. Biblical thinking helps to produce peace and joy found in the Holy Spirit. Many are bound up in their relationships with others. This freedom enables us to relate properly to others. Many are in bondage economically. The wisdom that the Scriptures give us about handling money will cause one to be stable financially. These and many other life- relating topics are covered by the 2 Timothy 3:15 verse.
I have found it helpful to make up lists of biblical principles that I study and memorize to apply in my life. The book of Proverbs is one of the great portions of Scripture that instruct us in every type of situation life can produce. For years, I would read a Proverb a day. I would meditate and memorize verses that stood out as I was reading a particular chapter. Try it for a month and see how much wisdom you will gain and how many bad experiences you avoid.
Father, thank You for the counseling book You have given me. I recognize that I need Your Holy Spirit to help me understand the Scriptures. I ask in faith for the Holy Spirit to help me apply Your eternal principles of truth in my daily life.
by George Runyan | Jun 22, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Acts 3:21 – Whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
The Father’s aim is the “restoration of all things.” In the Garden, the Lord looked down the annals of time and said, “The seed of the woman would bruise the head of the serpent” (Genesis 3:15). God was laying the foundation for the “restoration” of His intended purpose to restore mankind. Repentance is the beginning point of this process.
Forgiveness is the result of repentance. Repentance essentially means to see things from a higher perspective (God’s vantage point). It requires us to change our minds and behavior accordingly. Peter’s strong message in Acts 3 was, “Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (Acts 3:19).
True restoration takes time to allow God’s truth to filter past layers of guilt and shame, to bring about deep down change at the root level. It takes time to rebuild equity and trust. It takes time because the heart of man is deceitful. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings” (Jeremiah 17:9-10). Jesus knew the heart and thoughts of men. “Jesus knowing their thoughts said, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts?” (Matthew 9:4).
Forgiveness and trust are not one in the same thing. Believers can be confused over these two areas. Forgiveness is when your heart is free to love a person that hurt you, to have the mind of Christ towards them. Trust is built upon proven character. Paul instructs us with a word of wisdom. “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned, as it were, with salt, so that you may know how you should respond to each person” (Colossians 4:5-6). One who walks in this word has a clean heart.
Father, I pray that restoration would become an important goal for me. I pray for wisdom in my inner actions and relationship with others. Give me speech that is filled with grace and seasoned with salt. Help me to know how to respond to each individual with whom I connect.
by George Runyan | Jun 21, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Matthew 18:35 – My heavenly Father will also do the same to you, if each of you does not forgive his brother from your heart.
Forgiveness keeps one out of prison. In the spiritual realm, the tormentors are demonic entities that bind up lives from living freely, as God intended. Unforgiveness is one of the strongest “control mechanisms” the enemy has in his arsenal. The seeds of unforgiveness will produce roots that begin to go deep into one’s heart. These become known as roots of bitterness.
Acts 8:19-24 tells the story of a man, Simon, who had bitterness in his heart, yet he wanted the power of God, but with a wrong motive. He offered them money, saying, “Give this authority to me as well, so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! You have no part or portion in this matter, for your heart is not right before God. Therefore repent of this wickedness of yours, and pray the Lord that if possible, the intention of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the gall of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” But Simon answered and said, “Pray to the Lord for me yourselves, so that nothing of what you have said may come upon me.”
Before Peter and John had arrived, Simon had repented; he had been baptized and continued in the faith because of the miracles he saw Philip performing. Like Simon, we can desire the authority, but fail to deal with our heart condition. God’s power and a troubled heart are a dangerous combination.
There are times in my life when I have had to ask others, including my wife and my children, to forgive me for a word or a wrong action. This was necessary for their heart and mine. Conversely, there have been times when I have been deeply hurt by another. I had to choose to forgive them from my heart so I would not be brought into bondage to their action or words toward me.
Forgiveness is the releasing of another person from the debt they owe. This means not holding any remnants of the past in your heart. This is what the Father has done for us through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He is able to freely deal with the nations and their peoples because “He so loved the world” (John 3:16).
Father, I pray for Your heart of forgiveness to be given to me. Help me to forgive others in the same manner that You have forgiven me. I choose to walk in the glorious liberty and freedom that Jesus has made possible for all believers. Keep my heart free from any unforgiveness and open for Your great love to fill me.
by George Runyan | Jun 20, 2017 | Devotional, George Runyan
Proverbs 4:23 – Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flows the springs of life.
The Scriptures teach us that “God is love” (1 John 4:16). Three words for us to consider that relate to the heart of God are covenant, relationship and forgiveness. God’s nature is rooted in covenant. Webster defines “covenant” as “a binding and solemn agreement to do or keep from doing a specified thing” (Webster’s New World Dictionary, Third College Edition.) “My covenant I will not violate, nor will I alter the utterance of My lips” (Psalm 89:34). When God forgives, He does so because of His covenant promise. His promises are certain. The Psalmist declares, “As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us” (Psalm 103:12).
The Holy Trinity is the greatest picture of relationship we can find. There is no contradiction with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. God created Adam and Eve because He wanted a relationship with mankind. Even after they sinned and the human race was tossed into darkness, God, out of His loving-kindness made it possible for man to be restored to Himself. This is how we know the love of God. God the Father gave His best for us, His Only Begotten Son.
The forgiveness of our sins takes place through the Son. Forgiveness flows from God’s covenant nature. Forgiveness speaks of God’s great desire for relationship with mankind. Through His desire for relationship with mankind He draws close to His creation, man. Covenant and relationship lay the foundations for forgiveness.
Many Christians have a difficult time forgiving others because they have not connected God’s covenant nature with His desire for relationship. His covenant nature relates to His commitment to His creation man. He committed Himself to humanity and has never turned from that commitment. This requires His forgiveness again and again.
The Lord does not forgive us just because He wants to rescue us from hell and take us to heaven. That would be a very narrow understanding of His purposes. It also reveals how self-focused one might be. He forgives because that is His nature. He forgives because He wants to nurture and increase the relationship He began in the Garden and has restored us to Himself through the Lord Jesus Christ. He has given to us His Nature by giving us His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to forgive. “Let this mind (attitude) be in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
Father, thank You for Your forgiveness, Your covenant love, and Your desire for relationship with Your creation man. I pray that Your covenant nature will grow in me. Help me to forgive others, even as I am forgiven.
