The Sword of the LORD

According to Webster’s New World Dictionary , the original meaning of the word “inspire” was “to breathe, or blow upon or into,” and, “to infuse life into by breathing.”  Before Jesus ascended to heaven after His death and resurrection, He appeared to His disciples and said to them, “Peace be unto you: as My Father hath sent Me, even so send I you.  And when He had said this, He breathed on them, and saith unto them, Receive ye the Holy Ghost.”  When God created man, He breathed into Him the breath of life, and from that time on man could only survive as he continued to draw breath.  When Jesus breathed on the disciples that day, however, it was something more.  It was the infusing of the Holy Spirit into their lives; and just as it was necessary for them to breathe to sustain their life, it would now be necessary for them to draw life from Jesus through the Holy Spirit that He breathed into them.    It is this breath of God, this inspiration of th...

As the apostles, Peter and John, were about to enter the temple in Jerusalem for prayer, they encountered a man who was lame sitting at the gate and asking for handouts.   The man was over 40 years old, and had been born lame and, so, had never walked.   When he saw Peter and John, the man asked them for some money.   This man received healing that day because these two men were obedient to God and stopped to minister to the need.   Five things stand out to me that preceded this miracle, and these five things I believe are pre-requisite to becoming useful servants of God, and, ultimately, channels for miracles: “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him…”   First, and foremost, before we can minister to others, we must be willing to see their needs.   It is too easy to look past them, or worse, through them, as we speed through our busy schedules.   The apostles were on their way some place else, but took the time to examine ...

Recently, during my devotions, the Lord led me to a verse that I had read many times before, and thought I understood well.  This time, though, the Lord let me see something rather surprising about His intention for us as believers, and the seriousness of the call that He has placed on us as Christians.   The scripture is in St. Matthew 14, right after the account of the miraculous feeding of the 5,000.  It reads, “And straightway Jesus constrained his disciples to get into a ship, and to go before Him unto the other side, while He sent the multitudes away.” (Matthew 14:22).   There are two tasks that the Lord is directing in this verse: He is sending His disciples across the sea ahead of Him, and He is dismissing, or sending away, the multitude.  The Lord seems very deliberate in accomplishing these two tasks; and, so He was, for He did nothing that was not intentional.  Everything had plan and purpose.  We see in His actions, therefore, a clear s...