Awesome Power of Joy! - Pastor James DEVINE

Awesome Power of Joy! (eBook)

How You Can Be Filled with Joy and Empowered by God the Holy Spirit

Pastor James DEVINE (Autor)

eBook Download: EPUB

2024 | 1. Auflage
337 Seiten
Bookbaby (Verlag)
978-1-58936-003-7 (ISBN)

Firmly based on the God-breathed Scriptures, this book is presented as a biblical encouragement to Christians who have a sincere desire to grow in their personal relationship with the Lord Jesus, and to learn more about God the Holy Spirit--God's power and joy factor. However, here's a warning right from the start. If you are truly serious about improving and growing in your personal relationship with the living God, the focus of Part I: Living as Christ's Disciple and Part II: Living as Christ's Servant, will definitely transform your daily walk with the Lord Jesus. But hold on, there's more. Applying the truth related to God's Holy Spirit in your life in Part III: Living as Christ's Ambassador, will also revolutionize your personal ministry for your Savior and King. Buckle up! We will be studying the Bible together. Please remember the words the apostle Paul wrote to his 'beloved son' Timothy in 2 Timothy 3:16-17 (New Century Version), '16 All Scripture is inspired by God [this means, 'God-breathed'] and is useful for teaching, for showing people what is wrong in their lives, for correcting faults, and for teaching how to live right. 17 Using the Scriptures, the person who serves God will be capable, having all that is needed to do every good work.' 'Holy Spirit, may You please open the eyes of our hearts, so we may see more of the loveliness of the Lord Jesus through You!'

For more than five decades, James Devine (M.Div., Th.M., D.Min.) has been walking with the Lord Jesus as a disciple of His grace and training others for biblical lifestyle discipleship ministry. He has served many years as a senior pastor, assistant professor of evangelism and discipleship, and public safety chaplain. Pastor Jim and his wife MaryLou, their four adult children, and their five grandchildren live in Oregon.

Here is the detailed outline of three parts and all thirty-eight lessons:PART I: LIVING AS CHRIST'S DISCIPLEFilled with Joy and Empowered by God the Holy SpiritCHAPTER 1 INTRODUCING GOD THE HOLY SPIRITLesson 1 Grace Incident at the Pasco SwampLesson 2 We Have a Spiritual Power & Joy Problem!Lesson 3 Designed to Live a Powerful Life of JoyLesson 4 Have You Got It All Together?CHAPTER 2 EMBRACING 15 FOUNDATIONAL BIBLE FACTSLesson 5 Bible Facts Relating to Spiritual BirthLesson 6 Bible Facts Relating to the Church & God's Will Lesson 7 Bible Facts Relating to Christian Liberty & God's Expectations and Warnings Lesson 8 Bible Facts Relating to the Word of God and the Fruit of the Holy SpiritLesson 9 Bible Facts Relating to the Christian's Hope, Witness, and Prayer LifePART II: LIVING AS CHRIST'S SERVANTFilled with Joy and Empowered by God the Holy SpiritCHAPTER 3 OUR HEARTS: HOME OF THE SPIRIT OF GODLesson 10 Why Be Filled and Empowered by the Spirit?Lesson 11 Four Reasons to Be Filled & Empowered by the SpiritLesson 12 Three Truths for Being Filled with the Holy SpiritLesson 13 An Analogy of the Holy Spirit's FillingCHAPTER 4 VITAL SPIRIT LESSONS FROM THREE LIGHTSLesson 14 Vital Spirit Lessons from Three Common LightsLesson 15 Yellow Light = DESIRE: Desiring to be FilledLesson 16 Red Light = FAITH: By Faith We Are FilledLesson 17 Green Light = OBEY: Walking in Obedience Lesson 18 Are You Living by the Lights?CHAPTER 5 CONFIRMING EVIDENCES OF BEING EMPOWEREDLesson 19 Abolishing Holy Spirit MythsLesson 20 How Not to Be Filled with the Holy SpiritLesson 21 Confirming Evidences of Being EmpoweredLesson 22 Proper Perspectives of the Spirit-Filled LifeCHAPTER 6 CONTINUING TO LIVE POWERFULLY & JOYFULLYLesson 23 Whoops! I Lost It!Lesson 24 Continuing to Live a Powerful & Joy-filled Life PART III: LIVING AS CHRIST'S AMBASSADORFilled with Joy and Empowered by God the Holy SpiritCHAPTER 7 EXPERIENCING A SPIRIT-EMPOWERED MINISTRYLesson 25 The Transforming Power of Want, With, & WitnessLesson 26 You Are God's Chosen & Appointed AmbassadorLesson 27 Yes, You Are an Ambassador for the King of kings!Lesson 28 Understanding God's Grand Slam Ministry of Love CHAPTER 8 EXPERIENCING THE SPIRIT'S JOY IN MINISTRYLesson 29 Understanding the Global Scope of Jesus' ImperativeLesson 30 A Biblical Strategy for Making Disciples Lesson 31 Dare to Be a Humble & Spirit-Empowered Discipler!Lesson 32 Are You R.E.A.D.Y. for the Holy Spirit to Use You?Final Step You've Got One More Thing to DoIF YOU ARE READY ~ LET'S GET STARTED!APPENDIX A PRESENTING THE WONDERFUL GOSPEL OF HOPELesson 1 It All Begins Right HereLesson 2 There is No Hope Without Knowing GodLesson 3 Listen to the Incredibly Good News!Lesson 4 Look What Faith Can Do for YouLesson 5 Did You Know There are Four Steps to the Door?Lesson 6 What Happened to Me?Contact How to Contact the Author

LESSON 1

GRACE INCIDENT AT THE PASCO SWAMP

The Indelible Impact of God’s Great Un-Gift

What’s Going On?

Yes, we’re starting this book right in the middle of a dirty and stinky ole swamp, right near the foot of the green Kennewick-Pasco train bridge. Located in my small hometown of Pasco, Washington, this is the place where my dad went to find my body many years ago.

This is also where the incredible grace of the living

God--His great un-gift--blessed me forever!

But first, let’s flip the calendar forward to today—April 2024. Let’s take an honest look around and ask, “What in the world is happening in our world?” Answer: Everywhere we turn, the news is negative and bleak!

•The heinous terrorist attack on Israel by Hamas. Men, women, and children savagely kidnapped and slaughtered!

•The savage war with Russia in Ukraine is continuing into the second year.

•The suffering of millions of Ukrainian refugees desperately fleeing their homes fills our TV flat screens.

•The skyrocketing inflation in the United States and the soaring prices of gas, and groceries, and everything else.

•The rampant and senseless crime in our cities continues to explode and multiply from coast to coast.

•The flooding of thousands of illegal immigrants crossing our southern border is appalling.

•The moral decay and lawlessness in the United States and in all cultures and countries continues around the world.

The awful list goes on, and on, and on. However, the Scriptures cut right to the chase and give us the ugly description of life in the last days. Here is the key text from 2 Timothy 3:1-5 (NLT). The apostle Paul writes his final letter of warning to young Pastor Timothy.

1”You should know this, Timothy, that in the last days there will be very difficult times. 2 For people will love only themselves and their money. They will be boastful and proud, scoffing at God, disobedient to their parents, and ungrateful. They will consider nothing sacred. 3 They will be unloving and unforgiving; they will slander others and have no self-control. They will be cruel and hate what is good. 4 They will betray their friends, be reckless, be puffed up with pride, and love pleasure rather than God. 5 They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!”

As we are beginning a personal, heart-to-heart conversation through this book, I want us to focus on something that is very positive: the grace and mercy of God!

Real Life is All About the Lord Jesus:

His Incredible Grace and Our Unique Privileges

What is Real Life All About?

Let me expand upon those three words just a bit. Real life, as it was Divinely designed and meant to be lived, is all about engaging in a loving, dynamic, secure, and growing personal relationship with the Creator--through faith in the living Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ.

The incredible and unconditional grace of God, and the uniquely wonderful privileges graciously given to every believer through Christ Jesus add the eternal dimension needed by every human being.

One of my favorite verses in the whole Bible that speaks of the grace of God is found in Ephesians 1:7-8a. Paul writes, 7 “In Him [i.e. Jesus Christ] we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace 8 which He lavished on us.”

Indelible Memories

The tremendous reality and impact of the gracious work of the Lord Jesus in redeeming men was graphically portrayed to me by my dad, Professor James D. Devine, Sr., at a dirty swamp in Pasco, Washington.

The incredible grace of God was infused in every desperate and frustrated action that my father displayed that day--a very long time ago. This is the way the story happened and how the events unfolded.

Nuts About Playing Baseball

Meeting a New Friend

During one eventful day, I remember meeting a new student at Longfellow Elementary School in Pasco. [I told you this happened a long time ago!] His name was Chuck. In just a short time, we struck up a wonderful friendship.

We shared an enthusiasm for soccer, a joy for football, and a passion for basketball. However, it happened to be baseball season and so we played baseball that day.

I fell in love with the game of baseball. Every day was saturated with time spent at the school playground. We had teams from the school and from the neighborhood. We patched together teams from anywhere we could scrape together nine eager ball players. When we weren't playing the game, the guys were busily trading baseball cards and chewing the big hunks of bubble gum that came with each packet of cards.

Chuck and I played together during the recess times at school and we continued to play ball after school. We were enjoying the game, our growing friendship, and playing so much that we could not bear to call it a day and go home.

So we didn’t. Instead, Chuck invited me to his house, which happened to be on the opposite end of Pasco from where my family lived.

It sounded so wonderfully inviting! I took my bat and glove, and off we went. We continued to talk and visit and get to know each other while playing ball in Chuck's backyard and around his neighborhood.

Playing Baseball Until Dark

Evening arrived. As the sky was getting a little darker, Chuck said to me, "Hey Jim, why don't you have dinner at our house? My mom will set another place for you." And so she did. I'll never forget one special moment, seated at their round table (a large phone cable spool) with five or six family members, all holding hands while Chuck's father prayed.

Set before each of us was a simple bowl of stew and a glass of water. Yet, his father prayed as if God had set a splendid banquet in front of us. To this day, I enjoy the warm memory of a man filled with God's love and appreciation. Chuck’s dad prayed and then we ate our dinner. I thanked Chuck's parents for the delicious meal.

When dinner was over, Chuck and I went outside into the backyard and continued playing catch in the darkening hours. We were having trouble seeing the ball, but I still remember that one single light bulb dangling precariously off the garage roof.

Where is Jimmy?

Something I Forgot!

Do you realize what I haven't told you so far? I haven't mentioned my parents. I forgot to call my mom and dad. I didn't tell them where I was … they had no idea.

Can you imagine what was happening back home by this time? Mom and Dad were getting very concerned. Where in the world was their boy? Where was Jimmy? [Dad shared all of these details with me after this incident was over.]

As the afternoon grew late and the light began to fade, my parents became even more frantic. Worry turned to fear. My parents had no idea where I was. My father started calling. He telephoned all my friends to see if I was there or if anyone had seen me.

But no Jimmy.

Dad got into the car and drove around the neighborhood. He searched in all the usual haunts where I would play after school.

No Jimmy.

Dinner passed. No Jimmy. It was getting dark--very dark! Much later that night my dad told me he had an idea. When he was almost at his wits end, he remembered the swamp.

Remembering the Swamp

The Murky and Black Hole

Dad remembered the ole’ dirty swamp down near the foot of the Pasco-Kennewick bridge. At one time it was a very active sand and gravel pit. Now abandoned, the area had been excavated and then eventually filled with water and garbage. It was murky and black and dirty, with many tall cattails growing in there.

My friends and I would often go down to the swamp and play there after school. We had a great time building rafts and throwing dirt clods at each other. It was our "Huckleberry Finn's” paradise!

My panic-stricken father remembered the swamp and worried, "What if my boy went down to the swamp, fell off one of those homemade rafts, and hit his head as his body went under the water?"

Panicking, Dad jumped in our car and hurriedly drove down to the swamp. He pulled right up to the top of the outer ridge, and then angled the headlights of the car so there would be some illumination streaming down into the dark basin.

He called out, "Jimmy! Where are you! Jimmy! Come home!"

But there was no answer. Only the Still. Black. Silent. Swamp.

Into the Yucky Soup

Believing that I had fallen off one of those rafts, struck my head, and had sunk unconscious beneath the dark waters, my father imagined the worst.

Dad then walked down the gravel embankment, right down to the edge of the water. He rolled his pant legs up to his knees, and then waded out into the yucky soup. Only a faint trickle of light from the moon and a sliver of light from two headlamps was now shining into the swampy area.

Dad reached his arms into the black murky water and continued calling out into the darkness, "Jimmy! Jimmy!...

Erscheint lt. Verlag	10.5.2024
Sprache	englisch
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Christentum
ISBN-10	1-58936-003-6 / 1589360036
ISBN-13	978-1-58936-003-7 / 9781589360037

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