Friday Thought -- May 9, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Go south to the road – the desert road -- that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.’ So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, ‘Go to that chariot and stay near it.’ --- The eunuch asked Philip, ‘Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?’ Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus.” (Acts 8:26-29, 34-35)

The apostles weren’t the only ones who had amazing stories to tell of how God worked in their lives and through them to touch others.

Philip was one of the men selected to take care of the widows in the church. He and the others made sure that the distribution of food to them was done fairly so that everyone got the same amount and their needs were met. But that’s not where Philip’s ministry ended. He was also a powerful preacher of the good news of Jesus Christ.

One of the principles you can draw from this passage is that God puts His people where He needs them. The Ethiopian was ripe for the gospel. He was seeking God but having difficulty understanding what God meant and how to apply it to his own life. So, God sent someone to him to explain the way to have a relationship with Him.

There is a promise in Jeremiah and the Ethiopian is an example of how God fulfills it. “You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jeremiah 29:14) The principle is that God seekers are always satisfied. It’s not that a person can find God on his own, just by doing an intellectual search. Rather, it is that when a person takes even the tiniest step toward God, seeking Him, that God orchestrates His servants to provide someone to share Christ with them.

God brought Philip and the Ethiopian together because the Ethiopian was ready to listen to the gospel.

One key to effective evangelism is to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit’s work in your own life, ready to go where He sends, and talk to anyone He brings into your path. You may be someone else’s Philip. How thrilling that would be for you -- how life-changing that would be for the other person!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- May 8, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Stephen was accused of preaching about trying to change the customs of the Law of Moses and destroy the Temple. Those were outrages to the Jewish rulers and they brought him to trial for his life. It must have been a frightening experience for Stephen, but he was faithful to the message of Jesus and took the opportunity of his trial to preach the Gospel! What faith – what boldness!

In the midst of his sermon, Stephen made a claim that deserves our notice. He said, “The Most High does not live in houses made by men. As the prophet says: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build for me?’ says the Lord. ‘Or where will my resting place be? Has not my hand made all these things?’” (Acts 7:48-50)

It was arrogant of the Jewish people to think that they had made a building to which God would confine Himself. The Temple was a grand structure, but it was not grand enough to be God’s dwelling place. God could live atop the most majestic mountain or  He could dwell in the deepest and most spectacular cave. He could identify the most beautiful exotic island and declare that His home. All of them were made by Him and any of them could be His dwelling place. Yet even those places, with far more splendor than anything man could ever hope to build, were an inadequate place for God to live.

God would not confine Himself to one location – not even heaven itself. His presence extends over all of His creation. He dwells in every remote corner of what He has made.

And here’s the most amazing thought of all – God has chosen even to dwell in the hearts of men and women who follow Him. As Paul declared, “Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Church buildings are nice places for the people of God to gather for fellowship, teaching, and worship – but they are not the exclusive dwelling places of God. He does dwell in them – but He dwells in every other corner of creation, too.

Thank God that He isn’t confined to what we make for Him.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Wednesday Thought -- May 7, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. They produced false witnesses, who testified, ‘This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us.’ All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel.” (Acts 6:12-15)

The story of Stephen is a lesson in how to handle adversity and opposition.

Stephen was a powerful man of God.

His ministry was characterized by a servant’s heart -- he accepted the role of distributing food to the widows of the church in order to relieve the apostles of that responsibility and allow them to focus on prayer and the word of God.

His ministry was also characterized by grace and power -- God touched people’s needs through Stephen in miraculous ways.

His ministry was also known for his powerful preaching in wisdom and the Spirit.

Sounds like a person who should have been highly respected and to whom people should have listened. That was true in the church and among many outsiders and God brought many to Christ through him. But it was not true of all people. There were those, even those in powerful places, who opposed Stephen, who wanted to see him stopped. And they would resort to any deception in order to get Stephen out of the way. They stirred up the people against him. They brought false witnesses to testify against him. They spoke lies about him, accusing him of things he never said.

And how did Stephen respond? In the midst of fierce opposition that would result in his execution, Stephen trusted God. They looked at him and his “face was like the face of an angel.” That reflects the spirit of peace and trust that Stephen had, even as the situation deteriorated around him.

So, do you trust God even in the midst of adversity and opposition? You can! God is trustworthy, even in the worst situations.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Tuesday Thought -- May 6, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, ‘It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.’  This proposal pleased the whole group.” (Acts 6:1-4)

One of the principles that I see in so many biblical teachings is the principle of balance. Balance between two competing priorities is one of the principles that is illustrated in the early verses of Acts 6.

In this passage we see the importance of meeting the physical needs of people competing with the value of meeting their spiritual needs.

There was a group of widows who felt their physical needs were being neglected by the early church. No one among the leaders of the early church argued that these widows were wrong in their perception. They also seemed to recognize the problem and wanted to do something about it. But the apostles also knew that if they took on the task of organizing the church to meet the physical needs of the widows, then there would be other work that would not get done. The ministry of the Word and prayer would be neglected if the apostles devoted themselves to the physical needs of the people in the church.

The biblical solution was to find a way to meet both kinds of needs. The apostles would continue to devote themselves to the ministry of the Word and to prayer – the primary responsibilities that God had assigned to them. A new group of leaders would be identified to organize the meeting of the physical needs of the widows of the church.

The result of this balanced solution was that the word of God spread and the number of disciples increased. The balanced solution resulted in a healthier church than if either of these two competing priorities had been allowed to dominate to the neglect of the other priority.

Balance – look for this principle in other biblical teachings and seek to practice it in your own life.

His, by Grace,

Steve

Monday Thought -- May 5, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

“Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events. The apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon's Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” (Acts 5:11-14)

Today’s Bible passage contains great paradoxes. It comes on the heels of the story of Ananias and Sapphira. Here were two people who were more concerned about how they looked to people than they were about what God thought of them. They lied to God and to the church and God immediately struck them dead.

You can understand why “great fear seized the church.” There were other sinners among the people of the church. In fact, there weren’t any people who were a part of the church who weren’t sinners. They probably wondered which sinner God would strike dead next. Of course, God doesn’t often strike sinners dead on the spot --- fortunately! How He acted toward Ananias and Sapphira was His own sovereign decision.

But note that though “great fear seized the whole church,” the people in the church didn’t desert it. They continued to meet with the other believers. They were afraid -- terrified -- but they knew they couldn’t leave. What they were a part of was right and the Lord and His church was the only place they had to turn.

And there is a paradox in the attitude of those outside the church, too. “No one else dared join them.” But even though that was true, the church was “highly regarded by the people.” And, “More and more men and women believed and were added to their number.” A jumble of attitudes -- fear, respect, and a willingness to join.

The church is a paradox. It’s certainly a paradox to the world. It’s even a paradox to those who are a part of it in some ways and at some times. Perhaps that’s because the idea of the church is bigger than any human can comprehend -- most of God’s work is!

His, by Grace,

Steve

Friday Thought -- May 2, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

The rulers of the Jews commanded Peter and John and the other Christians to stop spreading the message of Jesus and they threatened them if they did continue. Then they released Peter and John and the two apostles rejoined the rest of the church. What’s remarkable is to read the response of the church to the threats that were made and the commands that were given.

“‘Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.’ 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.” (Acts 4:29-31)

In response to the threats, the Christians asked God to give them the ability to speak the word of God with great boldness. The threats didn’t keep the Christians from spreading the message that God wanted them to spread. The threats just drove them more fully to God and encouraged them to rely on God’s protection and power.

For the Christians, there was something in their lives that was more important than their safety and their comfort. Doing God’s will was the most important thing in their lives. Even if God’s will brought them into danger and put them on the wrong side of the authorities – they would accept the hardships and continue to do what God wanted.

We live in a day in which there is little hardship attached to doing what God wants us to do. We can share the message of God with those around us without concern that the authorities will try to stop us or in some way make our life more difficult because of what we do. We can be obedient to God’s commands without fear.

I wonder if in our safety we are as bold as the Christians in the early church were in their danger?

His, by Grace,

Steve

Thursday Thought -- May 1, 2014

Good Morning Friends,

Listen to the conclusion of Peter’s message to the rulers of the Jews: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)

That is an offensive statement. It sure is today! Our culture demands tolerance, not exclusivity. Our culture demands that people believe that there are many truths and whatever truth a person embraces is fine. Many, many people are offended today by the claim of Christians that salvation only comes through a relationship with Jesus Christ.

That was an offensive statement when Peter made it, too. That’s not what the Jewish rulers believed. They believed salvation came from a blood relationship with Abraham through Jacob. They believed that it was the Jewish people that were saved and no one else, unless they converted to Judaism. They had an exclusive faith, too, but it was exclusive in a different way. They were offended by Peter’s statement that Jesus even entered into the salvation equation.

The Jewish rulers demanded that Peter and the other apostles stop preaching that offensive message. “They called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” (Acts 4:18)

I could see our culture making that kind of demand. It’s a demand that has already been made in some parts of the world. There are places where it is a crime to preach the salvation message of Jesus. It may be a crime in the United States someday, too.

So the question is -- how should Christians respond to a demand to stop preaching the salvation message of Jesus? It’s a question that Peter and John answered for us so that there would be no confusion if the situation ever arose again. “But Peter and John replied, ‘Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.’” (Acts 4:19-20)

Is it offensive? YES.

Is it exclusive? YES.

But it’s not our message – it’s God’s! He has asked us to proclaim it and obedience to Him takes precedence over any other obedience!

His, by Grace,

Steve