SCRIPTURE: Acts 20 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. [Matthew 16:21] Jesus understood…
Category: daily meditations
the only way
SCRIPTURE: Acts 19 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.’ [John 14:6] The Jesus movement was known as the Way [Acts 19:9, 23]. But the movement is not the way, Jesus is. The disciples in Ephesus were heading the right way, but not yet…
on the same team
SCRIPTURE: Acts 18 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: ‘Master,’ said John, ‘we saw a man driving out demons in your name and we tried to stop him, because he is not one of us.’ ‘Do not stop him,’ Jesus said, ‘for whoever is not against you is for you.’ [Luke 9:49-50] As messengers of the King, we are not competing against…
make me bold, make me noble
SCRIPTURE: Acts 17 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop. [Luke 8:15] In Acts 17 we see the message being spread like seed, producing mixed results. Just as Jesus described, some receive it and some do not….
singing in the Spirit
SCRIPTURE: Acts 16 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favour. [Luke 4:18-19] Jesus reads…
love, despite differences
SCRIPTURE: Acts 15 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. [John 13:35] Can a church have disputes, disagreements? Yes, for sure. The unity of the church does not lie in its total agreement, but in its determination to act with love, regardless of differences.
the Spirit behind the word
SCRIPTURE: Acts 14 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. [Matthew 10:19-20] Paul and Barnabas discover the power of the…
the word of the Lord
SCRIPTURE: Acts 13 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. [Matthew 13:23] There are 6 references to the “word” (or message of the Kingdom) in our passage. This…
who’s really in charge here?
SCRIPTURE: Acts 12 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: Jesus answered, ‘You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above.’ [John 19:11] Jesus reminds Pilate that his authority is not ultimate, but dependent. Herod discovers this the hard way. Though he has power to take James’ life, and to execute his soldiers when Peter escapes,…
God’s growing family
SCRIPTURE: Acts 11 OBSERVATION/APPLICATION: My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. [John 17:20-21] Through Jesus, the dividing wall of hostility between Jew and Gentile is…