Bible Reading Plan

The Spirit of Empowerment May 2-6 The Holy Spirit empowers Christians in their walk with the Lord your God. First and foremost, He empowers us to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ, giving us boldness to testify about Him in situations where we would normally be fearful or timid. The Holy Spirit also empowers us…

In the book of Acts, God brought revival through the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  Power came upon the apostles and they came pouring out into the streets, speaking in other languages, with small visible flames of fire floating above their heads. It was an incredible miracle, and it was the start of a massive revival…

The Christian life is a blessing, but without an understanding of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, it can feel more like a burden. The secret to a blessed Christian life is being filled with the Holy Spirit. Having a Spirit-filled life is a command from God to obey, as well as a blessing to…

Jesus never intended for His followers to be passive observers of His victory over death. He intended for His victory over death to bring His followers back to life, a new and better life. The word that best describes this moment of new life is surrender. The tomb is empty so that we do not have to…

The Holy Spirit is the One who dwells in us, guides us, and convicts us of sin. We could not live a holy life without His power. However, we cannot experience His power without totally yielding to Him. From the moment of spiritual birth, the Holy Spirit indwells, or resides in, every Christian. But to…

Jesus gives us a brilliant picture of what it looks like when people on earth live in abiding trust and dependence on an unseen God who is in heaven. The image of a vineyard overflowing with grapes is the metaphor Jesus chooses to talk about how His disciples must depend on Him.  Dependence is the…

The rich young man, wanting to know how to inherit eternal life, was given an answer that he could not accept. While giving up all material possessions is not normative for every person, full surrender is expected of every person. We want surrender on our own terms, but that is not how it works. There…

In John 14, Jesus shares with His disciples the important truths of who He is, the great work that they will do, and the help He will give them. When the disciples truly believe and embrace these truths, they will see Jesus for who He is as God in the flesh. They will see that…

Jesus was tenderly preparing the disciples for His death. He was going to leave them, and though they could not journey with Him, the door was open for them to follow and be with Him again. The new commandment He gave them may not have seemed new —it was a commonplace principle based on the…

We learn all we need to know about surrender from Jesus Himself. He lived His life in complete dependence on the Father. And everything He did was done in love. Jesus knew that “the Father had put all things under His power.” All the power in the universe was given to Him. What did Jesus…