Morning Rundown: Swallow Hard, Die to Your Fears and Speak With Courage
Here’s a quick rundown of the top stories on charismamag.com:
Swallow Hard, Die to Your Fears and Speak With Courage
Last week I was the guest speaker for the Monday morning chapel at Christ for the Nations Institute in Dallas. It was a few days before Easter, so I could have shared a nice devotional message about the resurrection of Jesus. But the Holy Spirit had been “bothering” me for a few days, nudging me to give a blunt and honest message about sexual purity and the war on gender.
Nobody at the school told me what to speak about. I could go any direction I wanted. It would have been so much easier to give the “safe” Easter message. I’ll admit I was tempted to do that. Why rock the boat? Why speak on something controversial?
But I knew the Lord was leading me to preach the uncomfortable message. I prayed in the Holy Spirit for a long while before the meeting. Just before I stood in front of those 400 students, I told them that my message would not be easy for me to share. Then I read one of the most politically incorrect passages in the Bible—Deuteronomy 23:1.
Alexander Pagani: ‘Say It With Me, a Christian Cannot Be Demon Possessed’
As the late broadcaster Paul Harvey once said, “If I were the prince of darkness, I’d want to engulf the whole world in darkness.”
This exact plan by the devil has been in motion since the Garden of Eden, and he has an entire army of demons at his command to accomplish this goal.
These torturous spirits have free rein in the lives of those who reject Jesus Christ as Savior, the One who claimed victory over sin and death.
Why We Must Tell New Believers About the Holy Spirit
One of the best parts of Easter weekend is that there are people all across America, and the world, who have just given their lives to Christ after hearing the message of the gospel. This is something we should praise God for. But we cannot let these new believers sink in a world that is so upside-down and opposed to Christianity. We have to help them swim!
How do we do this? By telling them about the power of the Holy Spirit. The same Holy Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead is active and alive today. It’s the only thing that can keep us grounded in today’s world.
The days we live in are dark, and they seem to only be getting darker. Yet there is a power so great it can help you not only survive but also thrive in this crazy world. It’s a power that comes from God Almighty through the third person of the Godhead, the Holy Spirit. It’s the power that took the teachings of a young carpenter from Galilee, turned upside down the most ruthless empire of its era and overcame the paganism that went with it.
