Acts

Acts 13:9 says:

But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, fixed his gaze on him, and said,

Saul was a murderous Pharisee and militant defender of the Jewish religious tradition. Paul was a leading Apostle of the Church of Jesus Christ and took the gospel to the gentile world.

We talk of course of the same man.

But as Paul, he wasn’t the same man he was.

Who he was, was not who he ultimately became. He was struck down by God, became “filled with the Holy Spirit” and subsequently transformed to such a degree that his name no longer fit.

Saul was the old man, and the old man was now gone.

Paul was the new man, raised up in Jesus image and power, in the place of the old man. And so because the old man was gone, so too was the old name. New man, new name.

Has Jesus transformed your life like that? I don’t mean that you’ve changed your name. But has there been a definite separation from the old person that you used to be before you met Jesus?

Today, we need people like never before in the church who are so radically changed by the gospel of Jesus Christ that they name no longer fits them. We need people who’s identities, character, outlook and lifestyle are so radically different and on display all because of an encounter with Jesus.

Trite sayings such as “inviting Jesus into your heart” or “making Jesus your best friend” might mean well, but do they truly capture the radical, all encompassing, life overhaul God wants to visit upon those who turn from their old ways to wholeheartedly embrace His? I look at the life of Paul, who was Saul, and I doubt it.

PRAYER: Father, thank you for saving me. Thank you for Jesus and the radical call you have to make you Lord of all. I love you and invite your Spirit to work in me, enabling me by your grace to strip back everything displeased to you. I am yours Father, In Jesus name, Amen

Acts 12:11-12 says:

11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.” 12 And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

Peter is arrested by Herod and imprisoned. In what seemed to be a total overkill, he finds himself watched by four sentries of four guards, to ensure he doesn’t escape.

But in sign to the world that none of Jesus followers need ever be bounded and held back from their mission in life, God through an angel miraculously sets Peter free! (Read Acts 12:6-11).

This also had a profound effect on the fellow believers. The place where the believers were praying was John Mark’s mother’s house. John Mark was a young follower of Jesus, but this incredible miracle had a considerable effect on his life. We know this because the next missionary journey Paul and Barnabas set off on also included John Mark himself, the miraculous answered prayer still alive in his heart! See Acts 12:25

And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

When we are seeking the Lord for a miracle, or a breakthrough or simply an answer to a long standing prayer, the enemy would love for us to shrink back in our asking and seeking because he would tell you what you’re seeking is “selfish”.

Imagine in Peter had not wanted to escape because he didn’t want it “to be about him”? The only one who wins in that situation in the enemy!

The enemy would love nothing more than for you to stop contending, to stop believing and to stop praying on the false premise that it is wrong to keep doing so. What this story of John-Mark tells us is, the answer to prayer you are seeking can impact lives you haven’t even considered and don’t even know about!

Just like John-Mark, when you get your breakthrough there is no telling the ripple effect it will have on others lives. Keep believing, keep praying!

Acts 9:31 says:

So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it continued to increase.

After a period of much persecution, a time of peace came to the early church. It is interesting to note that at this time the work of the Holy Spirit amongst them was to be “built up… going on in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit”. The Holy Spirit was strengthening and encouraging the church.

Thankfully many of us don’t live in periods of intense persecution such as we read of here and as is taking place in many parts of the world. But nevertheless, we all face periods of “war” and periods of “peace” in our Christian walk.

We read of the church in Acts using their time of peace to be strengthen and encouraged by the Holy Spirit. How do you use your times of peace? Do you use your seasons of peace to be built up by the Holy Spirit? Or do you take these times of peace for granted?

The temptation we face in times of peace is to let our guard down, to relax and to coast after the struggle, stress and hard work of the times of battle. Sometimes in the absence of conflict and struggle, coasting is all we feel like doing. But what does the Holy Spirit want for us in these times?

Perhaps, the times of peace are the times we need to press in to God with more diligence because it is in these times He wants to build us, strengthen us and encourage us for the season ahead!

Knowing the times and seasons of God is critical to knowing how to respond in the different and varied circumstances we face. We can be encouraged that the Holy Spirit knows what we need in each season, time and circumstance. Go to Him and enjoy His fellowship!

PRAYER: Father, I thank you for the Holy Spirit. I know you are a Father who gives good gifts and so right now I receive from the Holy Spirit every strengthening, and every encouragement I need now in Jesus name, Amen.

Acts 8:4-5 says:

Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. 5 Philip went down to the city of Samaria and began proclaiming Christ to them.

We should never question the ways and workings of God. At best it shows our immaturity. At worst our pride.

God, in His goodness, will use any situation and circumstance we face for His purposes and the good of His people.

Here in Acts 8 we have the booming, growing, happening church of the new covenant suddenly brought to a screaming halt by the persecution brought upon it by the Pharisees. One week people are joining together in worship, in prayer, in the Word and in fellowship. The next minute they are being driven from their homes, uprooted and scattered all over the region.

Was this the work of God? No, persecution of the church most clearly comes from the one who wants to destroy it – the kingdom of darkness. But it is interesting to note the result.

Yes, the church was scattered. But in being scattered something very interesting happened. The scattered church, driven out under persecution, took the gospel with them. The result was the spreading of the Kingdom of God to places these people would not have ordinarily gone.

Was the persecution God’s doing? No. But did God use it, redeem it and take advantage of it for the sake of His Kingdom? Absolutely!

The work of the enemy that comes against us can actually be used by God as a wonderful opportunity to grow, to take new ground, to rise up in a new level of authority – all because our status quo was disrupted and God used it!

This account of the early church is another example of what we read in Genesis 50:20:

“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive.”

What the enemy intends for evil, God will use it for good!

As you go about your day, don’t look at disruptions to your life as an annoyance or a frustration. Instead look to God and see the opportunity that He can bring out of it for your good and the saving of many!

PRAYER: Father I trust your leadership over my life. I ask you for eyes to see and ears to hear what you are doing in the midst of things coming against me. I ask you for strength to stand and for faith to persevere that I might receive the reward of your work in my situation. In Jesus name, Amen.

Acts 7:38b and 39 says:

This is the one who was in the congregation in the wilderness together with the angel who was speaking to him on Mount Sinai, and who was with our fathers; and he received living oracles to pass on to you. 39 Our fathers were unwilling to be obedient to him, but repudiated him and in their hearts turned back to Egypt,

Stephen before he was martyred gives here his impassioned defence of the gospel of the Jesus Christ. In it he takes his accuses back to the time of Moses.

Moses is the “he” referred to in the verses above. Moses it was who received the living oracles to pass on to the people of Israel. But they refused to obey and instead turned their hearts back to Egypt.

What a horrible thought. Like the forefathers of Israel, it is possible for us to at one time taste of God’s saving grace, and yet turn our hearts back to Egypt.

Egypt represents the “world system” ruled by Pharaoh, a type of satan. It way of life is bondage and slavery. The way of the Egyptian system is to strangle the life out of you through bondage and sin. Hope is revoked. Freedom is not an option.

And yet it their travails through Egypt towards the promised land, the people of Israel longed in their heart for Egypt. So too can we who have been delivered from Pharaoh, look back through rose coloured glasses and long for the life we used to know. Even once saved, sinfulness can still be made to look alluring to the believer. It is called temptation.

How is it that we can experience God’s goodness and still long in our hearts for sin? The above verse tells us. When the living word is not received and obeyed, we are by default rejecting God’s best and choosing the old ways of sin.

None of us can be indifferent towards the things of God. We must either choose to accept or we reject God’s word, God’s ways and God’s leadership over your life. We are either moving closer towards God and His kingdom or Pharaoh and Egypt.

God’s hand delivered Israel for His purposes, that He would have a people of His own. God’s hand is still delivering and His purpose is still the same. He is jealous for a people to call His own. A people that walk in the freedom and liberty that His deliverance brings.

Which direction are you facing in life? Are drawing nearer to God or to Egypt? Resolve to draw near to your Father God today.