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RE Verse reading–Acts 6:1-7, 11:27-30 (day one)  “Therefore, friends, select from among yourselves seven men of good standing, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we may appoint to this task. (6: 3)  Many people believe this narrative marks the beginning of the deacon ministry.  While not called deacons (Greek deaconos, “servant”) in this story, the pattern is beginning to emerge.  There were (and always will be) MANY necessary tasks in the life of a church that  ministers will not have skill or time to care for.  To these tasks are called dedicated men who serve the Savior alongside the ministers.  It is not hard for me to speak on this subject.  For over 25 years I have witnessed the valuable contribution that Deacons make to the life and ministry of a New Testament church.  I have been priviledged to serve with them.  They have provided me the opportunity to pray and preach! I thank God for the deacons I have known.

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day seven)  “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”  (vs 29)  It will cost us our lives.  Jesus warned us.  The recovery of Christianity will depend on our willingness to embrace this Christ-clarified conviction.  We will need to be bold even when it is unpopular.  In Acts 4, the persecution is mild, threats mainly.  By Acts 8, it will become cruel and public.  One form or another it continues to this very day.  But no matter how fierce, the opposition of the world is not enough to block the powerful momentum of Spirit-led Life.  Are we willing to pay this price?  1 Peter gives a clear summary of what is ahead and what is expected for those who love Christ.  “For you have been called for this purpose, since Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example for you to follow in His steps”  (1 Peter 2:21)  May the Lord make us faithful.

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day six)  “Know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed”  (vs 10)  It must have been intimidating.  To say the least.  They were standing in the same hall with the same people who had condemned Jesus to a gruesome death just weeks before.  Did the disciples comprehend the danger?  Certainly.  But these were men who were no longer navigating life with a view to personal safety or success.  Their new operating system was to walk with the Spirit of God–no matter what!  The consequence?  A fearlessness and clarity that the world had never seen.  The results would be the same in us.  “For God has not given us a Spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline”  (2 Timothy 1:7)  If my people will humble themselves and pray. . .

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day five)  “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed”  (vs 10)  God has a competitive side.  He does not feel guilty winning.  The universe benefits when He does.  In Acts 4, Peter notices and verbalizes God’s assertiveness. ” You crucified Christ. . .God raised Him from the dead and healed a man in His name.”  Boldly Peter preaches an uncompromising message that is regarded by the world as narrow and disrespectful.  “There is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved”  (vs 12)  “Jesus is the stone you builders rejected, which (God has made) the cornerstone.” (vs 11)  Men prefer several ways.  God has given ONE way.  We prefer tolerance and diversity and consensus.  God declares His sovereign wisdom.  It is an argument that God will win.  “If my people will HUMBLE themselves and pray. . .

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31  (day four)  “Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?  The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed”  (vs 25-26)  One thing is certain.  The gospel will meet resistance.  We should never be surprised or discouraged by this inevitable fact.  God’s plans will be opposed by political and spiritual forces.  Christians recognized this early.  In Psalm 2 they saw their own struggles.  When Herod and Pilate and the Gentiles (Romans) and the people of Israel conspired together against Christ, it was just the beginning of a conflict that continues to this day.   The world (as a whole) will always oppose the gospel.  To receive Christ as Lord is something that mankind is unwilling to do.  “We do not want this man to rule over us”  say the citizens in Jesus’ parable (Luke 19:14)  It is what the world has been saying all along.

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day three)  “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.  ‘Sovereign Lord’, they said, ‘you made the heavens and the earth and sea. . .You spoke by the Holy Spirit. . .now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ‘ ”  (vs 24-25, 29)  We learn to pray by listening to people pray (those who know how).  Notice the God-focus of these prayers.  They address God as “Sovereign Lord”.  They reflect together that He is the God of the Spirit and Scripture.   Nothing is focused on the problems that they face. Everything is an expression of praise and confidence in God’s ability to accomplish His own plan (the point of prayer) even in the midst of difficulty.  Their only request is for power to be obedient to the will of God as they understand it  All else is left in His trustworthy hands. What great instruction for us!

RE Verse  reading–Acts 4:5-31  (day two)  “Now Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness”  (vs 29)  Jesus had prepared them well.  Before He died, Jesus spoke often about the persecutions that would come.  “They will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name”  (Matthew 24:9)  He also promised that the Holy Spirit would give them words. (Mark 13:11)  As a result, they were unafraid when the opposition began.  We are impressed with the way they prayed.  Rather than ask for safety or a quick end to the danger, they asked for power to do God’s will.  Not popularity but power–not safety but Spirit was their cry.  May we learn from the Lord and His men.  Opposition is inevitable.  Power is available to us through prayer.  Difficulties do not change our duties to the One who carried the cross for us.

RE Verse reading–Acts 4:5-31 (day one)  “When they saw the courage (boldness) of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished.”  (vs 13)  When the Scripture speaks of boldness, it translates a word that means “all speech” (parrhesia).  It describes the person who is not intimidated, does not hesitate to speak the truth for fear of the consequences, a person who says all that God has given them to say, no “punches pulled”.  Most of us know how easy it is to be silenced by the potential of negative reaction.  We tip-toe around conversations rather than offend.  Little do we realize the disloyalty this is to the God who filling us and giving us words to say.  James 4:17 says “to one who knows the right thing to do, and does not do it, to him it is sin”.  Our text this week applies this truth to us when we know what should be said.

RE Verse reading–Acts 3:1-10 (day seven)  “Then Peter said, ‘Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have give I thee”  (vs 6–KJV)  Left to his previous ambitions,  Peter would have likely had money to give this needy man.  Just a few years earlier, he had been the owner of a fishing boat(s), well positioned to make a good living for himself and his family.  At the command of Christ, he had left his nets and followed.  Now, years later, Peter is telling the truth.  He doesn’t have any money to give.  He does have, however, something of even greater value–the healing power of God in his own life, and the authority to give it away to others.  Have we been through a similar training of soul?  Have we been willing to do without some things that we might experience the healing presence of Christ in our own minds/hearts?  What we receive, we are able to give away.

RE Verse reading–Acts 3:1-10 (day six)  “When he saw Peter and John about to enter, he asked them for money”  (vs 3)  It is ironic.  The man asked them for money.  What he really needed was healing.  He just didn’t know that healing was possible so he never allowed himself to hope or ask.  Aren’t we the same?  We fix our hopes on a vacation when what we really need is inner peace.  We pray for our kids to be OK when what our kids really need is parents who example the way to walk with in the Spirit.  Maybe we think it selfish to ask God for the “big thing”.  Maybe it seems more realistic to ask for “just enough to get by”.  The Bible says the opposite.  “Call unto Me and I will answer.  I will show you great and mighty things”  (Jeremiah 33:3)  Most of us don’t want too much from God.  Most of us don’t want enough.