Even Me

My, he was fired up and ready. He even had arrest warrants to go clean out those subversive Christians in Damascus! Prison and death was the only sure cure for this crazy rapidly growing attack on God's law.

And this Zealot was almost at his goal when a sudden explosive light knocked him flat. Then he 'heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?" And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."'

(Acts 9)

Whew! God sure got his attention. Since he was now blind, Saul had to be led into Damascus and wait three long days (without food or water) for instructions. Evidently then he was ready to hear good news from a guy named Ananias and have his eyes healed and a be filled with the Holy Spirit. The turn-around was evidenced as Saul got up and was baptized.

Such an amazing story!

Lord, you can wonderful things in a life. You can intervene and cause big change in my loved ones. You can change even me.

Get Up and Go!

What an opportunity Philip had! And it was with one of the most influential leaders in Ethiopia. This guy, who was in charge of all the Queen's treasury, was on his way to Jerusalem. And the Holy Spirit prompted Philip to get up and go down to that road. (Acts 8:26-40)

Next He led Philip to join the chariot. So he did and then asked the man what he was reading. It just happened to be Isaiah's puzzling prophecy of Jesus. So Philip told the officer about Jesus and went on to explain the message of Christ in its fullness. The man was so taken with the good news that he believed and asked to be baptized.

What a great set up! But the essential key was Philip's obedience to "get up and go".

Lord, teach up to obey whether we know the whole plan or not. May we just trust that You know.

The Great Power of God

Can you believe these Samaritans? They are calling a side-show magician "the Great Power of God". There Simon is in Acts 8 and he had "for a long time astonished them with his magic arts".

But then the true great power comes to town as Phillip begins "preaching the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ..." 

Even Simon believes and is baptized as he's "constantly amazed" with the signs and great miracles. But then Simon's true heart is revealed as he actually tries to buy this Holy Spirit. ("Sell me your secret. Show me how you did that! How much do you want! Name your price!" - The Message) Of course Peter has to soundly denounce Simon . The Holy Spirit can never be bought or sold. He is freely available to God's faithful followers.

Thank you Jesus for making available to us "the Great Power of God".

Passion for Christ

My, how quickly things can change! The baby church had been in such great favor with the people. It was growing by leaps and bounds.

But then came that awful day of Stephen's stoning. (Acts 8:1-8)  "And on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles." And ironically this is when the soon to be apostle Paul (Saul) "began  ravaging the church, entering house after house, and dragging off men and women, he would put them in prison."

The good news is that those fleeing for their lives "went about preaching the word." Philip even went to "detestable" Samaria and proclaimed Christ. And because many were healed and freed, "there was much rejoicing in that city".

This baby church had a passion for Christ unmoved by consequences.

 Lord, fire us up to be passionate for you no matter what comes our way.

Eyes Only For God

Ever wonder how you will respond when that big crisis comes? It was sure a crisis for Stephen! (Acts 7)

He had just wonderfully summarized for the Jewish authorities a rich history of God's provision and leadership. But then he tried to wake them up to see the truth: "You men who are stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears are always resisting the Holy Spirit; you are doing just as your fathers did. Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute?"

Whew! It made these religious guys plenty mad - actually they went wild with anger. And Stephen who was "full of the Holy Spirit" - well he hardly noticed. ..."he only had eyes for God, whom he saw in all His glory with Jesus standing at His side." (The Message)

Whoa! Did you notice the surprise? When Jesus is described in heaven at the right hand of the Father, He is normally seated. The Lord of glory is actually standing up at this scene. Thankfully Stephen had "eyes for God" and saw it. 

Lord, may we have eyes for you so that we won't miss Your care and attention to us.

Controlling the Wind

There was a problem in the new church. Some widows from Greece were being left out when the food was served. So the twelve had the congregation select

seven men to help out. It's interesting that these men were to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. In fact Stephen was "full of faith and the Holy Spirit".

Actually later it's recorded that "Stephen, full of grace and power, was performing great wonders and signs among the people." However there were some men from the synagogue who were evidently jealous and started arguing with Stephen. "But they were unable to cope with the wisdom and the Spirit with which he was speaking." Acts 6:1-15

Bottom line - these synagogue guys were trying to control the wind. Jesus had already said to Nicodemus that the Spirit of God is like the wind: "The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it come from and where it is going; so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." (John 5:8)

We would do well to remember that only Jesus controls the wind and waves and that God will have His way through His Spirit. It's time for us to cooperate with the One in charge and allow His Spirit to operate freely (especially in our own lives). 

The Change!

Can you get over the change in Jesus' friends? Only a few weeks ago they had been running and denying and locking doors in fear of their lives. After all, Jesus had been horribly killed. Who wants that!

Now in Acts 5, they are like new people. In the face of threats, suffering prison, repeated beatings, and more threats, "they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ". 

In fact they were "rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name". Wow! It is one thing to resolutely and grimly stand firm. But these guys believed they had been given an honor to suffer dishonor for His precious Name. God's Spirit had changed their life.

Lord, fill us with Your Holy Spirit so that we will be new. We may even then be able to rejoice at opportunities to suffer shame for Your precious name.

The Whole Message

What a thrilling time is was for this young church in Acts 5! "Multitudes of men and women, were constantly added to their number.."  Also "they came from the villages surrounding Jerusalem, throngs of them, bringing the sick and bedeviled. And they all were healed." (The Message)

So the high priest and his cronies were filled with jealousy and had the apostles thrown in the town jail. 

But in the night an angel released them and commanded them, "Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life."

Well the apostles jumped right on it. And when threatened by the authorities again, they replied, "We must obey God rather than man."

Lord, give us the courage to speak Your whole message and not something watered down to please people. We ask again for loving boldness.