Transcript of a published teaching by Carla DePriest, transcribed from YouTube. An attributed primary source — not Acts 2:38 Life doctrine text.
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Summary
Summary prepared by Acts 2:38 Life from the transcript below — the preacher’s words follow in full.
Day one: It's time
- She welcomes hearers to day one of the 21-day devotional 'Restart Your Heart'; each day someone different will walk through one day of the devotional.
- She hopes hearers read the introduction and came with expectation: as the writers stated in the introduction, and as the Bible bears out, God is looking for people with expectation — our faith, expecting to receive something, is what activates God's work in our lives.
- Today's title in the book is 'It's Time': you have heard it said there is no time like the present, and today is the first day of the rest of your life — and maybe 'it's time' is just what you have been needing.
Not by might, nor by power
- The day's verse, Zechariah 4:6-7, is read: this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel — not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of hosts; who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain, and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of 'Grace, grace to it!'
- As impossible as it was for Zerubbabel to rebuild the temple with his own strength and abilities, sometimes it is impossible for us to fix our issues.
- There are natural ways the body heals itself — sometimes a simple bandage is enough — but there are times when that isn't good enough and we rely upon the supernatural; that is where God's power comes in.
- The book's author describes cardioversion, the medical procedure in which a heart that has gotten out of rhythm is stopped and then electrically or chemically restarted — a procedure that saves thousands of lives every year.
- Only God, and only his Spirit living in us, can fix us: he can bring down the mountains of unforgiveness, bitterness, anger, and hurt — whatever has caused our hearts to be damaged — things that can grow gradually worse, physically and spiritually, until we don't realize how bad they are.
- As the author states: you can't fix the problem, but God can fix you. He can restart our hearts — but we have to say 'it's time' and be willing to take the journey.
Scriptures: Zechariah 4:6-7
Grace, grace to the capstone
- She returns to the verse's last sentence: when they rebuilt the temple, the capstone — the last and most important stone — was ceremonially placed to the shouts of people asking God to put his favor upon it.
- Hearers are encouraged to start this journey knowing that God will see them through to a beautiful ending: it's time.
- In the closing prayer she thanks God for the day, says we want to grow in him, and prays that the shouts of 'grace, grace' will come from our lips as we put the final cap on what he is doing with our lives. (The capture continues past the devotional's close into informal conversation and ends mid-sentence.)
Scriptures: Zechariah 4:7
Scripture index: Zechariah 4:6-7; Zechariah 4:7.
Transcript
Good morning. My name is Karli DePriest, and welcome to day one of our 21 day devotional, Restart Your Heart, with the Pentecostals of Murfreesboro. We're glad that you could join us today, as we go through this devotional. Every day someone different will walk through one day of the devotional. I hope you read the introduction, and I hope you came with expectation. As the writers stated in the introduction, the Bible bears out also: God is looking for people with expectation. Our faiths are expecting to receive something, is what activates God's work in our lives.
Today's title and our book Restart Your Heart is It's Time. You heard a said that there is no time like a present. Today is the first day of the rest of your life. All those things like that, they're really true. Maybe it's time. It's just what you've been needing.
Our verse today is that Cariah 4 6 & 7. It reads: this is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, says the Lord of hosts. Who are you, O great mountain? Before Zerubabbel you shall become a plane. And he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. You know, as impossible as it was for Zerubabbel to rebuild the temple in this Old Testament story, with his strength and his abilities, sometimes it's impossible for us to fix our issues. There are natural ways that the body heals itself. Sometimes I use a simple bandage. There are times when Angela isn't good enough, and we all rely upon the supernatural. That's where the knob amytal power comes from. That's true.
The author in our book describes the medical procedure cardioversion, where the heart, she's gotten out of rhythm, is stopped, and then electrically, or chemically, restarted. This procedure saves thousands of lives every year. And only God, and only his spirit living in us, can fix us, can bring down the mountains of unforgiveness, a bitterness, of anger, of hurt, whatever has caused our hearts to be damaged. As in our physical bodies, things can go gradually worse, until we don't even realize how bad they are. Over time, we can be troubled before we know it, both physically and spiritually.
I like how the author states: you can't fix the problem, but God can fix you. He can restart our hearts, but we have to say it's time, and be willing to take the journey. Back to our verse today, the last sentence says: and he shall bring forth the capstone with shouts of grace, grace to it. When they completed, when they rebuilt the temple, that was the last and most important stone. It was ceremonially placed, to the shouts of people asking God to put his favor upon it.
May we encourage you today: start this journey, knowing that God will see you through to a beautiful ending. It's time.
Let's pray. Father, we love you. We thank you so much for this day that you've given us. What am I gonna say, the best we possibly can, and we want to grow in you. We pray that the shouts of grace, grace will come from our lips, as we put the final cap on what you're doing with our lives. Pray this in the name of Jesus Christ, amen, amen.
Thank you for joining us for day one, It's Time. Take some time today to read this devotion, if you haven't already. And join us live again tomorrow at 7:00 a.m. with day two, as we discuss The Hardest Words Ever Said. Hey, I heard pastor's delivering donuts and coffee to everybody today. I'm sure he is. It is April 1st evening. April Fool's. Now we're coming for the, but, mm-hmm.
Scripture references as spoken: Zechariah 4:6-7; Zechariah 4:7.