Hey Element Church! Wow, day 8 on our 28 day journey. Today’s prayer is “Lord make us humble!” That’s a difficult one isn’t it? Please lift up the churches on our calendar as well. Today’s reading is Acts 8. You can read it online HERE.
Acts 8:1 — This is what I was talking about in yesterdays post. A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem… Paul was the spearhead of all of this. SO, couldn’t God have stopped this by not allowing Stephen to be killed? Ahhh, but then there was the conversion of Paul, and instrumental in it was HIS persecution of the believers. The sovereignty of God blows my mind sometimes. I don’t understand, but I trust.
Acts 8:3 — Don’t want to get ahead of myself, but the grace of God is powerful, AMEN? Look how Paul used to be. Destroying the church, dragging men and women from their homes and putting them in prison. Outright HATRED of Christ and His followers. Amazing to me. And we think God can’t rid someone of alcoholism, cussing, homosexuality, anger, jealousy, (fill in sin)? COME ON!
Acts 8:4 — Another example of the “apparent inactivity” of God. How many Christians do you think said “Why is God allowing this to happen?” But v. 4 says that basically BECAUSE of the persecution all the believers were scattered, and when they scattered what did they do? They preached the Good News wherever they went. This was the greatest missions and evangelism movement of all time. They fled, and the Gospel spread. Would the Gospel have gone so far without the persecution? Think maybe God knows what He’s doing?
Acts 8:14 — Peter and John were sent by the Jerusalem believers to help the new believers in Samaria where Phillip preached. Would the believers have been satisfied with staying in Jerusalem, content with their church family were it not for the persecution? Just throwing out some questions.
Acts 8:26-38 — Read that passage and see how VITAL it is to obey the Holy Spirits nudgings. How many divine appointments might we miss when we don’t listen or don’t obey the voice of the Holy Spirit? Brings meaning to THIS passage.
Acts 8:38 — Why do we think people must go through a class before they get baptized. This dude accepted Christ, wanted to be baptized and so He was.
Acts 8:39-40 — That would be weird. lol
Following Christ,
Jeff
