In reading the Sermon Peter preached, I am amazed at how the Holy Spirit worked. Verses 36-38 are especially amazing. "This Christ whom you crucified" So Peter accuses them of being responsible for killing Jesus. Their response is, " What shall we do ?" Peter says, "repent and be baptized" And guess what? They do just that. The end of the passage tells us that they , including 3000 people received the Word and were added to the church. This is a picture of how the Holy Spirit works when His Word is preached. We do not need to pretty the Word up at all. Our job is to just preach the Word the way it was written. We let the Spirit do HIs work. Our job is to yield to His Spirit and Word and leave the results up repentance up to Him.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Waiting Acts 1-2:13
As I was reading Acts today , it occurred to me that I am not very good at waiting. Perhaps you struggle as well with waiting. We struggle especially when we are waiting in situations where God must move in order for things to happen. Often, in these cases we move ahead and try to do God's work for Him. I have found this to be disastrous. So, why does God make us wait?
I believe there are two reasons He makes us wait at times.
1. To prepare us. In scripture we see several examples of people that had to wait: Moses, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph. In all of these examples God was doing a work in the lives of those devoted to Him. While they did not always understand the reason, God brought them through and revealed Himself more fully to them.
2. To prepare others and situations. If Jesus had immediately sent is Spirit and had not waited, the pilgrims would not have reached Jerusalem . ( Read Acts 1-2 and you will see that waiting is often for the benefit of others as well.) Remember that out of the 500 people that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection, only 120 waited as He instructed and received the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Jesus, you told the people on the hillside to wait, and you also tell me to wait. I want to learn the lessons you want me to learn. Today, I trust you to__________________ (fill in the blank)
I believe there are two reasons He makes us wait at times.
1. To prepare us. In scripture we see several examples of people that had to wait: Moses, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Joseph. In all of these examples God was doing a work in the lives of those devoted to Him. While they did not always understand the reason, God brought them through and revealed Himself more fully to them.
2. To prepare others and situations. If Jesus had immediately sent is Spirit and had not waited, the pilgrims would not have reached Jerusalem . ( Read Acts 1-2 and you will see that waiting is often for the benefit of others as well.) Remember that out of the 500 people that Jesus appeared to after the resurrection, only 120 waited as He instructed and received the Holy Spirit.
Prayer: Jesus, you told the people on the hillside to wait, and you also tell me to wait. I want to learn the lessons you want me to learn. Today, I trust you to__________________ (fill in the blank)
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