This past Wednesday night to the outsider it may have looked like an ordinary evening inside our Youth room. Some of us were resting on the couches while others of us were sitting at the tables reading and learning about coming to know our Jesus with the ZEAL of little children. We were missing a few of our regulars due to work and other school year end activities.
However, what we really had was a gathering of CHAMPIONS!! We are small in number, yet mighty in Spirit and in GRACE. Inside that room, there sat a young person who had just returned from meeting with a counselor to deal with the trauma of sexual abuse in his or her life. Another one of our little family members has struggled with suicidal thoughts and anxiety for years.
I looked to my right to find a youth member with fear and with questions about why cancer has struck yet another one of his or her family members. In front of me, I notice a group member who has rebuilt his or her life after her biological father died and her biological mother abandoned him or her. One of our classmate’s father has chosen anyone or anything other than his own child for twenty years. My students have struggled personally or have family members who have struggled with abuse, disease, mental health issues, addictions, poverty, grief, and indecision. The amount of courage it must take to even get up and face such hardships as a youth or young adult is unfathomable. Is it courage or FAITH?
I believe the Father gives us our measure of Faith that gives us the courage to continue to learn and to grow in Him. That very night, I saw the Father restoring us through the love and the gift of His Son, Jesus. We came to Him with our concerns, our needs, and our questions, seeking and looking for His answers.
As I talked with and prayed for one my Youth members, our pastor prayed and ministered to two others. In those moments, Elohim moved in our midst, saving, delivering, and restoring.
Our pastor prayed with a newcomer who accepted Christ as her Savior, and another student and I prayed for answers and healing about her family’s health issues. We spoke about Job, and God allowing him to be tested. I mentioned how Elohim RESTORED Job and DOUBLED his reward. God asked Job to pray for his three friends who had misrepresented God during Job’s trials. God asked Job to accept their sacrifices and to offer forgiveness to his friends. After Job was obedient to Elohim’s requests, Job received his reward.
The Holy Spirit visited us in our little Upper Room. Ironically, our room is in the upstairs portion of our church; in that Upper Room, we met Jesus, and we experienced restoration. Through the BLOOD, we realized our restoration: Jesus’s blood brought us to our Father who poured out the Holy Spirit upon us. Our journey as believers and members of the Body of Christ has just begun. We will continue to seek Him and to learn and to grow. My prayer is that the reality of HEAVEN will be HERE on earth as well as inside our hearts. Praise His Name in thanksgiving and in appreciation for all He is doing in the lives of our young people.
Amen and AMEN!
Acts 1:12-8:3New American Standard Bible
The Upper Room
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the [a]mountain called [b]Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a [c]Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the upstairs room where they were staying, that is, Peter, John, [d]James, and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, [e]James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the [f]son of [g]James. 14 All these were continually devoting themselves with one [h]mind to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
15 [i]At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 [j]people was there together), and said, 16 “[k]Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the residents of Jerusalem; as a result that field was called Hakeldama in their own language, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms:
‘May his residence be made desolate,
And may there be none living in it’;
and,
‘May another take his [l]office.’
21 Therefore it is necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out [m]among us— 22 beginning [n]with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us—one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas (who was also called Justus), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all people, show which one of these two You have chosen 25 to [o]occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they [p]drew lots for them, and the lot fell [q]to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
The Day of Pentecost
2 When the day of Pentecost [r]had come, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly a noise like a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 And tongues that looked like fire appeared to them, [s]distributing themselves, and a tongue [t]rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with different [u]tongues, as the Spirit was giving them the ability to speak out.
5 Now there were Jews residing in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the crowd came together and they were bewildered, because each one of them was hearing them speak in his own [v]language. 7 They were amazed and astonished, saying, “[w]Why, are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we each hear them in our own [x]language [y]to which we were born? 9 Parthians, Medes, and Elamites, and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and [z]Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya around Cyrene, and [aa]visitors from Rome, both Jews and [ab]proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own [ac]tongues of the mighty deeds of God.” 12 And they all continued in amazement and great perplexity, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others were jeering and saying, “They are full of [ad]sweet wine!”
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter, taking his stand with the other eleven, raised his voice and declared to them: “Men of Judea and all you who live in Jerusalem, [ae]know this, and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you assume, since it is only the [af]third hour of the day; 16 but this is what has been spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 ‘And it shall be in the last days,’ God says,
‘That I will pour out My Spirit on all [ag]mankind;
And your sons and your daughters will prophesy,
And your young men will see visions,
And your old men will [ah]have dreams;
18 And even on My male and female [ai]servants
I will pour out My Spirit in those days,
And they will prophesy.
19 And I will [aj]display wonders in the sky above
And signs on the earth below,
Blood, fire, and [ak]vapor of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned into darkness
And the moon into blood,
Before the great and glorious day of the Lord comes.
21 And it shall be that everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: Jesus the Nazarene, a Man [al]attested to you by God with [am]miracles and wonders and [an]signs which God performed through Him in your midst, just as you yourselves know— 23 this Man, delivered over by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of [ao]godless men and put Him to death. 24 [ap]But God raised Him from the dead, putting an end to the [aq]agony of death, since it was impossible for Him to be held [ar]in its power. 25 For David says of Him,
‘I saw the Lord continually before me,
Because He is at my right hand, so that I will not be shaken.
26 Therefore my heart was glad and my tongue was overjoyed;
Moreover my flesh also will live in hope;
27 For You will not abandon my soul to Hades,
Nor will You [as]allow Your [at]Holy One to [au]undergo decay.
28 You have made known to me the ways of life;
You will make me full of gladness with Your presence.’
29 “[av]Brothers, I may confidently say to you regarding the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is [aw]with us to this day. 30 So because he was a prophet and knew that God had sworn to him with an oath to seat one [ax]of his descendants on his throne, 31 he looked ahead and spoke of the resurrection of the [ay]Christ, that He was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did His flesh [az]suffer decay. 32 It is this Jesus whom God raised up, [ba]a fact to which we are all witnesses. 33 Therefore, [bb]since He has been exalted [bc]at the right hand of God, and has received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father, He has poured out this which you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into [bd]heaven, but he himself says:
‘The Lord said to my Lord,
“Sit at My right hand,
35 Until I make Your enemies a footstool for Your feet.”’
36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and [be]Christ—this Jesus whom you crucified.”
37 Now when they heard this, they were [bf]pierced to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “[bg]Brothers, what are we to do?” 38 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and your children and for all who are far away, as many as the Lord our God will call to Himself.” 40 And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on urging them, saying, “[bh]Be saved from this perverse generation!” 41 So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand [bi]souls. 42 They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to [bj]prayer.
43 [bk]Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe; and many wonders and [bl]signs were taking place through the apostles. 44 And all the believers [bm]were together and had all things in common; 45 and they would sell their property and possessions and share them with all, to the extent that anyone had need. 46 Day by day continuing with one mind in the temple, and breaking bread [bn]from house to house, they were taking their [bo]meals together with gladness and [bp]sincerity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to [bq]their number day by day those who were being saved.
Curvaceous Chick's Coop 