Good Morning Activated and Empowered, Able-to-Do-Greater than Jesus Apostle!!! YES LORD! PLEASE!!! We are knocking Lord! Open the door and hear our prayers. Thanks! Bring revival and may it begin in me and Your Church. Thank You! Lord turn the world right-side-up! Send us as Your vessels to do our parts. Thanks! Come Jesus! Fill us! Activate and empower us. Bring our gifts alive. Unite us on mission. May we become a dynamic movement changing the world as we change and grow in You. May love overflow us and draw others to You. Thanks! Teach us to walk with You in Your ways for Your glory! May we bless You, each other and those you are sending us to and to us. Thanks Lord! Your Kingdom come and will be done and Jesus raised up high. Amen!
He has a perfect plan for you and He's calling you by name to come, to pray, to love, and to go love. What's He saying to you about that? Check out the devos below beginning with the Connection one as you continue knocking and praying and inviting Him to come. We are created and chosen for such a time as this! Meditate on ODB. And then look for some teammates as you pray through the I to We devo. God is stirring us to these things and he has equipped, empowered and is sending us! GO! Make disciples and teach them to walk in Jesus' way. Amen!
Connection
- Turning the World Right Side Up
“I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12).
Jesus told his disciples that their prayers would be combined with ministry. He promised that they would be able to do what He had been doing and “even greater things” than He had done. Think of what that means! During His days on earth Jesus healed the sick, cast out demons, multiplied bread and fish to feed thousands, stilled storms, and raised the dead. He drew large crowds, spoke with unparalleled brilliance, boldly tackled corruption in the temple, and stood up against the most powerful leaders of the day. Would they be able to do all those kinds of things? The answer is yes, they could, and they did. Those first disciples took Jesus’ words to heart. They really prayed! And they really worked! They did the “greater things” that Jesus talked about. They spoke to great crowds. They stood up to the leaders who challenged them. They planted a church that lived by prayer and ministered with power. They prayed for signs and wonders, and Christ responded in power. They saw thousands come to faith. In the years that followed they were accused of turning the world upside down. They really turned it right side up.
Father, it seems as if the “greater things” are always for someone else to do and not me. Please give me the faith that steps out believing in Your ability to work through such a weak vessel! Some days I feel that I have failed miserably to represent Jesus to others. Teach me to be a world changer! Stretch me beyond the comfort of what I think I know to grow into what You know about me…that in You I am able to do “even greater things.”
As Franco Zeffirelli prepared to film his critically acclaimed version of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, he made a daring decision. He chose two unknowns to play the lead characters and insisted they be close to the age of the characters as Shakespeare had penned them. Zeffirelli ultimately selected seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting as Romeo and sixteen-year-old Olivia Hussey as Juliet.
Some might think that Jesus took a similar risk with the selection of His disciples, who later took His message of forgiveness to the world. That’s when the religious leaders arrested and questioned some of them. Then Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.”
Any assumed risk was more than overwhelmed by the real story behind these simple fishermen: “They took note that these men had been with Jesus” (4:13). The seemingly unqualified disciples had not only been with Christ, but they also had His promise to be with them always (Matthew 28:20). We share that promise as well (Hebrews 13:5) and can be assured that, in His presence and with His grace, no task set before us will be too great for Him.
By Bill Crowder
REFLECT & PRAY
When you have felt overwhelmed, how have you typically responded to the pressure? How might you invite Jesus to help you during those challenging times?
Dear Jesus, please forgive me for the times I try to forge ahead in my own strength and wisdom. I want to rely on You in all of life’s moments.
SCRIPTURE INSIGHT
Acts 4 describes the Sadducees being “greatly disturbed” by the apostles’ teaching because they were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (v. 2). The Sadducees were one of two prominent groups of Jewish religious leaders mentioned in Scripture; the other was the Pharisees. A primary division in belief between them was the doctrine of physical resurrection. The Sadducees denied the existence of both an afterlife and a future bodily resurrection, while the Pharisees believed in both. While confronting the Sadducees, Peter was empowered by the Spirit to boldly proclaim Christ’s resurrection (vv. 8, 10). As believers indwelt by the Spirit, we can also experience Jesus’ presence and grace.
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