ACTS…God’s acts

It was a very long time ago, when our family became five, that we decided it was time to move from our very small home to a larger one that fit. We looked and looked for what we thought we could afford. We began to settle for homes that were run down, but we thought we could fix it up and make it better. At the time we were working and going to school, volunteering at our church in many ways and raising a family. How we thought we would have time to fix anything seems silly now. God thought so, too. He knew exactly what we needed. After nine house offers fell through, we went to prayer. Yes, I know, but a little than never? After prayer, we stopped looking so hard and just waited.

In a few days, we saw a simple ad in the paper that advertised a home just outside the city, a NEW home, that qualified our family of five for a special loan that matched our budget. Wow. What we thought we needed did not compare to what God had is store for us. No, here’s what you will get, says God. With the Holy Spirit leading us, we received God’s best for us at that time and place, not our second best. God is God and we are not.

“Here’s what you will get”, says Jesus to his followers who think the kingdom of Israel will automatically be restored. They want to know the time and place! “What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit”, says Jesus. God’s Kingdom, ruled by His Son, Jesus Christ will extend FAR beyond Jerusalem….to us! Let’s begin to dig deep into the ACTS of God by beginning with His gift of His Holy Spirit living in us!

ACTS, The Message
To the Ends of the World
1 1-5 Dear Theophilus, in the first volume of this book I wrote on everything that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he said good-bye to the apostles, the ones he had chosen through the Holy Spirit, and was taken up to heaven. After his death, he presented himself alive to them in many different settings over a period of forty days. In face-to-face meetings, he talked to them about things concerning the kingdom of God. As they met and ate meals together, he told them that they were on no account to leave Jerusalem but “must wait for what the Father promised: the promise you heard from me. John baptized in water; you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit. And soon.”

6 When they were together for the last time they asked, “Master, are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel now? Is this the time?”

7-8 He told them, “You don’t get to know the time. Timing is the Father’s business. What you’ll get is the Holy Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, you will be able to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all over Judea and Samaria, even to the ends of the world.”

9-11 These were his last words. As they watched, he was taken up and disappeared in a cloud. They stood there, staring into the empty sky. Suddenly two men appeared—in white robes! They said, “You Galileans!—why do you just stand here looking up at an empty sky? This very Jesus who was taken up from among you to heaven will come as certainly—and mysteriously—as he left.”

Questions for reflection for us:
Why do we stare at the empty world around us and not look to Jesus?
Why don’t we rely on the power and the promises of the Holy Spirit living in us in all our daily decision making?
What is more important? What we think we want or what the Holy Spirit says we need?
Am I telling HIS story or mine in my daily encounters with people? What kind of witness am I? Am I willing to go “to the ends of the earth” and back again?

Dear Heavenly Father, Your ACTS are great and mighty. Why you chose us to spread your Word is overwhelming and humbling. We are mere ordinary humans but promised power through Your Holy Spirit to tell your story boldly with confidence in knowing you. Thank you for giving us Your gift of Your Holy Spirit that keeps us close to You. Continue to guide our thoughts with Your “acts” working in and through us. Make me more gracious because of the grace and mercy you have given me so many times. In Jesus Name, Amen