August 28, 2019

August 28
Running with Jesus

Acts 5:29 "Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than man."

     Well is this not a verse for American's today? The apostles were healing, ministering, and preaching the Gospel and the religious sects were demanding they stop, put them in prison and threatened to kill them if they did.
     As the day is approaching the return of Christ we too can expect the heat to be turned up on us as true Bible thumping believers! We can't get a reporter to put on TV the countless lives that have been saved from so many worldly woes!  Yet let one Christian fall and they are ready to jump on it!
      Every day our religious freedoms our forefathers gave to us are being trimmed back.  We must begin today to say who we should obey, God or man? Who will you choose? We must purpose in our hearts before we are faced with this dilemma and pray for boldness!
                 

Father, as your return approaches, give us the boldness and power to stand. Give us a desire to obey You rather than man. Empower us with Your Spirit and sustain us with a steadfast heart to remain faithful. As Your Word tells us You will give us a word in season and out of season, let us allow You to be Lord of our words. Open the eyes of the blind who walk in darkness and help us be light in a world that is growing in darkness. We desire to obey You and help us remain in the path, running with You till we reach the finish line just like our forerunners of faith.

     We must press on as the evil day approaches! So keep on running the more we run with Jesus the stronger we will become.

Fighting God tomorrow! Have a blessed day! Meet me at the battle!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

August 27, 2019

August 27

Running with Jesus  

Acts 5:17-18 "Then the high priest rose up, and all they that were with him, (which is the sect of the Sadducees,) and were filled with indignation, And laid their hands on the apostles, and put them in the common prison"

     Just a day before the Apostles were seeing great things happening in their lives, filled with the Spirit even their shadow healed people but the religious were filled with indignation and had them arrested. Faith in God will not make troubles disappear. Jesus told us in this world we have tribulation and be of good cheer because He has overcome the world. To make our troubles not be in control and at the forefront of our lives we must keep our focus centered upon living and pleasing God. We must be more concerned with obeying and pleasing God. We must expect negative things to happen.  We live in a fallen world and run among spiritually blind people and we have a chief enemy, Satan who wants to kick us out of the race.  We are to stay full steam ahead. So if you are having trouble it is normal. We must not get off  track, we will overcome because Christ overcame. 

Father, redirect our focus and guard our thoughts today. Take out discouragement and replace it with a steadfast faith and help us to live in Your victory because You over came the world. We too can live in victory because we know You already won the war! 

     Let's stay in the race cause great things are coming! 

Ought we to obey God! See you tomorrow!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

August 26, 2019

August 26

Running with Jesus

Acts 5:15  "Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets, and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them."

     Great things were happening after Pentecost. The Holy Spirit was upon the disciples and many signs and wonders were happening. Daily people were being converted to Christianity. The church was in full bloom. They brought their sick and laid them in the street hoping Peter's shadow would touch them. We can't imagine what this was like. 

      This made me think about us and when we walk about in our daily lives. When we walk into a place can people sense we are a Christian and are there something about us that is different? These early Christians leaked Jesus! I know people like this for example, Beth Moore. She is one of the greatest Bible teachers. She has insight into the Word of God and her personal walk is amazing. She is doing amazing things for God. Billy Graham had the most amazing gentle spirit and his son, Franklin is an awesome man. We recently had a speaker, Heather McCaskill, who came to speak and recognized these had something more than she did and began to pray, "God I want more of you!" More she began to receive because she was real and began to position herself to receive more. She made intentional time with God. She wrote a book called "Intentional Devotion" and was led into a ministry called One on One mentoring young moms. The older I get the more I see it is more about spending time with God. When we spend time with God you will find He will lead you into ministry. He puts His desires into your heart.  Because we have His desires in first place we will find ourselves making a difference in people's lives every day. 

      I don't know that my shadow will ever have that effect on people. I do know God sure makes a difference in my attitude and gives me a joyful heart and this sure can make a difference at home and work!

Father, we desire to know and have more, if we desire to help some lost soul today. Fill us with Your Spirit. Give us a good attitude and help us keep Your joy as we move about today. Show us one person we can lift up. 

You can expect troubles when you run with Jesus, so hurry back tomorrow.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

August 25, 2019

August 25

Judy Hollaway

Acts 5:3 But Peter said, Ananias, why hath Satan filled thine heart to lie to the Holy Ghost, and to keep back part of the price of the land?

      We meet up with a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who had sold some land.  They wanted to appear more generous than they were. They said they gave the whole amount and pretended to give all the money to God but held back some for themselves. They lied to the church and were deceiving people about their relationship with God. They didn't care they were deceiving the all-knowing God who sees and knows all!   This destroyed their testimony. They had agreed together to lie about the offering, as a result of pretending and lying  both died three hours apart.
      It was early days for the church and having just being established the church needed to be pure. Today in the latter days more than ever we need to be real and not pretend we are something we are not.
      So the moral of this story is: Do not lie to the Holy Spirit. Do not pretend we have a relationship with God.
 Going to church is not having a real relationship with God. It would be like sitting in your driveway and telling people we are friends but I never have a conversation with you. We never do anything together.
      God is real and desires to know you one on one. He wants us to share our deep needs and thoughts with Him. Pretenders miss out on the greatest blessing life has to offer us, a personal relationship with our creator. Never forget He looks on the heart not the outer appearance. He knows real from fake! So let's be real and don't lie to the Holy Spirit.
                 

Father, we have to pray daily create in us a new heart and renew a steadfast spirit within us. Guide us and lead us in paths of righteousness and then we will teach sinners not to transgress against you.  Help us be real and help us keep a servant’s heart and a giving spirit.  Help us hold nothing back from You that belongs to You.
 

Let's walk by Peter's shadow, in the morning.

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015

August 24, 2019

August 24

Running with Jesus  

And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation , son of comfort)  Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

     Barnabas was from the tribe of Levi, the priestly tribe of Israel. He had moved away to the Island of Cyprus. Later he would become a traveling companion of Paul on his missionary journey. This verse tells us a lot about Him. Barnabas had a heart for God. His name means comforter, which is a name I would love to be known as. 

     Next we are told he sold his land and laid the money at the disciple’s feet. It is strange that he owned land because he was a Levite and we know they were not given land in Israel because they were the priestly tribe who served and took care of the temple. I read he had moved away from Jerusalem. So after Pentecost the Holy Spirit came to live in man and man was born again. This made me wonder if after his salvation he was convicted and sold the land. If this is true we see true conversion at work in this Levite’s heart. He made a change!

    Has Jesus made a change in your life? Do you comfort others? Are possessions a god in your life? Jesus will change your priorities and make you have a desire to line up with God's guidelines and principles. You truly know you are sealed when the Spirit of Promise enters your life and He guides and leads you to minister and help others come to know the new life God gave you!

Father, help us console others and give to Your kingdom work. If there is anything we have been holding back we need to give to You, reveal it to us. We desire to walk and run with You. 

Lying to the Holy Spirit is not good, see you I the morning!

Judy Hollaway

Originally penned 2015