Acts 13-14; James Yesterday was a true day of rest; I didn’t even blog.  So today I shall do double duty and blog about yesterday’s reading and todays. The book of James is one of those books in the Bible that induce a squirm, doesn’t it?  James writes to us as a parent lovingly scolding a child, and he does not candy-coat anything.  What particularly grabbed me today was this verse from chapter 5: Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated … Continue reading Tough Love advice from James

Acts 9-10 Saul became a believer after an encounter with Jesus. Peter has a vision and through the Holy Spirit sees that God shows no favoritism among nations: I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right. Then the Gentiles believed in Jesus and received the tangible Holy Spirit.  The Jews watching were amazed that the Lord would extend his love towards all. That’s about all I have for tonight.  There are eight tween girls giggling and probably planning mass mayhem upstairs … Continue reading Seeking sleep

Acts 7-8 A sorcerer in Samaria heard Philip proclaiming the news about Jesus, and he became saved…but he had not yet received the Holy Spirit… Then when he saw others receiving the Holy Spirit, he offered the apostles money for the right to have it. His heart just wasn’t fully ALL IN for Jesus, was it? Before we shake our fingers at him, though, we would do good to take a hard look at our own motivations.  Did we become believers because it was something expected of us from our believing parents?  Or did we become believers for ourselves?  Did … Continue reading Not for sale

Acts 1-6 Peter had no sense of the phrase “political correctness.”  He was bold and in-your-face.  He did not candy coat any hard truth.  For this honesty, he was flogged, thrown in prison, and forbidden to speak in the Name of Jesus.  Yet he chose to obey the Lord rather than those in authority who told him to stop talking about Jesus. There will likely be a time two thousand years later when we are called upon to do the same as Peter…to throw political correctness out the window, to rely on the Holy Spirit to give us words to … Continue reading Politically Incorrect