Month: September 2017

Re:Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day three)

“By what power or what name did you do this?”  There’s a difference between wonder and suspicion.  Wonder asks, “How can these things be?”  Suspicion inquires, “Are you trying to gain the upper hand?”  Wonder makes room for miracles; suspicion fears loss of control.  Wonder draws a person nearer to the source of miracle; suspicion drives a person away from anything unexplainable.  Wonder prepares the heart for the eternal; suspicion hardens the heart towards God.  Some of us will approach the spiritual realm with wonder; some of us will approach it with suspicion.

Re:Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day two) 

And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. vs. 14

Is your witness like this? I confess, mine rarely is, but what a beautiful story. Those whose hearts were cold toward the gospel were determined not to hear it, but the testimony of Peter and John coupled with their actions did not leave any room for dispute. They had no glaring fallacies to point out regarding their message. The evidence of the healing miracle was leaping around beside them. They simply had nothing to say.

We may not see all of our efforts end in the conversion of thousands, but may our prayer be that the world will have nothing on us. Nothing to hold over us. May our love and compassion be so clear that they simply cannot speak. I am praying for your testimony to be strong today. Will you pray for mine? There are many watching, and God is at work.

Re:Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day one)

“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 as having been with Jesus.”–v 13

As a young person, with some regular relapses even now, I suffered from a deep lack of confidence.  Who I was just didn’t seem to be enough–that’s how it felt, anyway.

A few years after receiving Christ, I discovered this scripture and the comfort of it.  Confidence comes from “being with” Christ.  Learning His mind.  Resting in His life, approval and protection.  If that is where Peter/John found it, I could too!

In Matthew 11, Jesus promises to give us rest.  In Acts 3, he promises to give us confidence.  Not available anywhere else.  Attractive and noticeable, even to those who don’t believe.

“The wicked flee when no one  is pursuing, but the righteous are as bold as a lion”–Proverbs 28:1.

 

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day seven)

When I read a passage of Scripture I typically picture myself as one of the characters in the text.  Pridefully, I tend to gravitate toward the hero.  In this text, I like to think that I am Peter proclaiming truth and healing in the name of Jesus Christ, but in reality I am closer to the lame beggar and the crowd.  I find myself to be a man in need of strengthening not a man dishing out miracles.  As God heals I hope my reaction is as genuine as the beggar’s, leaping and praising God all the way into worship.  Similarly, I am far more likely to be like the Peter who disowned Jesus at the crucifixion (which he accuses the crowd of here, v.13-14), rather than being the Peter who boldly changes a man’s life with the Gospel.  Thankfully, we have a patient God who will forgive our pride and restore us to life.

2 Peter 3:8-9   But do not let this one fact escape your notice, beloved, that with the Lord one day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like one day. The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day five) “Now Peter and John went up together into the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.” (KJV) 

In Acts 3 we find many evidences of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. First, there is miraculous healing. Second, there is inspired preaching. Third, (maybe overlooked) is the repaired relationship between Peter and John. Just a few weeks earlier, John remained faithful to Jesus as a follower and friend (at the crucifixion- called by named to take care of Mary) while Peter denied and abandoned Jesus. After the resurrection, there was forgiveness and the restoration of a friendship and relationship between these two men. It was clear to all who knew them that somehow they were again working, witnessing, and worshipping together. Different personalities. Different approaches. Together on mission!! Sounds like a church, doesn’t it?

Do we see evidences of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit in our witnessing, in our ministry, and in our relationships?

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day four)

We call it a refresh button .  It brings the screen of our phone or computer up to date.  It replaces the old with the new.  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a refresh button in life…making everything new and right?  Good news!  We do.  Verse 19 says, “Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;”  Repentance is more than just a desire to do good, it involves action…a turning away from one behavior (sin) and decisively turning to a right behavior according to God’s plan.  Repentance is always to a behavior in line with God’s Word.  Replacing the old with the new!  Repentance can lead to forgiveness of sin and salvation, or it can lead to a correction in the direction of life and a return to righteousness.  Is it time to hit the refresh button in your life?

 

 

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day three)

“He asked them for money.”  Money was the only remedy in society’s framing of the situation.  But Peter and John broke that frame.  A handout was no longer the best thing a person might hope to receive.  The eternal kind of life they were learning from the Holy Spirit enabled them to imagine new possibilities.  This is not imagination like we understand it, which is essentially “make-believe”.  Rather, it is a future redefined by Christ.  As Jesus’s disciples, we have the power to usher in new ways of living.  At least for now, we have social standing and power unknown to the first century church.  Can you give money?  Do it.  Can you heal?  Do so.  But can we leverage our social standing and power to alter the economic landscape for the sake of the least of these?  We must.

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day two) 

But Peter said, “I do not possess silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you:” vs. 6a

I learned this verse from a more poetic translation: Silver and gold have I none…it has always stuck with me. I don’t think we modern American Christianity resonates as much with this anymore. It’s almost like, “I’ve got money, that should be enough.” The easiest thing we can do is write a check. It is in the act of serving that challenges us. Meeting our brothers and sisters where they are, praying, sharing, loving; these are the acts of service that will require more than your pocketbook. These are the acts of service that will pay eternal dividends.

Re: Verse reading–Acts 3:1-20  (day one)

“Therefore, repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”–v 19

It was not something I heard when I first followed Christ.  Still recovering what was lost by this partial gospel.  Jesus preached repentance and faith. (See Mark 1:15)   Peter, in Acts 3, faithfully repeated the wisdom.

The word meant to “change your mind” (metanoia).  Referred to all thoughts in a person’s mind.  About God, about self, about priorities and values.  Unconscious ideas, mainly, but vitally important.

As we believe in God, these ideas have to change.  They are abandoned. Rejected. Repented.  Without it, the head is so full of false that True cannot take root.

“As a man thinks in his heart, so is he.”–Proverbs 23:7.

“Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”–Romans 12:1.

What thought do you have in your mind that is not true?