Acts 4:29-31   
And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, 30 while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.

The apostles had just been arrested and released.  But instead of praying for safety like you and I often do, they prayed for boldness as they celebrated the fact that they were found worthy of suffering for the sake of the Name.

God answered that prayer twice.  He physically shook the building.  And He, in the form of the Holy Spirit, shook up the apostles, giving they the boldness they had asked for.

What do you pray for?  What do you expect God to do as a result?  If you pray for boldness, He WILL answer!  Then whatever happens next will be the result of God working in your life!

​Do you dare?

Hebrews 10:24-25   And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

This is why we need to be together in church.  Where else do we challenge each other "to love and good works"?  What better way than being together to encourage each other?  The Day of the Lord's return is drawing near.

Do you have a community of believers that you can count on to lift you up when you need to be encouraged?  Do you encourage others who need to know the love of Jesus through you?

Let's keep being together to love each other in this way.  And what better place to be together than in church?!!!

Romans 8:1   There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

If you have received the forgiveness of Jesus by confessing your sin, believing that Jesus died to take away that sin, and rose again from the dead to bring you new life, and trusting Him with your life, you are not condemned.

Jesus has taken away all your sin.  There may be consequences for the things you have done, but there is no condemnation.  God sees you as pure and holy.  He looks at you and sees the sacrifice of Jesus.

That is not a license to sin.  That is a reason to be so grateful that you stop sinning and live your life for Him.  It's called being thankful.

Hebrews 4:12    For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Look at the power of God’s sword.  First, notice that it is alive.  It is the way we discover the Way, the Truth and the Life Who makes us alive in Him.  It is active.  What does it actively do?  It cuts us open.
It cuts our flesh, going down to the deepest part of our being.  It divides the soul from the spirit, IOW it exposes the very essence of who we are, down to the deepest part of our nature.  It exposes out thoughts and intentions.  It breaks open all that is in our heart.
Wow.  That’s scary, huh?  I wonder what it finds in our hearts.
Steven Curtis Chapman had a song with the line, “I opened up the Bible and I read about me.”
Have you ever done that?  You come to a point where you just have to smile as you pause and praise God for saving you, and for working so deeply in your life?
Or you come to a part where you begin weeping as you realize that you have just read about you.  And you know that God is calling you to be more, to come back to His grace, to surrender your will to His.
You see, God through His Word doesn’t leave us where and how we are.  He changes us through His Word.
And it’s personal.  The Word of God opens our hearts so that we can see ourselves as we really are.  And that’s scary.  Until we realize that even though we sin, we are forgiven.
The Bible has been called a mirror in which we see ourselves.  But it’s more than that.  It doesn’t just show us our faces, it shows us our hearts.
And then it shows us God’s heart.  His love is very personal.  It cost Jesus everything to love you and me.
What does it cost us to live for Him?  If we are Loving each other and those in our community, and if we are Sharing Hope with each other and with those around us, we need to live in the truth of God’s Word.
We need to share the hope, the Good News of the Bible with those who have no hope.  Will you wield your sword of the Spirit to bring dying people into the new life that Jesus offers?

Psalm 127:1   Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.  Unless the Lord watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.

Who is building your house?  Who is the Master of your life?  If it isn't the Lord, your life is being lived for no purpose.  Only He brings purpose to our lives.  He is the Master Builder who fits everything together.

Have you ever watched a craftsman work on something really complicated?  It doesn't seem to make sense, and none of the pieces look like they will ever fit together.  What is the point of the mess you see in front of you?

But when the Master Builder puts the details together, you can suddenly see a pattern emerge.  He makes something beautiful out of all your broken pieces.  The Bible says that if we love God, and He has called us according to His purpose, all things work together for good.  (Romans 8:28)

Even when it doesn't make sense to us.

Luke 19:41-44    And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it, 42 saying, “Would that you, even you, had known on this day the things that make for peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes. 43 For the days will come upon you, when your enemies will set up a barricade around you and surround you and hem you in on every side 44 and tear you down to the ground, you and your children within you. And they will not leave one stone upon another in you, because you did not know the time of your visitation.”

The Jewish leaders didn't recognize the prophecy in Daniel 9 being fulfilled before their very eyes.  They missed the time of Christ.  To Jesus, it was a sad day, knowing that they would never know Him.  Do you know Him?  Don't miss "the time of your visitation".

Hebrews 1:3a    He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. 

Jesus is God in the flesh, the One who came to earth as a helpless baby, fully human and yet fully God.  He is the only One who could be the sacrifice for our sin.  He is very God, who died for us.

​Ponder that as you celebrate this Christmas.  He is not "just" a baby in a manger.  He "upholds the universe by the word of his power".  And He gave His life for you!

Luke 2:8-11   And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear.  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 

What would it have been like to be a shepherd - to know that you were not allowed to go to the temple, and that you could never worship God like other people, because of what you did for a living?

And then to have an angel appear and to tell you that God has sent His Christ, His promised one, and that you were invited to come and worship Him?  It must have been overwhelming!  No wonder they left everything to go and find Him.

They went back to the sheep afterwards, but they were changed.  Verses 16-18 tell us, " And they went with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby lying in a manger.  And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.  And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.

But the real change is found in verse 20:  And the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all they had heard and seen, as it had been told them.

The shepherds were changed.  Have you been changed by being with Jesus?  Come and worship, and let Him change your life!

Philippians 2:5-8   Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

That is the reason we celebrate Christmas.  The baby born in Bethlehem would one day give His life to save us from our sin.  He gave His life for you.  Will you live your life for Him?

Psalm 51:7, 10- 12   Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.  Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.  Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me.  Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit.

David asked for the right things in the right order.  Cleanse me of my sin, then create a clean heart to replace my sinful heart.  Renew a right spirit in me.  Then keep me in Your presence, and let me experience the Holy Spirit in my life.

Then I will know the joy of Your salvation as you restore my life in You.  And now that I am restored in You, I ask You, God, to uphold me every day as I trust in You.

This should be our prayer every day.  Let's let David teach us to get things right in our lives.  If you don't have joy in your life, now you know what you need to ask God for!