Our devotion this week, Awake, comes from the YouVersion Bible App. It was provided by Hillsong Worship.
So help me God, breathe on my weakness
Upper Room, Hillsong Worship
For all I want, is to be like Jesus
I don’t have much
But what I have is Yours to use
So make my whole life Your Upper Room
Words and Music by Benjamin Hastings & Joel Houston
© 2019 Hillsong Music Publishing Australia
It is one of our greatest desires that the music from our own local church, Hillsong, would serve the local church the world over. That the songs that have been birthed within our own ministry, would also minister to you. Yet it is not just Sunday services we hope to serve. The lyrics and melodies of these songs have been prayed for and laboured over in hopes that the Holy Spirit would invade your car, your home, your workplace – and meet intentionally and specifically with you, bringing the light, life, hope, revival and awakening you need, personally. That these songs would serve you, serve your family and help you serve God and others in the season that you find yourself in.
It is in Matthew’s account of the last supper when we discover Jesus doing exactly that – serving those He loved. At that supper, in the upper room, Jesus was not the guest, but He was the host – He was not the served but the servant. “He took…He blessed…He broke…He gave….”
Our beloved Saviour knelt and washed the feet of His friends – He broke bread and fed their bodies and most importantly – He offered them forgiveness.
Jesus met them at the table that night and we believe His invitation to you today, in this very moment, is to do the same. He invites you to sit and fellowship with Him. He invites you to both serve and be served. He invites you to enter into relationship, friendship and discipleship with Him – to intimate encounters with Him as a Friend, Confidante, Healer, Heart Mender, Provider, Saviour and King. He invites you to partake in the bread and the wine – His body broken for you and His blood poured out for your healing and wholeness.
It was in the upper room that Jesus revealed Himself to Thomas in his doubts; where Jesus revealed His resurrected body, the fulfilment of age-old prophecies. It is where He communed with His friends. It is where He gave them His Holy Spirit as an Advocate for their lives. A physical place that represents the revelation of the old covenant meeting the new… a covenant He keeps with His disciples, you and me, today. What is it that you need from Jesus, today?
As you listen to these songs and allow the lyrics to wash over you – may you be reminded of the God who comes close. Of the lengths He goes to for His friends – His sons and daughters, His disciples. May we be a people awake and aware of all He has done for us, and all He desires to do through us. May your life be a place of prayer, a place of worship, a place where others encounter God. May your whole life indeed become His upper room.
Let’s pray.
Holy Spirit, Heavenly Father – make my whole life an offering. Remind me again of who You are and who You say I am. Meet me in my doubts and my fears, I know You are faithful to Your Word. May the words of my mouth and meditations of my heart be pleasing to you, for all of my days.
In Jesus Name,
Amen.
Read Matthew 26:26-29.
26 While they were eating, Jesus took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take and eat; this is my body.”
27 Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. 28 This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins. 29 I tell you, I will not drink from this fruit of the vine from now on until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.”
Read John 20:19-23.
19 On the evening of that first day of the week, when the disciples were together, with the doors locked for fear of the Jewish leaders, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” 20 After he said this, he showed them his hands and side. The disciples were overjoyed when they saw the Lord.
21 Again Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” 22 And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. 23 If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”
Read 1 Kings 19:11-12.
11 The Lord said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.”
Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper.
Read Acts 2:17-21.
17 “‘In the last days, God says,
I will pour out my Spirit on all people.
Your sons and daughters will prophesy,
your young men will see visions,
your old men will dream dreams.
18 Even on my servants, both men and women,
I will pour out my Spirit in those days,
and they will prophesy.
19 I will show wonders in the heavens above
and signs on the earth below,
blood and fire and billows of smoke.
20 The sun will be turned to darkness
and the moon to blood
before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.
21 And everyone who calls
on the name of the Lord will be saved.’
