It takes time, but we need to keep growing.

S: Acts 15

O: A lot of Pharisees actually believed in Jesus. They were already primed to believe in Jesus because of their belief in the resurrection of the dead, unlike the Sadducees. Unfortunately, most of them, unlike Saul/Paul, did not then realise that they did not need those strict interpretations of the Mosaic Law any more, which is why they became the Judaisers who dogged Paul and the early church.

After a person gets saved, a lot of their ways of thinking do change, but not everything. People still retain their pre-Christian beliefs, and it takes time for the Holy Spirit to work through them.

Fortunately, the apostles and elders realised that they should not be imposing Mosaic Law on the new Gentile believers, and just asked them to observe a few basic rules that were seen as particularly important for maintaining fellowship between Jewish and Gentile believers.

The prohibitions on eating meat sacrificed to idols, consuming blood, and eating animals that had been strangled (which likely made the blood harder to drain) were likely aimed at maintaining harmony between Gentile and Jewish Christians. These practices were a significant part of Jewish dietary laws, and avoiding them helped prevent unnecessary friction between the two groups.

While these rules were important for the early church’s unity, especially given the cultural and religious differences between Jewish and Gentile believers, most theologians agree that they were not meant as permanent, universal injunctions for all Christians throughout history. They were situational, tied to the specific issues of the early church, and were primarily intended to ensure that Gentile believers respected Jewish customs, particularly as those customs related to idolatry and ritual purity.

Therefore, while these practices were important at the time, many Christians today do not view them as binding in the same way as other parts of the moral law, such as prohibitions against sexual immorality.

A: As the Holy Spirit brings up areas that we need to improve on, we need to revise our practices that we may have continued from our old lives. So we need to be open to that, as Psalm 139:23-24 says:

Search me, O God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

P: Father, grow the fruit of the Spirit in me as I walk with you – love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. In Jesus’ name, amen.

There was another in the fire standing next to me. There was another in the waters holding back the seas.

S: Acts 14

O: In Lystra, Paul and Barnabas did not take credit for healing the lame man, and did not accept worship as Zeus and Hermes. As a result of this, and of Jews from Antioch and Iconium, the crowd turned against them and stoned Paul. In spite of the persecution, they were not deterred and continued preaching in Derbe, and even returned to Lystra, Iconium and Antioch to encourage the believers there.

A: Persecution and opposition didn’t stop Paul and Barnabas, and it shouldn’t stop us, either. God is more powerful than the forces of darkness. The people who hurt us are also victims of the Enemy, so we need to follow Jesus’ example (and, as we saw earlier in Acts, Stephen’s example) and forgive them, though it is hard. But the Holy Spirit strengthens and empowers us.

P: Father, help me to forgive and to persist in the face of trials and tribulations, and to always remember that I am your ambassador and need to represent you to the world. In Jesus’ name, amen.

We need to tell the world that Jesus loves them.

Our God is a miracle-working God and He can empower us.

In the face of persecution, trials and tribulations, Jesus is with us.

To serve God’s purpose in our own generation.

S:	Acts 13 2 While they were serving the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then, after they had fasted and prayed and placed their hands on them, they sent them off. ... 9 But Saul (also known as Paul), filled with the Holy Spirit, stared straight[ah] at him 10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and all wrongdoing, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness—will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 Now look, the hand of the Lord is against you, and you will be blind, unable to see the sun for a time!” Immediately mistiness and darkness came over him, and he went around seeking people to lead him by the hand. ... 22 After removing him, God[ raised up David their king. He testified about him: ‘I have found David the son of Jesse to be a man after my heart, who will accomplish everything I want him to do. ... 36 For David, after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation, died, was buried with his ancestors, and experienced decay, 37 but the one whom God raised up did not experience decay.
O:	God, through the Holy Spirit, was the one who directed them to send Barnabas and Saul off on their first missionary journey. The Lord blinded Elymas bar Jesus when he opposed Barnabas and Saul sharing the Gospel with Sergius Paulus. As a result, Sergius Paulus became a Christian, and from this point onwards, Saul is known as Paul.  I suspect this indicates that Sergius Paulus adopted Saul as a result of this. Adult adoptions were common in that culture, as we saw in Ben Hur, and this practice is also well-documented in the historical record. However, the biblical account is silent on whether this happened here or not. So, it could also be that Saul already had the Roman name Paul before this (as he was born a Roman citizen) but he chose to use it more from this point onwards because he was now mainly reaching out to non-Jews. Different biblical scholars have different interpretations. In any case, this event again illustrates how God is more powerful than evil spirits or magic. As Paul preached to the Psidians, he noted that David died after he had served God’s purpose in his own generation. That’s what Paul and Barnabas did as well, and what we should all aspire to do – to serve God’s purpose in our generation. David, in spite of his many mess-ups, was called a man after God’s own heart, because. Let us not be discouraged that we mess up. We must repent when we do, and get back up and keep following the Lord.
A:	Let us serve the purpose of God in our generation!
P:	I Want To Serve The Purpose Of God In My Generation I Want To Serve The Purpose Of God While I Am Alive I Want To Give My Life For Something That Will Last Forever Oh, I Delight, I Delight To Do Your Will What Is On Your Heart? Show Me What To Do Let Me Know Your Will And I Will Follow You   I admit that the above is an aspirational prayer. I know that I mess up so many times when I know your will and yet I did’t do it. But I want to do it. Forgive me when I fail, and I repent and get back up and follow you again. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Simple prayer, Eliezer's faithfulness

This morning, I read in the Lectio 365 app:

Matthew 6:7-8
7 And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do.  For they think that they will be heard for their many words. 8 “Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him.

I have seen prayer become unnecessarily complicated, cluttered with fancy phrases and formality. Strange words can at times feel disconnected from real life. But when I pray, Jesus reminds me, do not heap up empty phrases with many words. Bestselling author Anne Lamott says that all of prayer can be summed up in these three words:
- Help
- Thanks
- Wow.

Holy Spirit, will you simplify my prayers? Teach me to long for you in sincere and ordinary language.
- For my pain, help!
- For your gifts, thanks.
- For your love, wow.
Show me how to pray from my gut without empty words.

Then I read Genesis 24, and noticed this:

Genesis 24:2-3
2 Abraham said to his servant, the elder of his house, who ruled over all that he had, “Please put your hand under my thigh. 3 I will make you swear by Yahweh, the God of heaven and the God of the earth, that you shall not take a wife for my son of the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I live. 

I suspect this guy is Eliezer from Genesis 15:2
Abram said, “Lord Yahweh, what will you give me, since I go childless, and he who will inherit my estate is Eliezer of Damascus?” 

If so, see how faithful Eliezer was. He clearly knew Yahweh, praying to Him and referring to Him by name in Genesis 24:12:
He said, “Yahweh, the God of my master Abraham, please give me success today, and show kindness to my master Abraham.

He served Abraham and his family faithfully, knowing that in finding a wife for Isaac, it means that he definitely won't inherit. I am sure Yahweh blessed his faithfulness.

God knows best

S: Acts 12  

1 About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. 3 When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. 

...

11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.”

O: God allowed James to be martyred but saved Peter. God doesn’t explain why he answered the prayer for Peter but not for James. We just have to trust that God knows best. And in fact, later on, God allows Peter to be martyred, as predicted at the end of the Gospel according to John. God has his plans and his timing, and we know he loves us, so we may not understand, but we can trust him.

A: We know God is all-knowing, all-powerful, and all-loving, so we need to keep trusting him even when things don’t go as we would like.

P: Father, help us to trust you even when “bad things” happen, knowing that everything is still under your control. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Admitting and changing your mind when you’re wrong

S: Acts 11

2 When Peter had come up to Jerusalem, those who were of the circumcision contended with him, 3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men, and ate with them!”

[Peter tells them about the vision and what happened at Cornelius’s house.]

18 When they heard these things, they held their peace, and glorified God, saying, “Then God has also granted to the Gentiles repentance to life!”

19 They therefore who were scattered abroad by the oppression that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews only. 20 But there were some of them, men of Cyprus and Cyrene, who, when they had come to Antioch, spoke to the Greeks, preaching the Lord Jesus. 21 The hand of the Lord was with them, and a great number believed and turned to the Lord.

O: Praise the Lord, “those of the circumcision” acknowledged and changed their minds and praised the Lord this time, instead of persisting in criticising Peter for reaching out to the Gentiles like that.
There were others as well who only reached out to Jews, but others who also reached out the Greeks, and many were saved.

This did not mean the 100% of the Jewish believers accepted Gentile believers – as later, we see that Paul had to deal with the Judaizers.in Galatians 1:6-9, 2:3-5, 3:1-5, 5:1-12, Acts 15:1-21, Philippians 3:2-3, Colossians 2:16-23. And even Peter himself backslided on this issue when pressured by “the circumcision group” (Galatians 2:11-14).

But eventually the church did become fully open to all races, and not just Jews, just as God had intended.

A: We humans often have great difficulty owning up and changing our minds when we are wrong. I, for one, tend to dig in my heels and defend my earlier position, though thankfully, I have changed my mind on various matters and have apologised when I realised I was wrong sometimes… but it’s hard to do. But we need to do that. Otherwise, we end up on the wrong side of what God wants.

P: Father, help me to have the humility to admit it when I am wrong and repent. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

God’s grace trumps religious fear or fastidiousness

S: Acts 10

O: Simon Peter had observed kosher (Jewish version of halal) all his life, so it must have been quite shocking for him that God is telling him to break that. But God wasn’t so concerned about the food part – he was more concerned about the people part. The Jews were so fastidious about kosher that they would even refuse to enter a Gentile’s house – see how the Jewish leaders refused to enter Pontius Pilate’s house in John 18:28. 

The vision of the sheet with non-kosher animals was not primarily about food, but rather, people. And indeed, that was the point. Because soon after that, Cornelius’ emissaries came and Simon Peter was able to enter his house with a clear conscience to share the Gospel with them. We find out later (Acts 11:3) that Jewish believers then confronted him about his violating this interpretation of kosher, and the vision of the sheet was pivotal in showing them that, as Peter had realised shortly before, “What God has cleansed, you must not call unclean.”

A: Sometimes, we Christians in our religious fear or fastidiousness push people away from Christ. People feel rejected because Christians would not eat their food, go to their weddings and funerals, etc. because of fear of being contaminated by non-Christian spiritual influences. We forget that “greater is he who is in us than he who is in the world” and let our fear or fastidiousness put them off. 

Yes, we must be careful not to worship any other gods, but we can still show our support by our presence. Even the matter of eating food offered to idols, 1 Corinthians 8:4-13 and 1 Corinthians 10:27-31 make it clear that it’s not so much about the act of eating itself, but about how one’s actions affect others. The underlying principle is love—prioritising others’ well-being over personal freedoms.

So, instead of applying blanket legalistic rules, we should thoughtfully and prayerfully evaluate each situation and see what would be the most in line with what Jesus wants. The letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

P: Father, lead and guide us with your wisdom. Help us to not apply cookie-cutter rules, but evaluate each situation with your Spirit’s guidance, and to always be good ambassadors for Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Still got chance one

S: Acts 9

11 The Lord said to him, “Arise, and go to the street which is called Straight, and inquire in the house of Judah for one named Saul, a man of Tarsus. For behold, he is praying, 12 and in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and laying his hands on him, that he might receive his sight.”

13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he did to your saints at Jerusalem. 14 Here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name.”

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go your way, for he is my chosen vessel to bear my name before the nations and kings, and the children of Israel. 16 For I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

O: There have been many people throughout history who started as enemies of Christ but then became great proponents of the faith, for example:

• Justin Martyr (c. 100-165) who was a pagan philosopher who eventually got saved after an elderly Christian he met by the sea started his journey to Christ. He became one of the early church’s most articulate defenders of Christianity, writing extensively to defend the faith against pagan criticism.
• Vladimir the Great (c. 958–1015) used to worship his people’s traditional gods with human sacrifices. Though he converted to Christianity partly because of political considerations, his life changed a lot afterwards as he learned more about the faith, and he made substantial reforms and tried to Kievan Rus into a Christian society. After his conversion, he married Princess Anna of Byzantium, who was a devout Christian, and she may have been part of the reason why in spite of his political reasons for conversion originally, he genuinely transformed.
• John Newton (1725–1807) was an evil slave trader but after God saved him, he became a pastor and fought against slavery. He ended up writing Amazing Grace and worked with William Wilberforce to bring an end to the slave trade in Britain.
• Chuck Colson (1931–2012) was known as Richard Nixon’s hatchet man. He did a lot of evil things for Nixon, but after the exposé of Watergate, he went to prison and Tom Phillips, another prisoner who had become a Christian, developed a close relationship wit him and planted the seed of the Gospel and he eventually got saved. After his release from prison in 1975, he started Prison Fellowship, an organization dedicated to ministering to prisoners and advocating for criminal justice reform. Prison Fellowship became one of the largest and most influential Christian organizations in the United States, working to bring the gospel to prisoners, their families, and communities.
• Mosab Hassan Yousef (1978-now) was a Hamas terrorist and the son of one of Hamas’ key leaders, Sheikh Hassan Yousef. However, as he grew older and became more involved in the conflict, Yousef began to feel disillusioned with the violent methods of Hamas and the division it caused within his community. He began questioning his beliefs about the violence he had been taught was justified in the name of religion and politics. It was during this period of emotional and spiritual turmoil that Yousef's life took a decisive turn. In the early 2000s, while in his twenties, he encountered a Christian named Pastor Naim, who introduced him to the teachings of Christianity. It took several years, and his conversion was not a single event but a gradual process of spiritual transformation. Over time, he accepted Jesus as his Saviour and became a Christian. He kept his new faith a secret for several years, as he feared for his life. Eventually, Mosab made the bold decision to publicly identify as a Christian, even though it meant alienating him from his family, his community, and his homeland. His new faith gave him a sense of peace and purpose, and he became passionate about sharing his story of transformation with others.
  

A: There are many people we know of that we think are so bad, there’s no chance of them getting saved. But there is a chance. Though the Bible does seem to indicate that some will be some who are reprobate (e.g. Romans 1:28, Hebrews 6:4, 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Matthew 12:31-32), it is not our place as humans to decide who these people are individually. From our perspective, we can’t consider anyone to be without hope.

P: Father, let me see people through your eyes and not write anyone off, and always remember to be your ambassador. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Looked down from a broken sky
Traced out by the city lights
My world from a mile high
Best seat in the house tonight

Touched down on the cold black top
Hold on for the sudden stop
Breathe in the familiar shock
Of confusion and chaos

All those people goin' somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Step out on a busy street
See a girl and our eyes meet
Does her best to smile at me
To hide what's underneath

There's a man just to her right
Black suit and a bright red tie
Too ashamed to tell his wife
He's out of work, he's buyin' time

All those people goin' somewhere
Why have I never cared?

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

I've been there a million times
A couple of million eyes
Just move and pass me by
I swear I never thought that I was wrong

Well, I want a second glance
So, give me a second chance
To see the way You've seen the people all along

Give me Your eyes for just one second
Give me Your eyes so I can see
Everything that I keep missing
Give me Your love for humanity

Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted
The ones that are far beyond my reach
Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten
Give me Your eyes so I can see

Give me Your Eyes
(Give me Your eyes for just one second)
Lord, give me Your eyes
(Give me Your eyes so I can see)
Everything
(Everything that I keep missing)
That I keep missing

Give me Your heart
(Give me Your arms for the broken-hearted)
For the broken hearted
(The ones that are far beyond my reach)
Give me Your heart
(Give me Your heart for the ones forgotten)
Lord, give me Your eyes
(Give me Your eyes so I can see)

What people meant for evil, God used for good; People take time to grow in their walk with the Lord

S: Acts 8

A great persecution arose against the assembly which was in Jerusalem in that day. They were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles....  Therefore those who were scattered abroad went around preaching the word.

Philip went down to the city of Samaria, and proclaimed to them the Christ.... But there was a certain man, Simon by name, who used to practice sorcery in the city and amazed the people of Samaria... Simon himself also believed. Being baptized, he continued with Philip. Seeing signs and great miracles occurring, he was amazed.

Now when Simon saw that the Holy Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, “Give me also this power, that whomever I lay my hands on may receive the Holy Spirit.” But Peter said to him, “May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money! 21 You have neither part nor lot in this matter, for your heart isn’t right before God. Repent therefore of this, your wickedness, and ask God if perhaps the thought of your heart may be forgiven you. For I see that you are in the poison of bitterness and in the bondage of iniquity.” Simon answered, “Pray for me to the Lord, that none of the things which you have spoken happen to me.”

Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture, preached to him about Jesus. As they went on the way, they came to some water, and the eunuch said, “Behold, here is water. What is keeping me from being baptized?”

O: Saul and the others were persecuting believers. This was an evil thing. Yet a result was that the believers, who had not yet obeyed God’s command to go into the rest of the world beyond Jerusalem, were forced to go. And as a result, they started sharing the Gospel in other places as well. So, just like it was with Joseph and his brothers, what people meant for evil, God used for good.

Simon the Sorcerer genuinely received Christ, but he still had a lot of his old way of thinking, which is why he tried to buy the ability to convey the Holy Spirit by the laying on of hands. When people first get saved, although they are now a new creation, they still have a lot of the old to transform, and growth takes time.

Finally, Philip’s encounter with the Ethiopian eunuch illustrates how Jesus was prophesied long before, in the Old Testament scriptures. That’s how Philip was able to lead him to Jesus via his reading of the book of Isaiah.

A: We can take comfort when bad things happen, that God can nonetheless use those to do good.

And while we do know that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away; behold, the new has come, but still, they will take time to grow. Their old bad habits that gave us grief might not disappear immediately. -It takes time for the fruit of the Spirit to come to fruition in their lives. So we must not lose heart, but keep encouraging them to grow in their faith and not give up on them.

 

Finally, we can put our trust in Jesus, for His coming had been foretold centuries earlier in the Old Testament, for example, in this Isaiah passage.

P: Father, help us to take heart when we encounter trials and tribulations. And also help us to show grace and forgiveness when new Christians continue in their old ways and disappoint us. In Jesus’ name, amen.

 

Ultimate Forgiveness

S: Acts 7

O: Stephen gave a summary of the Old Testament, culminating with “You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets didn’t your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers. You received the law as it was ordained by angels, and didn’t keep it!”

Though the listeners were cut to the heart, they did not repent, but instead “cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears, then rushed at him with one accord. They threw him out of the city and stoned him.”

Stephen, full of the Holy Spirit, cried out “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” and “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” as they killed him. In this way, Stephen echoed Jesus’ reaction on the cross as they killed him as well.

A: We need to follow Jesus’ and Stephen’s examples and pray for the salvation those who persecute us, instead of wanting their doom.

P: Father, give me that kind of forgiving attitude, and help me to prioritise your saving love and grace instead of hate. In Jesus’ name, amen.

They grabbed a hold
Of the preacher boy
And drug him
To the edge of the town
With hate in their eyes
And rocks in their hands
They couldn't wait
To knock him down
They said
He's just another believer
Getting ready to take a fall
There's no one here
Who can save him
There's nobody here he can call

But someone stood up for Stephen
He wasn't standing alone
Someone stood up for Stephen
At the Father's throne
The sky opened up
And the clouds rolled away
Stephen saw Jesus and then
Someone stood up for Stephen
When Stephen stood up for Him

Stephen kept right on preaching
He just wouldn't back down
He was living for Jesus
No matter who was around
Oh, they just couldn't stop him
Now matter how they tried
Stephen knew that to live is Christ
And Christians never die

Don't you know
You can trust the Lord?
His Holy Word is true
If you stand up for Him
I know He'll stand up for you