Words with real power do transform lives

Words must come with real and visible power to transform. Words of God do that when the believers of Jesus carry the power of the words and the Holy Spirit into the harvest. In Acts 13-14 (quoted from Holy Bible NLT version in parts here) Paul and Barnabas demonstrated this truth. I shall quote only the parts wherein Paul preached a powerful sermon in Antioch of Pisidia (in today’s Turkey).

Acts 13:30-38

30 But God raised him from the dead! 31 And over a period of many days he appeared to those who had gone with him from Galilee to Jerusalem. They are now his witnesses to the people of Israel.

32 “And now we are here to bring you this Good News. The promise was made to our ancestors, 33 and God has now fulfilled it for us, their descendants, by raising Jesus. This is what the second psalm says about Jesus:

‘You are my Son.

Today I have become your Father.[a]’

34 For God had promised to raise him from the dead, not leaving him to rot in the grave. He said, ‘I will give you the sacred blessings I promised to David.’[b] 35 Another psalm explains it more fully: ‘You will not allow your Holy One to rot in the grave.’[c] 36 This is not a reference to David, for after David had done the will of God in his own generation, he died and was buried with his ancestors, and his body decayed. 37 No, it was a reference to someone else—someone whom God raised and whose body did not decay.

38 [d]“Brothers, listen! We are here to proclaim that through this man Jesus there is forgiveness for your sins.

Footnotes:

13:33 Or Today I reveal you as my Son. Ps 2:7.

13:34 Isa 55:3.

13:35 Ps 16:10.

13:38 English translations divide verses 38 and 39 in various ways.

Acts 13:46-52

46 Then Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and declared, “It was necessary that we first preach the word of God to you Jews. But since you have rejected it and judged yourselves unworthy of eternal life, we will offer it to the Gentiles. 47 For the Lord gave us this command when he said,

‘I have made you a light to the Gentiles,

to bring salvation to the farthest corners of the earth.’[a]”

48 When the Gentiles heard this, they were very glad and thanked the Lord for his message; and all who were chosen for eternal life became believers. 49 So the Lord’s message spread throughout that region.

50 Then the Jews stirred up the influential religious women and the leaders of the city, and they incited a mob against Paul and Barnabas and ran them out of town. 51 So they shook the dust from their feet as a sign of rejection and went to the town of Iconium. 52 And the believers[b] were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.

Footnotes:

13:47 Isa 49:6.

13:52 Greek the disciples.

Acts 14:1-4

Paul and Barnabas in Iconium

14 The same thing happened in Iconium.[a] Paul and Barnabas went to the Jewish synagogue and preached with such power that a great number of both Jews and Greeks became believers. 2 Some of the Jews, however, spurned God’s message and poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against Paul and Barnabas. 3 But the apostles stayed there a long time, preaching boldly about the grace of the Lord. And the Lord proved their message was true by giving them power to do miraculous signs and wonders. 4 But the people of the town were divided in their opinion about them. Some sided with the Jews, and some with the apostles.

Footnotes:

14:1 Iconium, as well as Lystra and Derbe (14:6), were towns in what is now Turkey.

End Times crisis management: Abraham's success case

All over the world, people are woken to the fact that crisis and disasters are almost daily affairs. No time in history has there been such increasing intensity and urgency for a preparedness to be built up in every man and woman, every organization, regardless where or who or what we profess to be.
Christians have a manual on hand. The Bible. So I intend to spend sometime starting in this post to read some biblical events and ask that the Lord Holy Spirit to lead us through valuable lessons from the Commander in Chief in heaven Himself in His words. The cases show us principles that we can apply physically, mentally and spiritually. 
The first case recorded how Abraham responded successfully to a major life and death crisis of his loved one - nephew Lot and family.
Background:
1. Wars broke out between two interest groups (in those days, of kings)
2. Lot was a 'civilian citizen' or 'resident' of one of the kingdom. His king was defeated.
3. The defeated kingdoms were plundered and Lot too was captured with his family and all he owned.
4. Someone escaped and told Abraham.
Abraham's response:
1. He mobilized his best army whom he had trusted (318 trained men born into his household ). He was always prepared with good and trusted warriors for war like this. 
2. He was also prepared with faithful allies (neighbors with whom he had maintained comrade relationship long before the crisis). 
3. He was prepared in physical and mental stamina. He pursued until he caught up with the enemy.
4. He divided his men and attacked during the night. He was prepared with a battle strategy that indeed worked and overwhelmed this group of newly victorious invaders. 
5. The enemy fled, but he chased them (regardless the distance, the time and length of the war). He was prepared with his battle goal -total and definite casting out of the enemy. 
6. He fought until he recovered all that had been taken by the enemy. He did not stop until his final goals are fully accomplished - complete freedom for all the captives and their possessions. 
7. Why was Abraham so confident of success? He knew His God. He knew God was on his side. Who can be against him? 

Genesis 14
Abram Rescues Lot

New Living Translation (NLT)

14:1 About this time war broke out in the region...

5 One year later Kedorlaomer and his allies arrived and defeated ...
8 Then the rebel kings of Sodom, Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Bela (also called Zoar) prepared for battle ...10 As it happened, the valley of the Dead Sea was filled with tar pits. And as the army of the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, some fell into the tar pits, while the rest escaped into the mountains.
11 The victorious invaders then plundered Sodom and Gomorrah and headed for home, taking with them all the spoils of war and the food supplies.
12 They also captured Lot—Abram’s nephew who lived in Sodom—and carried off everything he owned.
13 But one of Lot’s men escaped and reported everything to Abram the Hebrew, who was living near the oak grove belonging to Mamre the Amorite. Mamre and his relatives, Eshcol and Aner, were Abram’s allies.
14 When Abram heard that his nephew Lot had been captured, he mobilized the 318 trained men who had been born into his household. Then he pursued Kedorlaomer’s army until he caught up with them at Dan. 15 There he divided his men and attacked during the night. Kedorlaomer’s army fled, but Abram chased them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus. 
16 Abram recovered all the goods that had been taken, and he brought back his nephew Lot with his possessions and all the women and other captives.