Luke 24 Be Spirit-filled, know the risen Lord!

Fear and unbelief cripple and hold one's mind in captivity, and can only be overcome and set free when we receive the power from above, the baptism with the Holy Spirit, that only Jesus can give. (Matthew 3:11). The Holy Spirit anointing breaks the yoke and bondage of the spiritual oppression. (Isaiah 10:27)

Luke 24 records the resurrected Jesus revealing himself as a physical as well as spiritual reality to His disciples. His crucifixion, death on the cross and burial deeply affected His followers, including His closest disciples (and apostles). He knew all about this. Note the words He uses to describe their feelings and responses at this time:

1. unbelief: because they find it hard to believe in God's words, including all the prophecies about Jesus.
2. fear and doubt: because they did not believe in resurrection just as God has promised.

We read some verses quoted from Luke 24 to see the reactions of the disciples of Jesus:

Luke 24:25 Then Jesus said to them, “You foolish people! You find it so hard to believe all that the prophets wrote in the Scriptures. 26 Wasn’t it clearly predicted that the Messiah would have to suffer all these things before entering his glory?”

35 Then the two from Emmaus told their story of how Jesus had appeared to them as they were walking along the road, and how they had recognized him as he was breaking the bread. 36 And just as they were telling about it, Jesus himself was suddenly standing there among them. “Peace be with you,” he said. 37 But the whole group was startled and frightened, thinking they were seeing a ghost!

38 “Why are you frightened?” he asked. “Why are your hearts filled with doubt? 39 Look at my hands. Look at my feet. You can see that it’s really me. Touch me and make sure that I am not a ghost, because ghosts don’t have bodies, as you see that I do.” 40 As he spoke, he showed them his hands and his feet.

41 Still they stood there in disbelief, filled with joy and wonder. Then he asked them, “Do you have anything here to eat?” 42 They gave him a piece of broiled fish, 43 and he ate it as they watched.

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What is the solution given by Jesus to bring them out of this defeated mental and emotional state? Note what Jesus says, He repeated the words about Him, the message of the Good News, they are to be His witnesses to the world. Lastly He told them one essential key to overcome their fear and unbelief: He will give them the Holy Spirit, the power from above! (In church history, this has come true. The disciples of Jesus were filled with supernatural power, preaching the Good News, bringing healing and salvation to many, accompanied with signs and wonders.)

44 Then he said, “When I was with you before, I told you that everything written about me in the law of Moses and the prophets and in the Psalms must be fulfilled.” 45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. 46 And he said, “Yes, it was written long ago that the Messiah would suffer and die and rise from the dead on the third day. 47 It was also written that this message would be proclaimed in the authority of his name to all the nations,[f] beginning in Jerusalem: ‘There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent.’ 48 You are witnesses of all these things.

49 “And now I will send the Holy Spirit, just as my Father promised. But stay here in the city until the Holy Spirit comes and fills you with power from heaven.”

Isaiah 58 God wants true worship

Prophet Isaiah was given this message about fasting. Again this is not just for the people at that time, 2700 years ago. God is not talking about mere fasting either. Fasting was a way of life then when people followed a pattern and fixed rituals on the superficial form of fasting for festivals according to their tradition. many are still doing this today in many different religions.

Today, practicing Christians too follow a pattern of religious rituals and observances. But God talks of a different subject, worship. It means fasting and other similar rituals are parts of worship. Fasting is not a show of piety to God or to men. Because just as Jesus says, God sees the heart. God wants a true heart to worship Him in spirit and truth. (Matthew 6:14-19; John 4:23-24)

A heart that is true to God loves God and loves God's people. Jesus speaks of the same priority: Love God with all our heart, soul, mind, strength. Love our neighbors as ourselves. (Luke 10:27-37)

Jesus takes one step beyond that and commands this, "Love even your enemies." "You must be compassionate, just as your Father is compassionate." (Luke 6:27-36)

The question is no longer who my neighbor is. God is not a parochial deity. He is the God. The only God. He loves all creatures created by Him. God went to the extent of giving His own Son Jesus to us. He gave the believers of Jesus the Holy Spirit.

A Spirit filled life witnesses God and gives glory to Him.

We are created to worship and give glory to Him. Worship is a lifestyle. Fasting is part of worship, springing from our hearts to love and worship God, to give us a spiritual clarity to see and hear God, to walk in the presence of God and share His goodness with others.

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Isaiah 58 New Living Translation (NLT)

True and False Worship

58 “Shout with the voice of a trumpet blast.
    Shout aloud! Don’t be timid.
Tell my people Israel[a] of their sins!
2     Yet they act so pious!
They come to the Temple every day
    and seem delighted to learn all about me.
They act like a righteous nation
    that would never abandon the laws of its God.
They ask me to take action on their behalf,
    pretending they want to be near me.
3 ‘We have fasted before you!’ they say.
    ‘Why aren’t you impressed?
We have been very hard on ourselves,
    and you don’t even notice it!’

“I will tell you why!” I respond.
    “It’s because you are fasting to please yourselves.
Even while you fast,
    you keep oppressing your workers.
4 What good is fasting
    when you keep on fighting and quarreling?
This kind of fasting
    will never get you anywhere with me.
5 You humble yourselves
    by going through the motions of penance,
bowing your heads
    like reeds bending in the wind.
You dress in burlap
    and cover yourselves with ashes.
Is this what you call fasting?
    Do you really think this will please the Lord?

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:
Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;
    lighten the burden of those who work for you.
Let the oppressed go free,
    and remove the chains that bind people.
7 Share your food with the hungry,
    and give shelter to the homeless.
Give clothes to those who need them,
    and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,
    and your wounds will quickly heal.
Your godliness will lead you forward,
    and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.
9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.
    ‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.
    Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!
10 Feed the hungry,
    and help those in trouble.
Then your light will shine out from the darkness,
    and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.
11 The Lord will guide you continually,
    giving you water when you are dry
    and restoring your strength.
You will be like a well-watered garden,
    like an ever-flowing spring.
12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.
    Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls
    and a restorer of homes.

13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy.
    Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,
but enjoy the Sabbath
    and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.
Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,
    and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.
14 Then the Lord will be your delight.
    I will give you great honor
and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.
    I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Footnotes:

1. 58:1 Hebrew Jacob. See note on 14:1.

Jesus has proclaimed this change of spiritual focus starting from His coming to this earth 2000 years ago, filled with the Holy Spirit, walked by the Spirit, led by the Spirit as the Son of God, living a life of worship in spirit and in truth.

Luke 4:18-19, 21 New Living Translation (NLT)

18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
    for he has anointed me to bring Good News to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim that captives will be released,
    that the blind will see,
that the oppressed will be set free,
19     and that the time of the Lord’s favor has come.[a]”

21 Then he began to speak to them. “The Scripture you’ve just heard has been fulfilled this very day!”

Recommending: "God wants you to succeed!"

Here is a new resource: audio teachings by Andrew Wommack,

http://www.awmi.net/extra/audio/1085

God Wants You To Succeed

contents:
God's definition of success
come to the end of yourselves
your success is your relationship with God
Nebuchadnezzar finally got it right
the first step
imagination and success
learn how to dream big
be patient

Teaching article (excerpts):
God designed you for success. He made you to be a winner. This is true for every person, regardless of what has happened in the past. God has never destined anybody to live a mediocre life.
Jeremiah 29:11 says,
For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.
This verse says that God knows His thoughts toward you, and His desire is to give you an expected end. That end is promised in the Word of God. You can walk in victory like Moses. He was 120 years old, and his eyesight wasn’t dim nor his natural force abated (Deut. 34:7). He actually climbed a mountain the day he went home to be with the Lord.
These things are in the Word, and God is no respecter of persons. What we have today is superior to what Moses had in the Old Testament. We can be guaranteed success. Now, I’m not saying success can always be achieved without a fight or without effort, but we were destined for great things.
God created every one of us to be something special, but I also feel that we live in a culture that has totally misrepresented true success. As a matter of fact, I looked up the meaning of the word. The American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) defines success as “The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted.” That’s a pretty broad definition. I mean, some people are aiming at nothing and hitting it every time. The second definition I found is “The gaining of fame or prosperity” (AHD). I hate that definition. That is not a godly definition of success at all. Lots of people have fame and prosperity, but they do not have true success. ...
........
It doesn’t matter whether the end result is good or not. God wants you to do what He has called you to do, and He wants you to do it out of His ability. I think what some call burnout is just people doing good things in their own strength and power. God’s never had anybody qualified working for Him yet, so stop relying on your own ability. If you don’t trust in the Lord, you can’t accomplish the things He’s planned for you and you won’t be a godly success.
(Please visit the web site for the original full article: http://www.awmi.net/extra/article/wants_succeed )
TV broadcast: http://www.awmi.net/tv/2014/week40
Live DVD:
http://www.awmi.net/store/usa/dvd_albums_live/3223_d

Freedom from fears

never before seen
such ample bountiful rich
blooms defying drought
————————————-
Sometimes we go through a prolonged spell of heat and drought. It seems very difficult to carry on living even the routine living human beings are equipped to live. The mind simply tells us self-talks that discourage and depress us further.
Today we read what Jesus says instead. All these words have come true. What Jesus has promised has happened. Those who believe in Jesus have experienced the abundant life through the power of the Holy Spirit He has given to His believers. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty – freedom from bondages, oppressions, depressions, infirmities, and all hindrances that block us from taking and living the abundant, super-sufficient life that Jesus has promised.
John 10
⁹ I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture. ¹⁰ The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
¹¹ “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives His life for the sheep.
John 7
³⁷ On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. ³⁸ He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” ³⁹ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing^[g] in Him would receive; for the Holy^[h] Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.
John 4
¹⁰ Jesus answered and said to her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.”
¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
Luke 11
¹³ If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
2 Corinthians 3:14-18 New King James Version (NKJV)
¹⁴ But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. ¹⁵ But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. ¹⁶ Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. ¹⁷ Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. ¹⁸ But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

Matthew 6:24-34 Jesus speaks about mental health

Jesus wants your mind healed!

We read what Jesus speaks about mental health. Jesus wants your mind well!
Notice the strong emotion He uses to describe how we str0ngly feel about the wrong things. What He says is not new. Humans have not changed since the beginning: doing the same things because others do them even though they know they will fail anyway. Passion is a natural emotion. But we need to choose where we put our passion.
Summary notes:

1. one common cause of illness: loving the wrong target.
2. key to healing: you can only love the right One.
3. know God: He values your life and your body. He also cares for your mind and emotion.
4. trust God.
5. Do not repeat the things that others do when they know they will fail anyway. Only the mad repeatedly do the same thing and expect a different result!

Matthew 6:24-34 English Standard Version (ESV)
²⁴ “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.^[a]

Do Not Be Anxious

²⁵ “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? ²⁶ Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? ²⁷ And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?^{[b] 28} And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, ²⁹ yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. ³⁰ But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ³¹ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ ³² For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. ³³ But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
³⁴ “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.

Footnotes:

1. Matthew 6:24 Greek mammon, a Semitic word for money or possessions
2. Matthew 6:27 Or a single cubit to his stature; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

the power to save and heal all

GOSPEL POWER.
Wherever Jesus is, in the presence of the disciples and believers, where the Word of God is being faithfully and fearlessly preached, where faith in Jesus is, where the believers are walking by faith and in the power of the Holy Spirit in them, two things happen:

1. People recognize Jesus. More and more believe and are converted to Jesus.
2. They bring out their sick. And all of them are healed.

Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes: first to the Jew, then to the Gentile.

In Context

 

Romans 15:19

by the power of signs and wonders, through the power of the Spirit of God. So from Jerusalem all the way around to Illyricum, I have fully proclaimed the gospel of Christ.

In Context

1 Corinthians 1:17

For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel—not with wisdom and eloquence, lest the cross of Christ be emptied of its power.

In Context

Ephesians 3:7

I became a servant of this gospel by the gift of God’s grace given me through the working of his power.

In Context

1 Thessalonians 1:5

because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake.

In Context

2 Timothy 1:8

So do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord or of me his prisoner. Rather, join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God.

In Context

Mark 6:53-56 New International Version (NIV)
⁵³ When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret and anchored there. ⁵⁴ As soon as they got out of the boat, people recognized Jesus. ⁵⁵ They ran throughout that whole region and carried the sick on mats to wherever they heard he was. ⁵⁶ And wherever he went—into villages, towns or countryside—they placed the sick in the marketplaces. They begged him to let them touch even the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed.

Acts 5:12-16 New International Version (NIV)
¹² The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. ¹³ No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. ¹⁴ Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. ¹⁵ As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. ¹⁶ Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

Spiritual traveler’s notes : two dreams

The traveler Ying had two dreams. In the first he was with a group of fellow travelers packed tightly standing on a low oval shaped oak coffee table. They were trying to balance hard not to fall off. Aliens with laser guns were shooting and killing all who were not on the table.

In the second dream he was running with a group of fellow travelers with Cyclopes chasing them to kill them. Many ran ahead and he and his group knew they could not outrun the Cyclopes so they found a tiny space hidden behind some mountain rocks and hid there. It was a dead end. They could hear the Cyclopes running pass in pursuit of those who had run ahead. He knew the Cyclopes would turn back to search them out when they discovered that this group was missing from their targets. So he climbed on top of a brand new metal filing cabinet and looked for a way out. He saw a space with light at the other end in between two cliffs so narrow that only one individual could squeeze through side way one at a time. Then he woke in cold sweat.

He was a mere individual seeking divine direction to live this end times period. He never expected to face this kind of adventure with a group of strangers as if they were in a science fiction movie. Yet it’s real at this point of time when he woke and found himself still flying high in the rope carriage on two eagles’ wings.

What will all these come to? He asked himself. Will he ever return to his own comfort zone again? No one answered his thoughts.

He knew the dreams meant the assumed safety zone for many travelers were not real. They were crumbling down. The enemies were everywhere pursuing and the travelers were running as though they were helpless. How could this be? They were trained and given authority in the spirit and the power of the King’s name.

Yet they were running and hiding. The former secure private abodes and public gathering ‘clubs’ no longer afforded any shelter.

Each individual had to launch out and face the enemy head on. He thought.

He felt a pang of pain for some of his closer ones. But he soon found solace in the thought that time was still available on this planet. All was not lost yet.

He made a commitment that when he returned to his own place he would seek them out and help them to rise above the filing cabinet!

Meanwhile, the eagles continued to soar and they were climbing.

Isaiah 21:5

Prepare the table, Set a watchman in the tower, Eat and drink. Arise, you princes, Anoint the shield!