Tag: christian

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Acts 2:14-41

Take a moment to read Acts 2:14-41 before reading the devotional below.

When your first sermon ever involves zero schooling and a total lack of time to prepare and it wins over 3,000 people, you know the Holy Spirit is involved. Just three short years before, Peter was a smelly fisherman discouraged from a night of no fish. When Jesus overloaded Peter’s boats that day and invited him to become a “fisher of men,” he probably had this very moment in mind. (A few hundred fish practically sinking two boats doesn’t seem like such a giant miracle in comparison to 3,000 souls being saved by a single sermon.)

Peter’s sermon is so classically sermon-y: it starts with a joke, addresses the specific context of the Jewish audience, and goes on way too long. Remember that the crowd is murmuring rumors about drunkenness, which created a need for someone to step forward and make a claim about what was going on. Point #1: 9am is way too early for us to be this drunk. Point #2: The Old Testament (or the Jewish scriptures) directly prophesied about this exact moment. Point #3: We’re in the “last days” that we’ve been waiting for, so turn to God while you have time. (Side note: since time has continued on for 2,000 years since this sermon, we can safely say that we are still in the “last days” and these prophecies about the Holy Spirit remain true for us now.)

Peter had enough knowledge of the Old Testament and training from Jesus to speak with discernment, but his sudden boldness in leadership and his ability to publicly address a crowd in a compelling manner were provided on the spot. All Peter did was step forward in a moment that needed clarification. The Holy Spirit did the work to cause the crowd to believe.

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Acts 1

Take a moment to read the entire chapter of Acts 1 before reading the devotional below.

Today we begin our series through the book of Acts. The author, Luke, wrote both the book of Luke and Acts, with the end of the book of Luke and the beginning of Acts both containing the story of Jesus’ return to heaven. We continue on to find out what happened to the disciples after Jesus left them to begin the church.

Jesus’ first instruction for their task of spreading the good news of his resurrection is to go hang out in a room and do nothing. As a driven, type-A person, I really do dislike how often the Bible encourages waiting. And yet here we sit with the disciples, waiting in a room in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit.

In the meantime, they are working to come to terms with the complete betrayal of Jesus on the part of Judas, who has since committed suicide. It’s an ugly and gruesome start, that’s for sure. So they’re down one person, and they have to find a replacement on the team. “When in doubt, flip a coin” is the lesson at the end of this chapter. Yes, that’s right, the early church was founded on a divinely ordained coin toss.

You know you’ve been called to giant mission and have no idea what to do first? Just wait in a room with a bunch of people who are going to do it with you and let the Holy Spirit show up when he’s ready. Not sure how to decide between two great options? Pray and flip that coin. There is so little God actually wants us to wrack our brains to try to figure out. He’s leading you, one step at a time. Most likely it’s a lot slower than you’d expect. When you have eternity in mind, time isn’t really of the essence.

When you have eternity in mind, time isn’t really of the essence.

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Philippians 2:14-15

“Do everything without complaining and arguing, so that no one can criticize you. Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.”

Verse 14 may be the Bible verse I quote the most when talking to my children. It flows right off the tongue… “Do everything without complaining or arguing!” Isn’t it convenient how we often use the Bible as a defense mechanism designed to make others suit our own purposes? The Bible is great for correction, but maybe there should be a rule that you can only quote verses to others that you have fully mastered yourself. But I digress…

Turning the mirror back on myself, I want to soak in all the wisdom these verses have to offer me. At our church, we often say, “Everything means everything…” so in these verses I can’t turn the “everything” into “some things.” Do everything without complaining or arguing. Why? So that no one can criticize you. Wow. Imagine living a life in which no one can think of anything bad to say. That is the Spirit-led life.

Notice the contrast described in verse 15: innocent, bright-shining examples versus crooked and perverse people. My heart breaks that this is so far from the current state of the American church. Christians, instead of being known as examples of excellence and love, are often known for forcing their morals down other people’s throats. Is that really how we want to play this? Using the Bible and Jesus like I started off this post, bashing other people for stuff we aren’t so great at?

To humbly accept the path laid out for us and in doing so shining a light so bright the world notices. As a body. Not just me, all by myself, but all of us together. Sit with him today and let him remove the chains that trap you in complaints, arguing and pushing others to do things you yourself still fail at. Perhaps it is in that place that we can begin to understand freedom and become bringers of peace.

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Day 5 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:11-12 (NLT)

“Brothers and sisters, if I am still preaching circumcision, why am I still being persecuted? In that case the offense of the cross has been abolished. As for those agitators, I wish they would go the whole way and emasculate themselves!”

Sometimes the Bible is inappropriate. Imagine sitting in church and the pastor says, “If you think that circumcision gets you closer to God, you should go all the way and chop your penis right off!” Oh yes, Paul did just say that. And you might be wondering how we got on this subject in the first place. Weren’t we on a nice track talking about emotional freedom and the Holy Spirit?

We’re still on track, and the message behind all the penis talk is simple: Go all in or don’t bother trying. As we see from verse 11, Paul and the other leaders of the early church were risking their lives on a daily basis. You don’t get much more “all in” than that kind of dedication. Paul gets frustrated with their petty and foolish thinking about rituals in order to get right with God. He challenges them on their hearts — if you really believed that circumcision was getting you closer to God then why wouldn’t you at least be wholehearted about it?

Here’s your freedom for today: emotional and spiritual freedom is found in living by the Spirit, not by doing a bunch of earthly steps to “prove” your devotion.

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Here’s your freedom for today: emotional and spiritual freedom is found in living by the Spirit, not by doing a bunch of earthly steps to “prove” your devotion. Anything you do out of pure conviction from the Spirit will be wholehearted. And it is when our hearts are whole that we find true freedom. What are you going after with your whole heart today?

It is when our hearts are whole that we find true freedom.

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Day 4 – 21 Days to Freedom

Galatians 5:7-10 (NLT)

“You were running the race so well. Who has held you back from following the truth?  It certainly isn’t God, for he is the one who called you to freedom. This false teaching is like a little yeast that spreads through the whole batch of dough! I am trusting the Lord to keep you from believing false teachings. God will judge that person, whoever he is, who has been confusing you.”

Have you ever been doing pretty well in life, going along just fine until you suddenly get thrown off course? Maybe you thought, “I was doing so well! What happened??” If the Galatians were with us today they would feel your pain. They had received the good news about Jesus being the pathway to God and were off and running strong. But then they got distracted — swept up by fear and old ways of thinking. “What if we are supposed to keep following the law? What if Jesus is just part of the answer?”

Anytime we find ourselves with a Jesus plus _____________ scenario we are off track. For us, it might be Jesus plus self-reliance, or Jesus plus my bank account, or Jesus plus what others think of me. How quickly that wrong thinking disrupts our whole lives. And this passage assures us that our non-free thinking is not from God — he is the one who set us free in the first place!

Here’s your freedom for today: God is paying attention to you, making sure that you stay in the middle of his grace.

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Here’s your freedom for today: God is paying attention to you, making sure that you stay in the middle of his grace. The people and things that add to false thinking in your life are not on God’s favorites list… He wants you to be free and frankly he’s kind of mad at whatever robs you from living a free life. But notice that phrase, “he will keep you…” He is willing and able to protect your mind from the slavery to the “shoulds” and the “musts.” We just need to ask and trust that he will guide us in his grace as we turn to him daily.

God is willing and able to protect your mind from the slavery to the “shoulds” and the “musts.”

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