Good day everyone.
Just a reminder that our sister church, Jackson Chapel, will this coming Sunday April 10th, celebrate their anniversary. I don't how many years they've been around but we're glad to have them and at 3 pm I'll be preaching at that celebration. Everyone is invited. Please come out and show our appreciation for their ministry in San Marcos!
Just who reads ConCafe or University of The Way I ask myself a bunch of times, yet we welcome new readers! We've had three join this week!
But I'll share a special email that touched my heart:
"Hello Daddy,
I just wanted to send you this email saying I'm very proud of you and the work you do (ConCafe and other stuff)! :) I love you very much and dont know what i would do without you and mommy!
Love
Caty"
So, Caty, thank you! I know one young lady is reading! :)
Here is our study guide for today:
Thursday: Read Acts 4:1-13. Look for the phrase that says, “these men had been with Jesus.” How does that fit into the context of this passage? What had been happening in this story? How could it have been said about you? Can people tell you are in the presence of Jesus every day? Why or why not?
Here is that text in the Revised Standard Version:
"4:1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sad'ducees came upon them, 2 annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the morrow, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the morrow their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Ca'iaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, "By what power or by what name did you do this?" 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, 10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus."
The old Spanish adage, "Tell me who you've been with and I'll tell you who you are," is usually true. Jesus spent his life among those whom society deemed unacceptable and most of those had their lives forever changed because they had been with Jesus. In today's passage, the disciples' big payoff was for their faith to give them what they needed in the facing of this trial. On trial for preaching Jesus and for doing good works, even miracles, the Holy Spirit gives Peter the boldness to proclaim, we're doing this in the name of the one you crucified, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the one God raised from the dead! You deemed him as someone you could throw away, but He is the cornerstone! He's holds everything up!
It was their boldness and their witness that made the council realize that "they had been with Jesus." Has Jesus rubbed off on you? And if so, have you rubbed off on someone else for the better?
Think about who you usually are with and what effect that has had on your life. Does your life reflect that you're friends with this person? And does your friend reflect that you're their friend?
Time spent with Jesus in prayer, Bible study, devotion, worship, thought and dialogue is time well spent. It is during that time we're with Jesus and Jesus is with us. I just read the Newsweek article on Pope John Paul II and was impressed with what one writer said about his life of prayer. It seemed he was always in prayer and even as he walked alone he could be heard speaking. Jesus was real to this pope. Jesus was this pope's friend and companion. Can the same be said about us?
Friends, let us live a life of prayer. Don't be afraid of what people might think if they hear you mumbling to yourself (if you're in prayer that is!); soon they'll know beyond a shadow of a doubt, that we've been in the presence of Jesus. What a payoff!
PRAYER: Lord, thank you for being as close as our lips. Thank you for letting our lips and hearts touch your heart as we try to live a life of prayer. Come be in our presence in ways that will amaze and bless others. We pray in the name of He who is with us, Jesus of Nazareth. Amen.
Have a blessed day!
e.v.
