Year 7, Day 249: Acts 16

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Acts 16 is a great chapter in the development of the church.  It is in this chapter that Paul picks up Timothy, one of his greatest disciples.  It is in this chapter that Paul begins the Greek mission, one of his greatest missionary journeys.  It is here that Paul ministers to Lydia and in so doing begins the Philippian church, one of his greatest church plants.  Many great things happen in this chapter.

There is one thing in this chapter that allows these things to happen.  Paul is told no.  Paul wants to go into Asia.  He desires to minister to the people in that area.  God, however, has other plans.  In order to get Paul into Greece, He needs to say no to Asia.

I can only imagine Paul’s disappointment as this unfolded in his life.  He couldn’t know what was coming in his future.  He simply felt God saying no again and again.  There surely was some frustration.  Perhaps there was discouragement.  There may have even been confusion.

The one thing we don’t see is disobedience.  Paul listens to God and trusts.  He follows God, believing that if God doesn’t want him to go into Asia then God has His reasons.  This is a great example for us to understand as we go about mission. 

God wants us to go out.  He wants us to invite people into a relationship with Him.  He wants us to remember, though, that it is His plan and His idea, not ours.

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Year 7, Day 248: Acts 15

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Acts 15 is a very important chapter when it comes to understanding the human element in organizations.  We like to think that everyone is like us.  However, that just isn’t true.  The reality is that we all have our own agendas and our own motivations.  We must always be on the alert for those times when someone within the organization changes priorities without consensus or even knowledge of the group.  This is why maintaining unity within an organization is difficult.

For example, notice the people who come from Jerusalem down to Antioch.  They hear people giving praise to God for the various ways that God has been at work among the Gentiles.  Rather than celebrating with God, they feel the need to challenge God’s work.  They tell the Gentiles that unless they are circumcised that they really have no place among God’s people.

Naturally, this makes Paul and Barnabas and likely a whole host of other people mad.  These traditionalist Jews have just gone against what Paul and Barnabas stood for.  They have gone against God’s hand at work.  Paul and Barnabas set off to set the record straight.

Notice that when they get to Jerusalem, there is a group within the Jerusalem Council that is in line with these teachers of the circumcision.  Division is occurring in Jerusalem.  People are beginning to teach different things.  Unity is being lost.

Thankfully, Peter gets up to speak.  He remembers what God did in him at Cornelius’ house.  He’s the one who started this all!  He gets up and reminds the people what God has done and how God did it.

Fortunately, the people capitulate.  The religious leaders in Jerusalem find common ground that has nothing to do with circumcision.  They encourage these Gentiles to carry on with what God is doing in their midst, paying special attention to their purity.

What can we learn here?  Division will always creep into organization.  People will always stop adhering to God’s ideal and start adhering to their own understanding.  It takes a strong and bold presence to stop this.  When we see this happening, we must stand up like Peter in confidence and speak to where God’s truth resides.

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Year 7, Day 247: Acts 14

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Once more we see the themes of the second half of Acts come true to life in the story.  Paul speaks out boldly.  He is not afraid of the truth.  He’s not particularly fearful of what people will think of the truth or think of him for telling the truth.  He speaks truth about God and is always interested in inviting people into relationship with God.  Paul’s focus is unwavering.

We see two more subthemes coming to the surface here in this chapter.  First, as a part of Paul’s focus he is always looking for an audience.  He is willing to talk to any person who will listen.  In Iconium, the city was divided; but there were some who were willing to listen.  In Lystra, there were people who thought that he and Barnabas were gods and were thus ready to listen.  In Derbe, there were clearly people who were willing to listen as we don’t even have any mention of trouble in that city.  Paul is always willing to join a conversation with anyone who will take time to consider what he has to say.

There is a deeper angle to consider when looking at Paul and his audience.  Paul lives with a confidence that he can turn any conversation into a conversation about God.  When people are arguing with him, He can certain talk about God.  When people are genuinely curious, he can certainly talk about God.  Even when people have the absolute wrong idea and want to make gods of Paul and Barnabas, Paul is confident that he can turn the conversation around and paint it the right way.  I believe that in order to have a mindset that is always looking for an audience presupposes the confidence to complete the conversation.

Finally, we also should look at the theme of staying in the midst of persecution.  Paul is willing to take a few hits as long as there are still people willing to listen.  He doesn’t run at the first sign of trouble.  Don’t get me wrong.  Paul doesn’t stay until he’s dead, either.  Paul sticks it out for as long as he can and then leaves.  Persecution will come.  The trick to preaching God’s Word is to preach with confidence and know when to stay, how long to stay, and when to move on to the next place where God is calling.  We will see this again and again in the book of Acts.

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Year 7, Day 246: Acts 13

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Acts 13 starts the ministry of Paul.  There are several very poignant themes that run through Paul’s ministry.  These themes correlate with how God works through Paul and leads us to why he is understood as one of the most influential men of Christianity.

The first theme is that Paul speaks out boldly.  We see him rise up against Elymas in the court of the proconsul.  We also see Paul speak out in the synagogue of Psidian Antioch.  Paul isn’t afraid to speak.  He isn’t afraid to tell truth.  He never really knows how people are going to react to it.  Paul speaks truth and lets the chips fall where they may.

Be careful with this thinking, though.  As we’ll see throughout Acts, Paul isn’t always received well.  Paul earns the favor of the proconsul.  Paul is chased out of Psidian Antioch.

Some human beings receive the truth well.  They like being challenged.  They enjoy growing and becoming different people.  They realize that they don’t understand everything and seek opportunities to gain experience.

Other human beings don’t enjoy the experience.  Some human beings don’t enjoy being challenged.  Some human beings don’t enjoy growth opportunities.  Some human beings don’t mind growing, but they only want to grow in directions that they desire.  Some human beings simply aren’t open to God’s truth, they are only open to truth that agrees with their thinking.

We never know who we’ll meet until after we speak truth and see how they react.  Some people will grant us their favor much like the proconsul.  Others will hear our words and try to drum us out of town like the Jews in Psidian Antioch.  We don’t know who is who until they encounter truth and react to it.  Then we see their true colors.

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Year 7, Day 245: Acts 12

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In Acts 12 we lead off with the challenges to the Apostles.  James, the brother of John, is killed.  When Herod sees that it pleased the Jews, he starts looking for another.  Peter is arrested and slated to die.

Before we get to Peter, I want to spend a second looking at this most senseless death.  We can learn a good bit about human behavior here.  Herod is willing to destroy life because it makes him popular.  Unless we are careful, human beings will absolutely go against their morality and ethic if the reward is great enough.  With training, we can avoid this reality.  Left to our devices, though, we are likely to fall.

We move on to Peter. In fact, let’s contrast what God does with Peter to what God does with Herod.  Peter is in jail.  He’s about to be killed.  God frees him through angelic means.  When Peter gets to where he is going, he is focused on giving glory to God.  Peter tells the story about how God saved him.  That’s a great example to learn.

On the other hand, take a look at what happens to Herod.  Herod finds himself in a place where people are giving him praise.  He dresses quite regally and impresses them with great speech.  There is no humbleness.  There is no nod to the God who equipped him.  In fact, when the people call him a god, Herod doesn’t even deny it.  He dies that day, because in his arrogance he has no humility.

There’s a deep lesson to learn here.  We can do great things.  We can have great things done to us.  There’s no problem there.  But we need to be humble.  God deserves the glory.  God deserves to be the focus.

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Year 7, Day 244: Acts 11

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In the chapter immediately after we celebrate the many and varied ways that the Lord is at work, we are given a sneak peek into what is happening in Jerusalem.  When the conservative Jewish followers hear about what Peter has been up to, they are outraged.  They can’t believe that Peter went and socialized with Romans.  Don’t get me wrong.  They aren’t doubting God’s hand at work.  They are doubting Peter’s ability to stay traditional. Unfortunately, they confuse tradition and ritual with faith and spirituality.

Let’s not miss a reasonably significant point in this chapter.  Immediately following the Jerusalem church’s reaction to Peter, the central location of the church moves from Jerusalem to Antioch.  I realize that there was a growing amount of persecution happening against the Jews in Jerusalem at the time and the location change makes sense.  However, I think there is more to it than that.  The leaders in Jerusalem have looked past God’s hand and they’ve looked back at tradition.

Don’t get me wrong.  I’m a big fan of promoting that there are some immutable parts of God.  God is love.  God hates sin.  God saves.  God’s understanding of sin doesn’t change.  There are parts of God that don’t change.

At the same time, though, we need to recognize that God’s hand works in mysterious ways.  God is not opposed to opening an unusual door to further His will.  God is willing to work in unusual ways to reach unusual people.  While certain things of God don’t change, often the first mistake that the followers of God do make is in their inability to accept the fresh movement of His hand.

When it is all said and done, the focus of Christianity shifts to Antioch.  Jerusalem isn’t abandoned as we’ll see throughout Acts.  But Antioch truly becomes the hotbed of faith and when God’s disciples are being trained.  This is an important lesson to learn.  When we focus on our traditional expectations and forget to look where God is moving, we can find ourselves looking out as God moves past us into something new.  We won’t be abandoned, of course; but we may find ourselves looking to get back to where God is at work.

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Year 7, Day 243: Acts 10

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Something amazing is at work in God’s Word as we pass through Acts.  Remember, this book started with the world immediately after Jesus Christ died.  Acts begins with the world in a different place; it is a world in the truth of the crucifixion.

The disciples are empowered.  The wisdom of the religious leaders is being overcome.  The wisdom of the world is being denounced.  God’s Spirit is being passed out among human beings and the world is being transformed one unique person at a time.

We’re at the place in Acts where we see this loudly and clearly.  In the last few chapters we’ve seen more and more people participating in the work of God.  The Apostles aren’t the only ones rising up to be filled with God’s Spirit.  We’ve seen Peter and John and Philip, of course.  But we’ve also seen Stephen rise up.  We’ve seen God get the attention of a Pharisee named Saul.  We’ve seen Barnabas rise up.  We’ve had followers of Christ in a whole city work to save the life of a man they once feared.

In this chapter, we see God’s Spirit at work within a Roman centurion and his whole household.  This Roman centurion is a member of the Italian Cohort.  Yet, he is a god-fearer.  That means he has belief, faith, religious piety … all the love and fear of God that he can possibly have without officially being a Jew.  He’s praying and God comes to him.  He tells him about Peter.  This Roman centurion listens and obeys.  He seeks out Peter.  He wants to know.

We also see Peter listening.  He receives a vision.  It is a message telling Peter that He’s about to do something new.  God is showing Peter that He can make the whole world clean.  Ritual purity isn’t just for the Jews, it’s for the world.  Relationship with God isn’t just for the Jews, it’s for the whole world.  Dwelling with God and having His Spirit within us is for anyone who wants relationship with Him.

Cornelius receives God’s Spirit.  His whole household receives God’s Spirit.  These unbaptized non-Jewish god-fearing Romans participate in relationship with God. That’s the nature of what God has done through the cross.  That’s the nature of what God is doing in Acts.  He’s bringing about a new reality through Jesus.  This chapter is all about how God desires to be open to all people who desire to be in relationship with Him.

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Year 7, Day 242: Acts 9

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Acts 9 is a really neat chapter.  Normally, I get to Acts 9 and talk all about the conversation of Saul.  Don’t get me wrong.  Paul is an incredibly important person when we talk about the development of early Christianity.  It’s okay to focus on Paul at this point in the story.  Today, though, I am led to a different topic.

What I really like about Acts 9 today is the plethora of witnesses in the chapter. Let’s return to the conversion of Paul.  Paul hears a voice and experiences the presence of God.  Who is it that comes to his aid?  There is a disciple called Ananias that comes to his aid.  What is the witness of Ananias?  Obedience.  Notice that Ananias doesn’t particularly want this assignment.  He doesn’t want to go to Paul.  He’s afraid of what Paul will do to him because of what Paul has done to all of the other Christians with whom he’s come into contact.  Yet, Ananias still goes.  He still obeys.  In spite of his own better judgment, he’s pretty clear on what God wants him to do.  He does it.

Saul gets to Damascus.  While there, his life is in danger. The Jews in Damascus want to do away with him.  We aren’t told why, but it probably has something to do with the fat that they now saw him as a traitor and a betrayer of God.  Who comes to his aid?  We have an unknown group of disciples who risk their lives to get Paul out of Damascus.

Next, we hear about Saul in Jerusalem.  At first, the disciples want nothing to do with him because they fear him.  Who comes to his rescue?  Barnabas.  Barnabas comes, listens, mentors, and vouches for Paul.  We know that Barnabas will continue to mentor Paul, too.  Because Barnabas is willing to be obedient, the church has peace and can grow.

Then we get to Peter.  Peter finds a man paralyzed for 8 years and heals him.  He finds a dead woman and tells her to get up and be healed.  In both cases, Peter is the hand of God.  God’s will is done.  God gets the glory.

What can we get from this chapter?  God’s Spirit is spread among a great variety of people.  Many people are involved in accomplishing what God is doing in their lives.  Many people are given gifts and asked to employ them so that God’s will is done.  We can’t be in isolation. Nobody can be the be-all-and-end-all of God’s work.  We have a part to play; it is God’s story being told and God’s will being done.

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Year 7, Day 241: Acts 8

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Acts 8 is a great chapter for analytics.  We start low in the chapter with the story of Saul.  Saul is breathing threats against the church.  He is persecuting the followers of Christ.  He is preparing to get permission to go around all of the surrounding area, look for Christians, and drag them back to Jerusalem to be put on trial for their convictions.  It seems like such a dark story.

On the other hand, it is exactly this story that causes the spread of Christianity.  Christians start fleeing Jerusalem by the droves.  Because of the persecution, Christianity takes off like wildfire in the neighboring areas.  Granted, Saul isn’t being obedient to God; don’t hear me praising Saul or trying to justify his actions.  But God can use the persecution to bring about His will.  God uses Saul as an antagonist to spread the Gospel, it’s only fitting that in a few chapters He’ll be using the same man to spread the Gospel through his witness, too.

Then we move on to the story of Simon the sorcerer.  Here is a man who clearly responds to the faith.  He’s been known to have some minor powers in the past.  But when he sees Christians coming into town and performing incredible acts of faith, he jumps on the bandwagon.  But there’s a problem with how he jumps on the bandwagon.  He sees people receiving the Holy Spirit for free, yet he wants to pay for it.  We don’t know why.  We simply aren’t told.  It could be that Simon thinks if he buys it he’ll get more power.  It could be that if he offers to pay for it he’ll create a debt that he can cash in on later.  Maybe he thinks that buying his way in will allow him to rise to the top more quickly.  We don’t really know.  To be fair, though, Simon is doing this because God has caught his attention.

Peter rebukes Simon.  He tells Simon that he needs to repent.  I love this part of the story.  For Peter, the relationship is marred but it isn’t over.  There is always room for repentance until we die.  It shouldn’t surprise us that the disciple who is given a second chance after denying Christ three times before the crucifixion is the same disciple who here gives Simon a second chance.

We aren’t told that Simon repented, but he does at least ask Peter to pray for him.  The story isn’t exactly a happy one, but there are some really neat dynamics at work.

Then we turn to Philip and the eunuch.  I love this story.  Here is a eunuch, who because of his nature as a eunuch has been kept out of the inner portions of the temple.  He’s returning home from Jerusalem.  Philip goes out to this eunuch at the leading of the Holy Spirit.  The eunuch is willing to listen.  The eunuch is willing to ask questions.  The eunuch is willing to wonder at what God is doing in the world.  Philip follows the leading of the Holy Spirit and opens up scripture in his presence.  The eunuch receives.

This is such a contrasting story to the opening ones.  Philip doesn’t reject the eunuch because of his nature, he embraces him because of his curiosity.  The eunuch doesn’t try to buy his way into relationship with God, he humbly accepts the free gift that is offered to him.  When challenged, the eunuch submits and finds himself changed.  There ismuch inspiration in both Philip and the eunuch.

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Year 7, Day 240: Acts 7

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Stephen steps up to speak.  We know the end of the story.  He is stoned.  His life is snuffed out for telling the truth.  The overarching hard lesson of this chapter is that sometimes the world doesn’t like our message so much that they’d rather get rid of us.  When we stand up on the side of truth, we often stand alone.

There is a subtler point throughout this passage that is distinctly related to the overarching point.  Why does the world dislike absolute truth? Absolute truth exposes us for the people that we actually are.

God chose Abraham from among the nations.  After a few generations, we arrive at Joseph.  God clearly chose Joseph, too.  Joseph would save his people.  Joseph’s brothers don’t appreciate God’s preference of Joseph and the sell him to Egypt. Naturally, that’s one move that God can use.  God uses Joseph’s rejection to bring about the salvation of not just God’s people but many of the civilizations around Egypt.  God works through human rebellion.

Then we hear about Moses’ rebellion in killing an Egyptian.  He ends up spending forty years in the wilderness, growing and maturing.  God brings him back to Egypt to lead His people out of Egypt.  Don’t forget that the Exodus only happened the way that it did because Pharaoh rebelled against God.

That leads us to Solomon, who builds a temple for God when God is absolutely content living in a tent among His creation.  That temple allows for a concrete place for human rebellion to continue to grow, even becoming focused on opposing the prophets of God.  We know in reading the accounts of Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Ezekiel just how corrupt the temple area and the religious became before conquest of Babylon.  Yet, God used that very exile to humble His people and bring them back to Him and away from their rebellion.

This leads Stephen to speak about how the religious leaders rebelled against Christ.  Once more God is able to use their rebellion to bring about salvation to the world for the forgiveness of sins.  These religious leaders kill Christ – and they are about to kill Stephen, too.  But God can use the action to further His will and the spread of His kingdom.  That’s what the rest of Acts is all about.

Humans rebel against truth.  We wish to do what makes sense to us and what keeps us happy.  We don’t care to submit to a higher authority, especially when that authority holds us accountable and asks us to leave the path of self-promotion for a high road.  But that doesn’t mean God can’t use us.  That doesn’t mean God can’t work through our rebellion.  All of the incredible things that God has done in this world have been a response in one way or another to our human rebellion and its effects upon us. 

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Year 7, Day 239: Acts 6

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I’ve always found Acts 6 to be an interesting chapter.  On one hand, we have what most people lift up as a great delegation of duties.  The apostles are being worn out because they have to care for people.  Therefore, they say to the crowd, “Listen, we need to appoint people to do these other more menial tasks so that we can focus on the better jobs like preaching and teaching and prayer.”  The people assent to this, probably just happy to have someone to focus on their needs.

Don’t get me wrong.  I think delegation is good.  I have even been in the camp of lifting up the decision in Acts 6 as a great model of leadership.  But I’m beginning to waffle on that decision as I mature and think about the story.  Remember, the apostles appoint Stephen and the other to focus on service so that they can focus on preaching and teaching.

Think about what comes immediately after we hear that Stephen is appointed to be one of the people who are supposed to be focusing on the needs of the people.  Stephen finds himself facing opposition.  But Stephen’s service is not what is being opposed.  It is Stephen’s teaching that is being opposed!  Stephen was doing great works among the people!

It’s almost like God send us a message that the apostles – most religious leaders – don’t want to hear.  When religious leaders think themselves above certain tasks in the church, God’s going to move along and use someone else.  Literally the story after the apostles make this decision we hear a story about how one of the “other” people are following God and living in His will.  We have a story about how Stephen is capable of doing both the menial tasks and the so-called higher tasks of preaching and teaching.

Honestly, I think Acts 6 and 7 has a distinct counter-cultural subplot against the desires of most religious leaders – a subplot often overlooked, hopefully not intentionally.  God doesn’t want His leaders rising above certain tasks.  He doesn’t want His religious leaders delegating away tasks based on their type.  Yes, religious leaders need to delegate; we cannot do it all and will burn ourselves out if we try.  But we aren’t to delegate away all of the lesser tasks and keep all of the glorious ones for ourselves.  We are to do what called has called us to do and then delegate to others what God has called them to do.

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Year 7, Day 238: Acts 5

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Today we have two interesting contrasting stories.  We begin with the interesting story of Ananias and Sapphira.  Here is a couple who sell some land and give some of the money to the Lord.  There’s nothing wrong with this.  Nowhere does God have the expectation that we give everything.  The problem is that they lie about it.  They lie to make it seem like they are giving everything.  That’s what God has an issue wish.  They lie in order to make their love for God seem better than it really is.  The punishment is that they die.  Their life ends because of the lie.

In an interesting twist, we hear about a story from the disciples.  They are healing and teaching and preaching.  They are arrested, but God frees them.  They go back to teaching and preaching as soon as God frees them.  They are arrested once more.  Here’s where the twist comes into play.  Peter steps up and tells the truth.  In his boldness, God spares the lives of the disciples.  Gamaliel steps up and speaks wisdom from God.  Because of their willing ness to tell the truth, Peter and John find themselves able to continue living.

I think that this is a neat part of the story.  When we try to save our life through our own inventive creativity, we end up spending what life we have left.  When we are willing to spend our life by standing upon God’s truth, we find that He has the ability to deliver us from death.

Don’t get me wrong.  It won’t be easy to stand upon the truth.  Peter and John may have saved their life, but notice that they are still beaten before they are released.  They are nearly killed for their desire to stand upon the truth.  They get a good scare and the world does inflict its price upon them.  But their life is spared because they have put their faith in the Lord.

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Year 7, Day 237: Acts 4

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In Acts 4 we get to see the downside of being a part of God’s hand at work.  The religious leaders arrest Peter and John.  They don’t like it that someone else is displaying power.  They really don’t like the fact that they had just killed Jesus and yet people are still doing works in His name.  Quite often when we are doing the work of the Lord we will be ridiculed, scorned, and rejected by the world and its people.  That’s reality.

Check out Peter in this story.  Facing arrest, Peter speaks boldly. He doesn’t try to save face.  If he is going to go down, he speaks boldly. Jesus announces Jesus’ name as the source of the power.  Remember, these are the people who just convicted Jesus to be crucified.  Peter goes into hostile territory and proclaims his faith with expert skill and a distinct lack of fear.

The result of this is that the religious leaders are amazed.  They can’t believe that Peter and John – these uneducated fisherman with no religious training – are capable of impressing them.  The religious leaders also have a bit of fear of the people in them because Jesus did so many miracles and Peter and John are now claiming His name as power.  Peer and John are released.  They are threatened, but they are released unharmed.

There is another result of Peter’s boldness.  Their fellow believers are emboldened.  They even ask God for even more boldness.  When we step out in God, we make it easier for others to step out, too.  We also make it easier to step out ourselves.

Finally, we see that the disciples continue to live in peace and community with the other believers.  How can this possible continue?  It continues because the people are focused upon God.  The people are not focused on themselves and their own greatness.  They are focused on God’s greatness and His amazing power.  When we are truly focused on God, we can live at peace with one another.

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Year 7, Day 236: Acts 3

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Once more we see a great number of the themes that we spotted yesterday.  God’s hand is at work.  Peter gets an opportunity to do ministry.  As Peter does ministry, community develops.  As Peter does ministry, he gets an opportunity to teach and preach.

To take part of this story much more deeply, take a look at this interaction between the lame beggar and Peter and John.  I want to give the lame guy some credit.  He asks for alms.  Do you understand how hard it is to acknowledge one’s own deficiencies and inability to support oneself?  Here is a guy who is willing to go up to strangers and ask for a handout.  That takes guts.  It takes guts to face the countless rejection and still ask.  It takes guts to view the mirror of oneself and see the imperfection and inability.

Peter doesn’t give him a handout.  Peter looks to the man and gives him what he can.  I personally would consider Peter’s gift the better gift.  Peter introduces the man to the power of God in the person of Jesus Christ.  This lame man stands up and walks.

Here’s the neat thing.  The man clings to Peter.  Peter takes the man and literally brings him into the temple with them.  Peter literally brings the man into the presence of God.  God’s work through Peter results in the lame man being led into relationship with Him.  Community happens between Peter and the lame man because it centers on relationship with God at the core.

There’s one more thing about this opening story that is worth noting.  Do you hear that the people were filled with wonder about this?  God’s handiwork is visible to the people around us.  Sometimes it is visible to many people.  Sometimes it is visible just to a few close people.  But it is visible.  God’s work in me can inspire others.  God’s work in others should inspire me.  I should be looking for God’s hand at work and then I should be willing to be filled with wonder.  The things that God can do should be awe-inspiring.  It shouldn’t matter whether I am an infant in my spirituality or an old veteran of the faith.  God’s hand should inspire wonder and awe within.

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Year 7, Day 235: Acts 2

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Acts 2 contains several famous passages.  Top of that list is the coming of the Holy Spirit.  The disciples receive the Spirit of God as Jesus promised. They speak in tongues.  Once more, we can catch the theme that God does not abandon His people.  He comes through on His promises.

The speaking in tongues moves us quickly to a second famous story.  We hear that there are people in Jerusalem from all over the world.  They hear the disciples speaking in their own native tongues.  Naturally, this is a bit of a miracle because we know the disciples and we know that they weren’t highly enough educated to speak foreign languages.  Furthermore, they certainly can’t speak those languages at the same time!  This teaches us something powerful.  When God acts as He promises, we can expect results.  God’s hand brings about events that propel His kingdom forward.

The next famous story that we get to hear is Peter’s response to the public outcry.  Peter begins to teach and preach.  Notice that Peter does give an easy message.  He calls the people out.  He leads them into an understanding of sin and then grace.  The people respond.  What can we learn here?  We can absolutely learn that when God’s hand moves we can expect to have an opportunity for further ministry.  We should be prepared to speak.  We should be prepared to speak truth in love.

Naturally, this leads us to the community of believers.  They share what they have in common.  We can learn something here, too.  When God’s hand moves and we speak in truth, we can live in truth as well.  We can live in community because we all understand our shortcomings, why we need grace, and where God can work in and through us all.

In Acts 2, we get a great perspective on ministry.  There is much to learn here.  There is much to experience with respect to what God’s work looks like in a post-resurrection era.

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Year 7, Day 234: Acts 1

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The story continues.  The book of Acts is the natural continuation of the book of Luke.  In Luke, Luke relays the story of Jesus to his sponsor, Theophilus.  In Acts, Luke relays the story of the disciples and those who became the leaders of the early Christian movement.

I think that it is important to note the first few stories of Acts.  Even after the resurrection, the disciples are following orders.  Jesus tells them to stay put until they have received the Holy Spirit.  The disciples follow, obey, and receive the Holy Spirit.  Then, they continue to follow and obey until the ascension.  They see Jesus go up into heaven.  Their obedience continues to pay off.

Life is hard.  Life is difficult.  Following Jesus is no easy task.  Knowing what God desires us to do, much less doing it, is downright difficult.  The disciples struggled to follow Jesus and understand His teachings prior to His death, and Jesus stayed with them through their successes and failures.  As we start Acts, we see that they are finally making progress.  They have grown, developed, and matured.  They are capable of obeying now.  Of course, they aren’t perfect.  But they are growing and maturing.

For me, it is easy to think that is about perfection.  It’s easy to get down on myself for my inability to obey.  The story of Acts helps with that propensity.  In Acts we will watch fledgling followers of Christ grow, mature, develop, make mistakes, but continue to follow God.  God’s will continues to be done in spite of the failings of His followers.  God’s followers continue to obey and pursue Him in spite of their own circumstances and failings.  The best way to defeat the feelings of sadness that comes when we make mistakes is to remember that the journey towards God is often more important than any of the individual mistakes along the way.

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Year 7, Day 233: Luke 24

Theological Commentary: Click Here

We are not abandoned.  I think that is a great subpoint to Luke 24.  Of course, the great overarching point is that Jesus has conquered death and we too can follow in His path to eternal life with the Father.  In that great theme, we can see that we are not abandoned.

The women run to the tomb.  They are going to continue the work of caring for the dead body.  As we know, Jesus is not there.  No doubt they are confused and worried.  But they are not abandoned.  An angel is there to help them understand.  Angels are there to guide them towards the truth.  The women come seeking, and they find direction.

We also hear the witness of the men on the road to Emmaus.  The men are clearly sad.  They don’t understand what has happened.  They’ve clearly heard the witness of the women at the tomb.  They’ve even experienced Peter’s account.  Yet they are still struggling to understand.

Again, they are not alone.  Jesus comes to them.  He abides with them.  He walks with them and explains life to them.  He guides them and directs them into truth.  In their darkest hour, Jesus is with them still.

Of course, we have the familiar story of the disciples in the upper room.  They are still doubting, even after hearing the witness of the women and Peter.  These are the people that Jesus taught for several years.  Yet, even in the midst of their doubt Jesus does not abandon them.  He doesn’t hold it against them.  As with all the other groups, He does chastise them and remind them that they were taught what to expect.  But He doesn’t abandon them.  He continues to be with them, teaching them and guiding them.

I love this part of the story.  God’s will is accomplished.  Death is defeated.  Even when His human disciples are struggling, Jesus comes and helps them out. What a great example of a mature person in the faith!

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Year 7, Day 232: Luke 23

Theological Commentary: Click Here

Yesterday, Jesus taught His disciples about being great in the eyes of God.  What does it mean to be great?  Jesus is clear.  He came to serve.  He came to be in the lives of others.  He didn’t come to bend people to His will; He came to work in the lives of others.

That is the story of the crucifixion.  Jesus goes before Pilate and Herod.  He could have called upon the power of divine and freed Himself.  He could have called the power of nature and destroyed those around Him.  What do the stories say that He did?  He stood there, honestly answering their questions, and allowing them to play their part in God’s overarching plan.

Where I see Jesus’ servant nature most clearly, though, is upon the cross.  Before He dies, He cries out.  He gives us the famous words of the servant.  “Into your hands I commend my spirit.”  This is the rallying cry of the one who is not in a position of power.  Jesus knows that what remains is in the hands of God.  The Father will sort out the pieces from here.

Jesus succumbs to death.  He gives up His spirit.  He releases His hold on life and allows the Father to do His work.  His blood has been shed; His life was cast aside by human beings.  God accepts the sacrifice.  The curtain is torn.  The sky darkens.  It is over.

Before I end, there is one more detail that is worth bringing out.  Notice who it is that understands the role of Christ.  The centurion sees.  The centurion declares that Jesus truly was the Son of God.  The centurion is by definition a servant of Rome.  Here is a man who knows what it means to give up his ultimate freedom in service to the will of another greater power.  The centurion looks upon Jesus and recognizes a kindred spirit.

Sometimes the only way we can understand and value the servant nature of the people around us is to be a servant ourselves.

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Year 7, Day 231: Luke 22

Theological Commentary: Click Here

As Jesus approaches the cross, the conflict between the divine will and the human will intensifies.  Human beings want their own way.  The more stress and pressure we are under, the more we are likely to try and get our way through direct or even aggressive means.  Yet, God is all-powerful.  His way will happen if He desires it to happen.

We see this conflict all over the Gospels as Jesus’ death draws near.  We begin this chapter with words of the plot to kill Jesus.  The religious leaders are feeling the conflict of having Jesus around.  They realize they need to get rid of him, and soon.  They begin to plot and scheme and overtly accomplish His death.  Their human will is clashing with God’s will.

Take the stories about Peter and His denial.  Jesus tells Peter that he will deny Him.  Peter denies that!  Peter’s human will rises up against God’s will in a massive conflict against Him.

Look at Judas.  Here is one of Jesus’ own disciples.  For whatever reason – I’d like to attribute it to a horribly misguided attempt to force Jesus into overthrowing the religious leaders – Judas agrees to identify Jesus publicly when they come to arrest Jesus.  Judas rises up to assert his human will and have his way.

Here’s the thing.  In all of these stories, what the people fail to see is that God’s will shall ultimately be done.  God’s will is the most powerful force there is.  It is immutable when he wants it to be.

When the religious leaders desire to get rid of Jesus, God is working to bring a path to Him through forgiveness and atonement.  When Peter denies Jesus three times he realizes that no matter much he would speak his love, the reality is that God knows Peter better than Peter knows himself.  When Judas comes out to identify Jesus, Jesus already knew that it would happen and God’s will is being done.

We can writhe against God’s will.  We can force our will to dominate our life.  We can make our existence the sheer and utter pursuit of our own desires.  When we do that, though, we stop following God.  In those moments – like the religious leaders, Peter, and Judas – we stop being a part of God’s plan and find ourselves at odds with God and His people.  Fortunately, like Peter, we can find forgiveness should we realize our place and repent.

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Year 7, Day 230: Luke 21

Theological Commentary: Click Here

As I look at Luke 21, I am drawn to the theme of relying upon God.  Certainly, this is a theme that runs throughout the entire length of the Bible.  It is absolutely a theme that runs through the life of Jesus.

We see this first and foremost in the teaching of the woman who gives at the temple.  What is it about this woman that is praised?  The woman is praised because she gave out of her poverty, not out of her abundance.  Her is a woman who gives knowing that she is giving out of her ability to live.  She’s giving away money that she really needs for food, clothing, and other necessity.  She’s giving away because she knows that God can provide for her.  Her is a woman who is living a life that relies upon God.

Another place that we see this in in Jesus’ warnings about the future.  He tells the disciples that there will be wars and rumors of wars.  There will be earthquakes and other natural disasters.  There will be persecution.  We are not to be led astray.  We are not to listen to the panic of the people as they fret about what is going on.  We are to rely upon God.

Furthermore, I am challenged by Jesus when He says that we aren’t to meditate upon what we are going to say.  For an introvert who thinks deeply about everything that they do, this is an incredible challenge.  I like to think and plan and rehearse.  I like to organize and order and process.  But I need to realize that when I do these things, I am also susceptible to thinking and planning God right out of my life.  There has to be an openness to the moment and the movement of the Spirit.  There has to be a time when I step back and am led not by my planning and organization but by the hand of God.  It’s not a bad idea to plan and think and process; it’s a bad idea when our plans ignore God and His voice.

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