brokenredeemed

Welcome back to my little spot on the internet. At risk of repeating myself, yes, I know it’s been a while. I wrote a few posts last year, but I’m hoping to get back to sharing more often this year. As last year wound down, I read the book of Luke during the month of December, then began the book of Acts, seeing as both were believed to be written by Luke, and Acts is often considered to be a second volume, so to speak, of the book of Luke.

We often think of the book of Acts as a kind of template for the Church, and it is, to some extent. There’s just so much to look at and learn from in this book. In fact, I found myself so excited talking about Acts 3 with my daughter the other day that I suddenly realized how much I miss sharing what I’m learning with others. Some things God has been asking me to lean into this year are teaching, creating, and growing. “Balance” is a word that continues to resonate with me this year, as well.

I’m hoping to share with y’all at least once a month about what God’s teaching or showing me.

To give a quick recap of this month, I’ve been reading “Understanding Spiritual Gifts (A Comprehensive Guide)” by Sam Storms and studying the book of Acts. Whew! If you’ve never read the book of Acts, you should. It’s all about the formation and spread of the Church, from Jew to Gentiles, including the life and work of Paul. It’s exciting and amazing. Full of God’s supernatural power in the Holy Spirit at work in the early believers.

Some of the things that have jumped out at me while reading the first half of Acts are how the Holy Spirit prompted, empowered, and emboldened the believers to act and preach. When the Holy Spirit fell on the disciples on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2), the city was streaming with people from all over the world, coming to Jerusalem to worship for the Jewish springtime harvest festival known as Shavuot. Through God’s perfect timing, another type of harvest took place, and 3,000 souls were added to the Church that day; and it spead further as men and women returned to their homes. Then, a simple act of obedience and supernatural healing of a man at the synagogue entrance prepared the way for Peter and John to share the message of Christ in the temple, and it was received by another 5,000 (Acts 3-4)!

Next, there’s a little church organization that takes place, and we see a separation between full-time teachers/preachers and those who would provide food for widows (Acts 6). I noted that those chosen for this role weren’t counted as less-than, but were respected men, full of the Spirit and wisdom…in fact, two of these men we see later in the book of Acts teaching and sharing the Gospel: Stephen and Philip. Their roles were necessary to support the mission of the church, and they gladly accepted them, but they also continued to share the Gospel wherever they could, because that was/is the primary mission of the Church. That truly spoke to me because no matter our responsibility within the organized church, we still have a greater commission outside the church walls.

The Jews kept trying to convince the disciples to stop preaching and healing in the name of Jesus by beating and imprisoning them, but they just prayed for more boldness! When a Pharisee named Gamaliel announced in verses 5:38-39, “So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” I couldn’t help but recognize the wisdom and truth behind his words. For here, we are 2000 years later…

Finally, Stephen’s bold proclamation of Jesus Christ crucified makes him the first martyr, and the church scatters (Acts 6-8). A young man named Saul, who approved Stephen’s execution, makes it his mission to hunt down every believer and put them behind bars. But God! God had another plan for Saul and seemingly overnight, after an encounter with the living God Himself, on the road to Damascus, Saul goes from being the greatest opponent to the new Church to being it’s greatest proponent (Acts 8-9)! Confounding everyone! Only God!!

These miracles are followed by more miracles, as a Roman Centurion, a Gentile who fears God, has an angel appear before him and tells him to seek out Peter (Acts 10). Meanwhile, Peter has a vision regarding what’s really “clean” and is told to go to Cornelius’s home. Here, this Centurion has brought together all his closest friends and family, ready to hear what Peter has to tell them regarding salvation. And if these events orchestrated by God weren’t evidence enough, the Holy Spirit falls on the Gentiles as Peter preaches to them, and they start speaking in tongues and extolling God! 🤯

After this, the church at Antioch follows suit and begins preaching to the Hellenists (Greek-speaking non-Jews) as well as to the Jews. This opens the doors for all to receive the message of the Gospel, and Barnabas and Saul begin their first missionary journeys; first to the Jews, but then to the Gentiles. Guys, that’s us!! Unless you’re Jewish by birth, that’s me and you! What a God we serve!

Lastly, Saul/Paul is stoned and left for dead in chapter 14, but the disciples pray over him, and he gets back up and begins preaching again! Wherever Paul went, there was division, some would believe, and others would stir up trouble,  but supernatural power, boldness, and perseverance describe the early Church leaders.

I don’t know about you, but I find the book of Acts incredibly exciting. Not only is it just chock full of exciting early Church history, but since I’m currently reading a book on Spiritual Gifts, as I mentioned above, I’m also looking at how the Holy Spirit lead, empowered, and was displayed by the early believers, and how He still works today.

So…What new things has God been teaching or revealing to you lately? What have you been studying in the Word? Keep asking, keep seeking, and keep knocking (Matthew 6:7-8).

Truth, love, and grace to you all!