what can your God not do? {when you feel afraid or alone}

There's nothing like riding miles above the clouds to make you realize just how small and insignificant you really are.

Before you even leave the city you're flying out from, the cars on the road start to look like the tiniest, slowest little ants, and by the time you're at full flying altitude, landmarks become imperceptible- you start to see just the colors and patterns of the land that is underneath you.

Looking out on what the Lord has created like that just feels so incredibly humbling. Something about having your feet on the ground back at home gives you a false sense of security- like you are the big one, and in control of your circumstances, but being up high in the heavens makes you realize you are actually closer to the size of a tiny microbe.

It reminds me of what David wrote in Psalm 8- I couldn't get these verses out of my head as we flew:

1O LORD, our Lord,
  How majestic is Your name in all the earth,
  Who have displayed Your splendor above the heavens!
2From the mouth of infants and nursing babes You have established strength
  Because of Your adversaries,
  To make the enemy and the revengeful cease.

3When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
  The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
4What is man that You take thought of him,
  And the son of man that You care for him?
5Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
  And You crown him with glory and majesty!
6You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
  You have put all things under his feet,
7All sheep and oxen,
  And also the beasts of the field,
8The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea,
  Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.
9O LORD, our Lord,
  How majestic is Your name in all the earth!

He made all of the earth and the sky... the oceans, the moon, the stars... what can our God not do??

And this is even more incredible to me- as we were flying, here's what I read in Psalm 103:

Oh how amazing it is- our Lord is compassionate and gracious- slow to anger, abounding in lovingkindness.

But do you see it??

Oh my goodness- as high as the HEAVENS are above the earth, so great is His lovingkindness toward those who fear Him!!!

Do you know that's how deeply He loves? Did you realize that's how much our Father loves you TODAY?

You are His beloved- His child, and nothing can separate you from that love!

And get this- as far as the east is from the west - that's how far He removed our transgressions from us!!

Oh, the depths of His mercy- we cannot even fathom the mercy He has bestowed upon us- the microbes that will vanish in mere decades- He has given His Son for us, so that He could show us His great love and forgiveness. Who are WE to deserve that? 

What an incredible, awesome God we serve. He loves us so much He removed our sin far from us- He didn't deal with us according to our sins, or reward us according to our iniquity!!! We didn't get what we deserved in any way. Oh, what mercy He gives us!!!

This GOD is who we love, the ruler and master of the universe in all it's majesty. Can you do anything but respond with love and trust when you realize who your God is and what He has done for you?

Oh, friend, what can our GOD not do in your life today? I promise you can trust Him!! :)

how far will you go?

{I posted this on the facebook page a few weeks ago and wanted to share it with you guys too!}

are you willing to let go of  your very life? from pinterest

I'm reading the end of Acts, and I am so amazed by Paul's determination. He knew that he would be put in prison and afflicted, and he still went in obedience to God, only to preach the Gospel to Rome after YEARS of being in prison!

Acts 20:22: And now, behold, I am going to Jerusalem, constrained by the Spirit, not knowing what will happen to me there, 23 except that the Holy Spirit testifies to me in every city that imprisonment and afflictions await me.

Seriously, would I react in the same way to the Holy Spirit's message? His friends even tried to convince him that it was dangerous, and he was still determined to obey.

I have a feeling it would be so easy to convince myself that I really didn't need to go- or that being imprisoned wouldn't really help spread the Gospel, or my friends knew the truth, etc.

But that's the danger of disobedience- we know the truth in our hearts but can convince ourselves safer is better, when in reality our opinion of "safe" is not what God has in mind for us at all.

Oh, that we could be more like Paul...when nothing matters but obedience to our Lord Jesus and testifying of his name, even to the point of losing our lives:

24 But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

If we follow Him, who knows what He will have in store for us? We might end up preaching the Gospel in places we never imagined being or couldn't get to otherwise...but still "safer" in every respect, because we are doing the will of the Lord. Oh, wouldn't that would be exciting?!!

Where has God taken you that you never expected? 

Have you been comforted by the Holy Spirit when you weren't in a "safe" place? {finances, marriage, jobs?}

Yes!! There have been times that I had no idea what to do in important situations. I felt completely lost and blind about what was going to happen in the future, yet the Holy Spirit gave me the faith to trust in God, no matter what would happen. It was like a switch came on, and the fear went away and was replaced by faith, and I know it was only God who did it.

who is your Jesus??

Oh my goodness, I've never cried so much before 7 in the morning.

This video is such an amazing way of presenting the Gospel.

It's about our Jesus and is worth every minute of watching....

{ht: tim challies blog, sermon/voice by John Piper}

the call to experience the gospel for yourself

These Gala apples are amazing:

They are tangy, a bit earthy even; soft, yet crisp. Moist and delicate, the sweetness of these apples lingers on your tongue after each bite. Nothing else tastes quite like these apples. They are incredibly good.

….

Can you imagine tasting one of those apples right now?

If so, why do you think that is?

You can accurately imagine- you understand exactly what I’m describing- because you’ve experienced those things before.

Imagine if I told you about the apple, but you had never had one before. You have never tasted something tangy, or something sweet. I could describe the apple to you in hundreds of different ways, but you wouldn’t really understand what I’m talking about until you take that first bite. You know what I mean?

Experience allows us to understand descriptions. We frame the meanings of words given to us by what we have experienced in real life. Your body has to have tasted “tangy” for me to truly be able to communicate what tangy means to you. Once you’ve experienced “tangy”, you know what it means.

Much like the apples, you have to truly experience what the Gospel means in order to fully understand it. My words can’t give you the true experience of the Gospel.

We can define it, we can explain it- we even walked through it step by step for 15 weeks. But do our hearts truly understand what the “gospel” means?

We can talk about it for days, but the power of the Gospel doesn’t truly come through words alone. Explaining it doesn’t give you the experience. The true power of the Gospel is found in the very depths of our soul.

The truth of the Gospel is this: God the Father, in His infinite wisdom, created the world, sent His Son to die for the very people who sinned against Him. His mercy redeemed those whom He chose for the purpose of bringing glory and honor and praise to His name.

We exist for the glory of God. Not for our own sake, but for the name of God to be made great.

God is the center of our world- our lives- because He is God.

In our sinful rebellion, we left God behind and sought after ourselves and our own pleasures. Every single one of us. All of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. {see Romans 3:23}

Standing in horrific pride against the Creator of the UNIVERSE, we desired to make our own name great. We desired to serve ourselves in this time on the earth.

We rebelled against God, and we deserve to be separated from Him. For eternity. Who can stand before the very God of all, who is Holy, Just, and Truth, and demand that we deserve anything in light of what we’ve done? When that final day comes, could you possibly stand and say “God, why are you so unjust to send me away to be separated from you from eternity?”

Would you dare to demand that you deserve a second chance?

We cannot even stand on our feet without God willing it to happen. Who could say anything in response to Him?

Oh, we are so full of sin and pride.

But God still loved us.

Why?

Not because of any redeeming quality we had.

He loved us because He is merciful.

He created us, He wrote the plan of salvation before the foundation of the world, for His glory. Not for anything else.

If you feel a welling up of resistance in your chest to that statement, you are feeling the very thing we all need to be redeemed from: pride.

God is GLORY. God is HOLY. God is JUST.

He is the Alpha, and the Omega. The beginning and the end.

We are nothing but dust. We have nothing in light of Him.

And yet in the most incredible way, He lowered Himself to our status and came in human form to live as we do, so that we could be rescued from the very sin that condemned us to eternal separation from God.

Jesus came and fulfilled the laws of God, and sacrificed Himself- a spotless Lamb- and defeated the power of sin and death through His resurrection- so that we could be made new- so that we could be made righteous like Him. So that we could become His sons and daughters.

Do you see it? Do you understand?

You are desperately in need of Jesus. You have nothing to offer God. He is EVERYTHING.

God doesn’t need you to do anything for Him. You need Him.

The Holy Father has provided a way for you to fellowship with Him again. You could never be good enough or moral enough to get there on your own. No amount of singing His praise, of being good to others; no amount of following of the Bible, no amount of offering thanksgiving will ever bring you to salvation. You cannot offer God anything in exchange for His grace.

Matt Chandler says it so well in the Explicit Gospel: “If everything is God’s, you have nothing to give him that he doesn’t already own. This means that you cannot put him into your debt. And this means, alternately, that God owes no man anything. Our very existence has been gifted to us by his grace.”

You have nothing in comparison to His glory.

And yet He offers you everything.

Can you lose your pride, and admit that you are vile and desperate, and in need of a Savior?

That’s what you have to do to truly understand the Gospel.

You have been given a chance to be a child of the one true and living God.

Jesus gave up Himself, so that you could be a chosen one.

Friend, if you understand this, you cannot help but worship Him.

He is Glory, the one unchangeable, unshakeable,the undeniable God.

Do not reject Him. Don’t.

You have one chance in this life you’ve been given. You have one life to live.

You’ve been given the gift of redemption. You have been given a chance to be saved from the consequences of your pride and sin. A chance you don’t deserve in any way, shape, or form.

Will you accept the gift of salvation? Will you give your life to Christ?

The Gospel is the Good News. The news that God has redeemed you if you have faith in Him. If you confess with your mouth the Lord, and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Confess that the Lord is God, and you are not. Confess that you are broken and desperate, and in need of a Savior. Tell Him. Tell others. Believe that HE has risen from the dead and conquered death so that you might understand His power.

Nothing on this earth is more important than this.

No one- nothing- but Jesus can redeem you. He did it. For you. Because He loved you.

When you believe this is true, your heart is forever changed.

Your life will forever change. You will truly understand the Gospel, and you will worship Him- your heart will live for Him. And you won’t be able to explain it, but your heart will change in ways you could never change yourself.

You are a creature made to glorify the God who redeemed you. You can choose to glorify and serve God in this time on the earth, or you can choose to glorify and serve yourself here. But I have to warn you, if you choose yourself, you will not spend eternity with God. You can’t. You must have faith here and believe in Him on earth to receive the gift of salvation. One moment after death is too late. There are no do-overs.

Whom will you serve here?

No serving two masters. It’s you or Him.

Will you choose to be His?

And will you do it with all of you? Every single part of your life- He requires it, sweet friends.

Give it all back to Him. Nothing held back.

That is the power of the Gospel- the story of a merciful God giving life- to the dead.

A heart that once was as hard as stone- a heart that served itself- becomes transformed into a new creation. A heart of stone becomes a heart of flesh when it is filled with the power of the Spirit of God. He has done it in me, and I can tell you it’s unlike anything you’ve experienced on this side of Heaven.

There is no one- no author, no song, no experience in nature- nothing that speaks into my soul like His Spirit does. I can’t describe how powerful His presence is in my heart. There is no one- not one single thing on this earth that arouses my heart to worship like His Spirit. He is worthy. Oh, how He is worthy.

Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty! He is great in power and in might, and there is no God in Heaven or earth besides Him.

Will you serve Him with your life?

Choose today.

Live for Him today.

Nothing else matters.

 

walking through the gospel: man, sin, and the fall

We are now in week three of our study, Walking Through the Gospel! Last week we covered a little of who God is and had some great questions asked there! Now that we have a picture of the awesomeness of God, we can talk about man, and who he is in light of the God of the universe.

Without seeing who we are in light of God, we don't understand our place in creation. We are humans- made to glorify and enjoy God, but from the very beginning we've desired to walk in our way, apart from God's will.

So let's start from the beginning.

1. Man is created.
Genesis, the first book of the Bible, gives us the details of how humanity began. In the very first chapter, it tells us that God created man on the sixth day in the Garden of Eden:

26Then God said, “Let us make manh in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

and in Genesis 2 we get more of the story:

When no bush of the fielda was yet in the landb and no small plant of the field had yet sprung up—for the LORD God had not caused it to rain on the land, and there was no man to work the ground, 6and a mistc was going up from the land and was watering the whole face of the ground— 7then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature. 8And the LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east, and there he put the man whom he had formed. 9And out of the ground the LORD God made to spring up every tree that is pleasant to the sight and good for food. The tree of life was in the midst of the garden, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

So there was no man- just the earth, and then God formed man and breathed life into him. He gave him a garden, and plants to eat, and there were two significant trees there to eat or not eat from: the tree of life, and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

15The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it. 16And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, “You may surely eat of every tree of the garden, 17but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eatd of it you shall surely die.”

So the tree of the knowledge of good and evil was the only tree from which they could not eat. God told Adam before Eve was even created that if he ate of that tree he would surely die.

You see, man was created to live forever. He was allowed to eat from the tree of life, which gave eternal life to man.

God made the garden of Eden, and walked in fellowship with man there. God and man walked together. Isn't that incredible?


2. Man sins by disobeying God.
But, things change. After Eve is created, Satan, the enemy of God, comes to talk to her in the form of a snake.  A snake indwelled by Satan talks to a woman? Why, yes. :)

We know that the serpent was very crafty:

Genesis 3: Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast of the field that the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God actually say, ‘Youa shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?” 2And the woman said to the serpent, “We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, 3but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.’” 4But the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. 5For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

So here is the turning point for all of creation. Satan makes Eve doubt what God said, and Eve believes him. Satan sells disobedience to her by offering the chance to be in a "higher" state than she was: to become like God, knowing good and evil.

6So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was to be desired to make one wise,b she took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths.

So Eve took of the fruit because of deception, but Adam takes the fruit from Eve knowing full well what he is doing. Adam was not deceived:

1 Timothy 2:13-14: For Adam was formed first, then Eve; 14and Adam was not deceived, but the woman was deceived and became a transgressor.

Because they ate of the tree, their eyes were opened to good and evil, and they were ashamed of their nakedness. Adam had broken the one and only rule in all of creation, and he changed the course of all mankind.

Because they had eaten of the tree, God brought a curse upon both the man and the woman, and they had to die. Adam and Eve could no longer live eternally, because God removed them from the garden and from the tree of life:

Genesis 3: Then the LORD God said, “Behold, the man has become like one of us in knowing good and evil. Now, lest he reach out his hand and take also of the tree of life and eat, and live forever—” 23therefore the LORD God sent him out from the garden of Eden to work the ground from which he was taken. 24He drove out the man, and at the east of the garden of Eden he placed the cherubim and a flaming sword that turned every way to guard the way to the tree of life.

3. Sin entered the world, and affects all of mankind.
So Adam's disobeying of God's command is what we call sin. Sin is a breaking of the "law" that God has set in place. And this disobedience to God's law is in every person's heart.

Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned—

So Adam's sin brought the curse of death for all of humanity. Every man and woman has sinned since the beginning {with the exception of Jesus, which we will talk about later}.

Every person sins, and every person is destined to die. We see this in our physical realm here on the earth, and the Bible confirms it.

Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God

and:

Romans 3: “None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God. 12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

All people are sinners, and do not seek after God. This seems hopeless, and it gets worse, but then it gets better.

4. Man's sin has doomed him to eternal separation from God.

You might think, "but I'm a good person deep down." This is where the world {those who do not believe} hates the Word of God. The Bible says that none are good. None are righteous before God. It brings to light the sin inside of every person's heart, and reveals that we are all without good.

God is HOLY. He is the perfect God, and only the sinless can come before Him.

If you have sinned {even once}, you cannot come before God. And all wrongdoing is sin.

Isaiah 59: Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; 2 but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.

5. Man has ONE hope.
The sin of man- what we call the transgression, or the going against of God's law keeps him apart from God, and destines him to death. Here is both the bad news, and the good news:

Romans 6:23: For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The consequences of sin are death and separation from God forever, but God offers a FREE gift of eternal life when you believe in Him!! Ahhhh!!!! There isn't only bad news after all!

Without God, our hearts are full of sin and self-seeking, but when we believe in Jesus, we are made sinless!!

By the sacrifice of Jesus we are made clean from our sin, and we can stand before Him as children of God when we have faith in Him.

And we will talk more about Jesus next week, but feel free to email me if you have questions and want to know how to follow Jesus now. It's a lot to take in, and I would love to try to answer your questions!

Question:

Can you see sin in your own life today? Have you been made clean from your sins because of Jesus?

_______________________________________________________

next week:

Jesus, God in the Flesh

you can download the study guide to prepare for next week

_______________________________________________________

previous posts in the walking through the gospel series:

an introduction

the 12 week plan

week 1: the Bible

week 2: God, Eternal and Loving Creator

walking through the gospel: week 1: the Bible

Today we're covering the Bible- the what, who, when, where, why, and how of it all. It's important to know something about where our belief originates from: God's Holy Word, the Bible.

It's a lot to take in at once, and I'm trying to keep it fairly simple, so feel free to ask questions in the comments!

Who:
The Bible was written thousands of years ago by men who were inspired by God. Inspired means that God told them what to write, and they wrote what He said. Just as you and I write differently, the men of God who wrote the Bible did so in their writing voice.

No part of the Bible was produced by man:

Knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. 2 Peter 1:20-21

and in 2 Timothy 3, it says Scripture was given by God:

 ¹⁶ All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, ¹⁷ that the man of God^[b] may be complete, equipped for every good work.

What:
The Bible is broken up into two main sections: the Old Testament and the New Testament. The Old Testament contains 39 books from Genesis to Malachi.

This section is written before Jesus came in the flesh, and tells the story of our beginning {Adam and Eve}, and the history of Israel and their interaction with God. The underlying theme is a promise of redemption from sin that is to come in the future.

The New Testament begins about 400 years after the Old Testament ends. It is made of 27 books, and begins in Matthew with the birth of Jesus, and ends in Revelation with a prophecy book of what is to come. The New Testament tells of Jesus coming in the flesh, the fulfillment of the Old Testament promises, and gives Christians a model of faith to live by until Jesus returns.

When:

The history of the beginning of the Bible dates back to around 1440 B.C. The last book was estimated to have been completed around 80-90 A.D. This chart is very useful in seeing the date breakdown.


Where:
The simple answer is that the Bible was written in Europe, Egypt, and the Middle East.  Here's an awesome map of where each book was written:

source

Why:

The Bible is God's Word, and it's able to show us the way to salvation. Every word is true, and from God.

The Bible contains so many different stories and letters, but the one central theme is redemption in Jesus Christ. 

Here's the reason I believe this: 

^{1 Timothy 3:14-17:} But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus.

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.

Every word points us to Him. He made us to bring Him glory, and the Bible glorifies our God by showing who He is- a merciful, loving, just Redeemer of sinners like us. :D The Bible also gives us instructions on how to live in obedience to God.

It shows us what we are supposed to do in life:

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Psalm 119:105

And it keeps us from sin:

How can a young man keep his way pure? By guarding it according to your word. With my whole heart I seek you; let me not wander from your commandments! I have stored up your word in my heart,that I might not sin against you.  

Psalm 119:9-12

How:
The Bible is so much more than words on a page. It's alive- it contains the words of life, the words that bring us to faith in Jesus and convict us of our sin. How do you ask?

The answer is here in Hebrews 4:12:
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

Reading the Bible is unlike reading anything else. It convicts, and it shows you the truth- it gives you wisdom, and God uses it to change your life.

Reading it is so important. There is no law about how often or when, but it's something that you should definitely strive to do. Like it says in Psalms- the word of God keeps us from sin.

For me, reading the Bible every day makes it stay in my mind ready for action. When I pray, the Holy Spirit brings the words to mind to comfort and direct my heart.

I feel a heavy feeling in my heart when I read the word of God. It's like I'm in the presence of Him when I read it, and my heart is getting surgery. Does that make sense?

I think that when we hear His truth it convicts and changes us.

So that's the basics of the Bible. I definitely didn't cover every detail- but there are so many great resources for in-depth study. I listed a few of them below for you. Feel free to ask any questions in the comments, and I will try to answer them! :)

Question:

What do you think?

Do you feel a sense of conviction and change when you read the Bible? Does it affect you personally?

_________________________________________________

next week:

God, Eternal and Loving Creator:

you can download the study guide to prepare for next week

_________________________________________________

resources:

all about the Bible from Christian Apologetics/ Is the Bible inspired by God? / info on different translations


linking up at women living well

the day after Easter

I love Easter. Sunday comes, and we are filled with joy. We delight in His amazing resurrection from the dead, and see it in a whole new light. It’s like the mountain top high of life in Jesus- we rejoice in His mercy, ready for life in Him!

Then Monday returns, along with coffee, and daily routines, and we wonder how to continue through life in the same joy we felt yesterday. How do we carry it into regular life?

Sometimes you have to wonder if that’s how the disciples must have felt after Jesus ascended into Heaven…

They had this great sorrow for three days and then amazing joy in His resurrection and return for 40 days. They were all ready… ready to be with Him, to live in His kingdom. And then they watched His ascension into Heaven…

I love this passage in Acts 1 that sets up the scene:

4 And while stayinga with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
9And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. 10And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Was that moment like the Monday after Easter where they wondered…what do we do next? And today, are we still standing here and gazing into Heaven, waiting for Jesus to come back?

What followed Jesus’ ascension was nothing short of amazing. We know the story of Acts, but it’s important to notice what happened before the Holy Spirit came.

In Acts 1, the disciples actually offer us an awesome practical example of what to do next:

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

1. They obeyed His word.
He told them to go back to Jerusalem and wait for the Spirit back in verse 5 of chapter 1. After the angels got their attention, they went down the mountain back to Jerusalem. They listened to what He said.

What can we do? We can obey what He told us to do in His Word. To love one another. To share the truth. To show mercy. We can all do that today, in our own homes.

Love Jesus. Love your family. Love your enemies.

Love.

2. They stayed together in community.
The group that had seen Jesus rise again and ascend stayed together as a group, united in faith and in what they’d just experienced. They went back to the upper room and met together.

And this is so true for us- we can do the same as the body of Christ. We need each other- we saw the resurrection together yesterday, and we need to be together, to remind each other of what happened.

We need to live in community.

Practically, what could this mean? Call your sister in Christ. Facebook her to let her know you’re praying for her today. Invite a church family to your house this week. Stay together. We weren’t meant to do this life alone!

3. They prayed fervently.
They devoted themselves to prayer, waiting for what God was going to do. Jesus didn’t tell them every detail of what was to happen next. Like little children asking if we’re there yet, they wanted to know if He was restoring the kingdom right now.

But Jesus told them they weren’t to know that- only God did, but go and wait for power of the Holy Spirit.

Can you imagine what they thought when Jesus told them that it still wasn’t going to play out as they’d hoped? I can almost see myself being upset, thinking that after all these days and trials, it still wasn’t happening?

But it didn’t matter to them- they obeyed what He said to do, they stayed as one, and they prayed constantly.

And that’s such an important part of today. Pray fervently. Pray in your home. Pray together. When was the last time we just gathered as friends and fellow believers to pray together? Almost never, right?
What would happen if we did? Can you imagine?

It’s hard to picture what life could look like if we followed the example we have in Acts- it would be unlike anything we’ve experienced in regular life now. But it’s completely and totally possible for us.

Obey. Live in community. Pray like crazy.

And wait for the radical change of the Holy Spirit.

Because He’s coming. :)