Category: Uncategorized

Acts 6:8

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people.

Personal Challenge

What sets the apostles and deacons of the early church apart from us? We read about the accounts of their great wonders and signs. Were they created different than us or given greater powers than us? No. They were full of faith in Christ, the resurrected Son of God. We too can have this level of faith in our lives if we choose to off load the distractions of this world and set our hearts and minds on Jesus. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 5:40-42

And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.

Personal Challenge

This passage is a great example of the apostles defying the order that was given to them by the religious leaders of the day. They had been brought before the Sadducees for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. After telling the Sadducees that they would continue to obey God rather than them, the Sadducees were furious and ready to kill the apostles. However, Gamaliel, one of the Sadducees, convinced the others to let them live proclaiming that if these uneducated apostles were actually doing Gods’ work, then killing them would not stop God from spreading His message. Even after being beaten and commanded to not preach any more, the apostles left rejoicing and continued to do God’s work. Their defiance of the order of the Sadducees was not to exercise their personal rights and freedoms. It was not because they personally disagreed with the mandates of the land. They were not defying the order to pay taxes or anything else like that. When the order was to stop doing what God had called them to do, then they defied that order. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 5:29

But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men.

Personal Challenge

If we are followers of Christ then our hierarchy of obedience is different than that of the world. As we grow in our image of Christ we begin to understand that God’s authority far exceeds that of the world and choose to submit to His authority, especially if it conflicts with the expectations that the world puts on us. We still abide by the laws of the land where God has put us because that glorifies our God. But when the laws and expectations of the world begin to contradict the laws and expectations of God, then we choose God’s ways and accept the consequences. We also need to understand that God will often use the laws and governance of this world to accomplish His objectives. We must always align our preferences with His expectations. God’s ways always transcend above the ways of the world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 4:19-20

But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.”

Personal Challenge

It is important that we believe in the truth of our God so much that we cannot do anything else but speak of Him and His truths. The lives of the martyrs have shown us that the truth of God was so important in their lives that they were willing to die, often very painful deaths, in order to never give up or taint that truth. God’s truth is life. God’s truth is eternal. God’s truth is Jesus Christ. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 4:13

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.

Personal Challenge

What a wonderful compliment this is to Peter and John. By living their lives in boldness and letting Jesus and the Holy Spirit be manifested in their lives, it was obvious that Peter and John had been with Jesus. Is that something that can be said about our lives…my life? Is it evident by what we say and do, and often times not say or not do, that we are followers of Jesus Christ? If we want people to marvel at who we are and what we do, then this can only be from living lives that magnify Jesus and not us. Glory be to God!

Acts 3:19

Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,

Command with a Promise

Have you ever wanted to be refreshed and then stay in a state of constant refreshment? It is possible. True refreshment, eternal refreshment, is found in our Lord. We get to that place in our relationship with Him through repentance and conversion away from being committed to this world. When we repent, which is an ongoing process, and turn to Him, He will blot out our sins and bring us into times of refreshing in His presence This is a promise that we can depend on. Glory be to God!

Acts 3:16

And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.

Personal Challenge

Peter had just healed a lame man and the crowd was going crazy with excitement. In essence, this was the same crowd who several weeks before had yelled, “crucify Him!” about Jesus. Peter preaches to these people that the healing was not done by them, but by Jesus and the faith that was put in Him. It is Jesus who is our healer. It is Jesus who is our savior. We become whole again through our faith in Jesus and that faith itself comes from Him. This is a mystery that we can all participate in. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 2:38

Then Peter said to them, “Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

Personal Challenge

This passage comes at the end of Peter’s great witness delivered to the throngs in Jerusalem. People were so moved by his discourse about who Jesus was and what He had done that they were begging to be His followers. Peter made it very simple. Repent! Turn away from our sinful lives asking for God’s forgiveness and pursue a life that is in alignment with the life of Jesus. Be baptized! Participate in the sacrament of baptism where we are put to death to the world in Christ, buried in His waters of purification, and raised into His service with our sins forgiven. Receive the Holy Spirit! Be anointed with the gift of the Holy Spirit so that our lives can be directed by Him into holiness and righteousness. This is the beginning of a journey that will take us through eternity transforming us into the image of Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 1:9-11

Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”

Encouraging Words

I am quite sure that the apostles’ minds and hearts were spinning when this event happened. They had just finished three very full years with our Lord. They had seen Him do miracles, die on the cross, be resurrected, and now ascend into heaven. Even after all of this, the angels were there to tell them to not loose heart because Jesus would be coming again. They lived out the remainder of their lives proclaiming this truth and the hope for everyone of us. We will see Jesus again. He will come again and take us to our heavenly home. This is our hope that drives us through every day and every trial. Glory be to God!