God Still Speaks

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit changed the way that things were done. No longer were there animal sacrifices, there came a radical change to the religous system. It must of been dificult for the religous people of that time to adjust and make changes to the new order and way of doing things. These common men were doing miracles, signs and wonders. The people were changed so much too that their life styles began to change. They found themselves meeting together all the time. There was a hunger to be fed the Word of God, they sold their possessions and gave their money away. There was great joy and generosity as they praised God and continued to reach people. Are these same things occuring today in the church? Are we welcoming the Holy Spirits presence to move amongst us? Are we to stuck in our ways to give Him room to move in our lives? What happened to the simplicity of the gospel? Does the modern church need to pause and reflect to see if it is being revelant in todays society? Are people committed to walk with the Holy Spirit today as they did back there? The book of Acts gives us insight to how the church is to be today. I wonder if modern is better!

It is challenging for me as I read this not to think like a pastor but as a disciple or believer in Jesus Christ. As I read chapter two there are so many thoughts that come to my mind. The interesting thing to me are the group of people that were in that upper room. There were fishermen, tax collectors, Jesus' mom and brothers as other followers of Jesus that believed in him and obeyed his instructions to go to the upper room. The Holy Spirit is what enables normal people to do supernatural feats. That gives hope to me that some how someway God can use me. After these people received the Holy Spirits power they were used mightily by God. We see what happened to Peter, the man that just a few days before denied Christ three times and now he is preaching with boldness before thousands of people and three thousand accept Christ. This power is available today to anyone who desires to be used by God to touch and impact peoples lives. (see vs 39)

Not much importance has been made about the selection of Matthias to replace Judas as one of the Apostles. His name is never mentioned again in scripture. But something miraculous was about to take place as a result of this appointment. It was necesary to replace that Apostle so that there would be "12" again. The number 12 means "government". The 12 tribes of Isreal speaks of the Gods' government in that nation. 12 months govern the year. Two twelve hour time periods govern the time of day. So it was important the this to occur so that the out pouring of the Spirit could take place. In the principle of twelve, we now see the number complete and God is ready to do a phenominal thing, send the Holy Spirit and see the birth of the church.

This is where the power for christian living is found. Acts 1:8. "You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you...." Power is "Dunimis" Dinamite power, power to witness, to share with others Gods love. Every beleiver needs this power operating in their lives. He says "YOU" shall receive. This gift is for every beleiver. We all need power. This power is what makes us different from religous people. This power makes us bold and dynamic. It helps us to pray and to excercise authority over our spiritual enemies. In this book we will see how to receive and walk in this power and what its purpose is in our lives. This power is what enables us to be a blessing and to serve others!

What the world needs to see is a Jesus that is alive! Not a religous Jesus or a traditional Jesus, an historical Jesus but a living Jesus. He presented himself alive by many infallible proofs being seen by them. If Jesus were to be presented "alive" today in our churches, there would be standing room only. If He were given permission to be "alive" in us people would be drawn to Him. I have good news, Jesus is alive! He is alive and well! He is living is you! He is working both the will and to do of his good pleasure in your life. His power is working in you. It is Christ in us the hope of glory. We have this treasure hidden in earthen vessels. So the book of Acts starts with the declaration that Jesus is alive. This is the theme seen in this book. As the church is born, it is based on the fact that Jesus is alive and working in the world today!

In verse 1 it says that Jesus manifested Himself to his disciples. Jesus is wanted to manifest himslef to us today. He not only wants to but does manifest himself to us in many ways. Here we see that He manifested himself to His disciples by providing a supernatural catch. They had fished all night and caught nothing. As they obeyed his command they brought in a great catch of fish. He will manifest Himself to us by suppling all of our needs as we continue to trust in Him. The next thing we see is they saw Him as "Lord". Jesus will reveal Hinmself to us as Lord, more than a saviour, healer, deliverer but "Lord". He desires for us to submit our will to His. Next, He manifests himself by "fellowship. He sat and ate breakfast with them. Just spending time with His disciples. Do you know that He desires to have "fellowship" with you, Just to sit and enjoy your presence and friendship? This next one is powerful! He manifest himself to us by revealing to us what is in our hearts, our priorities. Peter had denied the Lord three times and had returned to his old lifestyle of fishing. Jesus comes and gently challenges this decision. Jesus was letting him know that he had a higher calling than catching fish. He was called to "fish for men".

Jesus again appears to his disciples and shows them his hands and side, they were glad to see the Lord. Jesus passes the baton off to the disciples, vs 21, "As the Father has sent Me, I also send you." He sends them to continue on with His ministry of preaching, teaching, healing the sick and ministering deliverance to the captives. After that something powerful takes place, He breathes on them and says "Receive the Holy Spirit." This is when the disciples were born again, this is the moment that they were saved. They had walked with Jesus and normal men, sinners, but now, Jesus died and is risen and imparts to them the Holy Spirit.

Thomas is a cool guy, like so many people today that have the attitude of "seeing is beleiving." Jesus declares a blessing upon those who beleive having not seen. We must take God at His Word and beleive even though the circumstances seem contrary. It would be great to be at this place where we say "beleiving is seeing."

How exciting it must of been for the disciples to run to the tomb and to find it empty. Of course they did not understand the scriptures concerning the ressurection but soon saw that Jesus was alive. He conquered the grave! The grave represents death. I heard Larry King say the other day, "the bad thing about death, it is so permanate." But not in the case of Jesus. Other famous religious figures like Budda, Mohammad, Hari Chrisna, Mary and others all died and remained dead. Jesus conquered the grave. This is what God is speaking to me about this, if He could conquer death, He could conquer anything in my life that would cause death and destruction such as fear, torment, desease, failure, hoplessness. Jesus conquered death, hell and the grave. I am crucified with Christ and it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives in me. In Him I live and move and have my being. I am alive in Him. If the same Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in me, He will quicken my mortal body by His spirit that dwells in me. Awesome!

Reading through this I was impacted about Christ's willingness to go to the cross. He did not go grudgingly, wasn't complaining about the pain and agony. He set his face forward and did not back away from the job He had to do. He took the mocking, spitting, beatings, scourging and curses of the people. He endured the cross, despised the shame. The willingness of Christ to die in my place, His willingness to redeem me from the curse. His willingness to shed his blood. There is no greater love in history than this love. No greater sacrifice than God the Son dying on the cross for me. He finally declared, "It is finished". The price paid, it is finished. Salvation pruchased, Healing bought, Prosperity ours, He did it all.

As I read this again, I'm touched anew with Gods love for me. Allowing Jesus to suffer in my place with the intention of giving to me eternal life. I'm moved by His willingness ot suffer in my place, to take my sins and suffer my deseases. I'm moved that He was willing to become poor so that I could be increased with goods. He was tormented so that I could have peace. He suffered death to give me eternal life, how could I ever question His love for me?

Jesus knowing that what He was about to face, prayed. In the most difficult time of His life He went to His place of comfort and strenght. What can we glean from this? We too will face dificulties in life. When we do, we too must also find our strenght from a place of prayer. In Psalm 91, He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most high shall abide under the shadow of the almighty. Jesus spend a few minutes to pray for himself and then prayed intensely for his disciples and amazingly prays for us too. I find comfort that Jesus prayed for me and still does as he fulfills his ministry in heaven as my high priest, He ever lives to make intercession for me. If Jesus is praying for me, I can endure any problem that comes my way!

What comfort the Word of God gives! Look at verse 33. The Word of Jesus produces peace. He also identifies that He is the source to peace. We see a big destintion here, peace in Christ, tribulation in the world. But the kicker is, Jesus said, "I have overcome the world." Not only peace in Christ but He also gives us victory over the world. Wow! we can relax, trust in Him and enjoy victory. Victory in every area of our life. Just take a deap breath and give thanks to Jesus for the victory that He has provided for you.

Jesus has a way of turning the sad, hard times of our life into joy. Here the disciples were confused as they heard Jesus talk in a very unclear manner. They did not understand what He was about to go through. Jesus knowing what He was going to face, took time to help His disciples understand and to make sure that they knew that their sorrow would be turned to joy. As we go through our sorrowful times, know that soon joy will come. Weeping endures for the night but joy comes in the morning. It's the work of the Holy Spirit to turn our mourning into dancing, take comfort, you night time is almost over, dawn is soon to appear.

Jesus is preparing his followers for His departure. Of course the disciples are clueless having no idea about what is about to occur. He explains to them that He will not abandon them and that He will send the "helper" (Holy Spirit). The Holy Spirit will have the work of empowering the disciples to preach the word and to work in the hearts of the people bringing them into a proper relationship with the Father. His job is to convict of sin, of rightousness and judgement. He leads the people to the truth and will see to it that Christ is glorified. The Holy Spirit continues this work today. He is working to bring lives to Christ, and is working in us as well both to will and to do of the fathers good pleasure.

These scriptures are being fulfilled most vividly today. Christians are being hated more now than in any time in history. Christians are being persecuted in an unprecedented manner. China, India, Cuba, Indonesia, African countries, even here in the US our values are being challenged and ridiculed like never before. Our President has been highly criticized for having stated that Jesus Christ is his hero. Jesus said that this would happen. We can expect to be persecuted by the world. We cannot expect to be tolerated like the homosexuals, muslims, and other groups. The comforting thing though is that Jesus asked the father to send to us the Holy Spirit. He is our "paraklete" our comforter, helper, standby and advocate. He will not leave us alone to face the tribulations of life. His grace will be sufficient for any problem that we face. The secret to this victory in trouble is abiding in Him and His word abiding in us.