Today's Readings: New Testament -
Luke 3:1-20 / Acts 5:17-42
Old Testament -
Psalms 9 / Genesis 24
Click on Text Links to Read Online
Focus Verses: Acts 5:38-39
38 "Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. 39 But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God."
Insight:
While the miracles and healings the Apostles performed by the power of the Holy Spirit were a source of great joy and hope for all who experienced them, the deaths of Ananias and Sapphira put fear into the hearts of people both inside and outside the church. Clearly, the Holy Spirit who was moving and blessing the ministry of the early church was the very same Spirit of the Tabernacle, the Temple, and the Ark of the Covenant. God's Holy Spirit, while a source of great blessing and power for those who believed and responded with humility and reverence, was a source of fearful consequence for those who were careless, presumptuous, or blasphemous (Lev. 10:1-3; 2 Sam. 6:6-7; 2 Chron. 26:16-20).
Gamaliel, a Pharisee, was one of the greatest teachers of Israel at that time. When he observed all that was happening through and around the early believers, he urged caution to those who opposed them. He reasoned that their movement would fail on its own if God was not with them, just as other movements making similar claims had failed. Saul, who later became the Apostle Paul, was one of Gamaliel's students. Was Saul thinking about, perhaps ignoring, Gamaliel's counsel when he witnessed and approved the stoning of Stephen?
Response & Action:
I think Gamaliel was right. I believe that the very existence and ongoing movement of the Church suggests that God is in it. I believe that the Holy Spirit really is at work in the life and work of the church today. I believe that the Holy Spirit is blessing, empowering, saving, purifying, and transforming the lives of believers today.
I will study the Scriptures for the Spirit's guidance. I will humble myself before the Holy Spirit and offer my worship and obedience. I will ask the Holy Spirit for transformation and new life. I will commit myself to keeping in step with the Spirit, bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and being part of the ongoing work of the Church in the world today.
O God, I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life who proceeds from you and your son, Jesus, and has spoken through the prophets and apostles. By the power and grace of your Holy Spirit, lead, teach, transform, shape, and strengthen me, that I might delight in your will, and walk in your ways, to the glory of your name. I pray in the name of Jesus, my Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
Spiritual Formation Verses: Romans 8:11
11 And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.
Resources:
An Unstoppable Force: Daring to Become the Church God Had in Mind
by Erwin McManus
