Peniel Pentecostal Holiness Church

3239 Rosebud Road Walnut Cove NC 27052
Pastor: Dr. Tim Nelson -  Church Office 336-591-36112
A Place To Encounter God Face To Face. Gen. 32:3

A Word From The Pastor Archives 2024
June 2024
 

"Behold, the eye of the Lord is upon them that fear him, Upon them that hope in his mercy;"  Psalm 33:18

In this psalm, who is God looking to?  Who does God show favor to?  Notice that the psalmist said, God's is on "them".  Who's God giving particular attention to?  The eye of the Lord is on those who fear Him.  The eye of the Lord, the attention of the Lord, the favor of the Lord is on those who fear Him. But then notice the next phrase, "Upon them that hope in his mercy."  The word "mercy" in this verse can also mean "steadfast love."

So Psalm 33:18 reminds us to fear God, which also means we place our hope in His steadfast love.  Yet to fear God and hope in God's steadfast love almost seems contradictory.  The way many normally think of fear, is defined as "being afraid of something."  If you are afraid of something, you will either avoid it or flee from it.  But to fear God is to place our hope in Him and specifically to hope in God's merciful, steadfast love that will never fail.

Adapted from:  https;//radical.net/podcasts/pray-the-word/the-steadfast-love-of-the-lord-paslm-3318/

"And when the day of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one accord in one place."  Acts 2:1

Pentecost, though originally a Hebrew religious festival, is a watershed moment in God's prophetic calendar.  For all who confess Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, there are three significant and timeless truths we must remember about Pentecost.

1.  Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirist reminds and assures us that Jesus keeps His promises.  Jesus had promised, the Father would send another "Comforter," and Acts 2 reveals the fulfillment of that promise.

2.Pentecost also marks the birth of the church.  At Pentecost, through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the church was birthed in Jerusalem and spread throughout the world, including people from every tongue, race, and nation, as all peoples in Christ are brought together in Him.

3.  Finally, Pentecost reminds us of the church's primary purpose:  to share the love of Jesus and message of salvation to the ends of the earth.  What began on the Day of Pentecost, continued throughout the remaining chapters of the book of Acts.  The Apostles and all of Jesus' followers cintinued His mission to proclaim God's love and message of salvation.  It is to that mission, we are still called today.

Let us pray from a renewing of the propelling purpose and power of the Holy Spirit as we seek to proclaim God's love and message of salvation today.

"If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?"  Matthew 7:11

No loving, caring father would give a stone or a snake to his hungry son or daughter if his child asked for a piece of bread or a fish.  Jesus used the absurdity of that analogy in Matthew 7 to underscore the heavenly Father's readiness to give good things to His children when they ask Him.  He wanted them to have complete confidence in the Father's provision for their spiritual needs.  That is why earlier in this teaching, (Sermon on the Mount) Jesus said, "seek first the Kingdom of God."  And when we do, we can have full assurance God will provide in His way and His time the things that are best for us.

Sometimes, when we ask, it may seem as if the Lord has given us "stones" instead of "bread."  But in His wisdom, He actually is working through our circumstances to give us something far better than what we requested.  Keep asking, seeking, and knocking, and believe in Him who gives "much more" than any earthly father can or will give.

"For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty;  only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another."  Galations 5:13

In Christ, we are free but your freedom in Christ, does not mean that you are to serve yourself.  Your freedom does not mean you get to obey your fleshly desires and lusts.  Your freedom is not for self but to serve others through love.  Therefore, do not allow your freedom to promote self-indulgence, on the contrary, be servants of one another, love one another.

The freedom a believer possesses in Christ carries with it the obligation of love.  Paul, having reminded his readers not to subject themselves again to the law as a means of pregressing their Christian life, now reminds them that the Christian life does have moral implications, but these are realized through the indwelling-compelling of the Spirit of Christ and not by law-obedience.  Not only must we be free from the slavery of the law, we must also be free from the slavery of sinful-living (the "desires of the flesh").  Paul admonished and admonishes believers to answer the call to God's liberating freedom - a freedom that comes as we live and walk daily in the Holy Spirit.