The Power of God in Church

The Power of God - It never ceases to amaze me!

This morning while I was reading in the Book of Acts, Chapter 6, I came upon some scripture that I have read many times.  But this time, something amaze appeared to me.  Now, I know you've done this before too.  Read some scripture again and see soemthing new, it's like watching a favorite movie and seeing things you had previously not noticed.  Well, that's what happened this morning in Acts, chapter 6.

The Power of God In Church - It's a beautiful and inspiring thing.  Unfortunately, it seems that it is such a rare occurance anymore (because we stifle the Spirit), that when we see it, it amazes us all the more!  But also, beacuse of it's absence, we can tend to become cynical, especially towards our fellow Christians.  I've been guilty of saying (more than once) that if you have 3 Baptists in a room, you probably have at least 4 Committees and 5 differing opinions!

But this morning, I am PRAISING GOD for His encouragement from His Word.  You see, this all stems from the opening part of verse 5, in Acts, Chapter 6.  Verse 5 opens with, "And the saying pleased the whole multitude..."   WHOA!  Did you catch that?  The WHOLE multitude was pleased!  Even after almost 7 years of preaching, and a lifetime in church, I didn't think it was possible to please an entire congregation.  But there it is, Acts 6:5!  I had to go back and read it in the Greek and sure enough, there is was "καὶ ἤρεσεν ὁ λόγος ἐνώπιον παντὸς τοῦ πλήθους· ".   "Therefore the agreeable statement was before ALL the multitude!"  That one word, "παντὸς"(Strong's #G3956), which means ALL, Every, The Whole of the congregation!

I believe more churches would be successful in reaching a lost world if we would seek God's Will above our own.  It's when we seek His Will above our own that God moves and blesses our efforts and endevours. 

Dear Heavenly Father,
Lord God, draw us all closer to You, that we would KNOW Your Will for our lives and know Your Will for the direction of our churches.  Strip away from us, OUR desires, OUR wants, OUR opinions.  May our choices be for YOUR praise, YOUR Honor, YOUR Glory and may they benefit YOUR eternal kingdom and fulfill YOUR Will in our lives and in the lives of those around us, whom we are called to minister to.  In Jesus' Name, Amen!