Seeking the Life in Christ

Monday, January 25, 2021

The Believers Pray

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 25, 2021

The Believers Pray

Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.

Acts 4:29

Read: Acts 4:23-31

Peter and John left the Temple and returned to gather with the other believers for a time of prayer. Their prayer had three movements which I believe are vital to equip the church today.

First, in their prayer they affirmed their faith in God as the Sovereign Lord, God is the rightful ruler because, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” (v.24)

Secondly, they invoked scripture from Psalm 2 which declares “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.” (v.26) They affirmed they were living in an era that was hostile to the Sovereign Lord, just as we are today.

Then they prayed, “Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.” (v.29)

My Takeaway: Peter and John’s question to the religious leaders was rhetorical – and they immediately answered their question lest there be any doubt: “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (v. 20) Then they gathered in prayer asking the Lord to equip them to speak boldly in His name. May I be so bold, as to pray and ask God to enable me to speak His word with great boldness.

Sē’lah

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(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.

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.

Friday, January 22, 2021

Which Is Right in God’s Eyes?

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 22, 2021

Which Is Right in God’s Eyes?

As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Acts 4:20

Read: Acts 4:13-22

As I read verse 20, I am reminded of the prophet Jeremiah’s statement,

“If I say, “I will not mention him, or speak any more in his name,” then within me there is something like a burning fire shut up in my bones; I am weary with holding it in, and I cannot” (Jeremiah 20:9 NRSV).

This has been one of my life verses, especially as I went through the ordination process and had to articulate how I understood God calling me to preach in His name. Peter was in a place similar to Jeremiah. He faced very powerful and very hostile men who ordered him to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Peter and John’s response is a word the followers of Jesus must hold onto today:

“But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him?” (Acts 4:19)

My Takeaway: Peter’s response invokes a principal that is not discussed much today: God’s sovereignty. We will see an example of this in our reading for January 25, 2021, but for today I need to prayerfully consider whether in every aspect of my life, I listen to God, or am I listening to all the other voices around me.

Sē’lah

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(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.)

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 21, 2021

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

“Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:12

Read: Acts 4:1-12

The captain of the temple guard was responsible for maintaining order in and about the Temple. The Sadducees were an elite class and part of the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law in Jerusalem. They were the who’s who of their day, and they were also masters of going along to get along. The last thing they wanted was a rag tag bunch of fishermen talking nonsense about resurrection and stirring up civil unrest.

Alas, not only did they not believe in the resurrection, neither were they acquainted with the Holy Spirit. “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.’ (v.8,10) Peter’s response to the religious leaders is an example of what Paul would later write, “I can do all this through him who gives me strength” (Philippians 4:13).

My Takeaway: We are living in an era in which many of the Sadducees and leaders of our churches, the elders and the teachers in our seminaries, are very similar to those whom Peter faced. They don’t believe in the resurrection of Jesus and they certainly are going along with the modern culture, to get along in their places of power. May our word to them be,

Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

Acts 4:11-12

Sē’lah

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(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.)

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Times of Refreshing

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 20, 2021

Times of Refreshing

Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord.

Acts 3:19

Read: Acts 3:17-26

I noticed yesterday that Peter was holding the crowd gathered by the Beautiful Gate responsible for the crucifixion of Jesus. Five times he used the pronoun, you, in accusing the crowd, such as in verse 15, “You killed the author of life . . .” I don’t think Peter knew if any of them were actually in the crowd calling for Barabbas to be released. Rather, I think Peter was demonstrating their corporate guilt by being a part of a sinful people. We rehearse this truth when we share in our corporate prayer of confession as a part of our liturgy for Holy Communion.

Peter goes on to tell the crowd that even though they acted out of ignorance, they no longer have any excuse. The power of the Risen Savior has been demonstrated before them in the healing of the lame man. Now is the time to repent, to turn from their sinful ways, and turn to God. In making this point, Peter again stresses the continuity of God’s redemptive story by reminding the crowd that their prophets had foretold of the coming of God’s Messiah, and of his promised coming again in Final Victory. We will see in tomorrow’s reading that another two thousand men accepted Peter’s invitation to new life in Jesus.

My Takeaway: Repentance is not a one-off event. We are called daily to turn away from working out the meaning of our lives apart from God, and to seek the life in Christ as our way of life.

Sē’lah

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(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.)

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

It Is Jesus’ Name

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 19, 2021

It Is Jesus’ Name

You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.

Acts 3:15

Read: Acts 3:11-16

A Bishop complained that he was not having the same impact in his ministry as did the first apostles. He said, “Everywhere Paul went, there was a riot. Everywhere I go, they serve tea.” What was true of Paul was also true of Peter and John. They dared to venture into uncharted waters where all they had going for them was faith in Jesus. Their actions remind me of a quote from Corrie ten Boom, “You will never know Jesus is all you need until Jesus is all you have.”

When questioned about the crippled man’s healing, Peter immediately attributed the healing to faith in Jesus. Peter was doing ministry beyond his power, in places well beyond where you would expect a fisherman to stand and preach. When the people saw something as astonishing as the lame man being healed, Peter seized the moment to proclaim the power of faith in the resurrected Jesus.

Notice the continuity in Peter’s preaching. He is serving the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Peter actually quoted a passage from Exodus 3, which Jesus also had quoted. The context for Peter naming the patriarchs of Judaism was Moses standing before the burning bush and receiving an assignment from God to go and set God’s people free. Peter was proclaiming that God was doing it again. He was continuing the story of redemption by setting the people free from sin and death through faith in the resurrected Jesus.

My Takeaway: I am writing this meditation on the morning after Cheryl and I visited a church to partake of Holy Communion. In the service, we affirmed our faith with the words of the Nicene Creed, which includes our entire theological heritage. In today’s reading, I am reminded of the importance of our holding onto the whole story of Jesus, or as Peter put it, “You handed him over to be killed, you disowned the Holy and Righteous One, you killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. By faith in the name of Jesus, this man was made strong. It is Jesus’ name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him.” (v. 13-16)

Sē’lah

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(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.)

Monday, January 18, 2021

Peter (Jesus) Heals a Lame Beggar

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 18, 2021

Peter (Jesus) Heals a Lame Beggar

Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

Acts 3:6

Read: Acts 3:1-10

Three things caught my attention in today’s passage. First, Peter and John looked intently at the lame beggar. They told the man to look at them. Then after speaking to the man, Peter took the man by the hand and helped him up. Only when honoring the Centurion’s request did Jesus heal someone from afar. Otherwise, Jesus was up close and personal. So also, Peter and John.

I recall participating in a district clergy team meeting on church revitalization. We had been meeting for about forty-five minutes when I observed, “We’ve been here quite a while, and the name of Jesus has yet to be spoken. If we aren’t going to talk about Jesus, I don’t expect we are going to revitalize many churches.” Peter was very clear. He wasn’t offering a new program, he was offering Jesus: “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.” (v. 6)

The desktop background on my computer is a photograph I took standing in front of the Church of All Nations and looking across the Kidron Valley to the Beautiful Gate to the Temple in Jerusalem. The healing of the lame beggar was outside of the Temple. This reminds me of a sign I saw at a church. As you drive out of the parking lot there is a sign post: The Church Has Left the Building. The healing of the lame beggar was proclaiming a new center for the people of God: “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20)

My Takeaway: I believe the true strength of a local church is not so much what happens on the church campus. Rather, it is in what is happening in the name of Jesus outside of its campus.

Sē’lah

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(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.)

Friday, January 15, 2021

New Community

Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

January 15, 2021

New Community

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

Acts 2:42

Read: Acts 2:42-47

As we continue in Acts, we will see how this New Community modeled life in the Kingdom of God as people on The Way. At least six times in Acts the Christians are called people on The Way – as in people seeking the life in Christ as their Way of life.

I believe the verse quoted above gives us the essentials for our life together as God’s New Community of Believers. We are called to be devoted to the Word of God, to building deep and abiding friendships within our community, to frequent celebration of the Lord’s Supper, and to a life of prayer. I pray these truly become the hallmarks of our churches.

Again, quoting Dietrich Bonhoeffer, “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.”

My Takeaway: I believe the essentials for our life together, taken from the verse quoted above, are the antidote for cheap grace. By God’s grace may we cling to this antidote.

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.)

Monday, January 25, 2021

The Believers Pray

Friday, January 22, 2021

Which Is Right in God’s Eyes?

Thursday, January 21, 2021

Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

Times of Refreshing

Tuesday, January 19, 2021

It Is Jesus’ Name

Monday, January 18, 2021

Peter (Jesus) Heals a Lame Beggar

Friday, January 15, 2021

New Community

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