May 15

I have a glove here in my hand. The glove cannot do anything by itself, but when my hand is in it, it can do many things. True, it is not the glove, but my hand in the glove that acts. We are gloves. It is the Holy Spirit in us who is the hand, who does the job. We have to make room for the hand so that every finger is filled.

Gracious Spirit, dwell with me

I myself would gracious be

And with words that help and heal

would Thy life in mine reveal

And with actions bold and meek

would for Christ my Saviour speak

—Thomas Lynch

For God is at work in you . . .

Philippians 2:13    

Thank You, Lord, that I am only a glove and the Holy Spirit is the hand in the glove.

May 14

The Church needs the power and the gifts of the Holy Spirit more now than ever before. The Bible gives special promises.

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.

Acts 1:8 

Thank You, Lord, that You are willing to use me in the world and in the Church, and that You will give me all the power I need through the Holy Spirit.

May 13

Once the Lord said to a faithful evangelist, “You have been working for Me with the utmost sincerity for seven years. All that time I have been waiting for the moment that I could start to work through you.” The man understood and committed his work totally to the Lord. From that moment on, great blessings started to come on his ministry.

I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in me, and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.

John 15:5     

Lord, show me how You can work through me. I want to bear much fruit to Your glory. I surrender my work and myself anew into Your hands.

May 12

We are children of God. We are set in the midst of the most glorious campaign into which man could ever enter. We are on the noblest road that the world has ever known. This life is a preparatory school, an antechamber of heaven. Our greatest joys are but the first fruits and the foretaste of the eternal joy that is coming.

Jesus . . . for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.

Hebrews 12:2

Lord, keep me close to Your heart so that Your joy becomes my strength.

May 11

Some people think that I have great faith, but that is not true. I do not have great faith—I have faith in a great God! Jesus said that if we have faith no bigger than a mustard seed, it is sufficient to remove mountains. We understand that to mean that not quantity but quality is important. The joy is that the Holy Spirit is willing to bring faith into our hearts. His faith in us has power, just as a mustard seed is small but has power to bring forth fruit.

The kingdom of heaven is like a grain of mustard seed.

Matthew 13:31    

Holy Spirit, may the faith You bring us blossom and be fruitful.

May 10

Prayer is the same as the breathing of air for the lungs. Exhaling makes us get rid of our dirty air. Inhaling gives clean air. To exhale is to confess, to inhale is to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I often have to confess worry. Then I just tell it to my heavenly Father. I say the word sorry before I say the word please.

Have you got any rivers

you think are uncrossable

Have you got any mountains

you can’t tunnel through

Our God specializes in things

called impossible-

He can do what no one else can do

—Got Any Rivers? by Oscar C. Eliason © 1945

Continue steadfastly in prayer. . . .

Colossians 4:2      

Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You teach us how to breathe spiritually in the right way.

May 9

There is hope for even the worst of sinners when he confesses and is cleansed by the blood of Jesus. Filled with the Holy Spirit, any man can be the light of the world. The churches do not lack great scholars and great minds. They lack men and women who can and will be channels of the power of God. They lack that which was accessible at Pentecost.

You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. . ..

Acts 1:8

Lord, make me a channel of blessing today.

May 8

Study the Bible and observe how the persons behaved and how God dealt with them. There is explicit teaching on every condition of life. Often we receive an answer to our whys when we study the lives of the people in the Bible.

Read the story in Luke 8:22-26. Jesus was asleep and the lives of His disciples were in danger. They were very afraid. But Jesus awoke and there was a calm.

He commandeth even the winds and water, and they obey him.

Luke 8:25 KJV

Keep our eyes in the right direction, unto You, Lord Jesus.

May 7

People sometimes ask me.

“Can a person be saved so quickly?”

I ask them to remember Levi, the tax collector who closed his office and followed Jesus.

“But that was Jesus who asked him to come,” they reply.

“Yes, and who converts people now? Certainly not us! Jesus asks them to follow Him, and uses us, and they say yes to Him.”

For God is at work in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

Philippians 2:13    

A simple yes is all we need to begin our real life when You ask, Lord. It does not matter which human teacher is used in our conversion. It is Your working through him that is important. 

May 6

The law is useful, but it does not give us the whole answer. It shows us our sins, but we need grace as the answer to our sin problem.

Run, John, run, the law commands

but gives us neither feet nor hands

Far better news the Gospel brings

It bids us fly, and gives us wings

—John Bunyan

My grace is sufficient for thee.

See 2 Corinthians 12:9 KJV

Lord, thank You that You gave us both the law and grace.

May 5

Many people hesitate to accept Jesus because it would mean giving up a sin they have grown fond of. They know they are too weak. Yet, if they put their lives in Jesus’ hand. He will be able to provide the needed strength! Our little sins are as deadly as our big ones. Why do we only entrust the big ones to the Lord? Surely if He was able to save our souls, He is capable of keeping us from our little sins. I will just mention a few: overeating, gossip, and self-pity.

I take the life of victory

Not I, but Christ Himself in me

He conquers now, He sets me free

He gives, I take, the victory

—Paul Rader

. . . for when l am weak, then I am strong.

2 Corinthians 12:10 KJV

Lord. when I look at myself I must humble myself.

Thank You that You know me. and that You are victorious. Keep me from becoming possessive of my sin, Lord.

May 4

The Return of the Lord to Heaven (a legend):

The angels gave Him a fantastic welcome. And they gathered around Him, full of questions. About His death, resurrection and ascension.

What is it all about? they asked.

The redemption of the world. He replied.

But You have come back here. How will the world know about it?

I have trained My men.

To evangelize the whole world?

Yes, indeed, every corner of it.

How many men did You train for such a mammoth task?

A handful.

A handful? But What if they fail?

If they fail, I have made no other plans.

But is that not a great risk to take?

No, they will not fail.

. . . as they were looking on, (Jesus) was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.

Acts 1:9 

Lord Jesus, thank You for Your faith in us and our faith in You, which keeps us from failing.

May 3

Jesus went from victory to victory, not from defeat to victory. as we do. Jesus prayed for you and me two thousand years ago!

I do not pray for these only, but also for those who believe in me through their word.

John 17:20

Thank You, Lord Jesus, that You were my intercessor and that You are now also the One who intercedes for me.

May 2

Seek the Lord. Keep seeking through prayer, Bible study, and fellowship with other Christians. Give Him an opportunity to multiply what He gave you. He longs to open His resources to you. God is more grieved by powerless Christians than by powerful atheists.

God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.

2 Corinthians 9:8 KJV

Lord, we will seek You constantly so that You may increase our worth to Your work. But what joy we know we shall find, because You found us. Hallelujah!

May 1

Both the devil and the Spirit of God make us conscious of sin. The devil tells us that the sin we committed was exactly our nature and that there is no hope for us. that we have to remain that way for the rest of our lives. He is a liar. Listen to what the Holy Spirit tells us through the Bible. The glory is that the Spirit of God directs His floodlight on the cross.

My hope is built on nothing less

than Jesus' blood and righteousness

I dare not trust the sweetest frame

but wholly lean on Jesus' Name

On Christ the solid Rock, I stand

all other ground is sinking sand. . . .

Edward Mote

And being found in human form (Christ) humbled himself and became obedient unto death. . . .

Philippians 2:8

Thank You, Holy Spirit, that You turn our eyes away from our sins and toward the cross.