How many of us would have had the faith to do this?

Acts 9:6-18(NKJV)

So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”

And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 

Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 

And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank.

Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

So the Lord said to him, “Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 

And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that he might receive his sight.”

Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. 

And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. 

For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.”

And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.

Paul has a reputation as being vicious against believers of Jesus.  Paul thinks nothing of having them put to death left and right.  In fact Paul goes out of his way to get the believers.  And now Jesus is telling Ananias to go help Paul.  Can you see why Ananias would be hesitant?

Now I doubt God is ever going to put any of us in a situation like that but God will ask us to do things that take faith.  Do we have the faith to answer God's call no matter how uncomfortable it makes us? 

That kind of faith starts with asking Jesus to lead us.  Have you done that yet?  Why not do it right now?  Just have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

Did Peter revoke Simon's salvation?

 

Acts 8:18-23(NKJV)

And when Simon saw that through the laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Spirit was given, he offered them money, 

saying, “Give me this power also, that anyone on whom I lay hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”

But Peter said to him, “Your money perish with you, because you thought that the gift of God could be purchased with money! 

You have neither part nor portion in this matter, for your heart is not right in the sight of God. 

Repent therefore of this your wickedness, and pray God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. 

For I see that you are poisoned by bitterness and bound by iniquity.”

What exactly does "you have neither part nor portion" mean"? 

Does it mean that Simon still has salvation but is excluded from ministry?  Or does it mean that Simon lost it all until he repents?
 

My take is that he still has his salvation but is excluded from ministry.  The reason I think that is the case is that I don't believe that we lose our salvation every time we commit a sin.  Otherwise we would be continually going through a cycle of saved, not save, saved, not saved.

I think that the sins we commit after we are saved we will face punishment for unless we ask God to forgive those sins. 

Make sense?

Are we ever too old to serve God?

God didn't use Moses to lead the people out of Israel until Moses was 80 years old. 

Acts 7:23-34(NKJV)

“Now when he was forty years old, it came into his heart to visit his brethren, the children of Israel. 

And seeing one of them suffer wrong, he defended and avenged him who was oppressed, and struck down the Egyptian. 

For he supposed that his brethren would have understood that God would deliver them by his hand, but they did not understand. 

And the next day he appeared to two of them as they were fighting, and tried to reconcile them, saying, ‘Men, you are brethren; why do you wrong one another?’ 

But he who did his neighbor wrong pushed him away, saying, ‘Who made you a ruler and a judge over us? 

Do you want to kill me as you did the Egyptian yesterday?’  

Then, at this saying, Moses fled and became a dweller in the land of Midian, where he had two sons.

“And when forty years had passed, an Angel of the Lord appeared to him in a flame of fire in a bush, in the wilderness of Mount Sinai. 

When Moses saw it, he marveled at the sight; and as he drew near to observe, the voice of the Lord came to him, 

saying, ‘I am the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob.’  And Moses trembled and dared not look. 

‘Then the Lord said to him, “Take your sandals off your feet, for the place where you stand is holy ground. 

I have surely seen the oppression of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their groaning and have come down to deliver them. And now come, I will send you to Egypt.”’ 

So what was Moses doing during those 80 years?  The same thing all of us do.  Living life.  Working to raise and feed his family.  He had lived through good times and bad times.  Again just like all of us.

Did he have an inking that God was going to use him?  I don't think so.  In fact Moses resisted being used at first.  But in the end God won. 

The lesson here is always be ready to serve.  You never know when God is going to call.  So when God calls, answer the call.  And the more uncomfortable the call makes you the more important it is that you answer because God has identified some knew skills that He wants to lay on you if you will just answer the call!

Mob Rule

What does Ecclesiastes  say?  There is nothing new under the sun.

Acts 6:8-15(NKJV)

And Stephen, full of faith and power, did great wonders and signs among the people. 

Then there arose some from what is called the Synagogue of the Freedmen (Cyrenians, Alexandrians, and those from Cilicia and Asia), disputing with Stephen. 

And they were not able to resist the wisdom and the Spirit by which he spoke. 

Then they secretly induced men to say, “We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 

And they stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes; and they came upon him, seized him, and brought him to the council. 

They also set up false witnesses who said, “This man does not cease to speak blasphemous words against this holy place and the law; 

for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs which Moses delivered to us.” 

And all who sat in the council, looking steadfastly at him, saw his face as the face of an angel.

We see the same things going on today.  One recent example is the Brett Kavanaugh Supreme Court hearing.  Those against him coached false witnesses, etc.  How do we know?  Because several of the accusers admitted so after the fact.

Nothing new under the sun indeed!!!

Great advice from Gamaliel!

This is some great advice.

Acts 5:33-39(NKJV)

When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. 

Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. 

And he said to them: “Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. 

For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. 

After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. 

And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; 

but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”

And it didn't die out on its own so what does that tell us?  It is of God!

Utterly destroyed…not mildly rebuked.

I hate to sound like a broken record but once again we have Scripture contradicting those who believe in Kumbaya Jesus.

Acts 3:22-23(NKJV)

For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. 

And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.’  

Once again God clearly states in Scripture what His intentions are regarding those who reject His son Jesus.

I've lost count of how many times I have written about Scriptures that tell us how God feels about those who reject Jesus and yet the idea of Kumbaya Jesus persists. 

Oh well, as the saying goes, when we get to judgment day, one of us is going to be surprised. 

And then he was never heard from again.

I love God's sense of humor.  Check this out.

Acts 1:21-26(NKJV)

“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 

beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 

And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 

to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” 

And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

So Matthias was the official replacement disciple….and he was never mentioned in Scripture again. 

Why was it so important to describe how the replacement was chosen and who it was if that person was never mentioned again?  I sometimes think God puts stuff like this in there to tease us and see if we are paying attention!  :)

Benefits of the Holy Spirit

When I think of the Holy Spirit I think of things like guidance and revelation.  Not sure how I missed this.  In Acts Jesus tells us that we receive power when we receive the Holy Spirit. 

But power for what?  My guess is it is power to accomplish the life's work that God gives us.  Scripture tells us that when God gives us work He also gives us the tools to complete that work. 

Acts 1:4-8(NKJV)

And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 

for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 

Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 

And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 

But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

Is John the one?

Is John "the disciple who Jesus loved"?  This passage seems to indicate so.

John 21:20-25(NKJV)

Then Peter, turning around, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following, who also had leaned on His breast at the supper, and said, “Lord, who is the one who betrays You?” 

Peter, seeing him, said to Jesus, “But Lord, what about this man?”

Jesus said to him, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.”

Then this saying went out among the brethren that this disciple would not die. Yet Jesus did not say to him that he would not die, but, “If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you?”

This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.

And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.

Does this mean Joseph was dead at this point in Jesus ministry??

John 19:25-27(NKJV)

Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 

When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 

Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.

Does this mean that Joseph is already dead at this point in Jesus ministry?  Otherwise why would she need someone to take care of her? 

Words of Jesus: “I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours."

Here are the words of Jesus from John 17:9.

John 17:9(NKJV)

“I pray for them. I do not pray for the world but for those whom You have given Me, for they are Yours. 

I remember the first time I read this.  I was a bit taken back.  It didn't fit what I had been taught by the Kumbaya Jesus Christians.  Jesus in His own words telling us that He doesn't pray for everyone (the world) but only those who are heirs with Him. 

Or to put it another way, the prayers of Jesus are another one of the benefits of being a Christian.  Jesus doesn't pray for everyone, only those who have accepted Him.

Do you want Jesus praying for you?  Have you asked Jesus to guide your life?  That's all it takes.  Just have a conversation with Jesus.  "Dear Jesus…."

Is Jesus saying that God doesn't love those who don't love Jesus?

If so then that certainly goes against what many people believe.  Let's take a look.

John 16:25-28(NKJV)

“These things I have spoken to you in figurative language; but the time is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figurative language, but I will tell you plainly about the Father. 

In that day you will ask in My name, and I do not say to you that I shall pray the Father for you; 

for the Father Himself loves you, because you have loved Me, and have believed that I came forth from God. 

I came forth from the Father and have come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go to the Father.”

BECAUSE

Jesus plainly says that God loves us BECAUSE we loved Jesus and believe that Jesus came from God. 

But does that mean the God doesn't love us if we don't love Jesus and believe that Jesus came from God? 

As I've written before, I don't think you can take any one verse and use it as a definitive statement on anything.  The Bible is a book of balance and needs to be taken in its entirety. 

Here is my take on it.  Scripture makes it very clear that when we reject Jesus we offend God.  In fact Jesus went so far as to say it is a sin to reject Jesus.  Another part of Scripture tells us that when we reject Jesus we declare ourselves enemies of God. 

But even then does God totally cut off His love from those people or does it simply switch to a different love.

Let me give you an example.  I have had more than one client disinherit one of their children.  Does that mean they don't love that child anymore?  Not at all.  But it does mean their love has taken a different form.  They still love the child and hope the child abandons the behavior that got them disinherited in the first place.  But it is a "distant" love if that makes sense. 

This is certainly an issue that bears more study.