Always have a healthy fear/respect for God

Event: The Believers Share their Possessions (Ananias and Sapphria)

 

S - Scripture
Acts 5 v. 11 And great fear came upon the whole church, and upon all who heard of these things.

O - Observation
Fear equals respect for what the things, person or object can do to you. In this case, the early church had a first-hand experience on God's reaction to directly lying to him, with the Death of Ananias and Sapphira. All those old testament stories about folks dying that accidentally touched the Ark seemed a little more real. Its real today as well. Jesus put it rather bluntly in Luke 12 v. 5, "But I will warn you whom to fear! Fear him who after he has killed, has the power to cast you into Hell. Yes I tell you fear him." There's only one person who can do that, and it is God. So remember that as you live. Remember the first 2 commandments, are about God. 1) No one else but God, 2) Don't take his name in vain. OMG is killer on this one!!

A - Application
Do I have a healthy and living respect/fear of God?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Help me to always fear and love you.   Love Will

Image by Pezibear from Pixabay

Don't Deny the Holy Spirit!

Event: The Believers Share their Possessions (Ananias and Sapphria)

S - Scripture
Acts 5 v. 3, 5  Put Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back part of the proceeds of the Land? When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and died.

O - Observation
The unforgivable sin. Denying the Holy Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12 v. 3b, " And no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit." Denying the Holy Spirit, lying to him ends in the same result as Ananias - Death. Perhaps not immediate physical death, but definitely eternal death in hell. We must have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, not just talk about him. After all, we must have faith, not just knowing what to say. Matthew 15 v. 8-9a, " This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me, in vain do they worship me."

A - Application
Is the Holy Spirit in my Heart? Have I let him in?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Let my worship be from the Heart and not my mouth.    Love Will

Check your Motivation

Event: The Believers Share their Possessions (Ananias and Sapphria)

 

S – Scripture

Acts 5 v.  1-2  But a man named Ananias with his wife Sapphira  sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge he kept back some of the proceeds, and brought only a part and laid it at the apostles feet.

O - Observation
Motivation. God looks at the motivation of what people do, not necessarily how much they do. After all, God is interested in your heart. 1 Samuel 17 v. 7b, "For the Lord sees not as man sees, man looks on the Outward Appearance, but the Lord looks on the Heart." Ananias and Sapphira on the outside looked great, they sold some property and gave it to the church. Very generous. But, in reality they held back some of the proceeds. They were NOT forthcoming with the facts. Their motivation was for people to think they were great. Their focus was on pleasing self vs. pleasing God.

A - Application
What is the motivation for the things I do?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Give me clean hands and a pure heart for you. Love Will

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay

Follow God's Lead (Make your nickname be Barnabas!!!)

Event: The Believers Share their Possessions  

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 36-37  Joseph, surnamed Barnabas (which means encouragement) sold a field which belonged to him, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles feet.

O - Observation
Following God's lead. Leading by example. I love this guy. Its only appropriate that a man nicknamed, “Encouragement”, would commit an act that would fuel encouragement. I love this guy not because he was told to do something and he did. No. This guy recognized Psalm 24 v. 1, "The earth is the Lord’s and the fullness thereof." What he had, what possessions he possed, were gifts from God. So why not be generous with what he has? After all, he's simply a steward of these things anyways. Knowing and thinking in our mind what to do is one thing. Acting on it, is another. Following God's lead will reward you and encourage others.

A - Application
Are you following God's lead? Could we nickname you Barnabas?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Give me the courage to say and DO!!   Love Will

Photo by Hugues de BUYER-MIMEURE on Unsplash

Pray without Ceasing

 Guest Blog by Gary Riedel

S - SCRIPTURE: 1 Thessalonians 5:17 Pray without ceasing.

O - OBSERVATION: Never stop praying? How would I get anything else done? That’s not what this means at all, prayer is about our relationship with the Heavenly Father, and our relationship 
with Him should be continuous, that is we are always aware that our Father is never off duty. In Luke 12:7 He says even the very hairs of our head are numbered, God knows us very intimately, in Psalm 139:16, He says He knew us while we were yet in our mother’s womb. God seeks intimacy with us, we should do the same with Him.

A - APPLICATION: So if God wants to be this close to me, how can I be close to Him? I can read His word daily, I can set aside a quiet time to spend with Him, In my life as a farmer I am constantly aware of the awesome beauty of His creation and I can pray or communicate with him any time and all the time. I believe it’s important to always acknowledge that God is always present, it can and will change the way we live our life. “Pray without ceasing!”

P - PRAYER: Gracious Father, by the power of Your Spirit help us to be more intimate with You always. In Jesus Name,
Amen

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash

Pray for the Great Power - Daily!

Event: The Believers Prayer

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 33 And with great power the apostles gave their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was upon them all.

O - Observation
Death defying. Requires confidence in what you are doing. That's what the apostles were doing. Think about it the actuality of Jesus brutalization, physical suffering and death, was still very fresh. The players involved in this act were still very much around. Yet, knowing what happened to Jesus, they were BOLD in proclaiming his message of forgiveness and that He was the only way to Heaven. This was so because of the Great Power and Great Grace that was upon them all. The Holy Spirit filled them with the Power. He helped them to see past the physical abuse and death that would be inevitable, to see the second half. Jesus resurrection. Eternal life.

A - Application
Do you realize that the same Power, same Holy Spirit is with us today?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Send your Holy Spirit deep into the core of my life.   Love Will

Photo by Michael Kroul on Unsplash

Rock the foundation

Event: The Believers' Prayer 

 

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 31 And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke of the word of God with Boldness.

O - Observation
Rocking the foundation of the world. The power of prayer. When Peter and John finished speaking words of encouragement, they prayed for boldness. Today's verse was the result of their prayer. Praying in Jesus name is Powerful. Remember, James 2 v. 19, "You believe that God is one;  you do well, even the demons believe - AND SHUDDER!!" Now that is Power. Now there is no reason to fear being bold for Christ. 2 Timothy 1 v. 7, " For God did not give us a Spirit of timidy but a spirit of Power and Love and Self-Control."

A - Application
Am I ready to rock the worlds foundation? Am I ready to be bold?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Fill me with boldness to proclaim your word.   Love Will

We must be bold!

Event: The Believers' Prayer

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 29 And now Lord, look upon their threat, and grant to thy servants to speak thy word with all boldness.

O - Observation
My daily prayer. Our daily prayer. Speaking the Word of God with Boldness. We face threats of doing this today. To declare our faith, to declare what God declares to be true now labels us as right wing fundamentalist. Usually they reserve the wings and fundamentalist for the crazies. But God's word can not be diluted. The truth is the truth. So in-spite of what the world wants to hear (or not hear) we must be bold in speaking the truth. We must take advantage of every opportunity to share the good news. Colossians 3 v 16a, "Let the word of Christ dwell within you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom."

A - Application
Am I speaking God's word Boldly? 

P - Prayer
Jesus, give me the courage and opportunities to speak your word boldly.   Love Will

Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

Make it a priotrity to be a part of Believers

Event: The Believers' Prayer

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 23 When they were released they went to their friends and reported what the chief priest and the elders had said to them.

O - Observation
Testimony. Beat Reports. Just stating the facts. Refueling. Inspiring. Going to their friends. The power of a testimony among friends and believers in Jesus is critical. God created us to be in Unity. God created us to have relationship with each other, to mesh people of different skill sets together.  1 Corinthians 12 v. 25b-26, "But that the members may have the same care for one another.  If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored all rejoice together." We need to have a place to share our stories, our faith, that is a safe place. We need to be a part of a body of believers.


A - Application
Am I an active part of a body of believers?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Help me to be there for my brothers and sisters in Christ.   Love Will

Know your story - share your story

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin  

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 19 - 20  But Peter and John answered then, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than God, you must judge; FOR WE CANNOT BUT SPEAK OF WHAT WE HAVE SEEN AND HEARD.

O - Observation
It's that simple. You don't need to be a pastor or a scholar to share the good news of Jesus. You simply need to tell how Jesus has impacted your life. After-all, no one can refute your own story. The evidence of Jesus is impressed on and in every believer. It's a matter of turning on the light. Illuminate that you are a child of God. Matthew 5 v. 16, "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven."

A - Application
Am I speaking of what I have seen and heard?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Let me be a bright light for you.  Love Will

Photo by Anna Vander Stel on Unsplash

We need to be Bold for Jesus

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 16 saying, "what shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.

O - Observation
Being bold in Christ will cause conflict. People will not want to hear the message of Jesus. Satan does not want people to hear the message of Jesus. Ephesians 6 v. 12, "For we are not contesting against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual host of wickedness in the heavenly places. If Satan hates to hear the message, then it must be the message that is proclaimed. One can't wonder or worry how people will react. We need to proceed with the sharing, the verbalizing of the message. And pray for the Holy Spirit to work in the hearts that hear the message.

A - Application
Am I being bold for Jesus?

P - Prayer
Jesus, regardless of what other people think, help me to be bold for you. Love Will

Photo by Lina Volkmann on Unsplash

Honor Your Father

 Guest Blog by Gary Riedel

S - SCRIPTURE: Ephesians 6:2,3  “Honor your father and mother (This is the first commandment with a promise), that it may go well with you and that you may live long upon the land.

O - OBSERVATION:This is an old text we learned as the fourth commandment, this begins the second table of duties, the first one being about our relationship with God and the second table is about our relationship with each other. I believe the Lord begins it this way because learning a proper relationship with our mother and father, the first humans we really get to know as a newborn is paramount to learning how to relate to others. God says we should honor our father and mother, but as it’s Father’s Day, today we will talk mostly about our earthly Fathers. The Father is set apart by God as the leader of the family- Ephesians 5:22 “Wives submit to you husband as unto the Lord”; However, in Ephesians 5:25 scripture tells man his role-“ Husbands love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up
for her”

A - APPLICATION: The last portion of verse 25 is probably the most important verse for men to learn if they wish to excel as a husband and a father. No wife can be expected to submit to a disrespectful tyrant, and every husband has an absolute obligation dictated by God’s Holy Word to treat his wife as Christ did the church, willing to give himself up for her. Such a husband will have the enduring love and respect of not only his wife, but his children and he will therefore be honored by both family and those around him. It seems to me that when we talk about honoring our earthly father, that father has a responsibility to be an adult and pattern his behavior to his wife and family to resemble Jesus as much as he can. Of course that is an impossible task and all of we men who have been blessed to be husbands and father’s need to daily rely on the abiding grace of our Heavenly Father as we hopefully grow a tiny bit more like Him as we mature. God’s grace is not a cop out but must be accompanied by repentance and a sincere desire to do better.

P - PRAYER: Gracious Father, when I read Ephesians 5:25, I encounter my sinfulness head on, forgive me and every other earthly father who comes to Your throne of grace for forgiveness and
renewal, and help us to be better husbands and father’s. In Jesus Name, Amen

Cause People to Wonder!

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin  

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they have been with Jesus.

O - Observation
Being with Jesus causes people to wonder. Being with Jesus changes your DNA. Being with Jesus gives you the power of God. 2  Timothy 1 v. 7, " For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power and love and self-control." We don't have to be Biblical scholars or Pastors to share the good news of Christ. We as common men, can be bold for Christ. The same Jesus, the same Holy Spirit that was present with Peter and John is present today. WE just need to connect with him by being in his word on a daily basis We need to be with Jesus.

A - Application
Am I causing people to wonder? Do they recognize that I have been with Jesus?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Let my light shine so that people know that I have been with you.   Love Will

Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash

Recognize the Facts!!!

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin  

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. 

O - Observation
The Bottom-line. I love this verse. To agree with this verse to so disagree with the world today. Today, the prevailing opinion is there are multiple ways to get to heaven. This statement nullifies that opinion.  Jesus is the ONLY way to heaven.  John 14 v. 6, "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life; no one comes to the Father but by me." To know and believe this guarantees eternal life. Knowing this is the recognition of the one true God, being a part of his family. Recognize this, at some point, Judgment Day, everyone will realize that there is salvation in no one else.  Philippians 2 v. 10 "That the name of Jesus, every knee will bow, to heaven on earth and under the earth."

A - Application
Do I believe in Acts 4 v. 12?

P - Prayer
Jesus, You are the ONLY way to heaven.  Love Will

Trust your Defense Lawyer

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin 

 

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well.

O - Observation
This verse is Deja Vu for the future. OK we have now heard the defense rest its case. We will hear similar words on the day of Judgment. However, on that day, it won't be Peter telling the religious rulers the facts, it will be Jesus telling God the Father the facts.  The fact is, only by the name of Jesus Christ who was crucified and rose from the dead, will be able to make us well (cleanse our sins, make us acceptable to God.) 2 Corinthians 5 v. 17, "Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has passed away, behold, the new has come."

A - Application
Am I trusting in the defense?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Thank you for defending me.   Love Will

 

Photo by Gift Habeshaw on Unsplash

Make People Currious

Event: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin

S - Scripture
Acts 4 v. 7 And when they (the chief priests) had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this? "

O - Observation
What gives us the right? What is your source? As you follow God's lead, things will happen. Changes will occur, definitely within yourself, and more than likely to those around you. People will talk. They will ask you - why? What is different? 1 Peter 3 v. 15b, "Always be prepared to make a defense to anyone who calls you to account for the hope that is in you, yet do it with gentleness and reverence."  These are the times to simply state what you believe (the truth of Jesus - He is the ONLY way to heaven) and how those facts has changed your life.  1 Corinthians 3 v. 11, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

A - Application
Has anyone asked you what is your source? What makes you different?

P - Prayer
Jesus, Help me to live my life that makes people want to ask me what is different about me?  Love Will

Photo by Jon Tyson on Unsplash