catching up
I finished the book of Acts today. It was amazing actually. I say that about all the books, but this one was inspiring to me for today. A friend and I have been talking a lot about the "gods" of our day and what and who people worship. The book of Acts has incredible examples of how the apostles and followers of Jesus lived and ministered in a time of persecution, a time of scattering of the believers to cities outside of Israel, a time of the apostles dealing with the incredible growth of the church even in the midst of persecution and a time of the Gospel being brought to the gentiles. THIS is where I fit into the story again!
Luke and John were powerful in their own right. There are phrases like "and Jesus entered the synagogue and preached the good news of the kingdom" and "the power for healing came upon Him" or "and being filled with the Spirit, He..." These phrases have kept me up late... God what do they mean? Does healing only happen when "the power" is present? What DID Jesus preach in the synagogues and how is it different than what we preach today? What did it mean to preach the Kingdom? And being filled with the Holy Spirit... that one just wows my heart. Is that even a word? wows?
I realized today that there are only ten days left in the reading plan. Ten days! The last 80 days have gone by so quickly and my life has changed so much since I started reading. I was waiting for eye surgery with no income in sight (no pun intended) on June 1st and by Aug 1st my eye was healed far faster than the doc anticipated and I had already been back to work for a week. I got a car, I had a "celebrate what God has done" party, and I failed my road test (crazy parallel parking poles).
But I've been learning a lot too... again the threads of the old testament continue through the new... the expression of God's UNFAILING love, the importance of true justice, warnings of judgements to come and promises of blessings if we follow God and his commandments, which are personified and prophesy fulfilled in Jesus and described in 4 unique ways in the gospels. Someone said today, that they had for almost 20 years been praying that they would feel and know His love. He spoke about Ephesians 3 and being rooted and grounded in love ... that was what happens when we believe in Jesus, but that the prayer goes on to ask for the power to grasp how high, wide, deep and long that love is... It's an action too... we have to grasp it... grab hold of it, and though it surpasses to knowledge to live in that love everyday.
That is what reading every day is teaching me. Yes, I am by definition God's child, but I will never grow and mature into his friend and servant unless and reach out and grab hold of the truths in scripture. I do again say... This is a new book to me this time around, and it's wonderful.
Luke and John were powerful in their own right. There are phrases like "and Jesus entered the synagogue and preached the good news of the kingdom" and "the power for healing came upon Him" or "and being filled with the Spirit, He..." These phrases have kept me up late... God what do they mean? Does healing only happen when "the power" is present? What DID Jesus preach in the synagogues and how is it different than what we preach today? What did it mean to preach the Kingdom? And being filled with the Holy Spirit... that one just wows my heart. Is that even a word? wows?
I realized today that there are only ten days left in the reading plan. Ten days! The last 80 days have gone by so quickly and my life has changed so much since I started reading. I was waiting for eye surgery with no income in sight (no pun intended) on June 1st and by Aug 1st my eye was healed far faster than the doc anticipated and I had already been back to work for a week. I got a car, I had a "celebrate what God has done" party, and I failed my road test (crazy parallel parking poles).
But I've been learning a lot too... again the threads of the old testament continue through the new... the expression of God's UNFAILING love, the importance of true justice, warnings of judgements to come and promises of blessings if we follow God and his commandments, which are personified and prophesy fulfilled in Jesus and described in 4 unique ways in the gospels. Someone said today, that they had for almost 20 years been praying that they would feel and know His love. He spoke about Ephesians 3 and being rooted and grounded in love ... that was what happens when we believe in Jesus, but that the prayer goes on to ask for the power to grasp how high, wide, deep and long that love is... It's an action too... we have to grasp it... grab hold of it, and though it surpasses to knowledge to live in that love everyday.
That is what reading every day is teaching me. Yes, I am by definition God's child, but I will never grow and mature into his friend and servant unless and reach out and grab hold of the truths in scripture. I do again say... This is a new book to me this time around, and it's wonderful.
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