4.12- When the devil leaves us it is normal for angels to come and minister to us and encourage us.

 4.12-

When the devil leaves us it is normal for angels to come and minister to us and encourage us.

Acts 4.

³² And the ^[y]congregation of those who believed were of one heart and soul; and not one of them ^[z]claimed that anything belonging to him was his own, but all things were common property to them. ³³ And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and abundant grace was upon them all. ³⁴ For there was not a needy person among them, for all who were owners of land or houses would sell them and bring the ^[aa]proceeds of the sales ³⁵ and lay them at the apostles’ feet, and they would be distributed to each to the extent that any had need.

³⁶ Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of ^[ab]Encouragement), ^37 [ac]owned a tract of land. So he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.

We turn to God and He blesses us with a special intimacy in our prayer with our Father in heaven.

Psalm 81.

81 Sing for joy to God our strength;
Shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
² Raise a song, strike the tambourine,
The sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
³ Blow the trumpet at the new moon,
At the full moon, on our feast day.
⁴ For it is a statute for Israel,
An ordinance of the God of Jacob.
⁵ He established it as a testimony in Joseph
When he ^[b]went throughout the land of Egypt.
I heard a language I did not know:

⁶ “I ^[c]relieved his shoulder of the burden,
His hands were freed from the ^[d]basket.
⁷ You called in trouble and I rescued you;
I answered you in the hiding place of thunder;
I put you to the test at the waters of Meribah. Selah
⁸ Hear, My people, and I will admonish you;
Israel, if you would listen to Me!
⁹ There shall be no strange god among you;
Nor shall you worship a foreign god.
¹⁰ I, the Lord, am your God,
Who brought you up from the land of Egypt;
Open your mouth wide and I will fill it.

¹¹ “But My people did not listen to My voice,
And Israel did not ^[e]obey Me.
¹² So I gave ^[f]them over to the stubbornness of their heart,
To walk by their own plans.
¹³ Oh that My people would listen to Me,
That Israel would walk in My ways!
¹⁴ I would quickly subdue their enemies
And turn My hand against their adversaries.
¹⁵ Those who hate the Lord would pretend to obey Him,
And their time of punishment would be forever.
^16 [g]But I would feed you with the ^[h]finest of the wheat,
And with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.”

 

We hear of some the friends of Jesus around the world that are going through hard times.  I respond on a good day by slowing down my schedule to have time to pray for them and rejoice that God is putting His strength into their weakness.

Deuteronomy 30.

⁶ “Moreover, the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the hearts of your ^[f]descendants, to love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul, so that you may live. ⁷ And the Lord your God will ^[g]inflict all these curses on your enemies and on those who hate you, who persecuted you. ⁸ And you will again ^[h]obey the Lord, and ^[i]follow all His commandments which I am commanding you today. ⁹ Then the Lord your God will prosper you ^[j]abundantly in every work of your hand, in the ^[k]children of your womb, the ^[l]offspring of your cattle, and in the ^[m]produce of your ground, for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, just as He rejoiced over your fathers; ^10 [n]if you ^[o]obey the Lord your God, to keep His commandments and His statutes which are written in this Book of the Law, ^[p]if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart and soul.

God is very close to us when we are broken hearted.  He is the great God who created the universe and can create a way for us through the storm.  If He can make a star and a brain in a man who can make a camera to take a picture of it with the light traveling 13 billion light years away.  He can make a way for me to keep my friendship with Jesus through this season of my life.

We as friends of Jesus are seeking to reach out and help anyone we can to be fruitful and nourishing to other people.  We want to refresh the spirit of people that they might refresh others.  This is done by doing our work and leaving them to do their work.  We do this by making sure they know we care about them regardless of their current circumstances in good times and bad times.

 

Acts 4.

¹³ Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them ^[k]as having been with Jesus. ¹⁴ And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. ¹⁵ But when they had ordered them to leave the ^[l]Council, they began to confer with one another, ¹⁶ saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy ^[m]miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. ¹⁷ But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.” ¹⁸ And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all ^[n]in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment; ²⁰ for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” ²¹ When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; ²² for the man on whom this ^[o]miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.

²³ When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported everything that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. ²⁴ And when they heard this, they raised their voices to God with one mind and said, “^[p]Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them, ²⁵ who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,

‘Why were the ^[q]nations insolent,
And the peoples plotting in vain?
²⁶ The kings of the earth ^[r]took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His ^[s]Christ.’

²⁷ For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy ^[t]servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the ^[u]Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur. ²⁹ And ^[v]now, Lord, look at their threats, and grant it to Your bond-servants to speak Your word with all confidence, ³⁰ while You extend Your hand to heal, and ^[w]signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy ^[x]servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.