Spoils of His Word-February 16, 2026
Linda Hokit

     “And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking break from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God, and having favor with all the people.” Acts 2:46-47 KJV

     I remember the Jesus Revolution. Really, I was a young teen when I understood phrases like, “They were of one accord,” which means they agreed together. I remember singing Bible verses to new and modern tunes. I remember people spontaneously standing and singing while others joined in. I remember people praying and praying and praying with very little prompting or leader guidance. I remember people getting up from those prayers and going to people and “making things right” between them or gathering a group to pray together. I remember people jumping up leaving the service and returning with a friend or family member. I remember groups of people going out and talking to people and inviting them in. It went on for months. 

     I remember recently going to a moving about the Jesus Revolution and remembering back to not only those days but also to the other times I have seen God’s People worshipping and ministering in one accord. To be sure, each of these events had various levels of fervor, but each were times when, like those in the early church, God’s People knew God was speaking to them individually and as a group.

     The first time I knew what it meant to be in awe of God was during an Easter Service when I was about eight years old. After we sang the usual Easter hymns the pastor said he would not be speaking all until the end of the service. He was sure that what he was about to do would “speak” to use in the meanwhile. 

     With that, he stood up and placed a canvas on an easel and pulled out artistic chalks. For the next few minutes you could have heard a pin drop. We were not only transfixed but we were hearing the Gospel through the Holy Spirit. In those moments, I understood the Easter Story beyond bunnies and colored eggs. Once he had drawn the empty tomb he took a few minutes to offer those who did not know Christ as Savior to make that commitment. I was only a Christian but for me it was a rededicating moment. What a thing to teach people of all ages! We were in one accord. 

     Later, I remember going to a church in Montana. I was with a group of missionaries who would spread out across Montana telling stories about how God was working in the places we served. Some of us served overseas and others in various locations in the United States. I was supposed to be among those who brought stories of how God was using His servants on my mission field. However, that day we were the ones moved by the Spirit, because the pastor got up and instead of beginning a sermon as we all expected, he asked who had a prayer request. Someone would then share a request. Immediately, a person would raise their hand and say, “I have that request”. This went on for a few minutes. When the pastor felt it was time to pray he said, “Now let us pray.” We did not just bow our heads while someone else said a prayer on our behalf. Rather, all of those who committed to pray got up, went to the altar and knelt down. Then each one in turn prayed aloud one by one until the requests were completed while we agreed with them. Then and only then, did the minister speak to the congregation. We were in one accord! What a wonderful reminder that God was working in that church and town before we arrived to inspire and encourage!

     While on that same trip, I went to a town to speak but the pastor had to be somewhere else. So, a pastor leading another church from a different denomination stepped in to host me in his home for dinner, take me to the church where I would speak and help open the service! The pastors in that town were of one accord! They did not just minister from their own church but also agreed in the ways they could serve together to reach their community. 

     When I was in Canada another church did something similar. The pastors with a church on a particular street agreed to pray together. So, each week one church gave the other churches a prayer request that all the churches prayed for on Sunday and through the week. The church I attended wrote it in the bulletin and placed it on their own prayerlist for the mid-week prayer service. Neighboring churches were in one accord.

     And now, there have been revivals on campus in the past few years. Athletes and other public figures are speaking up for Jesus and sharing their faith. Christians are serving together to share God’s word during the Winter Olympics. God is moving in ways we can all affirm. In closing, let me share one last story. I remember an event where the speaker asked everyone to sing “Jesus Loves Me” in their own language at the same time and another when everyone repeated John 3:16 together in the way they learned it. Whether it is different translations or different languages, we are all in one accord when we seek to agree in the Spirit of the Lord.

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by Peggie Potter-Balaun
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      Genesis 5:24  Enoch walked with God & he was not there because God took him.
 What do Enoch, Abraham, Moses, & David all have in common ?  What did Adam
once have in common with all these ?
                         Answer: closeness , friendship & fellowship with God !

       1 John 4:16 tells us that God is Love & he who abides in love abides in God
and God in him.

       Most people sadly don't understand or even think about Father God's incredibly
loving nature & that He deeply desires friendship & fellowship with each one of
us. He also desires that through Jesus we both attain this closeness as well as
His nature of love that we would also genuinely love one another as He first loved
us.

       I don't believe most people realize just how grieved Father God was when Adam
broke fellowship with Him; the one he used to walk with in the cool of the evening.
As parents think of how we fell when a beloved child breaks fellowship with us !
How much more our loving Heavenly Father who would that none should perish, but all
should come to everlasting life through His Son Jesus.

       Enoch was in such fellowship with Father God that he was taken to the Father's house
without death ! Abraham, Moses, & David accomplished remarkable feats, not because they
simply could; they were no different that you or me; but because of their closeness and
reliance on almighty Father God !

       We do ourselves a disservice comparing ourselves to them as like us they were all mere human beings ! 
 The only difference is that they chose closeness & fellowship with the all-powerful, all loving Father God ,
the one who knows & loves each one of us intimately and desires that His perfect will be accomplished in us.
We can't achieve that without actively seeking Him each & every day with all our hearts !

Peggie Potter-Balaun.

by Rebecca Vickery

      Have you ever tried to find God by looking for him the way he showed up for someone else?
We look at the way that God answered a friend’s prayer and we think, ok, so I will pray the
same prayer and he will heal so and so. We see how God provided for a neighbor and think he
will provide in the same way for us. And while it is true that God will hear our prayers, and it is
true that God will provide, he rarely ever does the same thing the same way.
 
     Looking at the whole of scripture as an overview, you can see that God interacts with each
person uniquely. He doesn’t make Noah’s wife out of Noah’s side. He doesn’t call Abraham to
make a large boat. He doesn’t wrestle with Joseph in the dessert. He doesn’t put Moses in a
place of favor inside of prison. He doesn’t have Joshua rescued from the reeds in a riverbed.
I’m going to guess that he didn’t call you while you were in the Czech Republic on a student
exchange program. The way he speaks to you is not going to be the same way he speaks to me.
But even the way he speaks to us will not be the same every time.
 
     In the book of 2 Samuel, after David has become King, it tells of how David went to ask
guidance of the Lord.  

     Now the Philistines had come and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;    so David inquired of
the Lord, “Shall I go and attack the Philistines? Will you deliver them into my hands?”
The Lord answered him, “Go, for I will surely deliver the Philistines into your hands.”
So David went to Baal Perazim, and there he defeated them. He said, “As waters break out,
the Lord has broken out against my enemies before me.” So that place was called Baal
Perazim.   The Philistines abandoned their idols there, and David and his men carried them off.
2 Samuel 19-21

     A bit later, the same kind of thing transpires, but this time, instead of deciding the course of
action based on God’s previous instruction, David asks the Lord again and the Lord gives him a
different instruction on how to proceed.
 
     Once more the Philistines came up and spread out in the Valley of Rephaim;   so David inquired
of the Lord, and he answered, “Do not go straight up, but circle around behind them and attack
them in front of the poplar trees. As soon as you hear the sound of marching in the tops of the
poplar trees, move quickly, because that will mean the Lord has gone out in front of you to
strike the Philistine army.” So David did as the Lord commanded him, and he struck down the
Philistines all the way from Gibeon to Gezer. 2 Samuel 22-25

     We are not given a formula to live by besides draw near to God and He will draw near to you.
(Wash your hands you sinners, and purify your hearts you double minded.) James 4:8 He tells us
in Jeremiah 33:3 “Call to Me and I will answer you and tell you great and incomprehensible
things you do not know.” In the TV show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” they had a phone a
friend option. How amazing is it that our “phone a friend” is the Lord of Hosts? We can
approach the throne of the King of kings and the Lord of lords boldly and he will answer us. He
will answer us in a way that is unique to us.

     Now I do not mean to say that the Lord is going to tell us to do something that will violate his
word. We need to test the spirits as it says in 1 John 4:1 “Beloved, do not believe every spirit,
but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, for many false prophets have gone out
into the world.” But if we treasure God’s word in our heart, we are building a vocabulary by
which to hear from and understand God’s leading.
     
     We can expect to hear from God. We can expect God to provide for us. We ought to be
growing in our trust and learning how to interact with God. But we ought to be interacting with
God. The reason that many believers emphasize that Christianity is about a relationship is
because it is just that. God doesn’t want you to have someone else’s relationship with him, he
wants US to relate to him. We are to approach his throne, not just allow our Pastors and elders
to do it for us.
     What needs do you have? Bring them to the Lord. What struggles do you face? Bring them to
the Lord? What joys do you have? Bring them to the Lord. What relationships are broken or
are breaking you? Bring them to the Lord. Every burden. Every struggle. Every triumph. Every
single thing. Bring it to the Lord. Use honest words.
     
      Lord I am hurting and I need you to heal me. Lord I am tired and I need you to give me rest.
Lord I am so happy and I wanted to rejoice with you. Lord I am sad and I need you to restore
my joy. Lord I am _____. Fill in that blank. And then be aware that The Lord is the great I AM.
So whatever you are, He is sufficient for you. His power made perfect in your weakness.
Whatever you are, The Lord is I AM and he will meet you where you are. May these words
bring peace to your troubled hearts. Amen.

by Kadeen Edwards

     “For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God.”
‭‭Romans‬ ‭8‬:‭19‬-‭21‬

     All creation suffers because of the original sin. Sin fractured creation, bringing death, disease, injustice, and pain. Suffering exists because we live in a fallen world.

     It never occurred to me that all creation is suffering. However, this morning, when I read this chapter with new lenses, I understand that not only God’s people are subjected to suffering, but so are all of God’s creation. Living in a fallen world, we are sentenced to decay, but all creation was sentenced to decay. We are surrounded by death. Once saved, we are the living among the dead, once we were the dead, but now we are alive in Christ.

     There is evidence all around us of the sentence of death. We can see it every day: all creation, dying off slowly. Animals have become extinct, and plants are dying off. All of this suffering is not only imposed upon people, but all things… it says in scripture the Earth groans in eager expectation that means there’s still hope.

     The evidence of death is not only in the living things, but also in the environment. We see the environment changing: floods, tsunamis, storms. Everything is suffering. The only one who can change it is God. I love that he provided hope in the curse. Sin ruptured creation, causing death, disease, injustice, and pain, not just death for men, but all creation. Suffering exists because we live in a fallen world.

     “Our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.  There is hope…even though we live in a fallen world. Where failure is, that's where redemption can begin." 
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