Acts, chapter 4 part 1 revisited

I love the first part of Acts 4. It speaks to my character, as Peter and John are called before the Sanhedrin. As happened with Jesus, the Sanhedrin saw themselves as threatened. They knew that if the gospel of Jesus spread, they would lose their influence. With that loss would come a loss of power, money, and fame. They could not stand for this, especially after the whole killing of Jesus thing kind of blew up in their face when He came back from the dead.

What I like about this is that Peter and John continued to preach the truth, even when threatened by those in power above them. Those that know me know this is well within my nature. I have no problem telling the truth, bluntly if needed, because I cannot stand lying just to make someone feel better. This has caused me problems in the past because I often lack tact in these situations, but to me, telling the truth is more important than my perception to other people.

¹⁸Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. ²⁰For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard." – Acts 4:18-20

When it comes to the truth, especially concerning Christ, there should never be compromise when spreading the gospel. What Peter and John faced as consequences here is tame compared to what other disciples face later in Acts. If they can move forward and preach the Good News without fear then we can as well.

Acts, chapter 3 revisited

What is a miracle like today. I have been thinking of this for some time. I have felt that a miracle is needed for my current state of partial employment to end. I have felt a miracle is needed for our current state of life to change. We have been very unhappy with the way our lives have been lately. We have tried everything to envoke change, but nothing has worked. Naturally, the only thing left to hope for is a miracle.

In Acts 3 we see a true miracle performed by Peter, as he healed the crippled beggar outside the temple. Where is the true message here? Is it in the miracle itself? No! It comes from the faith of the crippled man that he could be healed by the power of God. Sometimes it is not the power of God that really does anything, but it is is the faith in God that accomplishes a lot.

13The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus. You handed him over to be killed, and you disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. 15You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16By faith in the name of Jesus, this man whom 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. – Acts 3:13-16

Was Peter given a power by God that we do not have access to because we are not apostles? No. Through faith, we can accomplish our own set of miracles. I like to believe that it was year of faith and prayer that led to the salvation of my aunt, who has been debilitated and embittered by multiple sclerosis for years. I do not know her heart, but I know that God can do some pretty amazing things with the human heart.

Lately I have been so focused on the change that needs to happen in my own life I have had trouble seeing outside of myself. This has led to some pretty depressing days, as it has been hard to even move. As I start to look outside, however, I see the faith of God coming back. If I can see Him work in the lives of others, it gives me hope that some day He’ll be working in my life again.

Acts, chapter 2 revisited

The power of the Holy Spirit is amazing. I know this because of two things. First, I have felt it work in my life, allowing me to accomplish great things. Second, I haven’t felt it in some time. As a result, my life has felt purposeless and bereft of any direction to go in. It is a hard feeling to live with.

In Acts 2 we see the most significant even that the disciples were witness to since the Crucifixion. Though they had replaced Judas and done some minor administrative housekeeping duties in chapter 1, it is here in chapter two that their ministry truly begins, as they receive the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. ²Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. ³They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. ⁴All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them. – Acts 2:1-4

This is some powerful stuff. We see later in the chapter that they added 3,000 tot heir number based on Peter’s teaching this day. This is also the first time we truly see Peter taking the leadership role that Jesus had planned for him. If we receive the strength of the Holy Spirit in our lives, suddenly everything becomes clear. Anything also becomes possible at that point.

Acts, chapter 1 revisited

Sometimes, you just have to do something. That was the original impetus behind starting this blog, and it is what I am doing now with it. I have no idea where my life is going or what I am doing lately. Each step forward is more confusing than the last, but I am at least trying to step forward. I move not of my own strength, but of the strength provided by the spirit.

We see that a little bit today as we take a looks at Acts, chapter 1 again. After getting some final instructions from Jesus Himself, the apostles are left on their own to carry on His mission. Even these men, who spent a ton of time in the physical presence of Jesus, did not know what to do next.

7He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11"Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven." – Acts 1:7-11

One of my favorite movies, the Shawshank Redemption, has a line similar to what the angel says here. It is simply, “Get busy living, or get busy dying.” When you think about it, that is very true here. With Jesus’ final earthly words He challenged his disciples with the task to spread the gospel as far as they could. That work continues today. In a way, it continues here as I do my small part to spread His word. We see that the next step the disciples took was to replace Judas and pray about their task, but from this point forward we don’t see them limited to the area around Jerusalem any more.

James, chapter 5 revisited

Today we will talk about the final chapter of the book of James. Once again, it deals with the issue of patience. Patience is certainly something I have struggled with throughout my life. This chapter in particular is speaking to me this morning because of the nature of its lesson on patience. Today, James preaches patience in suffering and the prayer of faith. Right now, I feel like I have neither.

¹⁰Brothers, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. ¹¹As you know, we consider blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy. – James 5:10-11

The bitterness within me sees these as just words, but they are words with truth behind them. Sometime you just to bite your bottom lip and give life hell in order to get through it. That is how I am going through life at the moment. On most days, I simply exist, but at least I am persevering.

¹³Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. ¹⁴Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. ¹⁵And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. – James 5:13-15

Finally, I feel like I have forgotten how to pray. I still do whenever I get the chance, but my prayer life is virtually non-existent in terms of substance. It sucks to end this on a down note, but it is the truth.

James, chapter 4 revisited

I must say, it has been good to be back here this week after a long absence. I feel this blog has been something missing in my life, and that I have put other things in the way because they were deemed as more important. I will work to improve upon that in the future.

Part of this comes from an inability to submit myself fully to God. That is touched on in this chapter. I feel like I have been trying to do things on my own again. Sure, I have tried to submit myself to God, but I don't think I have had very much success in the matter. As a result, I have felt an isolation that is very hard to describe, but it is one that grows every day.

²You want something but don't get it. You kill and covet, but you cannot have what you want. You quarrel and fight. You do not have, because you do not ask God. ³When you ask, you do not receive, because you ask with wrong motives, that you may spend what you get on your pleasures. – James 4:2-3

I see a passage like this and it is confusing and frustrating at the same time. Is it wrong to want a job so I can have some security and possibly start a family? Is it wrong to have personal professional goals for myself? I feel like every day that goes by with no development on this front is a wasted day. I feel like I am not allowed to plan, but instead I am supposed to leap blindly.

Then I see news from other friends of mine. I envy those that can live on faith and have the ability to truly leap blindly into whatever God has for them. It is my prayer today that I will ask with the proper motives for which I seek.

James, Chapter 3 revisited

For those that know me, I don't have a good brain to mouth filter. This has been a failing of mine for some time, as I commonly say exactly what I think. I believe that the truth, no matter how brutal, needs to be said at all time. Because of that, I have a hard time working in a society like ours that does not value truth as much as kissing up to the right people. It is not my nature, and it has gotten me in trouble more times than I care to think.

That is why it is interesting that we talk of taming the tongue in James chapter 3. The tongue is a dangerous thing to deal with us. Since much of what I say is overly bitter due to a lot of what I have been through, it tends to control my thoughts almost at all times. This is a warning that serves us well even if we work to follow Christ more.

⁹With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness. ¹⁰Out of the same mouth come praise and cursing. My brothers, this should not be. ¹¹Can both fresh water and salt water flow from the same spring? ¹²My brothers, can a fig tree bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Neither can a salt spring produce fresh water. – James 3:9-12

I have no defense in this. I have spent too much time of late cursing mankind and what is going wrong rather than praising God. Even this morning I did so, as I got a call from my temp agency about a short term assignment being offered to me. Yes, I am thankful for the work, but I was frustrated because it means six more weeks of living a temporary life as opposed to actually advancing my career. I admit that I am not producing a whole lot of praise lately. I must seek this out more actively.