Saul's life and conversion to Christianity was so substantial! Saul was known for being zealous and a 'Pharisee of pharisees.' I tend to beleive that he and many others truly believed what they were condemning. They thought they were defending the truth from false teachers, but were in fact cruxifying God Himself and persecuting His followers. I've got to believe nobody in their right mind would believe Jesus was/is who He says He was/is would still put Him to death. I do imagine, however, some of the religious leaders had doubts. Perhaps their pride kept them from voicing their wonderings. Perhaps they would quickly snuff out their convictions as soon as they rose. I have been guilty of that all too often. Then, in pride, we turn our defenses all the way up instead of considering that we may be wrong-we get angry. At others.
Maybe that was Saul. Or maybe Saul never doubted his beliefs. Whatever the case, he was going to great lengths to persecute those who followed "the Way." And then "the Way" got in his way! Jesus, Himself, meets Saul on the side of the road, confronts him, blinds him, and sets him straight about who he's really hurting. Knowing, somewhat, of how the rest of Saul's life goes, I find it intriguing! Sometimes God uses other people in our life to reveal His Truth. Sometimes He uses circumstances to get our attention. This time Jesus comes down from heaven! And oh! Doesn't God love irony!! He turns the guy who was determiend to stop the spread of Christianity, and taps him to extend His grace to the Gentiles!!! He takes the persecutor and so changes his heart that 'Saul' would go on to willing become the 'persecutED'! Never say never with the Almighty-I can vouch for that!
Friday, August 20, 2010
7.29.10 Acts 6:1-15
Stephen was such a man of God! The disciples chose him to oversee some internal problems rising in the early church-along with six other people. But none of the other guys had the favorable description as Stephen did: "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit."(v.5) Then in verse 8: "Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power..." and as he performed miracles and got some opposition, the Bible says, "they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke." Wow! And here's the icing on the cake: "All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel." (v.15)!! That the light of Christ would shine through someone so intently!!! How proud of him God must have been! This is my prayer-that I would walk so closely with my Savior that others would see it clearly in me before I've even said a word!
"While we may think of a balanced Christian life as an insipid life of moderation in everything we do, a biblically balanced life is a radical life, where we follow a revolutionary Lord in everything we do." -The ACTS NIV Application Commentary
"While we may think of a balanced Christian life as an insipid life of moderation in everything we do, a biblically balanced life is a radical life, where we follow a revolutionary Lord in everything we do." -The ACTS NIV Application Commentary
7.24.10 Acts 4:23-31
This passage is called "The Believer's Prayer" and I love it!!!!
So here are Peter and John, just returned from being jailed for telling others about Jesus. They return home on fire!!!!! How empowering it can be when we take a stand for Jesus Christ! I imagine they were excited and animated as they "reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them." (v.23) I also imagine that the crowd eagerly took it all in! And what was their reaction? To get mad? To sit around and gripe, gossip, and protest? Did they give in to fear and beeline out of the Sanhedrin? Nope! They prayed! Together! Automatically!! It was their 1st response! And my favorite part was what they prayed :) It wasn't for safety-they didn't say "Lord, keep us from harm's way!" No, instead they claimed God's sovereignty and prayed for boldness. They didn't hesitate, they prayed for more work to do in Christ's name :)
I just love their unity, "they raised their voices together in prayer to God." (v.24) And the Lord was swift to answer their prayers- v.31 says, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God, boldly." Uh oh! :) Not what the priests and elders were hoping for! I can just imagine them dismissing Peter and John and reassuring themselves, "Maybe this whole situation will just disappear quietly." Haha. No. God is so good!
So here are Peter and John, just returned from being jailed for telling others about Jesus. They return home on fire!!!!! How empowering it can be when we take a stand for Jesus Christ! I imagine they were excited and animated as they "reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them." (v.23) I also imagine that the crowd eagerly took it all in! And what was their reaction? To get mad? To sit around and gripe, gossip, and protest? Did they give in to fear and beeline out of the Sanhedrin? Nope! They prayed! Together! Automatically!! It was their 1st response! And my favorite part was what they prayed :) It wasn't for safety-they didn't say "Lord, keep us from harm's way!" No, instead they claimed God's sovereignty and prayed for boldness. They didn't hesitate, they prayed for more work to do in Christ's name :)
I just love their unity, "they raised their voices together in prayer to God." (v.24) And the Lord was swift to answer their prayers- v.31 says, "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the Word of God, boldly." Uh oh! :) Not what the priests and elders were hoping for! I can just imagine them dismissing Peter and John and reassuring themselves, "Maybe this whole situation will just disappear quietly." Haha. No. God is so good!
7.22.10 Acts 4:1-22
I can relate so much to the apostle Peter! Here he was, one of the inner three, had been one of Jesus' closest companions for three years, and he still managed to mess up big time (denying Jesus)! Still, the Lord saw something in Peter He liked. God still chose Peter to be the rock upon which He built the first church. Peter was a leader among the disciples. Yeah, he messed up, but then he'd pick himself up and press on! I also wonder if Jesus chose Peter because of his willingness to be taught. In my experience with scripture God does not tend to seek out a "pulled together" or strong spirit, but seeks a willing one. Someone who will humbly allow God to change him into the likeness of Christ. That is what I strive to be.
V.13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."
-That I would spend so much time with Jesus that it would confuse onlookers that a self-proclaimed "epitemy of unnoticeable averageness" would boldly and courageously live and speak the Truth of Christ!!!
V.13 "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized they were unschooled ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus."
-That I would spend so much time with Jesus that it would confuse onlookers that a self-proclaimed "epitemy of unnoticeable averageness" would boldly and courageously live and speak the Truth of Christ!!!
7.21.10 A Sweet Affirmation from the Lord
The past few entries have been small excerpts from my journal, and not complete thoughts, and todays will be from my journal too. I want to share a sweet answer to prayer that God recently blessed me with. The funny thing is, I'm posting this a month later, when I am once again wrestling some of these same thoughts, so to read God's response to me again, ministers to me again as it did last month.
So. The first part is my prayer to God:
"Lord, I knkow you have given me a heart fro ministry. In fact, I think back to high school years when I would day dream about reaching my peers for Christ and how I would gladly spend my days doing volunteer work if I could survive off of it. Making a difference has always been important to me. I also know, Lord, that my own stubborn foolishness has set me back in this, but I still believe this is what I am meant to do. This past year has been evidence of that. Lord, it hardly makes sense though. Ministry is full of imperfect people, I know that, but I don't know of any who have made as monumental mistakes as I have.........Still, I know you delight in busting stereotypes, so my hope is still fully intact. But how, Lord? I have no formal education, I don't have the support of my family.....Lord, how???"
And God's response to me was in my reading of Acts. Verse 3:16 says, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man who you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see."
-Wow! What an immediate response to my prayer-and a loving one from my Father! Now it is up to me to claim that promise! Just as Peter was restored, I am as well! God saw fit to use him, and so I must believe that he is still able and willing to use me too! Praise God! Peter goes on to say, "I know that you acted in ignorance...repent then and turn to God." I love v. 24 too, "Indeed, all of the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days." - It's a wonderful reminder that God is not just shooting from the hip, He has had this planned since before time, and over thousands of eyars He has been preparing His people for this! Then Jesus arrives, but that is not the end of it. He is still putting things into practice for the big finale, "He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything." (v.21) - and even then, once it is restored we have a limitless eternity with our heavenly Father!
So. The first part is my prayer to God:
"Lord, I knkow you have given me a heart fro ministry. In fact, I think back to high school years when I would day dream about reaching my peers for Christ and how I would gladly spend my days doing volunteer work if I could survive off of it. Making a difference has always been important to me. I also know, Lord, that my own stubborn foolishness has set me back in this, but I still believe this is what I am meant to do. This past year has been evidence of that. Lord, it hardly makes sense though. Ministry is full of imperfect people, I know that, but I don't know of any who have made as monumental mistakes as I have.........Still, I know you delight in busting stereotypes, so my hope is still fully intact. But how, Lord? I have no formal education, I don't have the support of my family.....Lord, how???"
And God's response to me was in my reading of Acts. Verse 3:16 says, "By faith in the name of Jesus, this man who you see and know was made strong. It is Jesus' name and the faith that comes through Him that has given this complete healing to him, as you can all see."
-Wow! What an immediate response to my prayer-and a loving one from my Father! Now it is up to me to claim that promise! Just as Peter was restored, I am as well! God saw fit to use him, and so I must believe that he is still able and willing to use me too! Praise God! Peter goes on to say, "I know that you acted in ignorance...repent then and turn to God." I love v. 24 too, "Indeed, all of the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days." - It's a wonderful reminder that God is not just shooting from the hip, He has had this planned since before time, and over thousands of eyars He has been preparing His people for this! Then Jesus arrives, but that is not the end of it. He is still putting things into practice for the big finale, "He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything." (v.21) - and even then, once it is restored we have a limitless eternity with our heavenly Father!
Monday, August 2, 2010
7.20.10 Acts 2:42-47
I LOVE the Acts 2 church!! Here's the passage:
"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
How fantastic it would have been to be an apostle of Jesus Christ while He lived, then to be among the first to receive the Holy Spirit! What fire they must have had - speaking in tongues and healing the lame - what faith! It remind me of the book about Brother Yun in China and the many miracles he witnessed - which were coupled by such horrible persecution.
I love the Acts 2 church because I believe it is the ideal of what church ought to be. They shared everything - including joys and burdens; they devoted themselves to learning about God; they fellowshipped-building one another up-EVERYDAY!! Its a portrait of how God intended family to be!
"They devoted themselves to the apostles teaching and to the fellowship to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need. Everyday they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."
How fantastic it would have been to be an apostle of Jesus Christ while He lived, then to be among the first to receive the Holy Spirit! What fire they must have had - speaking in tongues and healing the lame - what faith! It remind me of the book about Brother Yun in China and the many miracles he witnessed - which were coupled by such horrible persecution.
I love the Acts 2 church because I believe it is the ideal of what church ought to be. They shared everything - including joys and burdens; they devoted themselves to learning about God; they fellowshipped-building one another up-EVERYDAY!! Its a portrait of how God intended family to be!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
7.9.10 Acts 1:1-11
I love that Jesus did not merely make an appearance after His death, like a magician and in a cloud of smoke pronounce "Ta-Da!" Instead He revealed Himself in personal ways, because He is such a relational, loving God. And, as verse 3 says, He "gave many convincing proofs that He was alive." Its quite marvelous! He then spent over a month doing much of what He did in His three years of ministry prior to the cruxifiction> spending time with and teaching His followers. He must have really had their attention!! And it was not as though He died by a single gunshot. Nobody could argue, "maybe it was all a hoax" "it was just a flesh wound" "and besides did anybody REALLY see it?" No. His beatings, His humiliation, every step of that walk to Calvary was public and undeniable! And days later He sits with them again to break bread?!
The disciples, to me, were a bunch of average Joe's, with average smarts, average hang-ups, and average temperaments. They spent much of their time before Jesus death trying to make sense of what Jesus was telling them, through no fault of the Savior. I imagine them walking around after Jesus death in a mixture of grief and bewilderment thinking, "Well, that's not quite how I thought this Messiah-thing was going to pan out." And even after Jesus' resurrection, they were still stuck on matters that were irrelevent in the grand plan of the Almighty God (v.7&8). This is both encouraging because I get so frustrated w/ my own lack of understanding-but they'd witnessed it all first hand and still struggled - so I don't feel AS inadequate. But also discouraging a little too because they'd wintessed it first hand and still struggled- so do I stand a chance?!
Enter: The Holy Spirit!!! "With God, all things are possible." Pre-HS the disciples were knocking heads with doubt, denial, and discouragement. The Post-HS crew were STRONG, solid, super-leaders! BLAM! The TV monitor screen remains black until someone plugs it into a power source!
The disciples, to me, were a bunch of average Joe's, with average smarts, average hang-ups, and average temperaments. They spent much of their time before Jesus death trying to make sense of what Jesus was telling them, through no fault of the Savior. I imagine them walking around after Jesus death in a mixture of grief and bewilderment thinking, "Well, that's not quite how I thought this Messiah-thing was going to pan out." And even after Jesus' resurrection, they were still stuck on matters that were irrelevent in the grand plan of the Almighty God (v.7&8). This is both encouraging because I get so frustrated w/ my own lack of understanding-but they'd witnessed it all first hand and still struggled - so I don't feel AS inadequate. But also discouraging a little too because they'd wintessed it first hand and still struggled- so do I stand a chance?!
Enter: The Holy Spirit!!! "With God, all things are possible." Pre-HS the disciples were knocking heads with doubt, denial, and discouragement. The Post-HS crew were STRONG, solid, super-leaders! BLAM! The TV monitor screen remains black until someone plugs it into a power source!
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