Each
day of the 14 day Daniel fast, Nate and I will be reading two chapters in Acts.
I’m going to write a little bit about what three things stood out to me most
and post it the following day.
Day
1: Acts 1 & 2
The disciples didn’t
know WHAT they were getting or WHEN they were getting the Holy Spirit
Once
when he was eating with them, he commanded them, “Do not leave Jerusalem
until the Father sends you the gift he promised, as I told you before. John
baptized with water, but in just a few days you will be baptized
with the Holy Spirit.”
So
when the apostles were with Jesus, they kept asking him, “Lord, has the time
come for you to free Israel and restore our kingdom?”
He
replied, “The Father alone has the authority to set those dates and times,
and they are not for you to know. But you will receive power when the
Holy Spirit comes upon you. And you will be my witnesses, telling people about
me everywhere—in Jerusalem, throughout Judea, in Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth.”
When
Jesus told his disciples about their gift of the Holy Spirit, they got it all
wrong. Even though Jesus clearly says that they will be baptized with the Holy
Spirit, as soon as they hear “gift,” they’ve tuned out! How many times have I
done that? I think I know exactly how God needs to bless me. The disciples ask
if their power and stature will be restored. They’re thinking on a much smaller
scale than what God can and will provide them.
They
also ask if the time is now. Today our culture is even more wrapped up in the
NOW and getting instant gratification. I probably would have been the disciple
shouting time lines out to Jesus as he floated up on His cloud. “Are we talking
Days? Months? Years?”
Turnt up on God
They were completely
amazed. “How can this be?” they exclaimed. “These people are all from Galilee, and
yet we hear them speaking in our own native languages! Here we are—Parthians,
Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the
province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around
Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and
Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the
wonderful things God has done!” They stood there amazed and perplexed. “What
can this mean?” they asked each other.
But others in the crowd
ridiculed them, saying, “They’re just drunk, that’s all!”
I
am by nature a cynic and a skeptic. For a long time in my Christian journey, I
thought “Okay, this Jesus thing is great… But let’s not get carried away.”
Honestly,
I often looked to the people who were “sold out for Jesus,” with pity. Giving
up your job? Moving your family? What are you – drunk? Well, I think it’s safe
to say at this point our family has pretty much all our chips in. There’s
probably at least a few people who might accuse us of being drunk or foolish with
the way we try to live our lives for God – and I hope there are! My prayer is
that our lives make people question us… and try to find answers in God.
They grew daily,
without marketing or social media
All the believers
devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing
in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer.
A deep sense of awe
came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and
wonders. And all the believers met together in one place and shared everything
they had. They sold their property and possessions and shared the money with
those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for
the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity - all
the while praising God and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each
day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.
Man,
what an awesome community! I hope and pray that anywhere we go and anything we
do, we develop this type of body. But what strikes me most about this passage
is how their numbers grew.
Today we have connectivity like never before – at least in theory. Our churches can have websites, social media reach, commercials on TV and radio – but statistically, churches are stagnant. The early church had no crutches to “advertise” Jesus. They created a community that people wanted to be a part of. I imagine that people heard of and experienced their love for others, even before they experienced their love for Christ. These people were truly living the two greatest commandments of loving Christ and each other.
Those
are my three biggest thoughts and takeaways from Acts 1 & 2!
