kreilly

Jesus taught that the money given to us is not ours, but God's, to be used for His glory. We are simply His stewards and must act accordingly. In this case, the money was needed for the believers in Judea and the believers in Antioch were obedient to send it there, to God's glory. When ministry to the poor and needy becomes an end in itself, without having God's glory at the center, it loses its purpose. When we horde up money, we are disobedient, thereby detracting from God's glory.

Barnabas was Jewish so he had all of the knowledge of the Scriptures but he was from Cyprus so he was familiar with Gentile culture. Saul was from Tarsus so he, too, was familiar with Gentile culture but was trained in the Hebrew scriptures as a Pharisee. Almost immediately upon his conversion, he was going into the synagogues and proving that Jesus was the Christ. It may have taken Saul/Paul awhile to get started in ministry because he had a reputation as an enemy of Christians to overcome.

The gospel followed the same route Jesus had said it would-Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. God had to prepare the hearts and minds of the Jews and Gentiles both. He showed both Peter and Cornelius a vision. Both were obedient to follow the Lord's instructions. The Lord demonstrated to the Jews and Gentiles that He accepted the Gentiles by anointing them with the Spirit. This news was sent back to Jerusalem and the Jews were obedient in accepting the Gentiles and filled with joy for them. Change doesn't happen overnight. These things had to happen-hearts, minds, and attitudes had to change before the people would start to truly realize the responsibility of sharing the gospel with everyone

I feel exactly the same way. I am always worried about letting God down by not being able to evangelize effectively, even though I know that He tells us not to worry and that the Holy Spirit will give us the words to say. Recently, I have been attending a church where the members are more vocal about their faith and witnessing to others. Seeing them has helped me have more confidence to feel more comfortable speaking about my faith more freely. I guess this goes back to the reason for putting disciples together in pairs.

Sometimes when the New Testament refers to speaking in tongues, it is referring simply to other languages, as in Acts 2 when everyone heard the gospel in their own language. Can anyone clarify for me how to distinguish when the Scriptures are referring to foreign languages and when they are referring to spiritual tongues? Because I don't know the difference it is hard for me to answer the questions posed above.

When I pray, I commune with God. It is spending time in relationship with Him. He created us to be in relationship with Him, for His good pleasure. So I guess it makes sense that He receives pleasure from our prayers. It is easy to see the reverse-we don't want to displease Him by ignoring Him and not praying to HIm.

Amen! That's exactly what I was going to say.

Thank you for sharing your insight. I never would have put those two passages together, but it makes so much sense the way you explain it. Great mini-lesson!

What does it mean to live your life as a sojourner? Why is a sojourner mentality required for disciples? A sojourner is a traveler. In the same way, we are travelers in this world. We do not seek to make a comfortable home in this world because this world is not our home. We seek to bring glory to our Master. If we are focused on making a comfortable life in this world and seeking worldly achievements, we will not be about our master's business. To be a good disciple, we have to be single-minded with an undivided heart.

After Aeneas and Dorcas' healings, many people came to faith because they recognized the truth and power of Christ through these miracles. It never occurred to me that I might have the gift of healing. I pray for people to be healed, but have never laid hands on a person and asked for a miraculous healing. I guess I have always been afraid I might weaken people's faith if God doesn't answer the prayer for healing. They may doubt God. I don't think I have the faith to heal others.

Amen and amen! I can't think of anything to add. Krissi you hit the nail on the head!

God used Ananias to heal Saul and baptize him into the faith. Acts 9:19 says that Paul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. I assume that Ananias introduced Paul to the other disciples in the area. Church is a community, not a one-man show. Paul needed a new family now that he would no longer belong to the traditional Jewish faith. Listening and obedience are very important. That was why God was so unhappy with the Israelites. He wanted obedience more than sacrifice, even when you don't understand. Most likely we won't understand because God's ways are not our ways and we cannot fathom His wisdom, so it is important just to be obedient and faithful. I don't feel prepared at all to minister to a high-profile person or anyone really. I just pray that the Spirit will speak through me as promised and that I won't mess things up by inserting my own thoughts/ideas.

The church is Christ's body. When the church (Christ's body) is persecuted, it is as though Jesus himself is persecuted. When the church is cared for, it is as if Jesus himself is cared for. They are one and the same. The church is Christ's body on earth with His Spirit living in us. Therefore, we must remember to love the church as Christ does.

God definitely speaks to us through His Spirit. That is a big part of the reason for Jesus' coming. He came not only to redeem us through His death on the cross, but also to equip us through the sending of the Spirit. It is how He is able to write His law on our hearts and minds. If we can't receive a message from the Spirit, are we spiritually dead? We have to set our fleshly desires aside and listen to discern what the Spirit is telling us to do or not to do. It is a difficult but important discipline in the life of a Christian.

I think the root of Simon's sin is the desire for self-glorification. Simon is not worshiping idols, he wants to be idolized. He wants others to worship him. He is competing with God for worshipers. Glorifying anything other than God is wrong and is the opposite of God's way. In the modern church, sometimes leaders will seek their own glory under the guise of preaching the gospel. Also, anytime we set aside what God commands in order to do what we have decided is right or correct instead, we have put ourselves in His place. We need to humble ourselves, follow Him and worship Him, not try to get others to follow/worship us.

Krissi, I sure do appreciate your level of honesty. You don't try to give the "right" answer, you honestly share your heart and struggles, which can help all of us grow deeper in our faith as we wrestle with these questions. I'm so sorry to hear that you are going through horrible circumstances right now. I am adding you to my prayer list. I would like to encourage you to keep your eye on the prize. Jesus never promised a pain free life. He didn't live one and in fact, promised that we would suffer as He did. Sin entered this world at The Fall and the devil continues to tempt, harass, and attack us daily. We are in a spiritual battle. Deliverance does not necessarily occur this side of heaven. We have a hope that is not of this world. We know He loves us, not because He rescues us from the evil we encounter daily, but because He sacrificed His Son so that we could partake in this hope and perfect future with Him.

In every sense, Jesus is the one and only Righteous One. He is perfect and no sin is in Him. When we want to justify our sin by comparing ourselves to others who we think sin worse than us, we have to remember to compare ourselves to Jesus, the ultimate standard of righteousness, instead. He is able to advocate for us because He understands the struggles we go through and carried our sin to the cross. He took our sin upon Him and exchanged His righteousness for our sin. Thank you, Jesus!

I definitely struggle with stubborness, hard-heartedness, and resistance. I always want to do things my own way and for God to go along with it and make it all good. This makes my life hard. I am trying to learn to better listen to and yield to the Holy Spirit. It does not come naturally for me.

Stephen was a man of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom. We know this because it says that he was a man full of God's grace and power and did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. This earned him a good reputation among the faithful, but a bad reputation among God's enemies. These men argued with Stephen but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. When Luke describes Stephen, he uses the same words to describe Stephen that are the criteria for a deacon-male, reputable, full of the Holy Spirit, and wise.

It seems to me the root problem is disunity. The believers are seeing themselves first as Greek or Hebrew, and secondly as Christians. The apostles, realizing they are spread too thin to do a good job with the food distribution, wisely delegate this job to men of good standing. They also allow the community to be part of the selection process so in order to promote unity. I think leaders sometimes avoid dealing with problems because problems are not being brought to them directly but complaints are shared among the congregants behind the leaders backs. This makes it difficult to attack problems head on. It is better to be honest and take your problems to the leadership rather than gossiping behind their backs.

Krissi, I completely agree that persecution is increasing. I also agree that as persecution increases, spreading of the gospel will increase, as well. People who call themselves Christians (self included) will have to get off the fence and decide if they are willing to follow Christ through real suffering. When we do that, we have a powerful witness, that is why God allows us to suffer. That kind of witness strengthens other believers to be more bold and witnesses to unbelievers that our faith is real and true and not just something we talk about.

I also tend to respond defensively, Katy. I think it is the natural reaction of the flesh to tell us we are right and not wrong. So true that we need to take a step back, humble ourselves, and ask God to show us any truth in the rebuke. Then, yes, we need to repent when we are guilty. God is good--He does always help these situations!

Well said, Irmela!

Who are we naturally inclined to share our possessions with? Our family. The hallmark of the early Christians is that they were truly a family. Jesus referred to this when He said His followers were His mother, brother, sisters...When you give up everything to follow Jesus, you gain a new family of believers in addition to salvation. Modern day Christians in the persecuted church are forced to leave everything behind when they decide to follow Christ and be grafted into a new family-the church. However, the modern church in the Western hemisphere falls short of this in that we are accustomed to simply meeting on Sunday or maybe a bit more often for Bible study and other activities, but generally leading separate lives from the other brethren. Also, since we aren't forced to leave everything behind when we decide to follow Christ, we often stay stuck in a tug-of-war between the world and Christ, which keeps us stuck in an immature state. I know I struggle with this.

The disciples needed boldness because the Sanhedrin was trying to shut them up. They knew that when they are in need, they are to ask, in Jesus name, for God to provide and it will be provided. This demonstrates their faith in God's provision and Jesus' salvation. Their character has been developed by their faith.