May 9: Acts 11:1-10
Key Verse: Acts 11:9
The voice spoke from heaven a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”
Devotion:
I wonder, how many times have you neglected to tell someone about Jesus because they annoyed you or they said some very strange things which you did not agree with? When I first started out teaching teenagers about Jesus, I was petrified because I knew what it had been like bringing up teenage children – I knew what they were capable of! Starting teaching them was a liberating experience which allowed me to get to know Christ even more!
When I was first asked to go with a group of people to help teach a fringe society about Jesus, I was scared because of the things I had heard about them; but standing amongst them was a very humbling experience. So when God told me to move to another community which was neglected and rough, I obeyed Him. Yes, it was my third time too!
I used to look at the stories involving Peter and wonder why things always seem to have to happen three times before he took notice – then I started looking back in my life and realised God had to ask me a few times before I would obey Him too.
We grow up in societies or communities which are different from others. We get used to that way of life and we start to believe the stories about other societies and communities which are often not true but based on the stories told by others instead. The Jews had built up this image of the gentiles being unclean and even barbaric; I’m sure some of the gentiles looked at the Jews in similar ways too! God wants us to love our neighbours – which often means loving the different people just the same as we love the people we have grown up with!
Points to Ponder:
Do you think you are different from people in the next village or community?
Have you tried using the common ground of Jesus to bridge the gap?
May 8: Acts 9:36-43
Key Verse: Acts 9:40
Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning towards the dead woman, he said, ‘Tabitha, get up.’ She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up.
Devotion:
The eagle eyed of you would have realised yesterdays “Acts 116” should have been “Psalm 116!” But hey, we all make mistakes when we are tired and I did leave it a bit late in the day to do the devotion.
This always reminds me of the time when Jesus went to raise Lazarus from the dead and how some were annoyed Jesus had taken too long to come because Lazarus had died! Sometimes God wants us to take a step back from our physical limitations we impose on our lives and take a leap of faith which makes no sense if we try to look at it in a worldly manner!
Tabitha was a believer who had spent her time helping the poor and caring for others; yet she was the one who died when we think there were more people who deserved to die before she did because of the works she was doing. We tend to measure our worth in worldly ways and that runs into our spiritual lives without us realising. God wanted to make people stop and see how He is willing to do many things which don’t make sense in the physical world!
Peter had learned to always believe in God’s power. He had spent a varied life with Jesus and learned through the ups and downs of that time that God was always in control and would answer prayers! Peter must have been impressed with what Tabitha had been doing and wanted God to change things up a bit. After sending everyone out of the room (they would probably have been doing a lot of crying and wailing) he got down on his knees and prayed to God. His faith was absolute because he turned to the woman and told her to get up. He believed she would, and she did!
Points to Ponder:
How often do your prayers get to God with confidence?
Will you try to assume God will answer your prayers today?
May 7: Acts 116:10-11
Key Verse: Acts 116:11
in my alarm I said, ‘Everyone is a liar.’
Devotion:
How many times have you reacted to what someone has done by saying something bad or something you later regret? How many times have you gone a bit further and did something you later regretted just because you were upset at the time. God has warned us we are apt to do things out of anger, hatred, greed or other emotional states, things we regret doing.
Our bible are full of these warning in the form of stories showing how people have done this time and time again in the past. When the going gets tough, it is not always easy to be tough and get going; so we should be focusing on standing up by Jesus’ side and walk where He bids us to walk – that is where we are going to get our strength from, not from actions or reactions!
Sometimes we fend for ourselves quite well as we get battered by bad things, and yet other times we collapse in a heap right away. It all depends on what sort of state we are in at the time. If we feel cornered or feel the world is against us, we are more likely to explode in anger much quicker than normal.
It is so easy to say, but so hard to do: take time to face what you come up against and make sure you include Jesus in your most troubled times as well as the good times. Jesus wants to be by your side just as much as you want to be by His side. Take time out of your busy life and spend a bit more with Him as well as with your family!
Points to Ponder:
When was the last time you stopped to take time out?
Did you spend that with Jesus and your family?
May 6: Acts 9:1-9
Key Verse: Acts 9:5
‘Who are you, Lord?’ Saul asked. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting,’ he replied.
Devotion:
Saul was making quite a name for himself by actively going after people who belong to “the Way” This was one of the earlier names for the Christian movement; nowadays we get called all sorts of things! Jesus was watching everything Saul did and wanted him to see the error of his ways.
Sometimes people can mistake us for some sort of a cult when we go out and actively try to get people to follow God. This is because we are stepping out and doing something which seems alien to many people; we should be living a very different life to the average person on the street. We should be seen as being different, but we should also be seen as being people who are willing to do everything to show others the truth.
This is where people may confuse us with cults if they do not know about Christianity. Saul was one of those people because he really did think he was following God’s laws by throwing people of “the Way” in jail! The early Christians were doing something very different to what the teachers of the law were teaching. They were following the truth as Jesus told it. We can look back on these times and see how much the disciples were willing to put on the line to follow Christ…
We need to stand up and be seen as people willing to change our lives so we can draw closer to Christ – not just any religion or cult, but the truth as given to us by Jesus Himself. Jesus came to uphold the law and everything He did was upholding God’s law, unlike mankind who was uplifting himself rather than Christ!
Points to Ponder:
Are you willing to stand up as a Christian?
Will you show others what you know to be the truth?