Acts 1:1-11 ~ All that Jesus began

 

 

Acts 1:1-11

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when He was taken up, after He had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom He had chosen. 

He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God.

4 And while staying with them He ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, which, He said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

6 So when they had come together, they asked Him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the Kingdom to Israel?” 

7 He said to them, 

“It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His Own Authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 And when He had said these things, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him out of their sight. 

10 And while they were gazing into Heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes,  and said:

“Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?

 This Jesus, who was taken up from you into Heaven, 
will come in the same way as you saw Him go into Heaven.”

Jeremiah 29:11

For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord,

“plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

Psalm 19

A psalm of David.

1 The Heavens declare the glory of God;

the skies proclaim the work of His hands.

2 Day after day they pour forth speech;

night after night they reveal knowledge.

3 They have no speech, they use no words;

no sound is heard from them.

4 Yet their voice goes out into all the earth,

their words to the ends of the world.

In the Heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.

5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,

like a champion rejoicing to run his course.

6 It rises at one end of the heavens

and makes its circuit to the other;

and

nothing is deprived of its warmth.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect,

              refreshing the soul.

The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,

making wise the simple.

8 The precepts of the Lord are right,

giving joy to the heart.

The commands of the Lord are radiant,

giving light to the eyes.

9 The fear of the Lord is pure,

enduring forever.

The decrees of the Lord are firm,

and 

all of them are righteous.

10 They are more precious than gold,

than much pure gold;

they are sweeter than honey,

than honey from the honeycomb.

11 By them your servant is warned;

in keeping them 

there is great reward.

12 But who can discern their own errors?

Forgive my hidden faults.

13 Keep your servant also from willful sins;

may they not rule over me.

Then I will be blameless,

innocent of great transgression.

14 May these words of my mouth 

and 

this meditation of my heart

be pleasing in your sight,

Lord, 

my Rock 

and 

my Redeemer.

It's a little startling this century has so many parallels to the Book of Acts in the First and Second Century.

Lightning strikes are up to a record high. Flooding, Fires, Droughts. Arson. War. Violence. In third world nations, death by Lightning strike due to lack of cover is an incredible ongoing weather map on Weather Underground. This was the same in the first and second Centuries. Even today the Roman History lists the bizarre deaths by Lightning.

Violent Crime was up. Marriage Laws were recreated. Families inherited businesses for stability and, in these centuries, the Roman Empire was as vast in wealth as the USA today - this really only compares additionally to the Renaissance. Trade suddenly had war and violence to deal with. Everyone just felt uncomfortable in general and this was the beginning of walled city states. A general distrust of one another like Halloween candy. People wondered if the end of the world was at hand, this is very Historically accurate.


Gradually, times changed. 

The Good Sunday School Answer never failing is - Jesus. 

And the action we find changing the world in the Book of Acts is what occurred to me on Sunday at Church. "May I pray for you now?" A huge hug and an amazing prayer. From someone in their own emotional pain from a recently departed sibling. Few of us live with Ozzie and Harriet families. The culture of life intersects the brokenness of the world. 

Real hope comes from the real life events brave people share with one another.

What brought about another 1,000 years of Roman (called Byzantine after defeat) Empire? 

The Expectation of Jesus.

Prayer with belief. Faith. 

Overcoming what is inadequate. Less than warm. Overcoming what life brings you, to what your soul will willingly expect from God. 

Doing our best to avoid the abyss potholes to bring Love and Hope. The Book of Acts records ' Prayer. To pray and believe in all answers of prayer - God has answered. Even to say - wait or - no.

Paul is not recorded standing on a pulpit and castigating the culture

Which was less than perfect. Paul gave Love and parental Love and concern. Paul expected God to bring forth what we could not and for us to Trust God. When we flip through the Paul written with the Holy Spirit pages - we find Paul had an overwhelming Love for the people he spoke of Salvation in Jesus.

Matthew 17:5

He was still speaking when, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to Him.”

Colossians 3:12

Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience

Ephesians 1:6

To the praise of His glorious grace, 

with which He has blessed us 

in the Beloved.

Romans 1:7

To all those in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints:

 Grace to you

 and 

peace from God our Father 

and 

The Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:58

Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, 

always abounding in the work of the Lord, 

knowing that in the Lord 

your labor is not in vain.

Consider the Brothers of Jesus, sons of Mary and Joseph

Jude 1:3

Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you 

about our common salvation, 

I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith 

that was 

once 

for 

all 

delivered to the saints.

James 2:5

Listen, my beloved brothers, 

has not God chosen those who are poor in the world 

to be rich in faith 

and 

Heirs of the kingdom, 

which He has promised

 to those who love Him?

James 1:17

Every good and perfect gift is from above, 

coming down from 

The Father of the Heavenly Lights

Psalm 29:11

The Lord gives His people strength;

The Lord blesses them with peace

Psalm 23:1 

The Lord is my shepherd, 

I lack nothing 

Abba, Father,

Blessings of God dwell in me, please in Jesus Christ.

Live, Move, Have Your Being in me. 

Know every breath, every thought, every cell. Be my Light.

Thank You Father 

for Jesus Christ. 

Live in me.

Thank You Father 

for Jesus Christ. 

Live in those I love.

Thank You Father God 

for Jesus Christ. 

Live in the Nations of the World 

Light of Christ Shine 

in all of mankind.

Thank You Father 

God for Grace.

Thank You Father God 

for the Victorious Promises of Jesus Christ. 

Build the Temple of God 

within me.

Thank You Father God 

for Living Water and Light of Christ 

Shine on the earth You call Good - Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow.

Thank You Father God 

for Your Living Word 

Let the Word of God dwell in us all, 

 Richly Building Your Body. 

Building the Church. 

Building Love. 

Your Word Living and Active Today.

In the Highest Name we can Praise our

 Jesus Messiah. 

Amen.

Thank You Father God 

for Mercy.

And in Jesus - This Hope.

Faith and Love - we will rise up Believing Jesus.

Thank You, Father.

Amen!

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Thank You, Lord Jesus 

† 

Psalm 1 ~ BLESSED

 

 

Psalm 1

Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked,

nor stands in the way of sinners,

nor sits in the seat of scoffers;

His delight is in the law of the LORD, 

and on his law 

he meditates day and night. 

He is like a tree planted by streams of water 

that yields its fruit in its season, 

and its leaf does not wither.

In all that he does, he prospers.

The wicked are not so, but are like chaff that the wind drives away. 

5 Therefore, the wicked will not stand in the judgment, 

nor sinners in the congregation of the righteous; 

6 for the LORD knows the way of the righteous, 

but the way of the wicked will perish.

When God says, "No withering, all prosperity." 

I'd have to tell you - in my childhood, my family planted 6 tiny trees to grow into massive trees in my childhood, newly, built house in the 1960s. The Trees met different fates. One hit a chalk rock in the soil and died.

One was stunted to just never grow. It sat while the other trees grew 40 and 50 feet tall. My father and I would look at the Oak tree and wonder. Maybe it's because it's near the swing set, and it thinks it should be a child tree. My father said, could be, it needs iron, it looks a little yellow. So iron was applied. Perhaps, it needs water. Or it's a dwarf. My father went to the library and said no such tree variety. We wondered if it was a variation of the regular tree variety, and we should propagate it. 

My brother was born. My father said maybe the tree, arborist, people should see the Oak Tree. That year it grew some in the spring. A lot, about 3 feet on the 10 feet of a 16-year-old tree. And the next year, it doubled. Now.... we started complaining about how to move the swing set. People! 

And in the next four years, we were telling bored people about the amazing growth of the tree. Uh-huh. And if someone showed up who knew about the dwarf Oak Tree, we all got very, very excited and the story went on and on.

Knowing Jesus,

I think Psalm 100 is never, ever, ever intended 

to make us feel poorly about seasons in our lives. 

I do not believe Jesus would tell us a Psalm story 

and, then, say ... and then there is ... - - - you.

Sea of Galilee looking East

We'd assume the trees in the photos were Psalm 100 - never hit by drought, fire, famine, beetles, disease, timber harvest, bird feeders with nails and screws, girdling/mulching the tree, staking the tree, concreting the holes, over-fruitfulness, tying an animal's leash to the trunk, power lines, overcrowding, or over-salt/pesticide. 

The tree has a very 'Jabez' life. Blessed and nothing to report.

Today, I had something incredibly nice happen. 

I had a large disagreement with a friend of 26 years. 

She wanted help I could not give because it wasn't a place that would be beneficial for anyone. Consequences. Maybe authorities. Should not have asked.  And there we stood.  No one thought I really should get involved in this situation. There are times and seasons to say no. A definite no. Harm would have occurred to another person and probably really to me. No.

To say there was upset would be an understatement.

If I told this situation outright, definitely she'd be quite upset. And so would the other person. So let's go with opaque.

And this friend had her life change due to my decision. 

Something she had thought of before. Now with a happier variation to another person involved. And I stood aside because of the harm. 

Today the doorbell rang, my friend hugged me and said she wanted to have a beneficial peace.  And we stood and talked as we had for decades past.  And in our conversation, we discovered some vital information given to her by a third party as misdirection. Rooked. We were able to set the record straight for her future. Improving this by far. As in ... a house-sized benefit. While including another old friend who would find this greatly beneficial.

There are Times and Seasons!

Ecclesiastes 3 

For everything there is a season, 

and a time for every matter under heaven:

2 a time to be born, and a time to die;

a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;

3 a time to kill, and a time to heal;

a time to break down, and a time to build up;

4 a time to weep, and a time to laugh;

a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

5 a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;

a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

6 a time to seek, and a time to lose;

a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

7 a time to tear, and a time to sew;

a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

8 a time to love, and a time to hate;

a time for war, 

and 

a time for peace.

Oh, it's beginning to look

a lot like..

Yes

John 21

Thank you, Jesus, our Lord Christ

♔ Lord Jesus Saves †

Bless the Lord Jesus

Thank You, Jesus