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Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Acts Chapter 16

**Facebook has been acting crazy lately, so Ive been unable to post my Acts notes for over a week now =(
I may start posting them on my blog site instead. Sorry for the inconvenience of this re-routing and for the long time span in bw post--wish I had thought about just blogging it earlier. Here we go!:

Acts Chapter 16

1) Ive noticed over and over again, in Acts, the celebration of household salvation. When someone, in biblical times, heard the Good News and accepted Its message & promise, they automatically went back to their home and told everyone--they were converts who became evangelist all in the same day!=) Entire households were being saved! What a glorious picture! Im sure we can all think of someone in our family that doesn't have a personal relationship with Jesus--keep praying for them!  Keep being a light! Show them Jesus' love! Believe in Him and His power & eagerness to save! He saved us, so why wouldn't/couldn't He save them? No one is too far for Him to reach! Have faith-your household will see salvation too!
2) Another occurance Ive noticed repeatedly in Acts is the ability of a mob to form in a matter of minutes (verse 22). It seems that everyone was on edge and ready for a fight. They would hear one thing said about someone, and instantly were ready to throw stones. Sadly, some in the Church today also posses a mob-mentality. We hear one little comment about someone, and instead of finding out if there's any truth to the statement, we join the 'mob' and are fully prepared to shun the person in question. What's more, is we look for other potential mob-members that we can invite to fuel our offense and cause. This small little flame can turn into a raging fire that results in church division, or belivers walking away from the Truth altogether. And lets not forget the unbelievers who are watching our every move--how do these actions speak to them? Mobs are comprised up of dramatic people--you know, the ones who "hate drama" but yet their day to day lives are filled with it? No, they dont hate drama-they love it. They seek it out; it engulfs their every decision, every response & attitude (I will try my best to refrain from going on and on about Soap Operas here and save that for another blog =)). Dont be a "mobster." Dont just believe what you're told-seek the truth yourself. "Let the one that has never sinned throw the first stone!"-John8:7
3) "Around midnight, Paul & Silas were praying and singing hymns to God" (verse 25)--WAIT--WHAT?! They were beaten severely with wooden rods, thrown in prison & were praising God??--crazy, right? Nope, they just knew who God is. They understood that He could come and help them if only they belived He was able. They truly understood what it meant to 'praise Him in the storm.' And again we see household salvation, thru the jailer! God allowed Paul & Silas to be beaten and thrown into jail so that the jailer and his household would be saved. We too often blame God for our unfortunate situtations instead of turning to Him and saying, "Ok God, I dont understand why everything seems to be caving in around me, but I do know that You are in control. Who is it that I can minister to in light of recent events? Who can I now relate with because of what Ive been through?" Wow...can we do that? Can we turn the focus off of us and place it on God's will & purpose? I am in NO means saying that we dont go through times of grief & sorrow--I know we do! Im merely suggesting that at that intersection of sorrow and self pity we take the road that leads to turning our situation over to God and asking for His help and guidance. Thats what He wants. He wants us to realize our need for Him. He's our Daddy & He loves to comfort His children.