Sharing the Wonderful Grace of God

 

Read Leviticus 22:31-33 and Acts 20

 

“Tumults or opposition may constrain a Christian to remove from his station or alter his purpose, but his work and his pleasure will be the same, wherever he goes.”
~ Matthew Henry

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer

 

S:  “I want to finish the work that the Lord Jesus gave me to do—to tell people the Good News about God’s grace … I never stopped reminding each one of you how you should live, counseling you day and night and crying over you …”  Acts 20:24, 31 Easy to Read Version

 

O:  The people loved Paul.  He mentored them and taught them in the Word (verses 1-2).  He would go about the churches encouraging them and often staying for months at a time to teach and instruct them (verses 3, 7).  The Spirit of the LORD spoke to Paul and helped him to discern when it was time to move to the next church or place (verse 22).  But no matter where he went the Gospel and the Good News of God’s Kingdom was his primary task (verse 25).  The hardest part perhaps for Paul was when he had to move on.  These were his spiritual children and it was with great sadness that he would have to leave them and go on to the next church or task at hand.  When he left them he would leave them in God’s care and with the hope that God’s grace would strengthen them (verses 32-35), but it was never easy (verses 36-38).

 

A:  To do the work that the LORD gives me and to continue to share the Good News of God’s grace. 

 

P:  Father God, thank You that You direct our steps through the Holy Spirit within us.  I pray that those reading and studying Your Word today would hear You speaking to them.  Encourage them about how special they are to You LORD according to Leviticus 22:31-33.  You call them out to be a special people, a treasure to You.  Help us each to finish the work(s) that You give us to do.  In Christ Jesus I pray.  Amen & Amen.

 

“It is good for friends, when they part, to part with prayer.

Those who exhort and pray for one another,

may have many weeping seasons and painful separations,

but they will meet before the throne of God, to part no more.”

 

~ Matthew Henry

The Whole Truth and nothing but the Truth

 

Read Leviticus 19:1-4; Psalms 13; and Acts 19

 

“Those who have long been without joy, begin to be without hope.   Nothing is more killing to a soul than the want of God's favor; nothing more reviving than the return of it. If we bring our cares and grief to the throne of grace, and leave them there, we may go away like Hannah; for joy and peace come by believing.  In this way believers pour out their prayers, renouncing all hopes but in the mercy of God.  And sometimes suddenly, at others gradually, they will find their burdens removed, and their comforts restored.”

-         Matthew Henry’s concise commentary on Psalms 13

 

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer

S:  Psalm 13:5-6 I trust in your faithful love, Lord. I will be happy when you save me.  Then I will sing to the Lord because He was so good to me.  (Easy to Read Version)

 

O:  It is God who makes us holy and happy.   By following His ways we find love, joy and peace, and so much more.  When we walk apart from Him however there is no peace, and there is no joy.  Even the love for others falls away from us.  God reminds us in Leviticus that his commandments (His Word) are binding upon us – not to be legalistic, but because in following them we find life.  They are for our good. 

 

Paul tells us in Acts that in Christ, the Living Word, is where our joy and peace reside.  In Acts we learn of a group called the “Ephesus Dozen”.  They had not learned all of the gospel at the time when they met Paul.  They told Paul they only knew of John the Baptist and his baptism. 

 

John the Baptist’s ministry was one of preparation for people to receive Christ (Mark 1:2). It was only part of the story.  He preached repentance of sins, yes, and, as people repented, they showed their change of heart by an outward cleansing and baptism. But beyond repentance we must have Christ. John himself understood the limitations of his ministry: “I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (Matthew 3:11).  Apollos that we looked at yesterday and the “Ephesus Dozen,” in today’s passage stopped with John’s baptism and they only had half the story. They needed more than repentance; they needed faith in Christ which they did accept once Paul enlightened them. **

 

It is hard to imagine in our day and age that people of that time did not have the full story, like so many of us do, but there were no TVs or radios or social media.  There weren’t 5 billion Bibles floating around in Paul’s day like we have now.  News traveled very slowly from town to town by people like Paul who brought the good news of the gospel with them.  This is why Paul’s journeys and the spread of the gospel were so important.

 

Paul and the other apostles who were bringing the gospel to the Gentile world were fighting against Greek mythology and Greek gods.  It was not just about accepting “Jesus”; it was about renouncing gods like Artemis and all the “big business” that went along with the worship of these pagan gods that Paul was up against.

 

We too fight against our culture today.  I just went through this with one of my children.  Will we compromise or hold fast to what we believe in according to what we have been taught in the Bible?  It is not an easy decision!  And it is not just within our worldly culture either; we may even find these difficult decisions in our Christian circles as well.  But in the end of days it will not be our Christian friends we stand before, but God.  What I have learned is that we must not compromise!  If we do there is repentance, yes, but we also lose out on the joy of knowing we followed Him with our whole hearts.

 

A:  To know the fullness of Christ, his resurrection and His power and the Holy Spirit in my life so that I can live the best and fullest life that He has for me.

 

P:  Dear Jesus, I feel like we live in a time that has an incredible amount of light shown to us about Your Word and Your ways and yet I know there is still a great variance among Believers in how we live out Your Word.  Paul and the other apostles tried to be unified on a lot of the teachings that were being spread throughout the world in those days.  I pray LORD that we as Believers would seek Your Word for absolute truth and that You would bring us into unity.  Convict us when we go astray and I pray You would bring us back into alignment with the Way, the Truth and the Life that is found in Jesus, Yeshua our Messiah.  In Christ’s name I pray.  Amen & Amen.

 

** http://www.gotquestions.org/receive-Spirit-Acts-19.html  You can read more about this here.

Strength and Encouragement

Read Leviticus 9:23-24; Acts 15

 

“There is a strange proneness in us to think that all do wrong who do not just as we do.” ~ Matthew Henry

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer

 

S:  Acts 15: 41 And he (Paul) passed through Syria and Cilicia, establishing and strengthening the churches.

 

O:  Acts 15 is mainly about the Jerusalem Council in 50 A.D. and the issues that the early Gentile churches were having regarding circumcision and other matters of the Jewish law.  So Paul and some of the other early church leaders and the twelve apostles met in Jerusalem to drash or discuss these things together.  After the council met they decided not to burden the new converts with the idea of circumcision, but there were certain laws (not eating meat with blood in it, etc.) that they still asked the Gentile converts to uphold.  But mostly they wanted the churches strengthened and encouraged in their new walk as they followed Jesus.

 

The quote, “God loves you just the way you are, but He refuses to leave you that way …” comes to mind when I read Acts 15.  Those who were ministering to the Gentile converts did not want to put them off, confuse them or require too much of them.  Paul and Barnabas knew, I think, that as they grew and matured that they would be willing to change more later.  I’m not suggesting they would go and do circumcision later, but what I am saying that as new babes in Christ people do not always change everything all at once.  Just like we do not require a baby to get up and walk out of the hospital and go and eat a steak.  That would be ridiculous!  Babies grow, and new converts need time to grow and learn to walk also.

 

For that matter, which one of us hasn’t learned (or is still learning) how to walk fully with the LORD?

 

Even Paul and Barnabas were still learning!  As we read later, they had a sharp dispute with one another.  If you have ever been in a church where there have been sharp disputes then you can probably understand what Matthew Henry writes about this dispute:  “… we are not to think it strange, if there are differences among wise and good men. It will be so while we are in this imperfect state; we shall never be all of one mind till we come to heaven. But what mischief the remainders of pride and passion which are found even in good men, do in the world, and do in the church! Many who dwelt at Antioch, who had heard but little of the devotedness and piety of Paul and Barnabas, heard of their dispute and separation; and thus it will be with ourselves, if we give way to contention. Believers must be constant in prayer, that they may never be led by the allowance of unholy tempers, to hurt the cause they really desire to serve. Paul speaks with esteem and affection both of Barnabas and Mark, in his epistles, written after this event. May all who profess thy name, O loving Savior, be thoroughly reconciled by that love derived from thee which is not easily provoked, and which soon forgets and buries injuries.”

 

A:  Be gentle with new converts!  Remember, “We [too] have great cause to bless God that we have heard the gospel.” (Matthew Henry)  Encourage and strengthen each other in our walks with the LORD.  Do not require “too much”, but only as the LORD convicts and changes us.

 

P:  LORD, purify our hearts with faith.  Thank you that you chose to bless us with the good news of Your gospel message.  May we listen to Your gentle leading and guiding as we choose to follow after You.  May we be gentle with those who are new to walking with You, especially the children that we are raising and teaching Your ways.  Let us not require more of people than You do and therefore put burdens on them that You never intended.  Help us to strengthen and encourage one another at all times and to cause them to want to pursue You.  Help us as we strive to serve You to be careful not to give way to contention, but to strive for unity at all costs.  In Jesus’ Mighty name, Yeshua the Messiah, I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

Note of encouragement:  Leviticus 9:23 says, “Moses and Aaron went into the Tent of Meeting …”  Every time when we come to this or any other personal study and prayer time with the LORD it is like we are going into our personal “tent of meeting” with the LORD.  I pray that God blesses your times of meeting with Him each day and that it would be an offering to Him and a time of worship and celebration.

Persevering through Persecution

 

Read Leviticus 5:1; Acts 14

 

“If Paul would have been Mercury, he might have been worshipped; but if he will be a faithful minister of Christ, he shall be stoned, and thrown out of the city. Thus men who easily submit to strong delusions, hate to receive the truth in the love of it.” ~ Matthew Henry

 

S.O.A.P.

Scripture – Observation – Application - Prayer

 

S:  “… they gathered the church together and declared all that God had accomplished with them and how He had opened to the Gentiles a door of faith …”  Acts 14:27

 

O:  Paul and Barnabas had a great success in preaching the gospel, but not without difficulties (see verse 2, 4, 5, 18 and 19).  Paul even stated in verse 22, “ … it is through many hardships and tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God …”  But because of the Holy Spirit being with them they were able to have much success.  Paul and Barnabas persevered and kept telling people about Christ in the strength that was given to them by the Holy Spirit. 

 

 

(Paul's first Missionary Journey)

 

My kids and I watched a movie yesterday called, Paul the Apostle, on Amazon Prime.  It was a pretty good movie, but it did show some of the horrible things that the early church had to endure; James the brother of John being executed by Herod and the stoning of Stephen, and all the things we have been reading about together.  It was hard to explain to my kids why God’s people had to suffer the way they did.  We do not fully grasp the idea of persecution the way others do perhaps.

 

A:  Persevere.  We may not face the persecution that Paul and others in the early church suffered, but that certainly is a possibility in days to come.  I do believe however there are things we are called on to endure and to persevere through that we might enter the kingdom of God.  Here are a few verses to meditate on:

 

James 1:12 - Blessed [is] the man that endureth temptation: for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love him.

 

Revelation 3:21 - To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.

 

Isaiah 41:13 For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

James 1: 2 Consider it wholly joyful, my brethren, whenever you are enveloped in or encounter trials of any sort or fall into various temptations.  3 Be assured and understand that the trial and proving of your faith bring out endurance and steadfastness and patience.  4 But let endurance and steadfastness and patience have full play and do a thorough work, so that you may be [people] perfectly and fully developed [with no defects], lacking in nothing.

P:  Father in Heaven, I know that You are working in us Your will and pleasure.  I also know that sometimes that requires us to endure trials or tribulations or even persecution.  Father I lift up those reading this now who are enduring hard things for Your Name’s Sake.  I pray that they would endure and overcome through this situation or trial knowing You are with them to help them and give them strength.  Father I pray when this life is said and done that we would be counted as those who overcame by the Blood of the Lamb.  In Jesus’ name, Yeshua the Messiah, I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

Discussion questions: 

1.     What trial(s) have you or are you enduring?

2.     When you read about people being stoned and the persecution of the early church, how do you relate that to our present day events?

 

God Prepares Us

 

□ Read Acts 10

S.O.A.P.

S:  Acts 10:34 Opening his mouth, Peter said: “Most certainly I understand now that God is not one to show partiality [to people as though Gentiles were excluded from God’s blessing], 35 but in every nation the person who fears God and does what is right [by seeking Him] is acceptable and welcomed by Him.  43 All the prophets testify about Him, that through His name everyone who believes in Him [whoever trusts in and relies on Him, accepting Him as Savior and Messiah] receives forgiveness of sins.”

 

O:  Peter, as a Jew, had certain prejudices against the Gentiles that would have prevented his going to Cornelius, unless the Lord had not prepared him ahead of time.  He also was at risk for other Jewish believers to question or even attack his actions.  But God … God knows what lays before us, and how to prepare us.  We do not have to justify our actions to others, but we do have to answer to God.  Peter listened to God and followed what God wanted him to do. 

 

When God gives us a vision or a calling or a task to do, we should not begin to doubt what He has told us.  If there be any lack in knowledge or faith He will give it to us.  “…he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus …” (Philippians 1:6)  God goes with those He anoints; He will be with those to whom He has given His Spirit.  Whatever gift(s) we have, we are to honor God with them.

 

A:  To wait on God’s instructions and to be ready to get up and follow Him no matter what others might think or say. 

 

P:  Thank you Jesus that You prepare us for every task that You call us to.  Give each one reading this today, including myself, a vision for what You want us to do for You.  Show us the people that You want us to share Your WORD with and let the Holy Spirit come on all who hear Your message.  Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful and kindle in them the fire of your love and instruct our hearts.  Through Christ Our Lord I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

Even those who have received the Holy Ghost, must see their need of

daily learning more of the truth. ~ Matthew Henry

 

Bible Study Tip:  The past two decades have provided extraordinary progress in our understanding of the nature of learning.  Share with one person today something you learned from reading and studying.  The more times one repeats an action or recalls the information, the more efficient the brain becomes in its ability to retrieve that memory or repeat that action.  So recall and share God’s Word often and it will become more and more engrained and a part of you!

 

Extra, Extra, Read all about it!

 

Who was Cornelius? Cornelius (Greek: Κορνήλιος) was a Roman centurion (soldier).

 

How do you think Peter would have felt sharing the gospel with a Roman soldier? A patriotic Jew of that day would naturally dislike or even hate him because he was such a loyal servant of the oppressors of Israel. If you were a Jew talking of a Centurion, an image would immediately come to mind of an unclean enemy of God, one who is not only unredeemable, but one who is to be avoided at all costs.  Yet, Cornelius was said to be a devout man; a man who feared God, who prayed to God always and who gave alms generously to those who were in need. Is there anyone in your life that you see "unredeemable".

 

What does God's Word say on this matter?  “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) Share God's WORD today with everyone to whom you are given an opportunity!  The baptism of Cornelius is an important event in the history of the Early Church, what difference are you willing to make in God’s His-Story today?



The Journey, His Presence and our Conversion

2 □ Ex. 33; Acts 9:1-19, 31-43

S:  “Now therefore, I pray you, if I have found favor in Your sight, let me know Your ways so that I may know You [becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with You, recognizing and understanding Your ways more clearly] and that I may find grace and favor in Your sight …” Exodus 33:13 Amplified

 

O:

1)      The LORD takes care of all the “ites” before us.  (33:2)  “… the Lord knows how to deliver the godly, and will, with the temptation, also make a way to escape …”

2)      Anywhere He leads us is of no use without His Presence, even to the promised land.

3)      Moses had face-to-face time with the LORD (not Facetime or Skype, but face-to-face) as one friend to another.  Matthew Henry put it this way, “God's gracious promises, and mercy towards us, should not only encourage our faith, but also excite our fervency in prayer.”  Just as Moses interceded for the people we now have Christ who ever lives to make intercession for us.  (Romans 8:34)  “What happy tidings are these to all who understand the nature and power of prayer … you may as well find a living man without breath, as a living Christian without prayer.”

4)      Sometimes we think we are going in one direction, but God has different plans and we encounter the LORD. (Acts 9:2-3)  Paul thought he was going to Damascus to work for the LORD by executing believers, but God showed Paul his true calling and work.  “Let us not despair of renewing grace for the conversion of sinners …”

5)      Lastly, in the healing of Aeneas & Tabitha we learn that Christ, by His grace, works in us, but we must use the power He gives us to get up, go and do the work He has for us.  “…we should desire to be full of good works, for the honour of his name, and for the benefit of his saints …”

 

“God's goodness is his glory; and he will have us to know him by the glory of his mercy, more than by the glory of his majesty.” ~ Matthew Henry

 

A:  As I seek the LORD for His direction I can know that He is with me and that He will clear out all the “ites” before me so I can stay on the course He has for me.  Worship is an important part of the journey just as Moses and the people worshipped.    

 

P:  LORD, how awesome to consider Moses talking to you face-to-face.  LORD to have that kind of closeness is what we long for.  It is why I come to you daily to this study to “seek your face”.  Moses wasn’t coming to ask anything of You except to know You more fully.  LORD as I journey through this life help that to be my goal in everything I do.  Whether it is in ministry or serving my family or whatever capacity You choose to use me, LORD, let my goal be to know You more.  Thank you that You clear the way before us.  That we do not have to fear any “ite” that may try to come against us; all we have to do is trust You!  Lead each one that has come to this study today to a closer walk with You throughout this day.  In the Mighty Glorious Name of Jesus, Yeshua, my Savior I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

“If our hearts go forth toward God to meet him, he will graciously come to meet us.” ~ Matthew Henry

 

Study tip:  Find a commentary you like.  After you read and study the Scripture on your own then use a commentary to go deeper. 

 

I like this one:  http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-concise/

 

Sanctification

□ Ex. 29:44-46; Acts 7

Theme:  Sanctification and in Acts - Stephen's defense. (1-50) Stephen reproves the Jews for the death of Christ. (51-53) The martyrdom of Stephen. (54-60)

S:  ⁴⁶ They shall know [from personal experience] and acknowledge that I am the Lord their God who brought them out …

But they didn’t according to Acts 7:43 “You also took along the tabernacle (portable temple) of Moloch and the star of the god Rompha …”  They thought they could have God + Moloch, but God is a jealous God.  He is not going to share the center stage (or backstage for that matter) with any other person or thing in your life.  It is Christ alone!

Stephen calls them out on it in verse ⁵¹ “You stiff-necked and stubborn people, uncircumcised in heart and ears, you are always actively resisting the Holy Spirit. You are doing just as your fathers did.”

O:  I find it interesting that Stephen spent several minutes recounting the history of Israel to these well learned men of the council.  Matthew Henry points out that one of Stephen’s points in doing this was to reflect back on their very poor beginnings.  They took a lot of pride in being Jewish and Stephen points out that it was all God and had nothing to do with them.

Matthew Henry writes this in reflection of Verses 17-29 “Let us not be discouraged at the slowness of the fulfilling of God's promises. Suffering times often are growing times …”  I was discussing this with my children yesterday about Moses.  He was preserved from infancy for a special plan and purpose.  God takes care of his servants.  But it did take EIGHTY YEARS!  for Moses to be prepared and for God’s timing to be perfect. 

In regards to the temple Matthew Henry points this out, “… none of our services can profit Him who made all things. Next to the human nature of Christ, the broken and spiritual heart is his most valued temple.”  The leaders of that day (and even in to this day) loved the idea of the temple and the ordinances.  One of my prayers is that “doing” church would not become more important to us then “being” a church body and Christ’s servant.

“Stephen died as much in a hurry as ever any man did, yet, when he died, the words used are, he fell asleep; he applied himself to his dying work with as much composure as if he had been going to sleep. He shall awake again in the morning of the resurrection, to be received into the presence of the Lord, where is fullness of joy, and to share the pleasures that are at his right hand, for evermore.” ~ Matthew Henry Concise Commentary on Acts 7

A:  Application #1) to submit daily to the Holy Spirit, 2) to know from personal experience the LORD who brings me out and sanctifies me daily, 3) to not mix other “gods” with my service to Jesus, 4) to be patient to wait on God’s perfect timing and to prepare me fully for the works He has for me to do (Ephesians 2:10) and lastly 5) to be careful not to put church and “doing” above God, who is the head of the church.

P:  Dear Jesus, I know You are my Deliverer; the One who has redeemed me.  May I remember on a daily basis that You are the One who is in the process of making me more like Christ each day.  It is nothing I can do on my own except to be willing to listen and obey You.  May I not resist the Holy Spirit’s work in my life, but to become a daily sacrifice willing to do the things that You ask me to do.  May I be careful to not bring along my own “gods” as I seek to worship You each day, but to always remember it is Christ Alone!  Thank You for the good works that You have prepared for me to do according to Ephesians 2:10; some I feel I have already accomplished and some I look forward to doing and being used of You.  Thank You for being present in my life.  In Jesus’ Saving Name I pray, Amen & Amen.

 

Love & Blessings,

  Michelle L. Kirkbride

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