Month: September 2022

Acts 20:23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me.

Paul’s only goal is “to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given” him. That’s all. Nothing more. He knows he will endure hardships along the path, but he considers them worth it to achieve his goal.

Acts 20:24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace.

He also sees his work with these people as complete. He’s done all he could. He’s committing them to God and His grace. He’s moving on to achieve the greater goal.

Acts 20:32 “Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

Lord, There is much I can learn from Paul: Dedication to the goal You have given me, no fear of hardships that must be endured for that goal, once I’ve done all I can, the need to commit Your people to Your grace and continue toward that greater goal. Help me never to lose sight of the goal You have for me. Help me to bring you praise and glory in the process. Amen.

Acts 20:35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”

Have a blessed day.

Acts 19:8 Paul entered the synagogue and spoke boldly there for three months, arguing persuasively about the kingdom of God.

Lord, Sometimes it feels like all I’m doing is beating my head against a wall, yelling impotently into the wind. Help me never to forget—even when I don’t feel effective—that You have a plan and a purpose for me and that You are working all things to my good and Your glory.

Acts 19:9 But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

Lord, Sometimes I feel like I am really in a good space, shining Your light, comforting Your people. Help me never to lose sight of the fact that that is Your victory, not mine. Help me to stay humble in You, to reflect Your love and grace at all times.

Acts 19:10 This went on for two years, so that all the Jews and Greeks who lived in the province of Asia heard the word of the Lord.

Lord, You can do extraordinary things through me if I allow. Help me to get out of Your way. Help me to keep shining for You, even on the tough days. Draw me closer. Help me to remember that You are always with me. Amen.

Acts 19:11 God did extraordinary miracles through Paul….

Have a blessed day.

Acts 18:5 When Silas and Timothy came from Macedonia, Paul devoted himself exclusively to preaching, testifying to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah.

It brings me some small measure of comfort to know that those early disciples expanding the church faced challenges that feel familiar. I wonder if they struggled with the assault of doubt that can come with opposition—Am I doing the right thing? Is this where I should be? Lord, are you trying to move me somewhere else or teaching me to trust?

Acts 18:6 But when they opposed Paul and became abusive, he shook out his clothes in protest and said to them, “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.”

I think the important thing to remember is that they were human just like us, they made mistakes, they made missteps. But their hearts were for Jesus, for sharing with others the Good News of His life and love. Looks like we aren’t so different after all.

Acts 18:9-10 One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: “Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent. For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city.”

Lord, Thank You for knowing our hearts, for speaking words of love and encouragement to us, especially when we struggle. Help us stay the course, even when it gets tough. Amen.

Acts 18:11 So Paul stayed in Corinth for a year and a half, teaching them the word of God.

Have a blessed day.

Acts 17:24 “The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.

Since Paul is spreading the Good News of Christ in these chapters, there is so much truth we can hold on to here. God is not relegated to church buildings and He is not served by human hands because He is helpless. He is the Creator. We are the creation. He gives us “life and breath and everything else.”

Acts 17:25 And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything. Rather, he himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.

And why does the God of all Creation do this? So that we would seek Him, reach out for Him, and find Him because “he is not far from any one of us.” Simple yet profound and fundamentally life changing.

Acts 17:27 God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.

Lord, Thank You. Who You are and what You do and have done for us is mind-blowing. And yet, You want us to seek You, to reach out for You. You want relationship with Your people. Help me, daily, seek to strengthen my relationship with You. Draw me closer. Amen.

Acts 17:28 ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

Have a blessed day.

Acts 16:6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia.

I truly believe that God directs our steps, and today’s scripture shows a beautiful illustration of this idea in action. Paul and his companions tried to go to the province of Asia and to Bithynia, but the Holy Spirit did not allow them to. They were finally, successfully, allowed to go to Troas, and they did much good there.

Acts 16:7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to.

Was God directing them to something (or someone—Luke, the author of this book)? Was that the reasoning behind where they were allowed to go and not go? Was God keeping them from some danger or harm by directing their steps as He did? Does it even matter that we (or they) understand the why if God was glorified in the doing?

Acts 16:8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas.

Lord, I love You with every fiber of my being. I know You have me—mentally, physically, emotionally—exactly where I am in this moment for a purpose, and that purpose is to shine Your light and glorify Your name. Help me not to get caught up in the why, Lord. Help me to do what You have me here to do—glorify and praise You. Amen.

Acts 16:9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.”

Have a blessed day.

Acts 15:2 This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.

What strikes me about today’s reading is that it begins and ends with disagreement and dispute, just as so often happens with Christians and churches today. The conclusion drawn at the time, which still holds true today, is that believers are “under no obligation to the rituals…except the sensitivity which love demands.” So simple. So true. So easy to forget.

Acts 15:5 Then some of the believers who belonged to the party of the Pharisees stood up and said, “The Gentiles must be circumcised and required to keep the law of Moses.”

“We are saved by grace, through faith in Jesus Christ, not by any conformity to the law,” and yet, so often we tear each other down. Jesus said, “Love one another,” and yet we add stipulations. “I can’t love you because you don’t vote like me, believe like me, love like me.” Jesus, Help us.

Acts 15:8-9 God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them, for he purified their hearts by faith.

Lord, You tell us to love one another as You have loved us. And You love us fiercely and unconditionally. Forgive us for putting limits and conditions on the way we love one another. Help us to love each other as You love us, regardless of the personal sacrifice involved in such love. You are worth it, Lord. Amen.

Acts 15:11 No! We believe it is through the grace of our Lord Jesus that we are saved, just as they are.”

Have a blessed day.

Acts 14:15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.

What struck me in today’s reading is the lengths that those spreading the gospel had to go through during this time. On the one hand, they were dealing with people who thought they were Greek gods come to earth. They had to try to work through education to enlighten the people on God’s power and Jesus’s love.

Acts 14:18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.

On the other hand, they had to work against other groups preaching other truths who stoned Paul, they thought to death, and carried on as though it were nothing. Paul, who wasn’t dead, essentially brushed it off and went back to preaching the good news.

Acts 14:19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.

Lord, sometimes Your command to “love one another as I have loved you” feels so difficult. Today’s passage, however, reminds me that what You ask of me is absolutely doable. Help me to love You and love Your people always. Amen.

Acts 14:20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

Have a blessed day.

Acts 12:9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.

Peter thought he was dreaming. He didn’t worry about how the chains came off, how he would slip away without the guards waking, how the iron gate to the city would open. He trusted it would unfold as it must in his dream. And everything turned out fine.

Acts 12:10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.

How often do I worry and fret about what might happen, what could happen, how in the world is this impossible thing going to happen? Much more often than I’d be willing to admit. But I also know that I am a deeply loved child of God, that He cares for me, loves me fiercely, wants the best for me. No amount of worry or stress about potential outcomes can override His love.

Acts 12:11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

Lord, Forgive me for my doubts and fears. As Your beloved child, I have a claim to Your peace which surpasses all understanding. Help me to boldly claim that peace always. Amen.

Acts 12:12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.

Have a blessed day.

Acts 11:1 The apostles and the believers throughout Judea heard that the Gentiles also had received the word of God.

The boundary-breaking work of Jesus, the inclusivity of Jesus, was pretty radical—both then and now. For a group who had gotten very adept at both establishing and adhering to very elaborate rules of faithfulness, the Jews struggled with Jesus’s provocative inclusion of the Gentiles.

Acts 11:2 So when Peter went up to Jerusalem, the circumcised believers criticized him….

I’ve said many times before that it’s disturbingly easy to “armchair quarterback” a situation, but if I had been a part of that time and culture—rule follower that I am—I probably would have been appalled by Peter’s actions, demanding explanation as well. Jesus, forgive me.

Acts 11:3 …and said, “You went into the house of uncircumcised men and ate with them.”

Lord, Thank You for giving me compassion for those struggling with the radical changes You brought to the church. Forgive me that sometimes I get so carried away with following the rules that I lose sight of You. Help me. Draw me closer. Amen.

Acts 11:4 Starting from the beginning, Peter told them the whole story….

Have a blessed day.