THE HOLY SPIRIT
Today’s Reading: Luke 11
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
Between the Mount of Olives and the Old City walls of Jerusalem is the Kidron Valley. The cone-shaped structure is the Tomb of Absalom and is the first of three major tombs as you go down the valley. Behind Absalom’s Tomb are thousands of Jewish graves that face towards the Eastern Gate, where they believe the Messiah will some day enter the city.
GOOGLE MAPS – To see where Reynold took the photo, click HERE.
Key Verse: Luke 11:13
If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!
We won’t miss anything if we are following Him closely and watching Him carefully. Jesus and the disciples would’ve often passed by the upside down funnel shape of Absalom’s Tomb (also known as “Absalom’s Pillar” – 2 Samuel 18:18). Would they have talked about the fact that Absalom was filled with pride, so much so that he tried, by force, to take his father David’s throne? We don’t have a record of such a conversation. Jesus will speak of things to us if we’re close enough to hear Him. He’ll share lessons from everyday things we see. Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of Truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth” (John 16:13). It may be helpful for us to read now the first 15 verses of John 16 (click here) and then meditate on our key verse. It is obvious that if we ask for the Holy Spirit and we are willing to receive, and if our Heavenly Father is “more” willing to give of the Holy Spirit than we are to receive, and He is, then we are being filled now and always. We need to begin to praise God now. Worship Him for His generous Gift of the Holy Spirit Who fills us to overflowing (Acts 2:4, Ephesians 3:19, Ephesians 5:18).
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Heavenly Father, I am willing to receive of the Holy Spirit here and now. You have given the Holy Spirit to indwell me when I first believed in Jesus, and every day I need to be filled. I’m reminded of a funnel as I look at the picture of Absalom’s Tomb. I imagine turning the funnel over and You pouring into my life more of the Holy Spirit than I have room to hold inside me. Overflow my life, Lord, so that others around me will experience Your Spirit. In Jesus’ Name I pray, and keep on praying and receiving. Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
I wrote a book called 100 Huntley Street which was first published in 1979 by Logos International of New York City. In the early 1980’s it was published again by Thomas Nelson of Nashville, and then again in the late 1990’s under the title 100. Why tell you about this? My story of being filled for the first time with the Holy Spirit as a 16 year old is on pages 40 and 41 of the original publication. Perhaps if you know anyone who has watched or supported 100 Huntley Street over the years, ask them if they have a copy for you. I’m greatly blessed by the memories, but most of all by experiencing the Presence and fullness of the Holy Spirit right now.
Yours for being filled, and keeping filled, with the Holy Spirit,
David
P.S. Luke, the New Testament historian, is right on!!! Good history is a record of what actually happened according to those whose stories are told and those who were eye witnesses. I believe that Luke, a physician, spent at least two years interviewing the people whose stories are in his Gospel. He did this while his leader in ministry, the Apostle Paul, was in Roman custody in Caesarea, the capital city of the Roman province of Palestine. These P.S. thoughts are for the purpose of showing that the Bible is “RELIABLE!” Tomorrow…Did the enemies of Jesus living at the time ever write anything which contradicted the Gospel stories?
I have 2 of David’s books but not the one he mentioned today. I like what he said about praying for his grandchildren by name & circumstances. I think that praying for future generations (not yet on the scene) is a good idea also. Blessings all.
Amen to that.
No!His enemies did not deny the record of Jesus’ ministry.Why?Because there were too many witnesses to it.
We need more of His Holy Spirit because “we leak”.I’ve mentioned this before and it is a little,personal thing but I try never to put a period after the word “bless” because a period denotes finality and there is no ‘finality’ to God’s blessings,especially the holy Spirit.May God bless
Dust Of The Pearl
No matter how hard we may try
We can never live free from sin,
For we are all created to die
Unless we have His Spirit within.
We were without hope on our own
So He became human with us
By leaving His kingdom and His throne
To become the Lamb we call Jesus.
He lived more lowly than His sheep,
For riches could not save one soul,
And the treasures He sought to keep
Were the same ones the demon stole.
So the whole world was what He sought
And love to all was what He taught,
With words of truth the battle was fought
And with His own life,our freedom bought.
He alone made that sacrifice,
One no one can ever unfurl,
For He became the Pearl of great price
And we are but the dust of the Pearl.
GW (Bill) Marshall/05 April, 2017
Thank You, Lord Jesus, for coming for us. You are better than Rambo. You came to save, to give us new life, to be Emmanuel, God With Us. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit. In Jesus’s great name, amen
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Luke 11
New Living Translation
Teaching about Prayer
Once Jesus was in a certain place praying. As he finished, one of his disciples came to him and said, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”
Jesus said, “This is how you should pray:
“Father, may your name be kept holy.
May your Kingdom come soon.
Give us each day the food we need,
and forgive us our sins,
as we forgive those who sin against us.
And don’t let us yield to temptation.”
Then, teaching them more about prayer, he used this story: “Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.
“And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
“You fathers—if your children ask for a fish, do you give them a snake instead? Or if they ask for an egg, do you give them a scorpion? Of course not! So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him.”
Jesus and the Prince of Demons
One day Jesus cast out a demon from a man who couldn’t speak, and when the demon was gone, the man began to speak. The crowds were amazed, but some of them said, “No wonder he can cast out demons. He gets his power from Satan, the prince of demons.” Others, trying to test Jesus, demanded that he show them a miraculous sign from heaven to prove his authority.
He knew their thoughts, so he said, “Any kingdom divided by civil war is doomed. A family splintered by feuding will fall apart. You say I am empowered by Satan. But if Satan is divided and fighting against himself, how can his kingdom survive? And if I am empowered by Satan, what about your own exorcists? They cast out demons, too, so they will condemn you for what you have said. But if I am casting out demons by the power of God, then the Kingdom of God has arrived among you. For when a strong man is fully armed and guards his palace, his possessions are safe— until someone even stronger attacks and overpowers him, strips him of his weapons, and carries off his belongings.
“Anyone who isn’t with me opposes me, and anyone who isn’t working with me is actually working against me.
“When an evil spirit leaves a person, it goes into the desert, searching for rest. But when it finds none, it says, ‘I will return to the person I came from.’ So it returns and finds that its former home is all swept and in order. Then the spirit finds seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they all enter the person and live there. And so that person is worse off than before.”
As he was speaking, a woman in the crowd called out, “God bless your mother—the womb from which you came, and the breasts that nursed you!”
Jesus replied, “But even more blessed are all who hear the word of God and put it into practice.”
The Sign of Jonah
As the crowd pressed in on Jesus, he said, “This evil generation keeps asking me to show them a miraculous sign. But the only sign I will give them is the sign of Jonah. What happened to him was a sign to the people of Nineveh that God had sent him. What happens to the Son of Man will be a sign to these people that he was sent by God.
“The queen of Sheba will stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for she came from a distant land to hear the wisdom of Solomon. Now someone greater than Solomon is here—but you refuse to listen. The people of Nineveh will also stand up against this generation on judgment day and condemn it, for they repented of their sins at the preaching of Jonah. Now someone greater than Jonah is here—but you refuse to repent.
Receiving the Light
“No one lights a lamp and then hides it or puts it under a basket. Instead, a lamp is placed on a stand, where its light can be seen by all who enter the house.
“Your eye is like a lamp that provides light for your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is filled with light. But when it is unhealthy, your body is filled with darkness. Make sure that the light you think you have is not actually darkness. If you are filled with light, with no dark corners, then your whole life will be radiant, as though a floodlight were filling you with light.”
Amen Rob and William ✝️🙏
Amen Rob.