Acts Devotional Week 6

May 20, 2012

Acts 10:34-36

Then Peter replied, “I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism.  In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right.  This is the message of Good News for the people of Israel—that there is peace with God through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.

Some were excluded from following God.  It sounds unthinkable to us today.  We recognize that all those who call on the Lord are able to find salvation and follow him.  It wasn't always so in the early church.  For many you had to be Jewish to follow Jesus.  If you weren't Jewish you were a Gentile and unable to follow Jesus (unless you became Jewish first).  Peter thought that way for a while…until God decided to change his mind. 

This change of mind came with an encounter with a Gentile named Cornelius.  Cornelius was a Roman army officer.  He was also a devoted follower of Jesus who was well known for his generosity to the poor and being a man of prayer.  In Peter’s world these things didn't fit together.  Cornelius would have always stayed an outsider whose voice could not be heard.  So God stepped in.  He sent an angel (messenger) to Cornelius telling him to invite Peter to his home.  Cornelius did as God directed.  At the same time, God gave Peter a vision.  In the vision, God presents Peter with food that Jewish laws forbid him to eat.  When Peter refuses to eat a voice says “Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean.” (Acts 10:15)  This happens three times.  Just after this, the men with Cornelius’s invitation arrive.  Peter would normally refuse an invitation from a Gentile like Cornelius.  It wasn't something God-fearing Jews did.  But this vision caused him to accept. 

The lesson is in the acceptance.  Peter went where he would not go and discovered God at work.  He learned that God does not show favoritism.  He accepts those who follow him.  Christians everywhere are to do the same.  Different races, denominations, ideas, cultures, and practices are not separate us from each other.  The Holy Spirit is greater than our differences and God will bring all his people together in unity. 

Accepting the outsider is an easy concept to grasp mentally, but a far harder concept to live out practically.  The outsider brings difference which we often resist.  It is time to stop resisting and seek the Lord’s will.  New ideas and new people from new places are benefits to faith not hindrances.  Is there anyone or anything that we are blindly excluding today?  Let’s change that!

Acts Devotional Week 5

May 13, 2012

Acts 9:36-42

Now in Joppa there was a disciple whose name was Tabitha, which in Greek is Dorcas. She was devoted to good works and acts of charity.  At that time she became ill and died. When they had washed her, they laid her in a room upstairs. Since Lydda was near Joppa, the disciples, who heard that Peter was there, sent two men to him with the request, “Please come to us without delay.” So Peter got up and went with them; and when he arrived, they took him to the room upstairs. All the widows stood beside him, weeping and showing tunics and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was with them. Peter put all of them outside, and then he knelt down and prayed. He turned to the body and said, “Tabitha, get up.” Then she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive. This became known throughout Joppa, and many believed in the Lord.

In a wealthy city a beautiful and respected woman decided to follow the Lord.  Tabitha (her name meant gazelle which was considered beautiful) sought out the widows and the poor.  A widow herself, she took care of them by making clothing and other things they might need.  Her life was devoted to doing the Lord’s work.  She may not have been a preacher or a prophet, but she is called a disciple.  She was a saint and a leader as she served the Lord.  Her death was more than the congregation could handle.  So vital was she to the ministry of that congregation that they went to extraordinary efforts to reach Peter and Peter responded.  Let’s not be confused.  Tabitha was not just a nice lady who did nice things.  She was a vital and important minister to the city of Joppa. 

It’s a powerful image.  Seeing those who have been so blessed by a life gathered together to mourn, honor, and bless that life.  That upper must have been filled with emotion…with love.  So many lives changed.  So many people drawn to Christ through the love and care of Tabitha.  So many more that still needed her touch and ministry.  Imagine the heartbreak of losing one so vital.  Imagine the joy and seeing her come back to life.  From heartbreak came joy.  From and end came a new beginning.  From death comes life.  We are called to be disciples.  We are called to be like Tabitha.  Good works matter.  Caring for other matter.  God’s work done in a life matters.  The world needs to hear the message God gives us.  Throughout this event, Tabitha says not one word.  Yet many are brought to the Lord through her.  How can you be like Tabitha in your life?  Who needs your attention, your touch, or your prayers today?  What does your ministry look like?  Become a disciple like Tabitha and serve the Lord.

Acts Devotional Week 4

May 6, 2012

Acts 7:53-60

 “You deliberately disobeyed God’s law, even though you received it from the hands of angels.” The Jewish leaders were infuriated by Stephen’s accusation, and they shook their fists at him in rage. But Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed steadily into heaven and saw the glory of God, and he saw Jesus standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand. And he told them, “Look, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing in the place of honor at God’s right hand!” Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul.  As they stoned him, Stephen prayed, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.”  He fell to his knees, shouting, “Lord, don’t charge them with this sin!” And with that, he died.

It took a lie to get him there.  They tried to publicly win an argument against him and failed.  So they resorted to deception, persuading others to make up stories so that he appeared to be a blasphemer and a man who spoke against God.  What they could not do honestly and openly the accomplished deceitfully and Stephen was brought to trial before the high council. 

False accusations were made and Stephen was asked if they were true.  He could have answered a number of different ways.  He could have defended himself and exposed the lies that put him in this difficult position.  He could have backed down from the message God gave him and disappeared.  He could have saved himself.  Instead he spoke the truth.  Stephen makes a powerful speech reminding the religious leaders of how God worked in their history.  Of how God changed things, protected them, and guided them.  He reminds them of the disobedience that caused these same people to persecute God’s messengers and prophets.  He makes the case that they are doing exactly that now.  Instead of answering the false accusation brought against him, Stephen brings an accusation against the council…and for this he died.

Stephen made a choice.  He chose to set aside his own wants, needs, and life to do the work of the Lord.  He was unmoved by the rage, the shouting, and the unwillingness to listen.  Stephen prayed for himself and asked forgiveness for those stoning him.  The religious leaders chose to pick up stones and kill rather than listen to the message God gave Stephen.  What choices do we make daily?  Do we cover our ears, get angry, and pick up stones when things don’t go as we like?  Or are we willing to do God’s will and trust Him with the rest?  Stephen’s was a catalyst in the early church.  Will we be the same here?