For Gentiles day4

 Peter, a Jew, went to visit Cornelius, a Gentile. In doing so, he broke protocol, he broke the law among Jews that said such a visit was anathema. But he did it because God had called him to do it. It was certainly uncomfortable and disorienting, and Peter must have surely felt out of place. But he did it anyway, and in the process, he confessed that he was learning new things about God, too.

He must also have been putting this experience together with Jesus’ final words to him. “Go! Get out there in the wide world and take My message to everyone!”

Peter and the rest of the early followers of Jesus probably thought Jesus meant them to take the message to all the Jewish people who lived in the wide world. But this experience shed new light on His command. Maybe when Jesus had said “everyone,” He actually meant “everyone.” Not just Jewish people everywhere, but all people everywhere.

We commonly refer to non-Christians as “lost people.” The term comes from Jesus’ stories about the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son recorded in Luke 15. Sadly, the term, which in those stories meant loved, precious and sought after, has become synonymous with “impure” or “unclean.” Sometimes we call people lost with such derision in our voices, passing judgment on them as if we’re so much better for having been found. God doesn’t look at them and say, “Good riddance!” They are treasured and missed.

It’s enough to make you wonder who’s really lost. After all, if you sent a letter to someone and it never arrived, you would say the letter was lost — not the intended recipient.

God has sent us into the world as His letter to people He misses greatly (2 Cor 3.3). We’re His ambassadors, sent out to make known His loving and gracious intentions to everyone (2 Cor 5.20). And when He says “everyone,” He means “everyone.” And yet so few of us actually arrive at our destination.

In light of that, who is really lost?

Jesus promised His followers that He would always be with them, and that’s a promise we can claim, as well. But there was a command attached to the promise. Do you remember what it was? It’s called the Great Commission (Mt 28.19-20).

Jesus will be with us as we spread the message. There are lessons we can only learn as we, like Peter, follow Jesus out of comfortable positions and places, allowing the Holy Spirit to stretch us. He will be with us as we engage in spiritual friendships with people like Cornelius, learning as we teach, refusing to place ourselves on a higher plane and showing respect for those to whom we have been sent. Jesus will be with us as we go to everyone.

Do we really believe what He says or not?

 

Prayer 

 

Dear Lord, through my new birth and identity in Your Son, I now have an entirely different orientation in life. I have become a steward, and I no longer manage my possessions, but Yours. I have become an ambassador, and I am no longer on my own business, but on the business of Your kingdom. Because I am a new creature and now Your ambassador in Christ, You have given me the ministry of reconciliation in this world. Through Your resources, You have made me adequate as a servant of the new covenant to become a living letter about Christ that can be known and read by others. Jesus, as You promised in Your Great Commission, You will be with me always as I serve as an agent of Your life-giving Word. Give me a growing willingness to move out of my comfort zone, and stretch me by Your Holy Spirit to see and do new things in Your power.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

For Gentiles day3

 Peter was summoned by a man named Cornelius. God Himself told him to go. God told Cornelius to send for him. And Peter had arrived.

Cornelius was not Jewish. Up to this point, all of the followers of Jesus had been Jewish (except for the folks in Samaria, who were half-breeds). This posed a dilemma for Peter. Would he go inside Cornelius’s house? That would be a big deal. Jewish people weren’t supposed to go inside a Gentile’s house. They weren’t supposed to eat together or have extended conversations.

What’s a good Jewish boy to do?

What would you do?

We still have our dividing lines. We may not always divide along the lines of ethnicity — although skin colour is still a big deal in a lot of places. We may divide along the lines of religious affiliation or political ideologies. We may draw our lines with socioeconomic markers or even theological positions.

You may think, I can’t talk to them, they’re Mac users! They’re Calvinists! They’re Democrats!

Peter could have launched into a diatribe about the things that divided them. He could have preached a good, old-fashioned “Turn or burn!” sermon. But he didn’t. Instead, look what he did, “Talking with him, Peter went inside” (Ac 10.27).

Perhaps the most important phrase in this story is simply this, “Talking with him.”

Peter didn’t talk to Cornelius. Peter didn’t talk at him. Peter talked with him.

And look what he said: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean” (v. 28). Cornelius and his friends were from the wrong religious and ethnic background, but Peter knew now not to call anyone impure or unclean.

Truth is, everyone is impure and unclean — Jew and Gentile alike — Christian and non-Christian. But no one gets called impure or unclean. Not Gentiles. Not lepers. Not women. Not AIDS patients. Not Republicans. Not Democrats. Not feminists. Not New Agers. Not Muslims.

No one gets called impure or unclean.

There was a time when simple conversations, steeped in humility (“I’m a man just like you”) and couched in the context of acceptance could persuade. It was through conversations like Peter had with Cornelius that the world was changed. Later in his life, Peter would write, “Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Pet 3.15).

Do we even know how to have conversations like that anymore — with gentleness and respect? Can we stop talking past others, talking at others, talking down to others long enough to talk with them?

The power of a simple conversation, the give-and-take and exchange of ideas without name-calling is a marvellous thing. It’s how the Early Church spread. It’s how the Church would spread today if we’d give it a chance.

 

Prayer 

 

Lord, we have always lived in cultures that erect barriers between people. Social, economic, racial, gender, political and worldview barriers divide us and make us feel either arrogant or inferior. I thank You for the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus, who broke through these artificial boundaries in His love, acceptance, forgiveness and service to the last, the least and the lonely. And I give thanks for the way Your followers, according to the book of Acts, were willing to carry the Good News from the Jews to the Samaritans, and on to the Gentiles. Teach me to treasure all the people I encounter and to love them enough to seek their greatest good. I want to be gracious and kind when I share my faith, not talking at people, but with them. May I build redemptive bridges of friendship based on common ground with people who do not yet know Jesus.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

For Gentiles day2

 The story of Cornelius’s coming to faith (Ac 10) is one of the happiest stories in the Bible. Here was a man who was neither Christian nor Jewish, he was a God-fearing Roman. He tried to do good. He prayed a lot. But he wasn’t affiliated with any of the established religions.

Cornelius sounds a lot like some of the people who live in your neighbourhood.

One afternoon, he received a vision of an angel who told him that God had noticed his prayers and good deeds. Oddly, the angel didn’t give him the message he needed. Instead, the angel told him how to make contact with a man named Peter, who could give him the message.

That sounds a lot like Saul in our previous story. Again we see how no one in the New Testament comes to faith apart from another human’s help.

Shortly after Cornelius received one vision, Peter received another. Peter’s was an odd one involving a crazy command by God to do something that Jewish Peter thought was a sin. This is what learning theorists call “cognitive and moral dissonance.” God confused and frustrated Peter so that He could teach Peter something.

In this case, God was forcing Peter to reconsider his categories. What is sin? What is out of bounds? Who is too far away?

God didn’t let Peter mull these questions over for very long, though. While he was thinking about it all, the guys from Cornelius’s house showed up. “We’re here to bring you to see our boss.”

Cornelius was Roman — as in Italian. He sent some guys to see Peter. Peter went with them. ’Nuff said, capiche?

When Peter went to Cornelius’s house, Cornelius literally fell at Peter’s feet. He figured Peter had been sent by an angel, that he was a messenger from God or something — maybe Peter expected and deserved special treatment.

But Peter’s response was great. He said, “Stand up, I’m just a regular guy like you.”

That’s just good mental health right there. So many Christians feel unqualified to do the work of evangelism because we feel so normal, so regular, so unspiritual. We’re just regular folks. We’re not “evangelists.” We don’t have big hair or expensive suits.

Peter said, “I’m just a man like you.”

James, the brother of Jesus, would later write, “Elijah was a man just like us. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years. Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops” (Jam 5.17-18).

Elijah was just a man like you. Peter was just a man like you. People like you are the only kind of people God uses.

 

Prayer 

 

Father, I praise Your Name that You have given me eternal life in Jesus Christ, a new quality of life that is meant to flow out of my inner being and bear lasting fruit in the lives of others. I delight in the liberating truth that I do not need to be an impressive person who has accomplished significant things by the standards of this world. Instead, You use ordinary people to accomplish extraordinary things, because the power of Your kingdom is of an utterly different nature than the powers known to the world. I do not need to be wise, mighty or noble to be used in profound ways by You. I thank You for the many examples in the Bible that make this clear. May I look to You, follow You, know You, discern Your desires for my life and submit my will to Your desires, knowing that You want to bear abiding fruit in and through me.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

For Gentiles day1

 ACTS 10–11

 

Let’s review. It all started with an idea God had to create a group of people who would live in harmony with Him and with each other. Their very presence would be a blessing to the world.

But it went bad very early on, when sin entered the world through the terrible choice of the first man and his wife.

Still, God has proven to be unrelenting in His pursuit of this idea. He promised then and there that He would send a Deliverer who would set things straight again. A few hundred years later, He spoke to Abraham and said, “I’m going to bless you, and through you I’ll bless everyone on the whole planet.”

The first part of the Bible tells the story of what God did in, among and through Abraham’s descendants, the Jewish people. He gave them a place. He gave them a Law to live by. He gave them His presence. He made them the envy of all the surrounding nations.

And they blew it. In the grand tradition of Adam and Eve, these people just had to have it their own way. So God gave them over to others, disciplining them for their rebellion but never forgetting the promise He had made to them.

When the time was just right, Jesus appeared. He was Jewish, by the way — extremely Jewish. And the books that talk about Him are also very Jewish. He was circumcised like a good Jewish boy. He studied the Torah like a good Jewish boy. His ministry began in a synagogue, where He read a passage out of the Jewish Bible. He even said that He had come to gather up all the lost sheep of Israel (Mt 10.6).

His closest followers, the ones He handpicked, were all Jewish, and after His death and resurrection and ascension, on the Day of Pentecost, there was a great crowd of Jewish people gathered in Jerusalem. These are the ones who heard that first sermon by Peter, and more than 3,000 of them responded by placing their faith in Jesus. When they went home, they didn’t stop being Jewish. They kept meeting in synagogues and all that.

We’re about 90 percent of the way through the Bible’s Story, and so far there’s not much in there that’s not really, really Jewish. There’s been quite a bit about YHWH blessing the descendants of Abraham, but there hasn’t been that much about Him blessing the rest of us through them.

There have been a few previews, the story of Ruth from Moab, the story of Jonah going to Nineveh, Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman. Other than that, though, there hasn’t been much indication that God has been aiming outside of Israel.

But with this story, the larger Story takes a dramatic turn. Saul has just been knocked off his high horse and converted for one primary purpose, to carry the good news about God to non-Jewish people (Ac 9.15).

Saul’s conversion is just the first of many dominoes that will fall in rapid succession. First Saul becomes a Christian, then comes the first high-profile Gentile convert, a military officer named Cornelius. The next thing you know, the whole thing is out there running wild. The Christians in Antioch (which is where the word “Christian” was first used) start intentionally targeting Gentiles with their message, building a truly cross-cultural missional outpost, raising money and sending out missionaries who always go first to Jewish people and then talk to anyone who will listen.

God had this idea way back when, He made this promise.

And He meant what He said.

 

Prayer 

 

Lord God, You called Your servant Abram to take the risk of leaving everything he knew in his country, including his relatives, to go to a land he did not know. You called him to a far higher purpose than he could have pursued on his own, because You invited him to be a part of Your great Story rather than his own comfortable existence. And You promised to make this man who had no children into a great nation, and to bless him and make his name great so that he would become a blessing not only to his own people, but ultimately to all the families of the earth. Your fulfilment of this covenant promise came about in completely unexpected and unpredictable ways — in ways that demonstrate Your divine creativity and sovereign authority over history. For Abram became Abraham, and his seed led to the Lord Jesus Christ, who blessed both Jews and Gentiles.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

A man named Saul day 4

 Saul was a terror before he met Jesus. Luke wrote, “Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples” (Ac 9.1). He was like a wild and ferocious beast in his passion to destroy these people who were spreading the news about Jesus.

In other words, Saul would have been voted “Least Likely to Convert to Christianity.”

And yet he did. He didn’t just convert to following Christ, he became the greatest missionary the world has ever known. He took the message to the very epicentre of the ancient world, the city of Rome. He suffered tremendously for the sake of his mission, but he did so willingly for the sake of advancing the borders of God’s kingdom to the ends of the earth.

And that brings up an interesting thing for us to consider. Who is too far away from God? Who is so unlikely to convert to Christianity that it’s not even worth your time to pray about them? Jimmy Carr? Kim-Jung-Un? Richard Dawkins? Cardi B? Your spouse? Your ex? Your brother-in-law? Your dad? Your next-door neighbour? Who is so far out there, so far gone, that you’re not even going to waste your breath talking to God about them?

Jesus loves porn stars and the drunk in the gutter. He loves Muslims and atheists. He loves mass murderers. He loves people who get divorced, and He loves people who gossip about people who get divorced. He loves everyone. And no one — not a single person who still has breath in his or her body — is too far away for the grace of God to reach.

So don’t say no for someone else.

We’re so willing to say, “Oh, not that guy. He’ll never be interested in having a personal relationship with God. I’m not gonna waste my breath on him.”

Don’t say no for him. Pray about him. Ask God to open a door of opportunity, and be ready to walk through when it opens.

Spend time today thinking about those who you would vote “Least Likely to Convert to Christianity.” Pray for them. Some of them may be celebrities. Others may be people you work with or know casually. Pray for them. Ask God to soften their hearts to His message. Ask God to begin the process of drawing them to Himself. Then ask God to include you in that process.

 

Prayer

 

Father, there are so many forces of opposition against the gospel of Christ in this world, and the multiple attacks on Christianity have become more fierce in our time than ever. When I think of some of the people who are bitterly opposed to the gospel, it seems that nothing could break through such hatred for the truth. But then I remember remarkable instances of the dramatic conversion of people who were at enmity with you. Like Saul on the road to Damascus, who was transformed by the power of the resurrected Christ, no one is beyond Your reach. You can change the unlikeliest of people into trophies of Your love and grace. May I therefore not hate those who are opposed to the gospel, but pray for their conversion. I ask for the grace to see people in light of eternity, and never to underestimate the power of prayer and witness.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

 

A man named Saul day 3

 “I like Jesus, but I don’t like the Church.”

I’ve heard many people say this. I’ve even heard pastors say this! And maybe they’ve got good reasons. Certainly, the Church hasn’t always looked a lot like Jesus. We bicker and brawl. We split theological hairs and exclude people who don’t agree with us. We divide over dumb things like what kind of music to use or what women can and can’t do or what colour to paint the foyer. There are a multitude of reasons why a person might say they don’t like Church. You’ll never hear Jesus say it, though.

In fact, one of the statements Jesus made to Saul on the road to Damascus demonstrates how Jesus feels toward His Church. “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?”

Saul, of course, had no idea what this Voice was talking about. He asked, “Who are You, Lord?”

Jesus replies, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting.” That was probably confusing for Saul. He wasn’t persecuting a person, he was persecuting a group of people who followed a Person.

But Jesus said, “If you’re messing with them, you’re messing with Me.”

These early followers of Jesus weren’t perfect. They had squabbles over who was important. They were very prejudiced against people from other nationalities. They had knock-down, drag-out arguments over silly things like what you could and could not eat and whether or not you had to observe certain religious holidays.

But Jesus said, “Those are My people, and as imperfect as they are, if you mess with them, you’re messing with Me!”

He still says the same thing about His people today. Is the Church perfect? Far from it! Will it ever be? Not until Jesus comes back. But Jesus loves Her, with all Her warts and spots and wrinkles and blemishes. She is His plan to save the world.

Saul, who became known more widely as Paul, apparently got the message. In his later writings, he referred to the Church as “the Body of Christ” (Rom12; 1 Cor12; Eph 4-5; Colossians 3).

Would you say to Jesus, “I like You, but I don’t like Your Body”?

Remember, you mess with the Church, you mess with Jesus. And if you accept Jesus …

 

Prayer 

 

Lord, when I consider the history of the Church through the centuries, it amazes me that You have chosen to use such an imperfect and inefficient vehicle to spread the gospel of the Kingdom throughout the world. Yet in spite of all the selfishness, pride, envy, strife, malice, deceit, errors and misunderstandings that have characterised Christendom, Your purposes in the world cannot be thwarted. It would be so much easier for You to spread the gospel directly without our involvement, but You have chosen to love and nurture the living Body of Christ, which is Your Bride, the Church. In spite of our imperfections and foolishness, You have chosen to love us and live through us. I look forward to the day when You will sanctify and cleanse us so that we can be holy and blameless when we are with You.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

A man named Saul day 2

  

Jesus had Saul right where He wanted him. A bright light shone from the sky, knocking the proud man off his high horse. Saul was blind and helpless. Jesus appeared and called Saul by name. Saul was absolutely terrified!

Hopefully, we know by now that it’s not in Jesus’ nature to be vindictive or vengeful. His primary motive is not to scare people. He could have done that all the time when He was here on earth, but He didn’t. Instead, as Saul later wrote, “God’s kindness leads us to repentance” (Rom 2.4).

Jesus had Saul right where He wanted him. He was broken and blind and helpless. Jesus could have done whatever He wanted to Saul right then and there. He could have killed him or permanently maimed him.

But that’s not how Jesus operates.

Instead, He threw Saul a lifeline. He offered Saul another chance, a new beginning. He offered Saul (a man who deserved to die for persecuting innocent people) salvation. He offered Saul the possibility of an intimate relationship with God the Father through Himself. He even offered Saul the gift of the Holy Spirit’s indwelling presence.

It was the opportunity of a lifetime.

Interestingly enough, Jesus didn’t explain to Saul how to enter into this new relationship. Instead, He told him to go into town and wait for someone to come and help. Jesus could have explained the whole deal to Saul right there. He could have told him what to pray and how to pray it. He could have given him the Holy Spirit on the spot. He could have told him to go and be baptised.

But He didn’t. That’s not how it works. No one in the New Testament ever comes to faith in Jesus apart from another human being’s help.

Why would we think it’s any different today?

There’s nothing wrong with Christian radio or Christian television programming per se. There’s nothing wrong with tracts and literature designed to help people make that connection with God. But nothing will ever replace the original strategy Jesus set in place for growing His kingdom of followers. One person telling another person who tells another person who tells …

 

Prayer 

 

God of mercy and grace, without You I was on a path that led only to disappointment, emptiness and death. In Your severe mercy, You brought me to a realisation of my condition and my real need, and You caused me to see my spiritual bankruptcy. Through the way of brokenness, You graciously drew me to an understanding of my inadequacy and futility. It was only then that I could see clearly enough to reach out for Your grace and transforming power. I thank You for the circumstances and the people You used to bring this about, and I realise that You have now given me the great privilege of acting as Your agent of reconciliation so that I can participate in Your process of bringing others to faith in Christ. I give thanks for Your many gifts, and I ask You to guide and empower me to share them with others.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

A man named Saul day1

 ACTS 9:1-31

 

Christianity was at a tipping point. Some viewed it as a heretical sect within Judaism. Others viewed it as a fulfilment of Judaism. Some wanted it to become a replacement of Judaism. There was confusion, some bickering and now the mounting threat of persecution.

Christians began moving away from Jerusalem. They settled in places like Caesarea, Samaria and Damascus (some even said there was a sizeable gathering all the way up in Antioch — nearly 500 miles away), thinking they might find a safer, more sympathetic community among people who didn’t live in the shadow of Herod’s Temple, but such safety was short-lived.

One of the most determined anti-Christians, a tent-making rabbi named Saul, went to the high priest and requested a warrant to scour the surrounding regions, looking for people who dared breathe the blasphemous name of Jesus. The Jewish leaders, having heard about how Christians were stirring up all sorts of turmoil in the synagogues (even suggesting that people no longer had to travel to Jerusalem to offer sacrifices in the Temple) granted Saul’s request. The warrant was issued.

Saul (who in the Greek language he mostly spoke was also called “Paul”) planned to travel to these cities, confront these heretics in the synagogues, quiet the trouble they created and bring them back to Jerusalem, where they would stand trial before the Jewish leaders. Just like their Leader had. If things worked out well, Saul reasoned, they might face the same humiliating ending Jesus had met.

But there was just one thing this Saul guy hadn’t thought about. What if they were right and he was wrong?

He gathered his supplies for what would probably be a 10-day trip. Food, water, clothing — and not just for himself but for his entire entourage. It was a dangerous time and it was safer to travel in a group. Plus, one never knew what these followers of Jesus might do. Rumours had circulated that they even ate flesh and drank blood!

Having heard the one named Stephen arguing with the high priest, Saul was familiar with the gist of the argument he was likely to encounter upon his arrival. On the journey, lost in thought, perhaps he allowed his mind to work out the details of his rebuttal. If they quoted Isaiah, he would quote Jeremiah. If they quoted the psalmist, he would quote the law. If they…, if they…, if they… .

Suddenly, a blinding light flashed in the sky, throwing Saul to the ground. There was nowhere to hide from it. It was positively suffocating in its brilliance. Everyone was terrified. Saul felt like he was on fire.

“Saul!” a Voice thundered.

The man in question was too terrified to respond.

“Saul!” the Voice repeated. “Why are you mistreating Me?”

Saul must have thought this was the end for him. But who in the world was talking? Who would say such a thing, and who would know his name — let alone his mission?

You don’t suppose… ?

“It’s me, Jesus, the One you’re abusing!”

Saul’s greatest fears were suddenly realised. His mind was racing. He heart was pounding.

“Get up! Go into the city. Someone there will tell you what to do.”

And then it was gone. The light, the Voice, everything returned to normal, except for the panic. The fear remained. The terror became a part of Saul, burrowing deep into the core of his being.

He couldn’t see. He could barely think or speak. He refused to eat or drink for three days.

And then a man named Ananias showed up, claiming that Jesus had sent him to restore Saul’s sight.

Sure enough, as soon as Ananias finished speaking, Saul’s eyes were opened.

He wasn’t sure about much of anything anymore. But he knew this much. He was blind, and now he could see.

 

Prayer 

 

Dear Lord, it is good for me to review my spiritual journey from time to time so that I memorialise the significant people and events You have used in the process of gradually forming me into the person You intend me to become. Although You made me, I have acted as though I am self-made. I was meant for You, yet I have lived as though everything was meant for me. You called me for Your purposes, yet I have sought my own purposes. But when You were pleased to reveal Your Son to me, You opened up an entirely new way and a new set of options that were formerly closed to me. Now I can live for You and pursue Your purposes, because You have turned my spiritual blindness to sight. In Christ, You have given me a new derivation, a new dignity and a new destiny.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

The ends of the earth day4

 Sometimes God’s people are arrested and beaten for their faith. Sometimes ruling powers of this world make them choose between renouncing their faith and death. Sometimes good people get thrown into bad places for doing the right thing.

There’s a spiritual war going on, and we shouldn’t expect life to be comfortable. The fact is that most of the people reading this (and the guy writing it) live in a level of luxury that is unprecedented in human history. But the notion that once you come to Christ you’ll never have to face difficulties, sickness, loss of job, poverty, depression, divorce, the death of a child or persecution for your faith is patently absurd.

Jesus Himself said, “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn 16.33). In fact, in the Sermon on the Mount, He said, “Don’t worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own” (Mt 6.34).

Trouble today and trouble tomorrow? Thanks a lot, Jesus!

That’s not the end of the story. But we cannot skip over it and jump to the happy ending just yet.

Evil is a real presence in our world, it is not an illusion. The forces of evil are powerful and clever, and they are intent on prying people away from God. There is a war going on, and it is not pretty.

Here’s the reason this is so important. Most of us have never really known poverty. Few of us will ever have to worry about being thrown in prison and tortured for our beliefs. We live in relative comfort and ease, in an age of unprecedented wealth and affluence. Certainly, this is a blessing in many ways. Many of us live in nice homes and eat good food, have drinkable water and access to good medical care.

But our comfort can be a kind of curse, as well. It’s made us soft. It’s made us forget that there are people, even people in our world today, who don’t have it so good. More people have been murdered for their faith in Jesus in the last 100 years than ever in history. There is a war going on still. Persecution is not just something the Church experienced in the book of Acts. Neither is it something that will happen one day during the Tribulation. It goes on today in places like Sudan, Indonesia, China and Afghanistan. It will continue until Jesus returns.

So, here’s the challenge for you. Stop taking your comfortable lifestyle for granted. Receive it as a gift from God, but don’t expect it to last forever. Don’t feel guilty for having nice things and for making good money, but realise that you’re called to use that wealth to further God’s purposes in this world (1 Pet 4.10). Remember those who are still persecuted for their faith. Pray for those who go to bed hungry tonight or who are imprisoned.

If you’re interested in doing more than sending happy thoughts, you might want to visit a couple of websites and get some information on how you can roll up your sleeves and get involved:

Voice of the Martyrs: www.persecution.com

Compassion International: www.compassion.com

The 410 Bridge: www.410bridge.org

 

Prayer 

 

Lord Jesus, Your followers in this world have experienced more persecution in our time than ever in the history of the Church. Yet you have used this persecution to bring about greater commitment and zeal and to dramatically bring in a harvest of worldwide proportions. You foretold, “This gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations, and then the end will come” (Matthew 24:14). We are privileged to see the great harvest at the end of the age before Your return. I thank You that Your Word is alive and active around the world. This is a time of unprecedented spiritual warfare, and we desperately need to submit to You and put on the full armour of God. For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

The ends of the earth day 3

 Jerusalem was a pretty comfortable place, for a while. The followers of Jesus met together every day, sharing meals and money among everyone. They were generous and made sure everyone had basic needs supplied. They were a unified force, enjoying daily numeric growth. There were miraculous signs and wonders happening everywhere they turned.

Life was good!

But perhaps they had forgotten what Jesus left them behind to do. They weren’t supposed to hang around Jerusalem and let people come to them if they wanted to know about how to have a relationship with God the Father through His Son, Jesus.

They were supposed to go.

They had been commissioned to venture out into the wide world, taking this life-changing message of Jesus with them as they went. They weren’t supposed to pursue comfort and respectability, they were supposed to pursue God’s mission of expanding the borders of His kingdom in this world.

But it was so nice there in Jerusalem. It was safe and familiar. They knew their way around. They knew people there, family and friends. Jerusalem was a nice place to live, a safe place to raise a family. It was nice and safe and familiar and comfortable.

But it wasn’t God’s plan.

So God allowed the heat to be turned up in Jerusalem. Like a mother eagle who teaches her offspring to fly and then breaks up the nest so that they can’t come back, God allowed Jerusalem to become an uncomfortable place for followers of Jesus. In this way, His plan of having them take the message to the ends of the earth would be fulfilled.

God values people more than He values their comfort. God values mission more than He values safety.

That can be a very uncomfortable message for folks who live in nice houses in the suburbs, for people who drive nice cars and throw more food away each week than a lot of people consume, for people who pursue wealth and happiness, and who hunger and thirst for a nice, safe place to raise their kids.

There’s nothing wrong with having money. There’s nothing wrong with living in a nice house in a safe neighbourhood or driving a nice car. But what do we value more? Do we value our safety and comfort more than we value God’s plan? Are we content to stay warming up when God calls us to get out there and run around and play? Do we expect others to come to us instead of actively going out among them?

What would it look like for you to value people more than you value your own comfort? What would have to change for people to know that your priority is accomplishing God’s purposes in your generation?

 

Prayer

 

God of grace and comfort, when I consider the state of the Church in the world today, I realise that its greatest vitality is no longer in Europe and North America, but in Asia, Africa and South America. The secularisation, materialism and pragmatism of the West has diminished our spiritual power, and we have compartmentalised our faith to the degree that there seem to be few real differences between professing Christians and the rest of the population. I confess that we have become more concerned about our comfort than about our character and convictions, and we have become soft. I pray that we would cultivate hearts of gratitude for Your many provisions, and that we would be more generous in investing the resources You have given us for the spread of the gospel so that we participate more dynamically in the Great Commission.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

The ends of the earth day2

 Harassment, internal bickering and persecution threatened to kill the fledgling movement before it ever really got started. At least that’s what it looked like from a human perspective. But do you remember what Jesus said right before He ascended into the clear, blue sky? He told them, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth”. (Ac 1.8)

Notice that Jesus didn’t command them to do anything. He told them how it was going to be. There were no conditions attached, no rules to follow. He said, “This is what is going to happen.”

So persecution breaks out and the disciples begin to leave Jerusalem. Where do they go? First they go to Judea and Samaria. Eventually they scatter to the ends of the earth.

And what do they do? They tell people what they saw and heard and experienced. As they go, they tell about what Jesus said and did, and as others wanted to experience the same kind of life these messengers describe, they baptise people into His Name.

Sounds almost as if they are carrying out the Great Commission, fulfilling Jesus’ prediction about their future.

If we’ve seen anything over the past weeks, it’s this. When God tells you something is going to happen, you can take it to the bank. In good times and in bad, regardless of whether the authorities endorse your message or persecute you because of it, God’s promises are rock-solid security.

He doesn’t promise us a stress-free lifestyle with no hardships or suffering. He doesn’t assure us that everyone will like us and embrace our message. Instead, He promises that He will never leave us. We’ll never have to face the suffering alone. And He promises to eventually bring us home.

He has a perfect track record thus far, there’s no reason to think He’ll start breaking His promises anytime soon.

 

Prayer 

 

Father, I am so often tempted to put my hope in all the wrong things. I am tempted to hope in people to gain security, to hope in possessions to gain significance and to hope in position and performance to gain satisfaction. But all of these will let me down, because I can only discover these things in You, not in the world. And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You. When I am distressed and disappointed, may I hope in You; when I am betrayed and misunderstood, may I hope in You; when I lose my possessions, may I hope in You. I will exult in hope, knowing that Your promises can never be thwarted by circumstances and setbacks. You will never desert me, nor will You ever forsake me. I will hope alone in Your perfect and unchanging character, knowing that You will carry me safely to Your eternal kingdom.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Confess

 Confess 

 To admit the wrong things we’ve done 

 Imagine you're sick with a bad cough. Your mum offers you some cough medicine, but you pretend you're fine. As you keep playing, your cough gets worse and worse. Finally, you admit it, you’ll only get better if you take the medicine. 

 Confessing our sins is a lot like that. It's only when we admit to God we’ve done something wrong that we can get the ‘medicine’ we need. And that medicine is forgiveness. 

 There was a time when King David kept pretending he hadn’t done wrong things, but that only made him feel worse. He couldn’t stop thinking about those bad things he’d done. “Finally,” he said to God, “I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone”. (Psa 32.5) David felt so much better after that! 

When we confess our sins, we’re agreeing with God about what sin is. It’s like we’re saying, “If You say it’s wrong, I agree it’s wrong too.” 

 We’re also admitting we did that wrong thing. Sometimes it’s really hard to do that, isn’t it? But it’s only when we get honest that things can get better.

 

Luke 15.11-24 

 One time a young man ran away from home after hurting his father's feelings. He spent his father's money on fun things. Then he ran out of money and started feeling alone, sad, and hungry. He decided to go back home. He knew he’d have to confess the wrong things he’d done – to be brave enough to tell the truth. The son said to his father, “I've sinned against God and against you. I’m sorry!” The father gave him a huge hug and said, “I thought I’d lost you. I’m so happy you’re back! Let’s have a party to celebrate!” 

 Put on a pair of dark sunglasses, then take them off. How different do things look when you take them off? Maybe with the sunglasses on, a blueberry looks black. Before we confess our sins, it’s like we’re wearing those sunglasses. We’re not seeing things as they really are. We’re telling ourselves we’ve done nothing wrong, but we’re just pretending. When we confess, it’s like taking off sunglasses. We can see what is true — what God has seen all along. 

 God, I admit that I’ve done wrong things, like __________. Thank You for forgiving me.

The ends of the earth day1

 ACTS 4–8

 

It didn’t take long for those first followers of Jesus to figure this out. When you do what Jesus did, you’re likely to get the same response.

Some people flocked to them. They were healing and sharing and telling people how to connect with their heavenly Father in a way that bypassed all the corrupt ritualistic forms and politically motivated religious leaders. There was momentum and freedom, and many people jumped on board.

Some were wary of them. All this fuss over a Messiah who was killed by the very enemy He was supposed to overthrow, it didn’t make sense. Besides, movements like this had happened before. Maybe, they thought, we shouldn’t do anything hasty. Just let it go for a while and see if anyone’s still talking about it next year.

Some were downright hostile. This Jesus movement, these followers of the Nazarene — the whole thing suggested a total overhaul of the Jewish system in Jerusalem, a system that had been working pretty well for some people for quite some time. The Romans were content to leave them alone as long as they paid their taxes and kept quiet. Too much rocking the boat might incur their imperial wrath and rob the local leaders of their power. Best not to upset the apple cart.

There was just one problem. These Christians wouldn’t shut up.

Everywhere they went, it was, “Jesus did this” and “Jesus did that” and “You had Him killed but He came back to life, and that proves that you’re going about this thing the wrong way.” They wanted to put an end to the sacrificial system, which was very good for the economy. They meant to tear down the organisation, the whole hierarchy of it all, and replace it with what? With a simple group of people who come together to do what? To pray? To sing? To give? To share?

It sounded like anarchy to many peoples’ ears. Women were permitted to talk in the presence of men. Regular day-labourers were assumed to have insight they could share with the scholars.

Worst of all, if what they were saying was true, it wouldn’t be long before Gentiles were allowed to share in, well, everything. It was as if there was no special blessing for being Jewish. God’s Chosen People no longer enjoyed the status of being His Chosen People. Imagine, God choosing people out there among all the Gentiles. Unthinkable!

No, the only course to take was to shut this thing down now before it gathered any more momentum, before it could convert any more naïve people.

At first, it was simple harassment. The Jewish rulers brought in some of the leaders and warned the Christians to stop. When that didn’t work, the beatings began. But that only seemed to stiffen the resolve of these heretics.

But all was not lost. The first signs of a crack in the newly laid foundation came, believe it or not, from within. A disagreement broke out between some of the Greek-speaking Jews from outside of Jerusalem and those who spoke the more familiar Aramaic. It concerned the care of widows, and though it was quickly resolved, it did reveal the fact that there might soon be trouble in paradise.

It was around this time that Stephen — one of those Greek-speaking Jews — opened his big mouth in front of the Sanhedrin and the High Priest and got himself killed.

That was all it took. Now the Jesus followers left Jerusalem like rats leaving a burning ship. To all appearances, Christianity was unraveling before it ever really got going.

 

Prayer 

 

Lord Jesus, You have called Your followers to be Your witnesses even to the remotest part of the earth. You have also instilled within us the divine power of the Holy Spirit to accomplish in and through us what we could never dream of doing alone. Nothing is more satisfying than to see radical and permanent life change in others, and You have called us to enjoy that immense privilege. As we seek to be faithful to the process, we can leave the results in Your hands. We know that some will respond with enthusiasm, others with indifference and still others with hostility. We know that we cannot manipulate the outcome, and that we should not be surprised when we encounter opposition when we share the Good News about Jesus, especially in an age that has elevated tolerance above truth. Your Word is truth; may we not depart from it.

In Jesus’s name, Amen

Gospel

 Gospel 

 

The good news of salvation through Jesus 

 

Yes,” your mum says, “you can go ride roller coasters with your best friends next weekend.” 

You yell, “Yay!” and then run to tell your best friends the good news. The disciples had some really good news too, and they couldn’t wait to share it with others. 

You see, the prophets had written that God would save people, but no one understood how He’d do it — not until after Jesus lived, died, and came back to life. Then the disciples understood God’s plan. God was saving people through Jesus! And it was their job to share that good news with the world. 

The gospel is the good news of God’s amazing love for people and His big rescue plan. It’s God’s whole story in the Bible! He created everyone and reaches out to save them when they’re in trouble. He says, “I’ll help you and forgive you. I’ll make you mine and give you life forever because I love you.” 

The good news is that you don’t have to be good enough to be saved. It doesn’t matter if you’ve broken rules before. Anyone can have a relationship with God and live with Him in heaven one day — you just have to believe in Jesus, ask God to forgive your sins, and follow Him.

Want to know a short way to explain the gospel? Just say John 3.16, “God loved the world so much that he gave his only Son. God gave his Son so that whoever believes in him may not be lost, but have eternal life”. 

 

Acts 8

 

An angel sent a man named Philip to travel on a road where he met an Ethiopian officer. He was in a chariot reading the words of a prophet. The Ethiopian said, “I need someone to explain this. Who is the prophet talking about?” Philip answered, “Jesus!” and explained the good news about Jesus. The Ethiopian started believing in Jesus. Then Philip baptised him, and the Ethiopian continued on his way home, full of joy because he had heard – and believed – the good news. 

 

 

Make a bracelet with six different coloured beads with each colour as a symbol of God’s story of salvation, black for sin, red for Jesus’ blood, white for forgiveness, blue for baptism, green for growth, and gold for eternal life. If anyone asks you about your bracelet, you can share the good news!

 

God, thank You for loving me and saving me! The gospel really is good news. Help me to share it with others! 

 

The room upstairs day4

 Jesus told the disciples they were to go out into the whole world. As they were going, they were to make disciples of others. But He warned them first, “Apart from me, you can do nothing”. (Jn 15.5) Because He knew they would be lost without Him, Jesus made them a promise right before He left to return to the Father, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you”. (Ac 1.8)

In other words, the Christian life cannot be lived apart from the Spirit of Christ. Without a moment-by-moment reliance on the power and presence of the Holy Spirit, Christian living is simply impossible.

In the absence of such a personal relationship with the Holy Spirit, we reduce God to a set of biblical principles instead of a living Person who refuses to be boxed in, controlled or manipulated. Because we fear hearing from God personally, we say that God no longer communicates apart from the Bible, and we close off the surprising work of the Spirit in our lives.

The Spirit of God is never pushy, never rude and doesn’t spend much time where He’s not wanted or welcomed. So it happens that our desires create our beliefs, and our beliefs create our experiences. We don’t expect to hear from the Spirit, and we convince ourselves that the Spirit will not speak to us. And we are not surprised when He doesn’t. Our experiences reinforce our beliefs, which reinforce our feelings.

But what if we’re wrong? What if the Spirit of God wants to communicate with us? What if the Spirit is waiting for a few people who will listen and respond to His prompting? What might He be waiting to reveal to the Body of Christ through one humble servant who is open to His leading?

You could be that person.

He would never ask you to do something Jesus wouldn’t do. He won’t make you do anything. He won’t force Himself on you. He won’t lead you into anything that contradicts the Bible.

But He may have something to say to you. Are you willing to listen and respond in obedience to what the Spirit has to say?

If so, ask Him to speak. Say, “Speak to me, Holy Spirit.”

And listen.

 

Prayer 

 

Lord, I bless and thank You that Your Spirit of wisdom and understanding, of counsel and strength, of knowledge and the fear of the Lord has been poured out within my heart through my new birth in Jesus Christ. Your Spirit convicts me when I disobey You, He comforts and encourages me when I am downtrodden, He illuminates me when I study Your Word and His indwelling presence protects and empowers me. I thank You for the manifold ministry of Your Spirit and for the spiritual gifts He has given to energise and edify Your living Church. May I value His presence even more than His gifts, but may I also learn to discern and develop the spiritual gifts He has imparted to me. I want to learn how to listen to His voice and expect His surprising work in my life and in the life of the community of faith.

In Jesus’s name, Amen 

Sanctification

 Sanctification 

 

The process of becoming holier

 

Let’s say you’ve got a blank sheet of paper and some paintbrushes and paint. What would you do with that? You’d make something awesome, wouldn’t you? You’d take your time and keep working until your painted picture was finished. 

When God saves us from sin, His Spirit starts working on our hearts, just like painting a really awesome picture. He wants us to become more and more holy, like He is, and He won’t stop working until His work in us is finished. 

On our own, we are selfish and only care about getting what we want. But God changes our hearts so that we love what is good and want what he wants. 

We do our part by choosing to obey. Instead of just going along with whatever our friends are doing, we’ll think, ‘What does God say about this?’ We’ll find out by reading the Bible. We’ll pray, ‘God, help me follow You.’

Life on earth is getting us ready for something. Can you guess what that might be? For living in heaven! Heaven is a holy place. Each time we obey, we become more like Jesus, more like people who will be at home in heaven. 

But when we mess up, God won’t give up on us. The Bible tells us, “God began doing a good work in you. And he will continue it until it is finished” (Phil 1.6) – in heaven.

 

Luke 19.1-8

 

Zacchaeus's job was to gather people ‘s money for paying taxes. He was sneaky and greedy, though – he took extra money from people so he could get rich. But when Zacchaeus met Jesus, he decided he wanted something better than sneaking and stealing. He said, “I won’t do that anymore. I’ll give back what I took – no, four times that! And I’ll give half of my money to the poor!” God was working on Zacchaeus’s heart to make him holier – and that’s called sanctification!

 

 

With a parent’s help, get a piece of foil that is as wide as your shoulders. Close your eyes, then slowly and gently press the foil onto your face until it is touching every part of your face like a mask. Carefully pull it off and see what it looks like. Your face changed the shape of the foil – so it looks like you – just like God changes us to be like Him. 

 

God, thank You for making me holy like You!

Salvation

 Salvation 

 

A rescue from sin and a new life with God 

 

Imagine your mum buys tickets to see your favourite singer perform. You grab the tickets, shrieking with happiness. Later, at the concert, there’s a person collecting tickets. You hand over your ticket, trusting it has the power to let you in — and it works! 

This is kind of what it’s like when God saves us. God “bought the tickets” for us by sending Jesus to die for our sins.

And then we need to do our part, which is believing in God. We need to reach out and grab the ticket — to show we trust in the power of what He’s done. Just like you believe that your concert tickets will allow you to see your favourite singer, you know that believing in Jesus will allow you to see God in heaven. 

The Bible says, “If you declare with your mouth, ‘Jesus is Lord,’ and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. . . . Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved” (Rom 10.9, 13). It’s really that simple!

As soon as we put our faith in Jesus, we’re forgiven, and we’re made righteous. That’s when God gets rid of the sin separating us from Him. 

Being saved isn’t just about going to heaven one day. It changes how we live right now! We can get to know God better every day, and that makes our hearts happy. He shows us the best ways to live and makes us strong. He brings lots of love and joy to our lives! 

 

Acts 10-11

 

Cornelius was a Roman officer – not part of the family of Israel. God told Peter, one of Jesus’s disciples, to tell Cornelius how he could be saved through Jesus. God wanted Peter to learn that everyone – even people who weren’t related to the Israelites – could be saved. Peter explained all of this to Cornelius and said, “Everyone who believes in Jesus will be forgiven.” Then Cornelius believed and was saved!

 

Pour some water in a bowl and sprinkle a bunch of pepper in it. Then put some liquid dish soap on your finger. Now touch the middle of the water’s surface with that finger. What happens? The pepper rushes away! That is a picture of how God’s power removes our sins.

 

God, I believe that what Jesus did for me saves me.