They Never Stopped

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

 February 1, 2021

They Never Stopped

Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.

Acts 5:42

Read: Acts 5:27-42

Three verses stood out to me in today’s reading. First, in verse 29, the apostles respond to the orders they had received to stop teaching in the name of Jesus: “Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings!” This reminds me of something Peter Marshall said:

“The choice before us is plain: Christ or chaos, conviction or compromise, discipline or disintegration. I am rather tired of hearing about our rights and privileges as American citizens. The time is come - it now is - when we ought to hear about the duties and responsibilities of our citizenship. America's future depends upon her accepting and demonstrating God's government.” (Reverend Peter Marshall, on being elected Chaplain of the U. S. Senate in January 1947)

The second passage is the last of verse 38 and verse 39. “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Grasping this truth, the missionary Hudson Taylor noted, “God's work done in God's way will never lack God's supply.” This truth is coupled with Corrie Ten Boom’s axiom: “You can never learn that Christ is all you need, until Christ is all you have.” God, grant us the wisdom to discern whether we are relying on human strength and ability, or the Holy Spirit.

My Takeaway: “They never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” (v.42b) There are times when I grow weary, especially with the continuing conflict within the UMC. But Peter and the others never stopped, and by God’s grace, neither will I.

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.