Devotionals

MONDAY - Acts 4:1-12
Why were the priest, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees grieved that they taught the people and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead? That is the difference between religion and Christianity. Religion will always be grieved at the preaching of the Word of God. Religion does not like the Word of God because it goes against what they believe. Religion is born in the heart of man Christianity is born in the heart of God Religion believes good works will be rewarded Christianity teaches that God rewards faith in His Son and the Sacrifice of Calvary. Religion teaches that you can never know if you are good enough Christianity teaches that you will never be good enough. That is why you need to be saved by the shed blood of Jesus Christ.

TUESDAY - Acts 2:13-22
In the world today, we have Bible Colleges, and seminaries. I have no problem with either one, in fact I teach in 2 Bible Colleges one in the Indianapolis area and the other in Davao City, Philippines. But I fear that many mistake and substitute education for walking with God. I have many good layman that have felt unqualified to witness or to teach a class because they do not have the proper education. One in fact used the very words of verse 13 when he stated that he was "unlearned and ignorant." I believe that it is the responsibility of every Christian to have a working knowledge of the Word of God. One should not only read the Bible and pay attention in church but take the responsibility to study God's Word as well. However, never confuse Bible knowledge with the power of God as you walk with Him.

WEDNESDAY - Acts 4:23-31
Why do we not speak to others about our Lord and Saviour? Why do we not speak to our neighbors, our co-workers and our family members about the salvation that God has entrusted to believers to spread to a lost and uncaring world? Notice verse 29. We, like they (the early followers of Jesus), fear the threatenings of the non believers. Of what are we afraid? In the days of Jesus the loss of jobs, homes, family and life itself were a possibility. In some parts of the world the same is still true, however in this country, the USA, those threats are not as real as they were in the days of the early church. The early disciples prayed that God would give them boldness. They did not ask for the removal of the threats, but that God would allow them to have the boldness. regardless of the threats to be the witnesses that God would have them to be. They knew that trials and tribulations would make them stronger, and make them into the Christians that they should be. Hopefully we will learn the same lessons.

THURSDAY - Acts 5:1-11
We must pray that God will keep us real. Ananias , Sapphira and the early church learned this lesson the hard way. Ananias and Sapphira sold a piece of property and there is no sin in that. They also gave a portion of that money to the church. There is no sin in that. God does not require us to give all of our money to Him. Then why did God kill them? Because they lied about the price they received and for show wanted people to believe that they had given all to the church to make themselves look better than they really were. People are people and the sins of Ananias and Sapphira are still alive and well in the church today. Let us be real and honest with God. You may be able to fool your fellow man, by God knows, and he is the one that needs to say well done thy good and faithful servant.

FRIDAY - Act 5:27-39
V 29 states that we "ought to obey God rather than man." The early church leaders have found themselves in a mess. One of their own making. One they could have avoided. But a mess that they chose by their own spiteful will. They chose to go against the law of the day. They preached Christ in spite of the fact that they were expressly ordered not to do it. Today, most of mans problems are because they choose by their own spiteful will, to do things that are expressly against the will of the established authority. And every time someone does that there are consequences because of that action. Here in Acts 5 the early church faced the council. Soon, the church today will face the Father to explain why we did not do what He wanted us to do. SATURDAY - Acts 6:1-15 The early church was getting the job done. The gospel was spreading throughout the world and multitudes were being saved. But the devil never quits. The Bible says that there arose a murmuring of the Gracians against the Hebrews. For a moment, there were those that stopped lifting their eyes toward the harvest and began to complain the treatment was unfair. When we stop looking at others and the harvest that is set before us and begin to look inward we will always begin to mummer. Thank God there were men in the church that was full of wisdom from the Holy Spirit and was able to help the situation rather than making things worse. May God grant us the same wisdom today.