Acts 1

Well today is the first official day of the blog on the book of Acts. As per usual, it has been a very unusual day for me.  Ordinarily I will post each morning to the blog.  However, today I had to travel to Atlanta for a series of meetings with NAMB which began tonight. Therefore, today's review had to wait until late this evening. 

As I have read over the first chapter of Acts several times, like many of you, my favorite part of the chapter is verse eight.  Jesus is preparing to ascend into Heaven and wants to give His disciples one final word of encouragement.  What a great word it was!  "You shall receive POWER after the Holy Spirit has come upon you."  Jesus is reaffirming the first followers that He is not leaving them alone or helpless. His intention is to continue to give them the necessary strength to face a monumental task ahead of them, missions.  These rag tag men are to be His missionaries to carry the Gospel to all the parts of the World beginning at home and spreading out.  I can't help but think of the task He is laying before First Baptist Florence of developing a balanced strategy to be on mission locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.  But at the very thought of this task, I must admit that it can be overwhelming and intimidating. The part which is reassuring is that Jesus has offered that same word of encouragement to each of us to face the mission before us; you shall receive POWER after the Holy Spirit has come upon you.  Thank you for those words of encouragement to continue to pursue the High Calling.

As we go a little farther in the chapter, we read where the angel of the Lord appeared to the disciples after Jesus had ascended and asked them a simple question, "What are you doing standing around looking at the clouds?" (paraphrased)  In the words we have heard before, "Don't just stand there, get busy!"  What the Holy Spirit is emphasizing is that Jesus does not expect us to stand by idly waiting for His return.  He has given us a task, be His missionaries to the ends of the earth!  We must get busy. 

While the end of the chapter deals with the replacing of Judas of Iscariot, the operative passage is found in verse 14.  "All of these (the disciples) were continually united in prayer along with the women, including Mary the mother of Jesus and His brothers."  The early formation of the church recognized they must stand grounded in the divine communication with the Father, which Jesus had demonstrated to them continually. They understood they would receive the POWER from the Holy Spirit but they did not want to misunderstand or misuse that POWER.  Too often we are guilty of running head first into OUR plans not taking the time to seek the Father's will meticulously and submissively. 

Let us remember the take aways from Chapter One.
1.  Our assignments are precipitated by the  indwelling power of the Holy Spirit.
2.  We must not stand around looking heavenward without seeking to share His offer of hope to an unregenerated world.
3.  Only through a constant effort of united prayer can we hope to hear, understand, and fulfill the Father's wishes.

Go Be A Blessing to Others for Jesus,

Pastor Ric