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

The plea that is so often made, by both professing Christians and non-Christians, is “What must I do to receive Your presence in my life, God?” Peter makes it clear here is Acts that there is nothing that we must, or even can, do to receive God’s presence and resulting miracles in our lives. All that we can do is believe that Jesus is who He says He is, the living son of God and put our faith in Him. And to top that off, He will give us the faith that we need to believe in Him if we will just submit to Him as our Lord and Savior. Lord, have mercy! Land, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Wisdom of Solomon 8:5-6

Now if riches are a possession to be desired in life,
What is richer than wisdom, who works all things?
And if discernment shows itself in action,
Who more than wisdom is its craftsman?

Personal Challenge

What are some of the things that we hold most valuable in our lives? Is it our wealth? Is it the things that our wealth can buy us, such as homes, vehicles, jewelry, or whatever can be added to the list of stuff that we fill our lives with. Is it the prestige that is aggressively pursued? We have a tendency to fill our lives with, and our time pursing, the things that we deem most valuable. Here in the Wisdom of Solomon, we are reminded that the single most valuable thing to desire in our life is Wisdom, or in other words, Jesus Christ, There is nothing in the entire universe that is more valuable than Him. He is who we should be desiring. He is who we should proclaim as our greatest and richest possession. And from pursuing Him, we see the fruit of discernment because He is the craftsman of discernment. Jesus is in all and is all, so we need to treat Him that way. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and forgave me for putting so many other worthless things above you.

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.

Encouraging Words

After Jesus ascended into heaven, the apostles gathered together and debated on what to do next. Soon after, the Holy Spirit descended upon these first followers of Christ in the event that we now celebrate as the Pentecost. The anointing of the Holy Spirit became the launching point of the Church and has continued ever since. In this passage we see Peter responding to the crowd in Jerusalem, the very same crowd that had crucified Jesus, who was so moved by Peter’s discourse that they wanted to know what to do to be saved. Peter had become an avid and articulate champion for Christ because He had been anointed by the Holy Spirit. This is the same Holy Spirit that anoints us today when we give our lives to Christ by repenting of our sins, being baptized into Him and anointed with the Holy oil. This is the same Holy Spirit that can lead us to do what Peter and the rest of the apostles did in our lives. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Solomon 7:22-23

So in herself, wisdom is a spirit that is rational,
Holy, only-begotten, manifold, subtle, easily moved, clear,
Undefiled, manifest, invulnerable, loving what is good, keen,
Unhindered, beneficent, man-loving, steadfast, unfailing,
Free from worry, all-powerful, all-surveying,
And penetrating all spirits that are rational, pure, and most subtle.

Encouraging Words

As we continue to see these passages talk about the characteristics of Wisdom and apply these characteristics to Jesus, we get a glimpse into who God is. The beauty of all of this is that through the process of theosis or growing in the likeness of God, we too can begin to have these characteristics become manifest in our own lives. The key to this transformation is to constantly be putting our fleshly selves to death. 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.”

Personal Challenge

Being a Christian does not give us the right to live a sedentary spiritual life. Our Lord expects us to be actively pursuing Him by living as He would live. We must be actively loving our neighbor, feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and taking care of the widow, the orphan, and the poor, in order to grow in the image of Christ. Our journey to theosis is more like a cross-country hike than a train ride. The angels reminded Jesus’ apostles that it was time to stop looking for Jesus and time to go and build His Church. Glory be to God!

Wisdom of Solomon 6:12-16

Wisdom is radiant and unfading
And is easily perceived by those who love her;
For she is found by those who seek her.
She comes upon those who long to know her beforehand.
He who rises early in the morning to seek her
Will not grow weary,
For he will find her sitting at his gates.
For to think deeply about her
Is the perfection of discernment,
And he who keeps watch for her
Will soon be free from worry;
Because she goes about seeking those worthy of her,
And she appears to them favorably in their paths
And meets them in every thought.

Encouraging Words

In our modern and enlightened age, we have come to a place where wisdom is a thing that we can pursue. Wisdom has become an object. In our ancient Christian faith, the early Church, Wisdom was recognized as a person, that person being Jesus Christ. As our early Church fathers read back through what we call the Old Testament writings through the lens of Jesus, they saw that all teachings about Wisdom were about Jesus, the Wisdom of God. If you read this passage again and substitute “Jesus” for the word wisdom” and “him” for “being you will see the power of this teaching and the need to pursue Jesus as the source of Wisdom and not wisdom as an object. Glory be to God!

Jesus is radiant and unfading

John 21:7

Therefore that disciple whom Jesus loved said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” Now when Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment (for he had removed it), and plunged into the sea.

Personal Challenge

Do I love the Lord this much? Jesus had recently been crucified by the Roman empire, He had resurrected from the dead and been seen by hundreds of people, including Peter and the rest of the apostles. I am sure that these men had many thoughts going through their heads. To process these events they went back to what they had spent their entire adult life doing, which was fishing for a living. And while they were fishing, Jesus appeared to them after a long night of unsuccessful fishing. He called to them from the distant beach and told them to lower their net one more time. This time their net was so full that they could not pull it up. This is when John recognized that this was Jesus. When Peter heard John proclaim that this was Jesus, Peter dove into the water so that he could rush back to the shore to see his beloved Lord. Do I love Him enough to drop everything and run to Him when He draws near? Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner?

Wisdom of Solomon 6:1-3

Listen therefore, O kings, and understand;
Learn, O judges of the ends of the earth.
Give ear, you that rule over multitudes,
And take pride in yourself over a multitude of nations.
For power was given to you from the Lord,
And your lordship from the Most High,
Who will make a careful search of your works
And examine closely your plans.

Personal Challenge

Once again, the teachings of the scriptures challenge the ways of the world. Our world around us teaches us that it is up to us to make our way up the ladder of success and leadership. We are to set our eyes on our goal and do whatever it takes to get there, even if it means using and abusing others along the way. But the scriptures teach differently. Sure, this passage is talking kings and judges, but it can apply to any position of leadership, whether it be executives or managers at work, or leaders in volunteer organizations, or priests, deacons, and pastors in churches, but God is the one that puts people into these roles and He expects a higher level of accountability from them for what they do in that role. Jesus highlighted this expect­ation when He said, “for everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required.” Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!