All Entries Tagged With: "power"

John 2:12-25

Let’s look at the rest of John Chapter 2 today on God’s Dayimer:

John 2:12-25 (NIV)
12 After this he went down to Capernaum with his mother and brothers and his disciples. There they stayed for a few days. 13 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 14 In the temple courts he found men selling cattle, sheep and doves, and others sitting at tables exchanging money. 15 So he made a whip out of cords, and drove all from the temple area, both sheep and cattle; he scattered the coins of the money changers and overturned their tables. 16 To those who sold doves he said, “Get these out of here! How dare you turn my Father’s house into a market!” 17 His disciples remembered that it is written: “Zeal for your house will consume me.” 18 Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” 19 Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” 20 The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” 21 But the temple he had spoken of was his body. 22 After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the Scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken. 23 Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. 24 But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. 25 He did not need man’s testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man.

Jesus cleanses the temple. The synoptic gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) record Jesus cleansing the temple at the end of His ministry. Here John records a cleansing at the beginning of His ministry. The most likely answer is that there were two cleansings. This first cleansing is most likely a fulfillment of Malachi 3:1-3

Malachi 3:1-3 (NIV)
1 “See, I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the LORD Almighty. 2 But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner’s fire or a launderer’s soap. 3 He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the LORD will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness,

In verse 17 the disciples are reminded of Psalm 69:9 which says:

Psalms 69:9 (NIV)
9 for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me.

The authorities want proof of His authority to challenge the existing order, but He answers them by talking about His death and resurrection which they don’t understand. His disciples will connect the dots after the fact. Jesus does other miraculous sings while He was there in Jerusalem during the Passover feast, which John does not describe, but many people believed in His name. These people, believed He was doing miraculous signs from God, but they did not see Him as the Messiah and put their faith in Him the way the disciple had after He turned water into wine.

Remembering the People of Haiti

Today on God’s Daytimer I would encourage all of you to pray for the people in Haiti and to seek God for anything else that He might have you do. Today’s verse is about this very thing:

Galatians 2:10
All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do.

You should go and read the verse in context. Paul is explaining how he had been given the task of preaching to the gentiles and had been given the right hand of fellowship from James, Peter, and John. What I think we need to see in the verse that Paul was eager to help and remember the poor. I am sure that most of you are feeling the same way as you have the seen pictures of devastation that have come out of Haiti. As I have been praying I have also been looking for ways to help. I am suggesting a few ways that I feel comfortable with after quite a few phone calls to different agencies, etc. Perhaps you might consider one of the following:

Consider making a donation to one of the following agencies:

World Vision www.worldvision.org

Mission of Hope Haiti www.missionofhopehaiti.org

Or you give to the Red Cross by texting Haiti to the number 90999 from your cell phone.

In the future there will some opportunities for hands on ministry through Vineyard Mercy Response who plan on taking teams down once the initial crisis is under control to help rebuild churches and then to help those churches rebuild homes. Please continue to pray for God’s peace and comfort, power and mercy to touch the people of Haiti.

Romans 1:16

Welcome to Online Bible Studies

Today’s Bible verse is
Romans 1:16 (NIV)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Let’s read the verse in context:
Romans 1:8-17 (NIV)
8 First, I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is being reported all over the world. 9 God, whom I serve with my whole heart in preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness how constantly I remember you 10 in my prayers at all times; and I pray that now at last by God’s will the way may be opened for me to come to you. 11 I long to see you so that I may impart to you some spiritual gift to make you strong– 12 that is, that you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith. 13 I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that I planned many times to come to you (but have been prevented from doing so until now) in order that I might have a harvest among you, just as I have had among the other Gentiles. 14 I am obligated both to Greeks and non-Greeks, both to the wise and the foolish. 15 That is why I am so eager to preach the gospel also to you who are at Rome. 16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. 17 For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: “The righteous will live by faith.”

Today’s Quiet Time with God

I hope that it is OK if I reminisce during today’s quiet time. As I read these verses today I remembered the very first sermon I ever preached. It was about being thankful and I used today’s Bible reading as the anchor text. It was 1986 and I had gone to the Salvation Army and bought an ugly yellows suit for $3 that I wore to preach in. It was a really bad sermon. Don’t get me wrong, I had good material, it just wasn’t very well put together. Of course, neither was I. As I think back on how my journey began I realize that I am still thankful and I pray that verse 16 will always be true in my life and yours:

Romans 1:16 (NIV)
16 I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile.

Be blessed!

Have You Joined the Church Online?

I have an idea that I want to run by all of you who are so faithful in reading God’s Daytimer. I am planning on starting a “Church Online“. This church online will not simply be an extension of the church I currently Pastor, it will be a “new thing”. I envision it as more than just a place to come and watch or listen to sermons and Bible studies. I see it as people from all over the world connecting to encourage and pray for each other, as well as a vehicle for providing all types of ministry opportunities for everyone involved, in order to reach out to people every where with the Good News. I hope over time to have thousands of believers and non-believers from all over the world coming to see what is happening at the Church Online.

Before I jump headlong into the the project, I am asking for 100 people that will join up to pray for and be a part of the initial core group of believers what will serve as the foundation for the Church Online. I am hoping that many of you will be a part of this initial group. If this is something that you can do, just go to the new Church Online website. It is still very plain and simple with no bells and whistles. I don’t want to add all that stuff until we have the first 100 people involved. Once you are at the new site, you will see a place to “join” by subscribing to the free RSS or email feed. The counter of how many people have signed up is displayed as well. So far it is just me. Once we reach 100, we will start moving on really getting the Church Online started. If you can take a few minutes, please go check out the site by clicking here Church Online, or, the web address is www.internetchurchonline.com. Read the short article there and then sign up for the free email subscription. I look forward to partnering with all of you to advance the Kingdom of God!

Check out Fifteen Minutes With God

Check out our latest feature on God’s Daytimer, Fifteen Minutes With God. This is an opportunity for you to spend fifteen minutes with God by following the Lord’s Prayer as a model. Click here to go to the Fifteen Minutes With God page. This will help you to develop a consistent daily prayer time.

Check out Christian World News

As you end your quiet time don’t forget to check out what’s happening in the world. Click here to go to the Christian World News stories page. This will help you to direct your prayers more effectively.

Get a Free Subscription to God’s Daytimer

Come back tomorrow for another edition of Online Bible Studies. You should also sign up for either the Free RSS subscription or if you aren’t familiar with RSS, sign up for the free email subscription. That way whenever a new Bible Study is posted you will be notified. You can sign up at the top right of the page.

Check out the Christian Book Club

The Christian Book Club is a great site where you can get involved in an online Christian Book Club. A new book and discussion are started the 1st of every month. Come and join us for this month’s book. Click here to go to the Christian Book Club site.

Check out Internet Pastor Online

Internet Pastor Online is an interesting site where you can find answers to questions about the Bible and some advice for Christian living.

Check out Church Growth Consulting

Church Growth Consulting is a site for Pastors and Ministry Leaders about ways to advance the Kingdom of God and help to grow the Church.

Check out My Newbie Blog

If you would like to learn how to create a blog of your own then this would be a good site for you.