Category Archives: Inspirational

Future Pentecost

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BIBLE ANSWERS

Terry R. Baughman

“And you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promise is to you and to your children, and to all who are afar off, as many as the Lord our God will call” (Acts 2:38-39).

Pentecost is more than an event in history; it is an experience of the present. Pentecost is more than a memorial; it is a spiritual movement. Pentecost was the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the first century, it is the experience of spiritual renewal today, and it will be the definition of God’s purpose in the days to come. Pentecost may define our past, but it also promises a future.

The promise of the Spirit was given to the first generation church, realized throughout church history, and declared to every generation in this age. Peter’s proclamation extended from his present audience to the children of the future, from the immediate proximity to the far reaches of missionary endeavor. Christ’s intent was for the Good News to become a universal message. Jesus’ final instruction was that his followers would become witnesses of this event in the world, “… you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The commission has dimension in time and space. The phrase “to the end of the earth” has more to do with spatial location rather than the extent of time. The KJV says “unto the uttermost part of the earth,” while the NASB says “even to the remotest part of the earth.” However, the extent of time in the proclamation of the Gospel is revealed in other passages. “And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in all the world as a witness to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14).

The commission to “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” remains as the prompting and promise of Pentecost (Mark 16:15). Everywhere the Gospel is preached, the promise will be performed. “And these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues” (Mark 16:17). The promise still has power!

Until the ending of the church age, the glorious rapture of the church, and the return of Jesus, the message of deliverance will be proclaimed and His Spirit will be poured out on willing believers. Take the promise at face value. Share the Good News and let the power of Jesus be demonstrated in the outcome.

Receive it today, believe it for tomorrow!

☀

(From the forthcoming book, A Season of Passion: Seasonal Inspiration, by Terry R. Baughman)

 

A Mother’s Love

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MOTHER’S DAY DEVOTIONAL

Gayla M. Baughman, Guest author

The phenomena of a mother’s love has long been a treasured mystery even to mothers.  When a mother holds her newborn child in her arms the bonding that occurs is a part of the miracle of life. What her body created, she now holds in her arms wishing to be able to embrace and surround it as though it were still a part of her body. The breath taking moment that she realizes God has entrusted a little soul into her hands to mold and make into something God can use is only trumped by witness of her adult child fulfilling that supernatural plan.

How can we measure love? How can we define it? It is the most powerful emotion known to man. It can melt the strongest, hardest heart. It can mend the greatest chasm of hurt. It can speak peace when no words articulate. No, it cannot be measured because it is a piece of God … a piece of God given to us. When God made us in His image, the love that lies dormant until awakened by another is actually a part of the fabric of Almighty. Think about it; it is the core of our being, the foundation of our soul. Without it, we are just empty crusts. It gives us life.

In 1 Corinthians 13 The Message describes this amazing thing we call love, “If I speak with human eloquence and angelic ecstasy but don’t love, I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate. If I speak God’s Word with power, revealing all his mysteries and making everything plain as day, and if I have faith that says to a mountain, “Jump,” and it jumps, but I don’t love, I’m nothing. If I give everything I own to the poor and even go to the stake to be burned as a martyr, but I don’t love, I’ve gotten nowhere. So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love … We don’t yet see things clearly. We’re squinting in a fog, peering through a mist. But it won’t be long before the weather clears and the sun shines bright! We’ll see it all then, see it all as clearly as God sees us, knowing him directly just as he knows us! But for right now, until that completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love.”

There is a place of revelation in love, when we realize that it is virtually impossible to love too much.  For to love is to give God to someone else. “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends” (John 15:13). John had a revelation of the Love of God. He referred to it frequently. He shared it with the readers of his writings. Somehow in his relationship with Christ, he got it. He caught the extravagant love Christ offered.

During this season of celebrating the love of mothers, let us be reminded of the source of that amazing gift. We can no sooner measure love than we can measure God. For He created us in His image, in His likeness … we were made to love, extravagantly!

 

What is Man?

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BIBLE ANSWERS

Terry R. Baughman

“When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor” (Psalm 8:3-5).

In comparison with the vastness of God, the purity of His presence, His absolute righteousness … what is humanity? The New Living Translation reads, “what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?” People must be pretty special to God to warrant His personal involvement in their lives!

At the core of understanding God’s affinity for humanity is acknowledging the fact that the first man and woman were created by God and in the image of God. The existence of humanity is not some cosmic accident or evolutionary biological process. We were made in the image of God. It is succinctly stated in Scripture, “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).

Distinguished from the other animals of spoken creation, man was molded from the dust and modeled in God’s own image. From the side of the man a rib was extracted and the woman was made to complement and fulfill the man. Together they are the image of God. Together they model the creative fulfillment of God’s plan for humanity in the earth.

Placed in a beautiful paradise of the Garden of Eden they enjoyed the beauty and diversity of all that God created. Also placed in that Garden was a tree of testing, the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. God endowed humanity with a free will, a voluntary choice to obey God or choose their own direction.

Given the choice, the woman took the fruit of the forbidden tree and shared it with the man. Together they chose to transgress the requirement of God and together they suffered the fate of disobedience. Sin was introduced into a perfect creation and the consequence was alienation from God and eviction from the Garden.

Sin separates from God and disobedience drives us from His presence. The prophet observed that, “Your iniquities have separated you from your God; And your sins have hidden His face from you, So that He will not hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

It is easy to blame God for the brokenness of our world, but it is our own choices, our own sins that have separated us from His perfection. The evil exhibited in our society and the profusion of pain are the results of the fallen nature and life in a broken world.

We are still given a choice. We can turn to the one who paid the price to redeem us from the consequence of the fall or we can stumble along in our own disobedience to His offer of salvation. “Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, That it cannot save; Nor His ear heavy, That it cannot hear” (Isaiah 59:2).

The choice is yours today, “I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; …” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).

Make a choice of faith. Believe in God, in His Word, and in the plan He has for your life.

The Heritage of Blessing

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OUR HERITAGE

Terry R. Baughman

“I will abide in Your tabernacle forever; I will trust in the shelter of Your wings. Selah. For You, O God, have heard my vows; You have given me the heritage of those who fear Your name” (Psalm 61:4-5).

In the definition of “heritage” we often think of material things that one may inherit from a previous generation. The range of definition includes this understanding, but the word means so much more. The meaning includes those intangible qualities that are passed from one generation to the next. The heritage of faith and righteousness are things we have received by the Spirit from those who have gone before us.

Our heritage includes the faithful men and women who have started churches where there were none. People who were willing to leave the comfort and security of a church community with a desire to establish another. In home groups, store fronts, and rented halls church congregations have been given life. Because of the sacrifices of these pioneers we have beautiful sanctuaries, comfortable meeting places, and large communities of believers.

God is with us as new churches are birthed and nurtured. This is the intention of the Gospel and the fulfillment of the commission, “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature” (Mark 16:15). Our heritage is the blessing of God on those who took the commission to heart and stepped out at His call.

God is with us as we continue in the faith of those who have gone on before. His promise is proclaimed by the Prophet Isaiah, “‘No weapon formed against you shall prosper, And every tongue which rises against you in judgment You shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, And their righteousness is from Me,’ Says the Lord” (Isaiah 54:17).

What we have received as a spiritual inheritance, a heritage of blessing, we must transmit to the next generation. Paul illustrated this principle when he spoke about the faith of Timothy, his son in the Gospel, “That I may be filled with joy, when I call to remembrance the genuine faith that is in you, which dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and I am persuaded is in you also” (2 Timothy 1:4-5). The faith that had been evident in his mother and grandmother was now being exhibited in Timothy.

Let us rejoice in our heritage of blessing and let us purpose to transmit the same to the next generation!

 

What is God like?

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BIBLE ANSWERS

Terry R. Baughman

“Oh, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever” (Revelation 1:8).

After we have established the existence of God, an equally important question that is often posed to the Christian concerns the character of God. What kind of God do you worship?

Many religions have multiple gods with various human like qualities. Some of them are easily angered. Others are vengeful and spiteful deities. Some of the pagan powers are an awful lot like the people who worship them!

The one true God of Scripture is quite different from other pseudo-deities. Rather than self-centered, tyrannical, and manipulative, our God is loving, self-sacrificing and giving. God is a “good” God, and His mercy endures forever; not very much like us!

We as humans were made in the image of God, so we do have some likeness to His identity. His sterling qualities are lifted up before us to emulate. We can aspire to be “like Him” because He is all the good qualities that we should strive to model in our lives. “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus … [He] made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men” (Philippians 2:5,7). “Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11). Jesus is good and worthy of worship!

God is Holy. He is absolute perfection. He is righteous. There is no sin in Him. “No one is holy like the Lord, For there is none besides You, Nor is there any rock like our God” (1 Samuel 2:2).

Because of His holiness there is no possibility of sin to exist before Him! So, how can we ever come to know Him, to be near Him, to live in His presence? 

The only way we can exist in His presence is to have the righteousness of Christ cover us. Our sin must be left at the foot of His cross. His blood must cover our guilt and cleanse us from its stain. The words of the hymn “The Solid Rock” say it best, “When He shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in Him be found. Dressed in His righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne!” 

God’s most amazing characteristic is “Love.” John simply stated, “God is love” (1 John 4:16). The one thing we all crave, the missing element in a broken world of sin, is perfect love. Only our God is capable of such. His absolute character being defined by love is demonstrated in His complete sacrifice of Himself for lost humanity. “But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8).

God is good. God is Holy. God is Love. That’s what our God is like!

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” John 3:16 

 

Life Provided

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VICTORIOUS LIVING

Terry R. Baughman

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

Jesus said, “I have come that you might have life.” He came. He lived. He died. He arose. He is alive forevermore! The story of the Easter season is not just the story of Christ’s death and life experience, but it is the purpose behind the miracle. Jesus came with a plan and lived with a cause. “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37).

The coming of Jesus was intentional; there were no surprises or accidents in the incarnation. Everything happened with a purpose and contributed to the cause. He came to die. From the first breath in Bethlehem to the last gasp on Golgotha Jesus lived out the plan as a man, without sin, but in so doing He provides the greatest hope imaginable, the hope of life eternal.

Jesus also came to live. He lived life fully. He was God in a manger, deity in diapers, an adolescent learning to build, and a rabbi striving to teach. He made friends, dined with sinners, debated with scholars, and defended the outcast. All the while He kept the cause in view and never strayed from His ultimate objective … to die, but to live again!

Jesus lived for the resurrection. He understood the finality of death, the intense pain of crucifixion, the humiliation of rejection, yet He endured it all for the hope of resurrection. The outcome of death’s defeat was the potential to provide life to every lost one in the world!

“Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2).

Because of the empty tomb and Christ’s resurrection we have hope of life everlasting. Through the promise of God and His Holy Spirit given to everyone who will believe there is a promise of life. Not only we will live the abundant life of one who has shaken off the bondage of sin, but we have the promise that we shall live again.

“But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you” (Romans 8:11).

Through Christ and the indwelling Spirit we have been provided the opportunity to live … now and throughout eternity! “And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is true; and we are in Him who is true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life” (1 John 5:20).

Life Promised

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VICTORIOUS LIVING

Terry R. Baughman

“The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly” (John 10:10).

The greatest thing that Christ could have promised was life! From the sin in the garden until the present, death reigned supreme except for an unforgettable moment in an empty tomb.

Death hovered like a dark cloud of depression over all humanity. All were  bound by its foreboding and doomed by its decree. Life had its limit of liberty and death claimed the final say.

When Jesus was born into this world the creator became the created, the cry of life was the first note of an eternal song of victory. The Life was born!

Jesus’ self proclamation was, “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (John 14:6).  He promised access to the very presence of God, “No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

Jesus further promised “everlasting life” to those who believed in Him and received His promises. (See John 3:16; 4:14; 5:24.) Those who believe according to the Scripture will receive the living water of the Spirit flowing through their lives (John 7:38, 39).

The intent and purpose of God was to bring an end to the power of death and grant a promise of life. Through the death of Jesus on the cross, His sinless substitution for our guilt, and His powerful defeat over the bondage of death, we are granted a grand hope of glorious liberty!

The final defeat of death will come on the last day when there shall be no more tears, no more pain, no more sighing, no more dying. Christ promised that we shall rise victorious over death, hell, and the grave. “So when this corruptible has put on incorruption, and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written: “Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“O Death, where is your sting?

O Hades, where is your victory?”

The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).

We are victorious in Him. The promise is now, the fulfillment is predicted, the prophecy is certain!

 

Life Pondered

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VICTORIOUS LIVING

Terry R. Baughman

What is Life? Philosophers and theologians, poets and skeptics have pondered our existence since the dawn of creation. No doubt, one of the greatest mysteries of life is the fact of our own existence. We look within to find our purpose hoping to discover some thread of understanding for our time on earth, yet the answer does not lie within our frame.

Failing to find the answers in introspection we turn to nature and the expanse of the universe for meaning in the grand scheme of life’s drama. Often we are overwhelmed with our own insignificance when faced with the vastness of the universe, but then why are we here? The Psalmist questioned, “When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, The moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him” (Psalm 8:3-4)? From the microscopic introspection to the telescopic panorama we still flounder in ambiguity, seeking a definition for our existence.

Only when we turn to the invisible, the spiritual, do we begin to find understanding for our being and purpose for our lives. No earthly measure can define us and nothing physical can contain our spirit. It is only through our faith in the invisible that we begin to see meaning in the visible. (See Hebrews 11:1.) When humans find faith in a living God there is completion to the missing element of meaning. Only when we find a cause worth dying for do we find a reason for living.

Biblical writers spoke of the brevity of life and the certainty of God’s Word. One writer said, “It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away” (James 4:14). Peter quoted the prophet Isaiah, “All flesh is as grass, And all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever” (1 Peter 1:24-25; Isaiah 40:7-8).

Even with the answers given in God’s Word, His complex creation, and His Eternal Spirit, there are many who still struggle to find an answer that leaves out the Divine. They seek an explanation that does not require a deity, something material that will reveal meaning, and something practical and plausible to define our existence.

Shakespeare pondered the brevity of our lives in Macbeth, “Out, out, brief candle! Life’s but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale …, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.” Thus is the emptiness of vain philosophy, the futility of life without the spiritual, without God in it.

Find God, find purpose! Life may be pondered, but only when we acknowledge our Creator and find faith in Him alone will we begin to define the purpose of our existence.

All Things New

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LIFE CHANGES

Terry R. Baughman

“Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new” (Revelation 21:5).

God is a God of change. However, when God initiates change, it is for the better. He does not just change things; He improves them in the process. When God stepped out on creation day and began the series of vocal commands, “Let there be,” every instruction brought order in the place of chaos. The earth was formless and empty, darkness covered the deep. Then God said “Let there be light!” God said, “Let the dry land appear!” He commanded the earth to bring forth vegetation and produce. In the summary of His work throughout the days of creation, God declared, “It was good.” God is a good God who does good things.

We may think of God’s creation as being complete in six days. It is tempting to think that creation was finished and there is no more change in the universe. However, on closer inspection, things are never the same; change is constant. We are continually seeing change and transformation. I’m not suggesting that God is still making natural things around us; we are just now discovering some of the species He created long ago. Presently, God continues to work in the lives of His creation. He is the active Creator interacting with the created.

God loves what He has created. Mankind is the crowning glory of His creation and He made us in His image. He wanted something in creation to reflect Himself, so He made humans. “So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27).

God continues to work in His creation. Salvation for the redemption of mankind was planned and plotted before the foundation of the world. Calvary was on purpose; the Cross was in the plan. “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son…” (John 3:16). He was the “lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8).

The Spirit of God working in the life of the believer brings growth and improvement in the person, and he/she brings pleasure to God. He is pleased when His plan works. He is glorified in the success of His creation. “For it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:13).

God is still in the business of making “all things new.” He is taking old lives and giving fresh starts. He is taking rags and granting royalty. He takes the sin-blackened heart and makes it pure and clean. “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

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From the Book: “A Season of Purpose: Seasonal Inspiration” by Terry & Gayla Baughman

 

 

A New Thing

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LIFE CHANGES

Terry R. Baughman

“Behold, I will do a new thing, Now it shall spring forth; Shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness And rivers in the desert” (Isaiah 43:19).

The changing signs of nature are the signals of a new season. It seems to be more noticeable in the fall or in the spring, but each season has its sign. The falling leaves of autumn, the frost and cold of winter, the budding of trees and flowers in spring, and the dry hot days of summer are all indications of the season. The anticipation of a changing season is seen in the subtle changes of nature’s display. It is God’s way of preparing us for change.

To the spiritually perceptive there are also indications of change in the dimension of the Spirit. God brings about change. He prepares the church for greater power and effectiveness through incremental adjustments: messages from the minister, spiritual demonstration in the church, upheaval in government, and even through natural disasters. God is revealing Himself to a new generation. When we see an answered prayer, a miraculous event, or a spiritual new birth, we are witnessing signs of change. It is a new season and God is announcing the change.

The prophet declared a new thing, a change in the course of nature. He announced that there would be rivers in the desert and a road in the wilderness. These events were unusual. They would be unexpected. You don’t expect to see a river in the desert place. It is difficult to construct a road in the rugged terrain of nature. These events are signs of important shifts in the plan of God’s revealed purpose.

What God is doing in this generation is like a road in the wilderness. God is preparing us for unprecedented revival and a supernatural manifestation of His Spirit. He is opening access into previously uncharted regions. The rivers of renewal are flowing into the dry riverbeds of formal tradition. God is showing Himself to be powerful and His Word will be manifest through His works.

Observe the signs and know that change is in the air. Get ready for the storm of the latter rain spiritual outpouring!

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From the Book: “A Season of Purpose: Seasonal Inspiration” by Terry & Gayla Baughman