Acts 22 -- That One Word

Paul was suddenly in the middle of a riot – and he was the one it was focused on.   The Roman captain wasn’t about to have a riot occurring on his watch.  The crowd was quieted and Paul began to speak in Aramaic, first using his background as a Pharisee to capture their attention, and then describing his conversion on the way to Damascus.  The people listened well until he said one thing:

 

“But the Lord said to me, ‘Leave now.  I will send you far away to the Gentile people.’”

 

My commentary said, “Paul was about to explain why he was involved with the Gentiles, but the Jews in the temple courts would not permit him to go on.  No devout Jew would have anything to do with the Gentiles!  Had Paul not uttered that one word, he might have later been released; and perhaps he knew this.”

 

The Jews began to riot again over this.  Paul played his Roman citizen card to prevent a beating.  It would be the start of his government-paid trip to Rome.

 

Father, I admire Paul’s courage in the face of such persecution.  You really changed him and led him to be bold for You.  I pray that I will not shrink from declaring the gospel.  Thank You that we are more free now to discuss it than Paul ever was.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 21 -- Twice Warned

Paul was warned twice by the Holy Spirit through others that he would encounter trouble in Jerusalem.  He told them he was not only ready to be tied up, but even to die for Christ. 

 

My commentary took up the question of whether Paul was right or wrong in going to Jerusalem, given these warnings:

 

“On the con side, these repeated messages do sound like warnings to Paul to stay out of Jerusalem … over 20 years before, the Lord had commanded Paul to get out of Jerusalem …  On the pro side, the prophesies can be taken as warnings rather than as prohibitions.  The statement in verse 4 does not use the Greek negative ou, which means absolute prohibition…. In view of Paul’s statement in Acts 23:1 and the Lord’s encouraging words in Acts 23:11, it is difficult to believe that the apostle deliberately disobeyed the revealed will of God.”

 

It appears that the Holy Spirit was making sure that Paul knew what he was about to encounter.  He was being transparent.

 

Father, You care enough about us to help us understand the consequences we’ll face for standing up for You.  You also have told us that the world will not like or appreciate our message.  As You did for Paul, help us to understand and accept what the world may do, knowing that hearing You say, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” will more than make up for anything we suffer as a result.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 20 -- If WE'D Been The Elders From Ephesus

As he headed back to Jerusalem, Paul asked the elders from Ephesus to join him at Miletus so that he could reach Jerusalem in time for Pentecost.  My commentary pointed to “Paul’s warnings to them of the dangers they had to recognize and deal with if they were to protect and lead the church”:

 

Dangers around us:  meaning the false teachers who would be trying to come into the church and change their beliefs

 

Dangers among us:  meaning people within the church who are ambitious for position and power

 

Dangers within us:  Paul named five sins that are destructive to the life and ministry of spiritual leaders.

 

Those five sins are:

 

Carelessness:  Failing to stay alert and forgetting the price others have paid so we might have God’s truth

 

Shallowness:  We can’t build the church unless God is building our lives daily

 

Covetousness:  A consuming and controlling desire for what others have and for more of what we already have.  It leads us to break the other commandments

 

Laziness:  Making sure we’re earning what we’re paid to do

 

Selfishness:  Following Christ’s example, being more about giving rather than getting

 

 

Father, help me to review what’s going on in my life right now.  Show me if I’m blind to any of these, and if so, help me to take heed and root it out of my life!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 19 -- Which Side Of The Cross?

Twelve men Paul met professed to be Christians and had been baptized with John’s baptism, but did not have the Holy Spirit.  Paul explained to them what the problem was:  “John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance that looked forward to the coming of the Messiah, while Christian baptism is a baptism that looks back to the finished work of Christ on the cross and His victorious resurrection.  John’s baptism was on the other side of Calvary and Pentecost.  It was correct for its day but now that day was ended,” my commentary said.

 

In verses 18-19, Luke mentions people who had “apparently not made a clean break with sin and were still practicing their magic, but the Lord had dealt with them,” according to my commentary.  “They kept coming … kept confessing …kept showing,”  and when God was finished with them, they didn’t bother to count the cost.  They were sold out to God and burned magic books worth the wages of 150 men for a year.  When we get our priorities straight with God and sell out wholeheartedly to Him, it’s important that we let nothing hold us back either.

 

Father, a clean break with sin was called for here.  If we hold out a part of our lives for ourselves – not willing to give it up to You – then we resemble the people in this chapter.  Help us to hold back nothing, but instead to let You be Lord of everything in our lives.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 18 -- The Message To Paul Was ...

“During the night, the Lord told Paul in a vision, “Don’t be afraid.  Continue talking to people and don’t be quiet.  I am with you, and no one will hurt you because many of My people are in this city.”

 

My commentary entitled this chapter, “It’s Always Too Soon To Quit” and it quoted Charles Spurgeon as saying, “By perseverance, the snail reached the ark.”

 

I know that God’s timing is always right on, and I take this as a personal encouragement from Him, for this last week has almost gotten me to the point of needing to hear this.

 

Father, Your encouragement fills me with hope.  Thank You for speaking to me this morning.  I pray that I can have a time of rest from turmoil and have time to bask in You!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 17 -- Sometimes We Think Too Much For Our Own Good

The Jews sure went to a lot of trouble trying to stop the Gospel.  In Thessalonica, they put together a mob from people at the market and started a riot with them, blaming it on the Christians!  When Paul moved on to Berea, they traveled there and did the same.  Finally Paul had to go to Athens alone while things cooled down.  Athens was a has-been city long past its prime by then.  It had been a center of philosophy that had so glorified man’s intellect that by the time Paul arrived, all they could find to talk about was whatever was new.  Like many in academia, they were puffed up and prideful and liked to hear themselves talk. 

 

Not wanting to miss anything or be told they were wrong, they’d even erected a monument to “the unknown god”, and when Paul found that monument, he knew he had the hook he needed.

 

One thing Paul spoke about clashed soundly with their beliefs – resurrection.  They had come to decide that the body was just a prison for the mind, and the sooner they could shed it, the better.  So then why would anyone want to be resurrected into that prison again?

 

Paul cast down a moral gauntlet as he finished and they’d have to decide:  “But now, God tells all the people in the world to change their hearts and lives.  God has set a day that He will judge all the world with fairness, by the man He chose long ago.  And God has proved this to everyone by raising that man from the dead.”

 

If they believed God was about to judge, then they had to make a choice.  If they didn’t believe, they’d unfortunately already made that choice.

 

Father, our minds cause us to think we know much more than we really do, and our pride stokes that vanity.  I fell into that trap for a long time.  I don’t want it back.  Please open closed hearts and minds tomorrow night.  Bowl them over with Your logic and not their own.  Start something big here, Father!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 16 -- What Might Have Been

Something really tugged at my heart in this chapter: 

 

“The Holy Spirit did not let them preach the Good News in the country of Asia … they tried to go into Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus did not let them.”

 

I remember reviewing these places on a map not long ago.  Paul was heading up and down the Mediterranean coast in what we now know as Turkey.  Here, he was wanting to move inland.  Had he been allowed to continue on that course, he would have taken the Gospel to the coast of the Black Sea, and from there it would have been a short sail to what we now know as Ukraine – my boys’ original home.  Cities there might have been mentioned in the Bible!

 

But the Spirit did not let Paul and his companions travel there.  God in His sovereignty sent the Word first to Europe instead of Asia.  I have to remember two things:

 

1)       This summer Ukraine celebrated the 1,025^th anniversary of Christianity arriving in their country.  Now that’s history!

2)      Had God done it all in reverse, America might not have become a Christian nation and I might never have been led to travel to Ukraine to adopt my sons! 

 

Thank You for listening and obeying, Paul!

 

Father, we have an opportunity in two more days to impact many lives for Christ.  Help me to be like Paul when the time comes.  Show me who You are drawing to Yourself.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 15 -- Godly Guidance For Church Disagreements

“The progress of the gospel has often been hindered by people with closed minds who stand in front of open doors and block the way for others,” my commentary said.

 

About 20 years after Jesus’ death and resurrection, the church faced a problem.  Would the Gentile believers have to become Jews first, or not?  It took a church council to find God’s truth in the matter.

 

Peter reminded them that God had sent him to the Gentiles; that Cornelius’ family had been saved by hearing and believing, not by obeying the law of Moses; and God had also validated that by giving them the Holy Spirit.  As far as the law went, “The law was given to the Jewish nation to protect them from the evils of the Gentile world and to prepare them to bring the Messiah into the world.  The law cannot purify the sinner’s heart, impart the gift of the Holy Spirit, or give eternal life … God did that through His Son.”

 

The only response from those gathered was silence.  Paul and Barnabas then spoke up, reminding everyone of what God was doing at present among the Gentiles.  Then James, the brother of Jesus, “called those saved Gentiles ‘a people for God’s own name.’”  This had in the past been exclusively Jewish territory, but people couldn’t deny that Gentiles were being called out to believe!

 

The council finally compromised with a request for obedience to two commands and two personal concessions.  The commands involved avoiding idolatry and immorality – sins that were very prevalent among the Gentiles.  The concessions involved not eating meat from strangled animals and not eating blood, for a strangled animal did not have the blood properly drained from it, and God had given the prohibition against eating blood long before Moses. 

 

These compromises would prevent a lot of hard feelings yet not affect the truth of the Gospel.  Jews and Gentiles were finding ways to lovingly compromise in order to produce loving unity that would help the world see Christ through the church.

 

Father, help our church to be more interested in having the world see our loving unity than ever deciding who will win a particular battle, for everyone loses when we let that happen.  Lead us to compromise when the Gospel itself is still faithfully preached.  Help us to ask, “How will our decisions affect the united witness of the church to the lost?” as my commentary described.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 14 -- Problems With Success

“Once again, the unbelieving Jews stirred up hatred and opposition …” my commentary said.  I keep noticing as I read that the very people of God had gotten to the point that they would often incite riots, but generally they would let others fight their battles for them.  They were cowardly, it seems, but by getting others to do their dirty work they may have been hedging their bets (they thought) just in case they were wrong.

 

Paul and Barnabas had just left Cyprus as a result of just this sort of thing, and they came to Iconium, where they stayed a long time, “speaking bravely for the Lord.”  Then a cloud once again showed up:  “But the city was divided.”  Amazingly, there appeared to be only two sides – the Jews and the apostles.  The Gentiles were having to decide which side they were going to come down on.  Unfortunately, Paul and Barnabas were about to be stoned, so they quickly left the city, traveling to Lystra and Derbe.

 

A miracle from God, given to help unbelievers to have faith, was taken the wrong way by the hearers in Lystra.  A man who’d been crippled from birth was healed by God as Paul spoke.  The locals, though, believed that their own gods had come down as Paul and Barnabas, and they tried to worship them.

 

Once again the Jewish troublemakers showed up, and they incited the crowds against them, and where minutes before the locals were wanting to worship Paul and Barnabas, now they were stoning Paul!  They left him outside the city, thinking him dead, but the followers gathered around him and he returned to the city overnight before heading to Derbe.

 

Despite the dangers, they returned to the cities they’d preached in as they made their way back to their home church in Antioch, and in each city they took time to organize the new local churches and strengthen the believers.  My commentary said, “The local church is both an organism and an organization, for if an organism is not organized, it will die.”

 

Father, relatively speaking, we have it so much easier than they did.  We have much better transportation and communication, and a wealth of resources.  How much more we should be able to do.  Show us this very point this weekend as we do our best to reach people we might otherwise never reach through our Back To School Bash with Flame.  Use it to glorify Yourself and lean nonbelievers to You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 13 -- The Two Sides Of The Evangelism Coin

Paul had certainly done a 180 from where he’d been.  He moved from using the Scriptures to condemn the new Christians to using them to support both them and himself.  It’s amazing to see how blind the learned can be, but it’s doubly amazing to see those same minds which have been opened to God’s truth and to watch as God puts them to work on His behalf.

 

Something in my commentary caught my attention.  Acts 13:49-49 says, “When those who were not Jewish heard Paul say this, they were happy and gave honor to the message of the Lord.  And the people who were chosen to have life forever believed the message.  So the message of the Lord was spreading through the whole country.”

 

My commentary said about those italicized portions that in verse 48 we are given “the divine side of evangelism, for God has His elect people … God’s people have their names written in God’s book.  But acts 13:49 is the human side of evangelism:  if we do not preach the Word, then nobody can believe and be saved.  It takes both.”

 

Father, because You are omnipotent, You don’t need anything or anyone to accomplish Your purposes.  But because You chose this method of bringing people to Yourself, You chose to involve us as Christians in evangelism to tell the Good News to those You’ve determined beforehand to save.  Thank You for the awesome privilege of getting to be a part of what You are doing.  Thanks also for turning my thinking around and screwing my head on straight, so that I, like Paul, could properly use the mental resources You’ve given me to work for You and not against You.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 11 & 12 -- Letting GOD Deal With Our Enemies

Peter had been right in the middle of God’s will, yet suddenly found himself in prison!  Herod Agrippa had killed James, the brother of John, to curry favor with the Jews.  And if James’ death did so much, then how much more would Peter’s death accomplish?  So he had him arrested and chained between two guards 24/7, with two others guarding the doors.

 

God Sees Our Trials: 

“The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous.” (1 Peter 3:12)  My commentary said, “It is good to know that, no matter how difficult the trials or how disappointing the news, God is still on the throne and has everything under control.  We may not always understand His ways, but we know His sovereign will is best.”

 

God Hears Our Prayers:

“Peter simply laid hold of the promise Jesus had made to him and committed the entire situation to God,” my commentary said.

 

God Deals With Our Enemies:

“But the face of the Lord is against them that do evil.” (Again, 1 Peter 3:12)  My commentary continued, “At the beginning of Acts 12, Herod seems to be in control, and the church was losing the battle.  But at the end of the chapter, Herod is dead and the church – very much alive – is growing rapidly.  The secret?  A praying church.”

 

Father, Your timing is excellent again.  I know that You see my trials and that You hear my prayers.  Help me to trust You always.  Increase my faith.  Deal with my enemies and keep their schemes from coming to fruition.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 10 -- Be Careful When You Say, "No, Lord!"

“But Peter said, ‘No, Lord!’”  That’s a clear indication that he was wrong.  Jesus cannot be Lord of our lives and be refused at the same time.  What he was saying no to was God’s command to eat what he considered unclean food.  But God had made all food clean in Peter’s vision, and Peter didn’t yet know that.  God had implied it by His command to eat, and now He explains the change as well.  It wasn’t just about food, though.  It was about God calling Gentiles holy as well, and Peter, being orthodox Jewish had to change his mind-set.  God had arranged the timing perfectly so that Peter would see this, for Cornelius’ servants were knocking on the door at that very moment.

 

My commentary noted that this new belief had already begun to take root in Peter’s life since he then invited the Gentile messengers to stay overnight in his home – something strictly forbidden by Jewish Orthodoxy.

 

God also had Cornelius explaining his vision so that Peter could see that God was at work on both ends of the line.

 

My commentary said, “The seeking Savior will find the seeking sinner.  Wherever there is a searching heart, God responds.  That is why it is essential that we as God’s children obey His will and share His Word.  You never know when your witness for Christ is exactly what somebody has been waiting and praying for.”

 

Peter began to preach, but it wasn’t long before he was interrupted – by the Holy Spirit Himself as He came down and rested upon the Gentile believers just as He had on the Jewish believers.  According to my commentary, this would prove to the six Jewish witnesses what God was doing, for those men had not seen Peter’s vision and needed to understand that this was God-ordained.

 

Father, thank You for reminding me that all people, regardless of condition, race, economic status, or any other artificial wall of separation we can come up with are in need of a Savior, and we should not use any excuses for not telling them about Jesus.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 10 -- The Arrestor Gets Arrested

Saul was headed to Damascus, thrilled that he’d managed to be given permission by the high priest to arrest the heretics who were attempting to destroy the Hebrew faith (he thought).  But as my commentary noted, it was God was arrested Saul!  “Like many other rabbis, he believed that the law had to be obeyed BEFORE Messiah could come, and yet these heretics were preaching against the law, the temple, and the traditions of the fathers.”

 

That day, “Saul discovered to his surprise that Jesus of Nazareth was actually alive … If Jesus was alive, then Saul had to change his mind about Jesus and His message.  He had to repent, a difficult thing for a self-righteous Pharisee to do.  Saul also discovered that he was a lost sinner who was in danger of the judgment of God. ‘ I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.’  Saul thought he had been serving God, when in reality he had been persecuting the Messiah!  When measured by the holiness of Jesus Christ, Saul’s good works and legalistic self-righteousness looked like filthy rags.  All of his values changed.  He was a new person because he trusted Jesus Christ … He had to lose his religion before he could gain the righteousness of Christ.”

 

God gave him three days of blindness to sort out what he believed.  He didn’t eat or drink.  “He had to learn the relationship between the gospel of the grace of God and the traditional Mosaic religion that he had practiced all his life.”

 

Another man, Ananias, had a visit from the Lord in Damascus, too.  At first he feared the message – he was to go to Saul and heal him of his blindness.  My commentary said of it, “We should never be afraid to obey God’s will … When God commands, we must remember that He is working at both ends of the line and that His perfect will is always the best.”

 

Finally, I read that “we must never underestimate the value of one person brought to Christ.  Peter was ministering to thousands in Jerusalem, and Philip had a great harvest in Samaria, but Ananias was sent to only one man.”  Yet what became of that one contact!

 

Father, You’ve amazed me over the years as I’ve seen what You’ve done in and through those You’ve allowed me to disciple.  I so look forward to what You will do in and through their lives as You grow Your kingdom.  I pray that You will continue to help me and use me and that I will never be afraid to obey Your will.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 8 -- What God Does With Hard Times

“On that day, the church ... began to be persecuted, and all the believers … were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.  Philip went to the city of Samaria and preached about the Christ … But there was a man named Simon in that city …”

 

Through persecution, God was spreading His gospel.  The Jews were intending to stop the Gospel, but God made sure their schemes had the opposite effect.

 

So what of Simon?  He practiced magic and had become so successful at it that people were saying, “This man has the powers of God, called ‘the Great Power’!”  Satan had actually raised up a counterfeit.

 

Philip showed up in Samaria and began to preach, and men and women believed and were baptized.  “Simon himself believed and was baptized … When he saw the miracles and the powerful things Philip did, Simon was amazed.”

 

Peter and John came to Samaria and after they laid hands on the new believers, the Holy Spirit entered the hearts of those new believers.

 

Simon slipped up when he begged the apostles to grant him their same authority to lay hands on people.  If he believed, then what was going on??  My commentary said that there was no indication that he repented of his sins, and he certainly did not believe with all his heart.  His belief or faith was solely “in the miracles he saw Philip perform.”  Additionally, he wanted Peter and John to pray for him.  My commentary said, “A sinner who wants the prayers of others but who will not pray himself is not going to enter God’s kingdom.  This episode only shows how close a person can come to salvation and still not be converted.  Simon heard the Gospel, saw the miracles, gave a profession of faith in Christ, and was baptized, and yet he was never born again.”

 

Father, help me to have discernment regarding this very thing, particularly when I speak to those in our youth group.  I so need to be able to see this happening and help them to know the difference between what they’re doing and real saving faith in Christ.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 7 -- Stephen's Indictment Of The Nation, Not Himself

My commentary said that Stephen’s long sermon was “more than a recitation of familiar facts; it was also a refutation of their indictments against Stephen and a revelation of their own national sins.  Stephen proved from their own Scriptures that the Jewish nation was guilty of worse sins than those they accused him of committing.”

 

My commentary also had a very interesting take of what three specific events meant:

 

“For Israel, Stephen’s death meant condemnation … When they allowed Herod to kill John, the Jews sinned against God the Father who had sent John.  When they asked Pilate to crucify Jesus, they sinned against God the Son, and when they stoned Stephen, Israel sinned against the Holy Spirit who was working in and through the apostles.  Jesus said that this sin could never be forgiven.”

 

For Paul, Stephen’s death eventually meant salvation.  There he was, holding the cloaks of those stoning Stephen.  “God never wastes the blood of His saints.  Saul would one day see the same glory that Stephen saw and would behold the Son of God and hear Him speak!”

 

Father, help me not to hold back as I tell others about what You did on that cross.  Let my words be used by You to lead others to saving faith in the sacrifice of Your Son.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 6 -- Not A Problem, But An Opportunity

They were having a problem in the new church.  My commentary calls it an opportunity:  “Problems give us the opportunity to examine our ministry and discover what changes must be made.  In times of success, it is easy for us to maintain the status quo, but this is dangerous.  Success in ‘a last-year’s nest from which the birds have flown’.  Any ministry or organization that thinks its success will go on automatically is heading for failure.  We must regularly examine our lives and our ministries lest we start taking things for granted.”

 

It went on, “The apostles studied the situation and concluded that they were to blame:  they were so busy serving tables that they were neglecting prayer and the ministry of the Word of God.  They had created their own problem because they were trying to do too much.  It is a matter of priorities; the apostles were doing jobs that others could do just as well … It is better to put 10 men to work than to try to do the work of 10 men…  The church was not afraid to adjust their structure in order to make room for a growing ministry.  When structure and ministry collide, this gives us an opportunity to trust God for the solutions.”

 

Father, help me to see problems as opportunities, rather than seeing them as more little dogs nipping at my heels.  Thank you for this great example of love overpowering potential pride.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 5 -- Be CAREFUL What You Say And Pray

Satan tried to work from within the church when his efforts outside the church failed.  My commentary said, “He knows how to lie to the minds and hearts of church members, even genuine Christians, and get them to follow his orders.”

 

Ananias and Sapphira wanted the same type of recognition that Barnabas had received for his generosity.  But they didn’t want to pay the same price.  “Pride opens the door to every other sin, for once we are more concerned with our reputation than our character, there is no end to the things we will do just to make ourselves look good before others,” my commentary said.

 

This paragraph in my commentary really got me, however:

 

“It is easy for us to condemn Ananias and Sapphira for their dishonesty, but we need to examine our own lives to see if our profession is backed up by our practice.  Do we really mean everything we pray about in public?  Do we sing the hymns and gospel songs sincerely or routinely?  ‘These people honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me.’  If God killed religious deceivers today, how many church members would be left?”

 

Wow, Father!  Thank You for calling me to honesty about my prayers, my promises, and my professions.  Guide my heart to always be on guard against falsehood in my words.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 4 -- How They PRAYED

The believers prayed, “Lord, help us, Your servants, to speak Your word without fear.  Help us to be brave …”  God answered their prayers.

 

I loved what I read in my commentary about it all:

 

“Do not pray for easy lives.  Pray to be stronger men and women.  Do not pray for tasks equal to your powers.  Pray for powers equal to your tasks.”

 

“The early church strongly believed in God’s sovereignty and His perfect plan for His people.  But note that they did not permit their faith in divine sovereignty to destroy human responsibility, for they were faithful to witness and pray.  It is when God’s people get out of balance and overemphasize either sovereignty or responsibility that the church loses power.”

 

And lastly, “Nothing lies beyond the reach of prayer except that which lies outside the will of God.”

 

Father, my prayer life could be so much stronger than it is.  Please help me to pray as they prayed!

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 3 -- Our Ignorance

Two fishermen, uneducated by the Jewish religious establishment but empowered by the Holy Spirit, met a beggar at a Temple gate for a divine appointment.  After healing him by his faith in Jesus, they spoke to the amazed and growing crowd. 

 

Yes, they were guilty as Jews of killing their own Messiah, but Peter, after “announcing their crime, presenting the evidence, and explaining the nature of their sin, then offered them pardon,” my commentary said.  “The prosecuting attorney became the defense attorney and the pardoning judge.”  It likely helped greatly that he said in verse 17, “I know you did those things to Jesus because neither you nor your leaders understood what you were doing.”  He told them that this was a sin of ignorance.  Jesus had prayed, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing.”  They knew what that meant, for in Numbers there was a clear distinction drawn between willful sin and sins of ignorance.  “The person who sinned unwittingly and without deliberate intent was given opportunity to repent and seek God’s forgiveness,” my commentary said.

 

Knowing they had this chance at mercy and grace from God, they listened as he told them that they needed to repent of their sins – being sorry enough to quit them – and to then turn to Jesus in saving faith for having taken the punishment meant for them.  It wasn’t enough to simply regret getting caught or to feel terrible about what they’d done.  “It was admitting that what God says is true, and because it is true, to change our mind about our sins and about the Savior.”

 

Father, thank You for having worked this miracle in my own heart.  Help me to show others the miracle of Your offer of spiritual healing through repentance and belief in Your Son’s sacrifice for them.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 2 -- After The Noise

Fifty days after Jesus had risen from the dead, the disciples and others were all together.  My commentary suggested they may have even been at the Temple.  Everyone, including people nearby on the streets, heard a noise that sounded like a strong windstorm, only no one felt the wind.  Those in the room saw not an actual flame, but something that resembled one standing over each person in the room.  For the first time, the Holy Spirit didn’t just dwell in one person at a time for a limited time, but instead He came to reside in each person there, as He now does in the lives of every new Christian.  The Holy Spirit enabled them to be understood by people who were hearing the words in their own native languages!  Many were truly amazed by this, as they should have been, since none of the disciples had every studied foreign languages.  What they were hearing were praises to God, not just idle conversations.  They heard what great things God had done!

 

Peter stood up and explained to those marveling that, yes, Jesus had died, but that God had raised Him from the dead, and He had also been taken up to Heaven.  Now, instead of one Man telling about God and His plans for us, the Holy Spirit would be available for all Christians to help them hear and understand.

 

Three thousand people came to saving faith in Christ that day, and their lifestyles were changed.  They wanted to know more about God (something the Holy Spirit was accomplishing), and they had concern for each other’s needs more than their own.  This became the makings of the first church.

 

Father, remind us in the church today of how different we have become compared to how these first church members reacted to You.  Help us to see their desire to be involved every day and not just once a week in what You are doing.  Lead us to better understand and do Your will here on earth!

 

 

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford

Acts 1 -- What Do We Do Now?

I can’t imagine what it must have been like – spending three years watching Jesus and getting an entirely new perspective on how God wants us to live, then being devastated by His death on the cross; only days later becoming overjoyed by seeing that He indeed still lived, having been raised from the dead.  And now, after 40 more wonderful days with Him on earth, hearing His last instructions, then with no notice at all, watching as He ascended into Heaven!  What must their emotional states have been like?

 

They were given hope that they would see Him return in the same manner, but each one of them eventually passed on and still await that return.

 

What did they do when He left?  They returned to that upper room and they continued praying together.  What were those prayer times like?  Surely they prayed for strength to somehow live their lives without Jesus being there with them.  There’d be large empty spots in their hearts for sure.  They’d need guidance – ministry was beginning and they’d need to realize that what they’d seen happening for three years was the primary guidance they’d have.

 

Then there was the anti-Christian atmosphere around them – particularly among all of the Jewish people who likely felt suckered in by just another false Messiah.  This business of putting together a church when it hadn’t been done before – how is it accomplished?

 

One thing Jesus told them before leaving must have held them together, “Wait here to receive the promise from the father which I told you about … in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

 

In his study Experiencing God, Henry Blackaby said that if you are uncertain what God is wanting you to do next, then keep doing the last thing He told you.  And that’s what they did.  They wouldn’t have long to wait.

 

Father, I thank You so much for helping me pass a milestone yesterday that continues to show Your faithfulness.  Please ready me for whatever next step You have in mind for us.  Please keep my heart open and pliable to what You are doing and place me right in the center of Your will.

 

Your Brother In Christ,

Gary Ford