The Devotional – Search the Scriptures – 737

 

The Devotional – Search the Scriptures – 737

Today’s Kick Start! – (NKJV) Psalm 19 ⁹ The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.

Personal Obedience—Walk in the Spirit and you will not carry out the deeds of the flesh.

Acts 4 ²³ And being let go, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said to them. ²⁴ So when they heard that, they raised their voice to God with one accord and said: “Lord, You are God, who made heaven and earth and the sea, and all that is in them, ²⁵ who by the mouth of Your servant David have said: ‘Why did the nations rage, And the people plot vain things? ²⁶ The kings of the earth took their stand, And the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.’ ²⁷ “For truly against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, were gathered together ²⁸ to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done. ²⁹ Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, ³⁰ by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” ³¹ And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

 JESUS CHRIST: He IS the same Yesterday, He IS the same Today, He IS God Forever!

 Peter and John returned to the congregation of men and women who confessed faith in Jesus. We know [conservatively] that at least 10,000 people have recently received the gift of God’s grace. This is no small thing; the logistics of this newly formed group is complex and we will see as we move through the book the joys and hardships of the young church as it grows and flourishes in the Spirit of the Lord. 2 Corinthians 3 ¹⁷Now the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.

 I believe the experience of the church as it develops here in chapter four of Acts is much the same as it is in those unreached people groups; that is, when those who are called to plant churches begin a new work in some locality anywhere on earth. We have friends who are missionaries in New Guinea; they have been there a good number of years. But recently, in the past two years have experienced the active outpouring of God the Holy Spirit on the people. The events in these villages are common to the events of Acts 4 and 5 as we are seeing.

 This new church did not move out of the village, or segregate themselves from the village, but they came together as one in Christ and had all things common. The unsaved were not isolated from the saved group, but the saved group experienced Christ, something the unsaved could not know or understand. So, as it is here in the book of Acts, we see the common grace of God at work as men, women and children begin sharing prayer and needs in their personal relationships ‘In Christ’ as the Holy Spirit leads. There prayer time was serious expressions of meditation out of Scripture. The only Scripture available was that of what we call the Old Testament.

 Again, to bring us back to focus on the universal church today, I sense that many churches today are much like the ‘galloping gourmet’ rapidly moving from one tidbit of human doctrine to another movement of false teaching. Having inching ears to hear another new twist on the scripture, that is; if the Bible is used at all. Since the Holy Bible does not tickle the flesh, rather God provides His Word for holy edification of the soul. [2 Timothy 4:1-5].