Monthly Archives: April 2013

Acts 8

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“Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ”. Just a short phrase, but what a difficult task. A lifetime of ingrained hatred against this ungodly people, yet Jesus had specifically told the disciples to preach to the Samaritans.  They received the gospel gladly, and many were baptised.

Serving God is not easy, requires us to get outside our comfort zone, show ourselves as different. We have “the good news about Jesus” that Philip shared with the Samaritans and the Ethiopian eunuch.  It’s something far greater than a life of vanity which Solomon writes about, but it’s up to us to share that hope with people around us.

Deuteronomy 16

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Today we read a summary of the Passover, feast of weeks and feast of booths. Events with highly specific instructions, “at the place that the Lord your God will choose, to make his name dwell in it, there you shall offer the Passover sacrifice.” Repeated again for other feasts.  Yet these were feasts designed to give the Israelites an opportunity to rejoice at their deliverance from slavery, from a life where every aspect was dictated and enforced, offering nothing but hard labour and death.

It would appear the Israelites had traded one form of slavery for another. But one was a slavery without hope, the other offered deliverance and a promised land.  We too have traded one form of slavery for another.  We “were the servants of sin, but… became the servants of righteousness.”  We have cause to rejoice, just as the Israelites did.  Freedom from a slavery that offers only death, instead a hope producing “fruit unto holiness, and the end everlasting life,” a motivating and encouraging hope that can help get us through the trials of life.

Ecclesiastes 7, Acts 5-6

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Solomon writes “Surely there is not a righteous man on earth who does good and never sins.”  The crucial part of serving God is not the lack of sin, but rather the attitude towards it and the way we act after it has happened.

None of Jesus’ disciples were sinless, but they still recognised that “we must obey God rather than men.”  They were prepared to dedicate their lives to God’s service, despite any mistakes they made along the way.  Peter, James and Stephen all risked their lives in Acts 5-6 to spread the gospel. They even rejoiced “that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor.”

Such passion and zeal is an encouraging example to us in a world filled with apathy. The 12 disciples resolved to “devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word”. Let’s follow their example, and make God’s word the most important thing in our lives.

Ecclesiastes 6, Acts 3-4

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Solomon writes “All the toil of man is for his mouth, yet his appetite is not satisfied.”  The natural man is never content with what it has, always wanting more.  The constant pursuit of material possessions is but vanity, “striving after wind.”

Stark contrast to Peter and John, who have no silver and gold, but yet have something vastly more precious – the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.  Peter and John share this good news which is able to satisfy the most needy of people, even those who are lame and destitute, through their faith.

Our faith in the name of Jesus Christ has the power to blot out sins, to offer us a part in the “times of refreshing” that will come, and to satisfy us eternally in the praise and worship of our great creator.

Acts 2

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“Jesus of Nazareth… [was] crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death.” Peter neatly summarises a critical aspect of the gospel, to which the correct response is to “repent and be baptized… in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins”.

Those that followed Peter’s advice devoted themselves to their new way of life, to teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayer.  I think this is a useful reminder of the passion we all had as we prepared for baptism, as we came to understand the depth of the hope that God has offered.

The “day of the Lord” is coming in which we will be saved.  It is up to us now to “hold fast” to that hope, to allow it to influence our character and affect our daily life.  “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.”

Deuteronomy 10-11, Ecclesiastes 4, Acts 1

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Moses reminded Israel that the heaven and earth belonged to God, along with all that they contained. Yet God had chosen them to be His unique and precious people.  God would be with them, giving them the promised land, providing for their needs, if they would obey the commandments of God.

God has also chosen us to be part of His unique and precious people. Just as the disciples of Jesus were called to be “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”, so we are called to be witnesses of God’s love, mercy, goodness and the hope offered to all.

Unlike the oppressed, who “had no one to comfort them”, we have an incredible hope. In a world where so many are without hope, it is our responsibility to share the hope we’ve been offered.

Deuteronomy 8-9, John 20-21

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Moses reminds the Israelites that it was God that had cared for them throughout the 40 years in the wilderness. He provided them with food, ensured their clothing didn’t wear out and their feet didn’t swell. He was giving the Israelites the land of Canaan because of the wickedness of the current inhabitants, not the righteousness of the Israelites.

This is a good lesson for us to remember. God hasn’t offered us salvation because of anything we’ve done. We’re constantly cared for and provided for, offered an incredible hope. We are among those “who have not seen and yet have believed” in the work that Christ did in order for us to have this hope.  It is up to us to respond to Jesus’ invitation to “follow me”, confident in the grace of God, trusting in His care, reflecting His glory to those around us.

Deuteronomy 6-7, John 19

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Moses reminds Israel of the underlying principle of the Law, to love God with one’s whole being. They were told that this principle “shall be on your heart”, represented symbolically on their forehead, hand, doorway  and gate. It was to be taught to their children. It would be “righteousness for us”, Moses as well as the rest of the people, to remember this commandment and to live it in their lives.

In John 19 we read of the ultimate embodiment of that commandment, demonstrated perfectly in Jesus’ willing sacrifice.  Let’s follow that example, putting God’s principles in our hearts.  “God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession” were words said to Israel, and we’ve been given the chance to be a part of that nation.

Ecclesiastes 1, John 17-18

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Jesus said that he came into the world “to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” Pilate’s response, “What is truth?” is thought provoking.  Jesus had just finished explaining the relationship between God, himself and us in a prayer before leaving for the garden of Gethsemane.

Jesus glorified God on earth by doing the work given him from God. He showed God’s name to people, he kept and guarded his disciples, giving them God’s word.  As a result, Jesus’ disciples were “not of the world”, loved by God in the same way that God loved Jesus.  It was Jesus’ prayer that “the love with which you have loved me may be in them.”

Such a stark contrast to the truth Solomon saw, “All is vanity.”  We have a hope, thanks to the love that God showed to Jesus, and Jesus showed to us, something more than vanity, a relationship with God.  Even when “all things are full of weariness”, that hope remains. Let us cling to that hope, allowing it to strengthen and motivate us, just as it did for Jesus.

John 15-16

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Jesus said “You are my friends if you do what I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”

What a difference between a servant and a friend. We can be friends of Jesus. He has offered us that privilege, but it comes with a responsibility.  “If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love.”  This is not such an easy thing. Abiding in Jesus’ love marks us as different to the world, and so the world will hate us.  But we have further encouragement from Jesus, “I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit.”