Acts

So I have spent the last couple of weeks finishing out Acts, and I love how the last verse of the book reads. “Boldly and without hindrance he preached the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ.” This sums up the whole book of Acts. The gospel is a message to be heard and shared by believers. People are meant to hear the message of Christ, and Paul is a major testimony to the effort it takes to spread the gospel to all. Paul takes advantage of every opportunity to speak of “higher things” even when he is stuck on a boat with only bread to eat in chapter 27. He boldly proclaims the gospel!

By looking back on Acts I can’t help but to summarize the whole book by the first 11 verses in the book, and my key verse must be Acts 1:8. “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

I’m amazed. After reading through the whole book I now have a better understanding of the power of the Holy Spirit. From verse 8 our power clearly comes from the Holy Spirit. So I pray we may never look to ourselves for power, but I pray we may always look to the Spirit for power and deliverance. My prayer request this week start with the Holy Spirit. May the Spirit guide us in our studies and interactions in this journey here on earth. I pray Christ is our cornerstone and sole focus (Matt 6:33) for He is the greatest and we are blessed to know and see Christ (Matt 5:8).

Compelled by the Spirit

Wow. I stumbled across some incredible scripture this morning. Acts 20…Paul’s farewell to the Ephesians.

“However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.” Acts 20: 24

My boy Lecrae starts off his song “Sold Out” with these lyrics, “Man I consider my life nothing. If I could just finish the race and complete the job the Lord Jesus gave me. I live to tell the world His message. Romans 1:16 I’m not ashamed. I ain’t ashamed. We sold out. Seeking God’s face to we fold out.”

I can’t fully explain in words my desire to complete the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. This passion in my heart carries two sides of emotion. My first emotion is excitement and thrill to carry out His gospel to those who haven’t heard. My second emotion is humility and unworthiness. Who am I to carry such knowledge and foundational understanding of God’s gospel message? But as I read this passage of scripture Paul first jumps back to the foundation of what Acts seems to be all about: the power of the Spirit. He says in verse 22, “And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there.” He is compelled by the Spirit. How great and mighty is the Spirit of God? Obviously God is much greater than us in his plan and schedule for our lives. This I can relate to my current life as my parents are about to move everything to Beaumont, TX. No, they have never lived in Texas, and, yes, they are of the young age of 53. Why are they moving? The Spirit is leading them to a new music ministry at a church that appears to have a very strong congregation. My parents need and desire this journey. We must let the Spirit lead. How pitiful are we when we let our daily comforts lose focus on God’s movement and the Holy Spirit at work in our lives. He is greater. We are less. Nothing in our whole body and knowledge should ever attempt to out-due or out-work Christ and his Holy plan.

*On a side note: Our lazy attempts at life has a direct relationship with people’s attentiveness on mission trips. I pray the Spirit is the sole reason people are attending mission trips today. My heart burns when people attend mission trips solely because of comfort and peace. Why do some continue to bury their spiritual gifts in a trip guided away from their natural ability? Broken relationships? A dislike for others on the trip? I hope not. Let the Holy Spirit of Jesus Christ lead your life of missions, and never let evil treasure get in the way.

The bottom line is that we are here to complete the task the Lord Jesus has given us. I pray this is my heartbeat. I pray this is the heartbeat of every Christian in the sanctuary at Temple Baptist. I pray this for my family, friends, and coworkers. Do they see the fullness of Christ? I pray we may never forget the fullness of Christ and the necessity to always be searching for the lost. Take a “risk” and do something different for the Lord’s Kingdom today.

Love for Money

“When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities.” Acts 16:19.
The power of falsehood among humans is ever so clear in this passage. The owners of the slave girl are obviously wrapped up in money and their own selfishness so they try to get rid of Paul and Silas, which is really them trying to get rid of the Spirit. Then Paul and Silas are thrown in jail, but I’m sure the outcome of this story is not what the owners were imagining. Verse 33 says the jailer and all of his family were baptized. How Glorious! God does work in incredible ways, but I must recognize the huge faith Paul and Silas had. Without worry or stress, Paul and Silas were able to be calm and lead others to the Lord even when tied down in shackles. Man cannot hold the Lord back. And to think, man’s love for money was the start of this whole scene. I know God used man’s love for money to help make this story, but I definitely see how we must abstain from loving money. I pray my heart will not lust after the greatest riches of the world. For I know a man can gain the whole world, but he is worthless when he loses his soul. Our devotion in Christ is so much greater than any fiscal being such as money.
I pray money will be well controlled and respected in our hands and ultimately used for God’s Kingdom.

Through Him

My God My God! I love thee. Today I pour out my heart in scripture. “From Attalia they sailed back to Antioch, where they had been committed to the grace of God for the work they had now completed. On arriving there, they gathered the church together and reported all that God had done through them and how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” (Acts 14:26-27) This passage speaks volumes to me this morning. First of all, they gathered the whole church together to hear the good news and report from their journey. Let’s rejoice together in hearing the good news of the Kingdom! Next, they reported all the GOD had done through them. NO, this is not a life of finishing task of our own, for we are not worthy, but God is the one who we must finish task and duties for. He is the great Messiah and Great deliverer of all things that are good. We must work, flow, and deliver the gospel through Him. For we are weak and wounded in our transgression but he is our Hero of deliverance from the evil one. The last part of verse 27 backs this up in “how he had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” How great is God? So great that he controls all things. I can’t fathom all of the knowledge about Him but I have complete faith that he will deliver all of us as we commit our lives to Him. He is the great ambassador of the epic battle to proclaim Truth. He sent his son to Earth to “testify to the Truth.” God is great! This morning I praise his name! He uses us to spread His name. How great a gift is this? We humans, who are stuck in our own problems and sin, have been chosen by the great creator to work in his army and passionately deliver the good news to those who don’t believe.

I pray this is our heartbeat. I pray we can all see this. I pray to God the Father to come rescue us from our evil thoughts and dark deeds. For I know only through him can light shine bright. Only through Him can my light even begin to shine, and because Him does my light shine today.

I pray God will lead us to opportunities. I pray God will use us. I weep to think you have already given me opportunities that I missed because I was too busy wrapping my eyes around the work of darkness. God’s light must be my only point of focus.

Christ is not known

I see it clear! I have always understood why my friends desire to go to the 10/40 window to spread the gospel, but I have never quite come across a verse so clear in doing this. "It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation" Romans 15:20. What a huge calling? Here I imagine God saying, "This is where I want Wes, Wade, and Martin, now this is where I want Tanner. Go over here Tanner and spread the gospel of my name." Wow! what a calling? Does this make me want to stay in the states or go overseas to East Asia? Well currently my heart definitely is still attached to those people here on USM's campus that have never heard "The Gospel." I want to spread the systematic and biblically founded store of the gospel to those who have not heard the right gospel. My heart is here today, but could I quickly be sent overseas to a new mission field? Is God molding me for a future in missions? These questions I can not answer right now, but I know God has his master plan.