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20514 Man in Mirror

My wife and I took up camping a few years ago as a hobby we could enjoy together. Before together. I experienced quite a learning curve with setting up a camper. On one of our early trips, I plugged our power cord into the little panel at the campground, but nothing happened. No electricity. baffled. Finally, I called the magic number on the rental agreement. The man receiving my call said, “Did you turn the breaker on?” I went out and flipped the switch, and everything came on. In the same way, we need an external source of power to fulfill the responsibility and privilege we have of sharing Jesus with the world around us. As we learn to witness in the power of the Holy Spirit, rather than our own power, we will see lives change.  WEEK Week 10 52 Monday—December 18•Our Power Source “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) we bought a camper, we rented a couple of them so we could see if we enjoyed doing this I checked every fuse box. I looked behind every panel I could find, and I was completely How can you tell if you are relying on your own power or on God’s power when you witness? Daily Reading: Habakkuk 1:1–3:19, Revelation 9:1–21, Psalm 137:1–9, Proverbs 30:10 Tuesday—December 19•Responsibility and Resource That same day Pharaoh gave this order to the slave drivers and overseers in charge of the people: “You are no longer to supply the people with straw for making bricks; let them go and gather their own straw. But require them to make the same number of bricks as before; don’t reduce the quota.” (Exodus 5:6–8) Have you ever been assigned a job but denied the power to accomplish it? The Old Testament book of Exodus tells about Israelite slaves who served Pharaoh in Egypt. In response to Moses’ demand that the Egyptian ruler release the Israelites, Exodus 5 tells us Pharaoh opted instead to increase the slaves’ tasks. He required them to continue making bricks for his various construction projects. But now the Israelites would have to find their own straw, which was one of the key ingredients in the process. Pharaoh assigned them a job, but he denied them the resources to do it. That’s the opposite of what Jesus did when He gave His followers the Great Commission. He gave us the task of witnessing and making disciples all over the world. But He also promised the supernatural resource of the Holy Spirit – the exterior power source that will fuel our witness and encourage people to embrace our faith.  WEEK Week 10 Have you ever experienced the supernatural resource of the Holy Spirit? Was it an encouragement to you? Daily Reading: Zephaniah 1:1–3:20, Revelation 10:1–11, Psalm 138:1–8, Proverbs 30:11–14


20514 Man in Mirror
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