"You Love Me Anyway..."

I never get tired of hearing this song.  Let it be a reminder to you today (as it was to me) that God loves you in spite of who you currently are and what you have done.  Blessings!!!

Acts 2 Thoughts...

Reading Acts 2 today in my daily Bible time, I simply took some notes. Here is what I came up with.

Acts 2 Thoughts:
1. It is interesting that the devote Jerusalem Jews' first thoughts were not that God was doing something, but that the people were drunk.--vv. 5-13

2. Peter's direct response to their ignorant statements was to preach the Gospel to them.--vv. 13-36

3. After hearing the Gospel, they were convicted and wanted to respond to what they had heard.--v. 37

4. Peter tells them to "repent" & "be baptized." Why? For the forgiveness of sins and to receive the Holy Spirit. It is for anyone God calls to Himself.--vv. 38-39

5. Peter continued preaching. Anyone who received his message accepted it and were baptized. 3,000 people in a day.--v. 40-41

6. The large group of people devoted themselves to three things: 1) the apostles teaching & the fellowship, 2) the breaking of bread together, and 3) praying.--v. 42

7. A fearful type of awe came upon everyone and the apostles did many signs and wonders.--v. 43

8. They were all together & had all things in common. Like : selling their possessions and belongs are giving the money away to those in need, attended church everyday together, ate together everyday in their homes, received their food with glad and generous hearts, and they praised God and had favor with all people. As a result of this, God added daily to their number those being saved.--vv. 44-47

To me, this looks like a great formula for the Church to follow. What do you think?

Blessings!
DA
Note: Sorry if there are errors. Did this on my iPhone.

In or Out....

I would love for all of you to check out my friend Justin's new blog. 

He is launching a program entitled "Faith and Family." 

He, through this blog, is going to take us on a 30 day journey of deepening our faith and strengthening our families. 

Here is a link to his site.  Blessings!

Pity, Touched, Healed...

I love to read about the miracles that Jesus performed.  They leave me in awe.  For example, reading the words of Mark 1:40-41:

"And a leper came to him, imploring him, and kneeling said to him, 'If you will, you can make me clean.'  Moved with pity, he stretched out his hand and touched him and said to him, 'I will, be clean.'"

Jesus displayed three actions that we need to display.  Jesus displayed three actions that we need to display when being the "salt and light of the earth."  

#1--Pity 

This is extremely difficult sometimes.  Often times people put themselves into the situations they are in and we often feel that if we help them get out of it that they won't learn anything.  I don't disagree with this.  However, Jesus displayed pity on this man who was in need.  Pity is defined has having sympathy or kindly sorrow evoked by the suffering, distress, or misfortune of another.  Do we have this definition in our dealings with the poor and afflicted in our communities?  If we are honest, the answer (most of the time) is no.  

#2--Touched

It would have been very politically and socially incorrect for Jesus to touch this man.  Why?  Lepers were considered as outcasts.  They were not allowed to mingle with the towns people.  They were not allowed to live at home with their families.  They were not allowed to touch anybody or anything.  They were considered unclean.  Leviticus 13 will tell you everything you want to know about this skin disease.  Jesus didn't care.  He knew that one of the huge needs in this man's healing was that he needed a touch.  Jesus didn't care about the social customs.  Jesus didn't care about what others would think.  He touched this man.  

#3--Healed

After showing pity and after touching the man, Jesus healed him.  Jesus told him that He could make him clean and then He did it.  It is important to understand that this wasn't a progressive healing.  It was immediate.  

Briefly, let's look at some applications.

#1--We must pray that God would give us an eye to see the needs of others and when we do see them, have pity.

#2--We must be willing to get our hands dirty.

#3--We must do everything we can do to heal.  What do I mean by this?  We must do everything we can to heal the greatest need that people have.  What is their greatest need?  Their greatest need is to enter into a right relationship with God.

Blessings!

The Fame of Jesus...

I love verse 28 of Mark 1.  Read these words and be stirred.   

"And at once his [Jesus'] fame spread everywhere throughout 

all the surrounding region of Galilee."

Did you catch it?  Jesus' fame spread.  

Question:  What are you doing and/or what is your church doing to spread the fame of Jesus? 

I don't have anything else to say about it.  

This is something that is haunting me and that I am dealing with.

YOU MUST DEAL WITH IT TOO!

Let's spread the fame of Jesus.  Blessings!

The Message of Jesus Christ...

I just started a reading plan through youversion.com.  I am going to be reading the entire New Testament over the next year.  This pretty much consists of a chapter a day.  At first I thought, "One chapter a day?  That is not very much." 

However, I am excited for the opportunity to really allow the pages of scripture to soak in.  I am excited to not have so much going on in my mind that I can really try and think through what is being taught and think through how it should be applied.  We all need to do this more.

My goal in this study is gain a nugget from scripture that I can "chew on" throughout the day, apply its truth to my life, and hopefully (as time allows) share it with others.  Below is what I want to share today.

Mark 1:14-15.

John the Baptist has been arrested and Jesus has come to Galilee.  Once He arrived in Galilee, He began His preaching ministry.  Verse 15 of Mark 1 summarizes for us what Jesus main message was going to be throughout His earthly ministry.  Somehow I think this should be our message too.  He summarizes His message in 3 statements.

#1--"The time is fulfilled..."

• The time has come for the old system (the law) to be done away with and a new system (Christ) to be ushered in.  
• This symbolizes the beginning of God reconciling all men to Himself.
• The "once and for all" sacrifice has arrived.

#2--"...the kingdom of God is at hand..."

• Although it is going to come in stages, it has arrived.  

#3--"...repent and believe in the gospel."

• I feel like that we get sidetracked sometimes from this message.  
• This should be grafted into every sermon you and I preach.

I needed to be reminded of this today.  I needed to be reminded that in my personal life I need to repent and believe the gospel.  I needed to be reminded that this message of Christ should be the dominate theme in every message I preach, every deed that I do, and in every word that I speak. 

I am thankful for the message of Jesus Christ.  May His message become our message.  Blessings!