Acts

Joshua 5-6, Acts 8

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

The Movement of God.

Joshua 5-6, Acts 8

So the people shouted, and the trumpets were blown. As soon as the people heard the sound of the trumpet, the people shouted a great shout, and the wall fell down flat, so that the people went up into the city, every man straight before him, and they captured the city. ­– Joshua 6:20 ESV

The Bible gives us a glimpse into the history of God’s interactions with man. It reveals moments in which God intervenes and interjects Himself into the affairs of men, revealing His divine presence and displaying His incomparable power. When it was time for the people of Israel to begin their conquest of the land of Canaan, God showed up in the form of the Captain of the Host. Joshua found himself face to face with the Lord Himself, dressed for battle and with drawn sword in hand. Joshua, not immediately recognizing who this individual was, asked Him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” (Joshua 5:13 ESV). In other words, Joshua wanted to know if this warrior and His army were friends or foes. Did the Israelites have two enemies to contend with, or was this an unexpected ally? But the Lord’s answer was basically, “Neither.” He simply replied, “No, but I am the commander of the army of the Lord. Now I have come” (Joshua 5:14 ESV). And Joshua immediately bowed down and worshiped Him. We know that this was no ordinary man, because of what He instructed Joshua to do next. “Take off your sandals from your feet, for the place where you are standing is holy” (Joshua 5:15 ESV). These were the same words God spoke when He appeared to Moses in the burning bush years earlier. This was a sacred encounter with God. He had showed up and was letting Joshua know that His presence was going to have a dramatic impact on what was about to happen. The conquest of the land was not going to be done conventionally or by human means alone. It was to be a movement of God. It was going to have the fingerprints of God all over it, so that the people of Israel would know that their success was due to Him, not themselves. God’s instructions to Joshua regarding the siege and fall of Jericho had to have sounded farfetched and a bit ridiculous. But Joshua’s obedience brought victory. His willingness to do God’s work in God’s way resulted in God’s will being done.

What does this passage reveal about God?

It is so easy for us to question the will and the ways of God. We sometimes wonder and question why God does things the way He does. In reading the story of the spread of the church in the book of Acts, it is difficult to understand why Stephen had to die a martyr’s death. It is hard to comprehend why Saul had to persecute the church, dragging off men and women to prison. But the movement of God is not always recognizable to us. Luke records the events just as they happened. He makes it clear that “Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison” (Acts 8:3 ESV). But even this was a work of God. It was all part of the plan of God. Because at this point, the message of the good news of Jesus Christ has been confined to the city of Jerusalem. But Jesus had told His disciples, “you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). The gospel was to be preached around the world. So God moved in the midst of men, bringing about a persecution that would result in a dispersion of the people of God so that they might spread the message of Christ. “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4 ESV). God moved and so did the people. And Luke makes it clear that Philip went down to Samaria, exactly where Jesus had instructed His disciples to go. And because Philip was forced to leave the safe and familiar confines of Jerusalem, many of the Samaritans heard the good news of Jesus Christ and believed. God moved and the Spirit of God came upon all those who believed. He put His seal of approval on the lives of those who placed their faith in Jesus. Philip even got the opportunity to share the gospel with an Ethiopian – someone who represented “the end of the earth.” Philip would end up traveling through Judea and settling in Caesarea, a busy trading hub on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea. The good news was spreading. This was clearly a movement of God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Mankind has always needed a movement of God. If you take Him out of the story of human history, it would be a bleak and hopeless affair. God’s movements among men have always resulted in powerful and significant outcomes. He moved at creation and brought mankind into existence. He moved again and brought about the destruction of virtually all mankind because of the prevailing presence of sin. But He moved in the life of Noah and provided a means of salvation. He moved in the life of Abraham and brought about the creation of the people of Israel. He moved in the life of Moses and delivered His people from captivity in Egypt. He moved among the Israelites, providing them with provision and protection all the years they wandered in the wilderness. He moved at Jericho, and the walls fell. Mankind desperately needs to see God move. But God almost always moves through men. He used Noah. He used Abraham. He used Moses and Joshua. He used Stephen, Peter, and Philip. God used the people of Israel to march around the walls of Jericho, but it was God who caused the walls to fall. God used Philip to share the good news of Jesus Christ with the people living in Samaria, but it was God who caused His Holy Spirit to fall. The movement of God among men always uses men of God. Simon the magician failed to understand that fact. He wanted the power for himself. He thought he could purchase the ability to display power like God possessed. But the movement of God is reserved for God alone. It can’t be bought, replicated, or manufactured by human means.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

As a child of God I should long to see the movement of God in my life and in the world in which I live. The lost among whom I live don’t need to see my handiwork, they need to see God at work in and around my life. When the nations living in the land of Canaan got word about how God had miraculously dried up the waters of the Jordan River, allowing the people of Israel to cross over, the book of Joshua records, “their hearts melted and there was no longer any spirit in them because of the people of Israel” (Joshua 5:1 ESV). They knew that the people of Israel had a powerful God who moved on their behalf. He displayed His power in practical and unprecedented ways. He moved and the world took notice. When God moves, it is always difficult for the world to ignore, explain or understand. They may try to discount it or deny it, but a true movement of God among men is usually undeniable and unavoidable. When God moves, men notice. We should long for a movement of God among us. As the people of God, we should pray for and expect God to move on our behalf and in our midst. When God moves, things happen. In Jericho, walls fell. In Samaria, the Holy Spirit fell. God wants to move in our midst. He is still the Captain of the Host, ready to fight on our behalf and defeat the enemies we face.

Father, I want to see You move today. We desperately need a movement of God in our midst. Sometimes I don’t always understand how You work. I don’t always like how You choose to move, but I recognize that when You choose to move among men, it it always obvious and undeniable. That is what we long to see. You are here. Let us see You move.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Joshua 3-4, Acts 7

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

God-Exalted Leadership.

Joshua 3-4, Acts 7

Today I will begin to exalt you in the sight of all Israel, that they may know that, as I was with Moses, so I will be with you. ­– Joshua 3:7 ESV

Joshua was God’s hand-picked replacement for Moses. But it was essential that the people see him as Moses’ equal and not just some unqualified stand-in. Also, God knew that Joshua was going to need some reassurance that his role as leader had God’s “Good Housekeeping seal of approval.” So God let him know that He was going to “exalt” him in the sight of the people. He was going to elevate Joshua’s stock in the minds of the people by giving clear and convincing evidence that he was indeed God’s man for the job. It just so happened that the very time of the year that God had picked for the people to begin their conquest of the land of Canaan was the same time of year when the Jordan River overflowed its banks. This was not a coincidence or a circumstance that caught God off guard and unprepared. It was all part of His divine plan. Just when the people of Israel were going to have to cross over the Jordan, God made sure that the circumstances were as difficult and impossible as they could be. They had lost their esteemed leader, Moses. They were faced with the prospect of having to get over a flooded, rapidly flowing river. They were being led by an unproven, novice leader. In other words, the situation was just right for God to work. And He did. He instructed Joshua to have the priests carrying the Ark of the Covenant into the waters of the Jordan and, when their feet touched the water, the river ceased to flow and left them standing on dry ground. The people were able to cross over the river and into the land of Canaan, safe and sound. God had exalted His new leader. He had proven to the people that Joshua was His man for the moment. “On that day the Lord exalted Joshua in the sight of all Israel, and they stood in awe of him just as they had stood in awe of Moses, all that days of his life” (Joshua 4:14 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

God confirms those whom He chooses to act on His behalf. Moses was given the ability to perform signs and wonders, confirming his position as God’s spokesman and deliverer. David was given the ability to defeat Goliath, an adversary far greater in size and strength, and in doing so, revealed that God’s hand was on him. The prophets spoke on behalf of God and their right to do so was confirmed by God’s fulfillment of their prophecies. God exalts or lifts up those whom He chooses. He confirms those whom He calls. But it isn’t always the way we might expect. Not every called one ends up working miracles or performing great signs and wonders. In the story of the early church, found in the book of Acts, we see the rise of Stephen to leadership. He had been recognized as a man of “good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV). He was full of grace and power. God elevated him to a position of leadership within the church and gave him the ability to speak truth boldly and without compromise. He was clearly God’s man for the hour. Luke describes him as having a “face…like the face of an angel” (Acts 6:15 ESV). And yet God chose to exalt Stephen in a way that most of us would find shocking and surprising. This man, whose life was marked by grace and power and who was filled with the Holy Spirit, was stoned to death by the hands of those with whom he attempted to share the good news of Jesus Christ. He was exalted in death. Jesus had warned the disciples that this was going to happen. “Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9 ESV). Stephen became the consummate leader that day. He gave his life for the cause of Christ and was exalted by God in his death. Again, Jesus had taught His disciples, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39 ESV). “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35 ESV). The truth is that God sometimes exalts His chosen leaders through suffering and even death. This was the case with Jesus. Paul writes, “he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name” (Philippians 2:8-9 ESV). Jesus was God’s own Son, and yet He had been sent to suffer and die. He was the Chosen One, but His role was to be that of the suffering servant and sacrificial Lamb. His obedience “to the point of death” resulted in His exaltation.

What does this passage reveal about man?

We have a warped view of leadership. We have saddled the concept with misconceptions and misunderstandings, turning it into a self-centered and self-elevating notion surrounded with power, position, prominence and possessions. We see leadership as tied to authority and power. And in the world, all these things are true. But in God’s economy, leadership is always about service, humility and sacrifice. Some of God’s leaders, like David and Solomon, held positions of prominence and power. Others, like Stephen, found their tenure short-lived and marked by tragedy. Virtually all of the disciples would die in their service for the Kingdom. There is no doubt that they were chosen of God and served as leaders for the cause of Christ, but their leadership would be marked by suffering and death. There is something attractive to most of us about being a leader like Moses or Joshua. The idea of being God’s instrument for accomplishing great signs and wonders is appealing. We all want to be used by God. We would all love for others to see the hand of God on our lives through the miraculous things He accomplishes through us. But what if God’s exaltation of us involves our suffering and death? What if His calling on our lives is revealed through our suffering in this life? Prosperity, power and prominence are not necessarily the mark of God’s hand on a man’s life. Before David could become the king of Israel, he had to suffer for years, living as a fugitive in the wilderness with a bounty on his head. He lost his job, his wife, his mentor, his reputation – and yet he was God’s chosen one. He had been anointed by God, but had to suffer on behalf of God. Joseph was God’s hand-picked choice to provide a place for the descendants of Jacob to live in the land of Egypt during the time of famine. But Joseph had to suffer humiliation, slavery, false accusations, imprisonment and worse – all before he could experience the exaltation of God. His suffering was all part of God’s divine plan. Stephen’s death was all part of God’s plan. It actually confirmed his calling by God. We don’t understand it. We don’t necessarily like it. But even in his death, Stephen revealed the hand of God on his life, calling out  “Lord, do not hold this sin against them” (Acts 7:60 ESV). His life was a witness right up until he breathed his last breath.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

I must constantly learn to see my role as one of God’s chosen ones, not through the world’s false concept of leadership. I must see that sometimes suffering is God’s form of exaltation. He may call me to suffer on His behalf. He may choose me to walk a difficult path. My life may at time be marked by suffering and shame, but that does not mean I lack His hand on my life. It may be confirmation that He has chosen me for something great. He may be exalting me by making less of me. Paul reminds me, “For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him” (Philippians 1:20 NLT). That prospect is not attractive to most of us. We would prefer to be Joshua; standing before the people, giving instructions, wielding power and authority, and acting as God’s spokesman. But it may be that our leadership will be marked by suffering, insignificance, pain and even death. I want to be able to say as the apostle Paul did, “For I fully expect and hope that I will never be ashamed, but that I will continue to be bold for Christ, as I have been in the past. And I trust that my life will bring honor to Christ, whether I live or die” (Philippians 1:20 NLT). Whatever God calls me to, I want to honor His Son with my life – whether that means living it or losing it for Him.

Father, exalt my life however You see fit. Help me to see that suffering for You is just as much a form of leadership as accomplishing great things for You. Help me to see that as long as I am living my life in submission to Your will and dependent upon Your strength, I will be living a life worthy of my calling. Then I can leave the results up to You.  Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

Joshua 1-2, Acts 6

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Godly Leadership.

Joshua 1-2, Acts 6

Therefore, brothers, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom, whom we will appoint to this duty. ­– Acts 6:3 ESV

Moses was gone, but the people of God still needed someone to lead them. So God chose Joshua the son of Nun. He had spent most of his adult life as the personal assistant to Moses, so he was not a novice when it came to leadership. But he was going to be thrust into the spotlight and given the responsibility of leading the people of God as they began their conquest of the land. It was not going to be easy. Joshua knew the people of Israel well and had watched them repeatedly give Moses a run for his money, bucking his leadership and disobeying the revealed will of God for their lives. But Joshua was God’s man for the task. And three different times during His commissioning of His new leader, God told Joshua, “Only be strong and very courageous” (Joshua 1:7 ESV). In the face of what had to look like formidable odds and saddled with leading a people who had proven themselves unwilling to follow, Joshua was told by God to be strong and courageous. But how? Because God was going to be with Him every step of the way. “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV). Joshua’s main responsibility to recognize his need for God, to never doubt the presence of God, and to faithfully obey the will of God.

What does this passage reveal about God?

The book of Joshua is really not about a man, but it is about the God who chose and led the man after whom the book is named. Joshua was an instrument in the hand of God to accomplish His will regarding the people of Israel. It was essential that Joshua be a man of God, in touch with the will of God and faithful to the Word of God. He had to know what it was that God wanted done and faithfully execute God’s will, in spite of any opposition he might face – within or without. Even in the New Testament, as the church began to grow, it was as a result of God’s Spirit working through the lives of ordinary men and women. Filled with the Holy Spirit, they boldly proclaimed the good news of Jesus Christ and spread the word regarding the free gift of salvation made available through His death and resurrection. The gospel was being preached and literally thousands of people were coming to faith in Christ. This influx of individuals into the church was creating a tremendous need for teaching and discipleship. New converts required careful instruction in the teachings of Jesus. There were all kinds of people coming to faith in Christ from all kinds of economic, social and ethnic backgrounds. This created a whole host of other problems for the leaders of the church as they had to deal with various disputes and differences among the quickly growing congregation. So God lead the apostles to look for additional men to help handle the load of leadership. But they were not to settle for any kind of man. They knew that they needed “men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3 ESV). They would need to be men of God if they were going to work on behalf of God. Their qualifications were spiritual in nature, not secular. They were to be Spirit-filled, wise, and men of integrity, whose reputations within the community were impeccable. One of those chosen was Stephen, who Luke described as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 6:5 ESV). He was known for his faith and recognized for being filled with the Spirit of God. Those are the kinds of men God chooses to use. Luke goes on to say, “Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people” (Acts 8 ESV). He had been chosen to help handle an apparent oversight in the care of some of the widows within the church. He had been appointed to help serve, so that the apostles could spend their time preaching and teaching. But because he was a man of God, he didn’t limit his actions to his assigned duty. He was ready, willing and able to do whatever God had for him to do.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God’s choice of Joshua was based more on his useability than his abilities. Joshua wasn’t chosen because he brought innate leadership abilities to the table that would be an asset to God’s cause. He was a man who had a heart for God and had proven himself obedient to God. God has the uncanny ability to be able to look into the heart and see characteristics an qualities to which the rest of us are blind. When the prophet Samuel was looking for someone to replace Saul as the king of Israel, he found himself swayed by the external characteristics of the men he was considering. He was looking for a man who looked like a king. But God warned him, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7 ESV). To be an effective leader for God a man must first have a heart for God. As human beings we are far too easily impressed with the outside. Resumes and accomplishments can too easily replace the need for faith, integrity, and character. We can find ourselves choosing self-made men rather than Spirit-filled ones. Stephen was a man filled with the Spirit of God who exhibited the wisdom of God when he spoke. For a man to be used by God, he must be dependent upon and controlled by God. He must be a willing instrument in the hands of God, pliable, teachable, and useable.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

Am I a man “of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom?” Would I be characterized as “a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit?” Would people say of me, he is “full of grace and power?” The inner qualities of my life should be reflected in my outer countenance and directly impact my reputation among men. I should be known for who I am because of Who I serve. Too often, we are known by our talents, abilities, and accomplishments, many of which are purely of human origin. But Joshua was chosen by God, not because he was going to be useful to God, but because He was willing to be used by God. Stephen was chosen by God, not because he was a natural-born leader, but because he was a Spirit-filled servant who had a reputation for wisdom, grace, and godliness. That is the kind of man I want to be. That is the kind of leader I want to be. But it all begins with my willingness to be used by God, not seeing myself as somehow useful to Him. He doesn’t need me. He can do His will without me. But God wants to use me. He wants to accomplish His will through me. But like Joshua, I must remember to “be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9 ESV). My usefulness to God is solely based on the presence and power of God in my life. Godly leaders are Spirit-filled, God-dependent leaders – full of the wisdom, grace, and power of God.

Father, I want to be the kind of man You use. Not because I bring anything of value to the table, but because I recognize that I am useless without You. I want to be dependent upon You and fully useable by You. May my life continually reflect Your presence and be marked by Your power. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Deuteronomy 33-34, Acts 5

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Man of God.

Deuteronomy 33-34, Acts 5

We must obey God rather than men. ­– Deuteronomy 34:29 ESV

Moses was a man, a flawed and sometimes fault-filled man. But he was God’s man. Throughout his tenure as God’s appointed leader of the people of Israel, Moses tried to live in obedience to God. He attempted to faithfully carry out God’s will, in spite of his own feelings of inadequacies and the people’s stubborn refusal to obey. It isn’t easy to find examples of this man’s faults and failings. There were times when he got frustrated and even angry with God. He often became exasperated with the very people he had been called to lead, and at times wished he could walk away from the job. But there are just as many examples of his faithful leadership and his loving intercession to God on behalf of a stiff necked people. We know that Moses was not perfect because God refused to allow him to enter into the land of promise. Instead, he died in the land of Moab, and was buried by God Himself. He was 120 years old when he died, and “his eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated” (Deuteronomy 34:7 ESV). Moses was an incredible man, but a man nonetheless. He is an example of what it means to follow the Lord and to know God face to face. He had an intimate, personal relationship with the living God of the universe. He was used by God because he remained useable to God. He was willing to do whatever God called him to do. Yes, sometimes he exhibited reluctance and even reticence. But eventually he always overcame his fears and apprehensions, doing whatever God had called Him to do.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God works through men. He chooses to reveal His extraordinary power through the means of ordinary men and women. Moses was not chosen by God because he had any special qualities or characteristics that set him apart. God used him in spite of his faults. Moses was actually a murderer with a bounty on his head, but God chose to use him to set the people of Israel free from captivity in Egypt and to lead them to the land of promise in Canaan. In the New Testament, we see God using a group of men to spread the message of Christ’s death and resurrection to the world. These were ordinary men who brought nothing to the table except their belief in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. After the resurrection of Jesus, God would fill these men with His Holy Spirit and empower them to do signs and wonders in the midst of the people of Israel, just as Moses had done. Like Moses, they would become spokesmen for God, speaking on His behalf and exhibiting His power and presence through their own lives and ministries.

God is not obligated to use men. He could just as easily accomplish His mission without the help of men or women, but He has chosen to use us. Just as in the days of Moses, God wants to exhibit His power and presence through the lives of ordinary men and women in order to show the world what a right relationship between He and His human creation should look like. When we live in obedience to His will and empowered by His Spirit, we become living, breathing witnesses to the world of the reality and life-changing power of God. The world gets to see God in us. His presence becomes tangible and highly practical.

What does this passage reveal about man?

When the apostles faithfully ministered as Jesus had commanded them to do, they quickly found themselves in trouble with the Jewish religious authorities. In fact, it wasn’t long before they were arrested and thrown in jail. They had been teaching, preaching, healing and proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ. Thousands of people were hearing and accepting the message regarding salvation through Christ alone. “And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women” (Acts 5:14 ESV). These ordinary men were making an extraordinary impact on the world. And even when they found themselves locked in a jail cell, God would use their circumstance to reveal His power. He sent an angel to release them and commanded them to “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life” (Acts 5:20 ESV). And they obeyed. The high priest had them re-arrested and brought before him. He confronted them saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us” (Acts 5:28 ESV).

Confronted by this powerful religious leader who had played a role in the death of Jesus, Peter and the apostles didn’t bat an eye. Rather than back down and give in to his threats, they remained faithful to their calling. “We must obey God rather than men,” Peter responded. They would not give in or give up. Even when they were beaten and warned again not to speak in the name of Jesus, Luke records that they left “rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41 ESV). These ordinary men, filled with the Spirit of God, would go on to do extraordinary things for God. “And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (Acts 5:42 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

There is no limit to what God can accomplish through the man or woman who is willing to be used by Him. Our usefulness to God has nothing to do with our own abilities, talents, or strengths. God is not obligated to use us or somehow dependent upon our abilities to accomplish His will. Like the apostle Paul, we often find ourselves weak and ill-equipped to do what God has called us to do, but we quickly learn as he did, that God’s grace is sufficient. “‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10 ESV). I don’t have to be strong. I don’t have to be smart. I don’t have to have my act together or bring a special array of talents to the table. I simply must be willing and ready to be used by God. It is the recognition of my own insufficiency and weakness that makes me useable by God. When I realize just how much I need Him, I am much more likely to be used by Him. What the world needs to see are more men and women of God who are empowered by God and being used by Him to accomplish His will in His power through their lives.

Father, I want to be a man of God, who knows You face to face and relies on Your power and presence in my life to accomplish the unimaginable and inexplicable, so that they world my truly know You exist. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Deuteronomy 31-32, Acts 4

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Strength and Courage.

Deuteronomy 31-32, Acts 4

Be strong and courageous, for you shall bring the people of Israel into the land that I swore to give to them. I will be with you. ­– Deuteronomy 31:23 ESV

Imagine what it would have been like to be Joshua. This poor man was being handed the mantle of Moses, the great liberator and leader of Israel. He was going to take over for one of the greatest men who had ever lived and was expected to lead the people of Israel in their conquest of the Promised Land. Not only that, he had been made well aware of the fact that the people were going to end up breaking their covenant with God. Joshua would prove to be successful in his efforts to get them into the land, but they would quickly turn their backs on God. “For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant” (Deuteronomy 31:20 ESV). God was fully aware of all that was going to happen once the people occupied the land. He would fulfill His part in the covenant, but they would prove to be unfaithful. “For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give them” (Deuteronomy 31:21 ESV). And yet, God tells Joshua to be strong and courageous. Not exactly encouraging words when you consider the circumstances and the less-than-ideal prospects facing Joshua. This was a man who was being called to lead a people who were described by God as crooked, perverse, twisted, corrupt, blemished, foolish, senseless and faithless. They were destined to disobey and, ultimately, to suffer destruction at the hands of God.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God was fully aware of all that was going to happen in the centuries to come. He had given Moses the law and instructed him to put it in writing. Moses was to give it to the priests and instruct them to read it out loud to the people when they assembled together every seventh year. They were to constantly remind the people of what the law said and were to teach it to the next generation. Moses told the Israelites that the written law had a purpose. “That it may be a witness against you. For I know how rebellious and stubborn you are” (Deuteronomy 31:26 ESV). Moses knew that the people were going to “act corruptly and turn aside.” God had even given Moses a song to teach to the people that would be a constant reminder of God’s faithfulness and their own unfaithfulness. They had the oral and the written law. They had a song composed by God Himself. They had no excuse. God had clearly revealed to them His will and yet they would end up rejecting it.

What does this passage reveal about man?

Joshua had a job to do. He had been commissioned by God to lead the people into the land of promise. And yet he was well aware of the fact that the people he was leading were stubborn, stiff necked and rebellious. They would prove to be disobedient and all the victories and conquests would one day end up in their defeat and deportation in foreign lands. Like the prophets of God who would come after him, Joshua had been called by to do the will of God, regardless of the circumstances or eventual outcome. It was all part of God’s plan. Even thought Joshua knew that the people would end up losing the very land they were about to conquer, he still needed to do his job. He needed to be faithful to God’s calling. His job was the conquest. He was going to have to leave the rest up to God.

Long before His trials and crucifixion, Jesus had told His disciples, “Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour” (Matthew 10:16-19 ESV). And those very words had to have been ringing in the ears of the Peter and John as they stood before Annas the high priest and the Jewish council. They had no idea what was going to happen to them. They had been arrested by the religious leaders for “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2 ESV). They had been obedient to do just as Jesus had commanded them to do. “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19-20 ESV). And now they were standing before the religious council and being warned “to speak no more to anyone in this name” (Acts 4:17 ESV). And yet, in spite of the threats of the religious leaders and the warning by Jesus Himself that they could end up flogged for their efforts, they refused to back down. “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:19-20 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

When Peter and John were released, they made a beeline back to the other disciples and immediately appealed to God. Their prayer should be an encouragement to each and every one of us who call ourselves followers of Christ. We live in the midst of difficult days. We face tremendous opposition to our faith. Jesus warned the disciples, “you will be hated by all for my name’s sake” (Matthew 10:22 ESV). The same thing holds true for His disciples today. The world and the enemy hate us. Our standing in Christ marks us and sets us against the prince of this world. So like the disciples, we must face the reality of our circumstances and turn to God for help. Their prayer is insightful and instructive. “And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30 ESV). They appealed to God for boldness to speak His Word. They asked Him to reveal Himself through miraculous signs and irrefutable evidence of His power in their midst. Nothing builds our courage like a first-hand view of God’s power in our lives. Like Joshua, they were going to need strength and courage. Paul told the Christians in Ephesus, “Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might” (Ephesians 6:10 ESV). Joshua had a job to do. So did Peter and John. In the midst of a generation marked by unfaithfulness and unbelief, they were called to be faithful, bold and strong. So are we. Paul would encourage us to “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong” (1 Corinthians 16:13 ESV).

Father, may I have the strength and boldness to do what You have called me to do. Teach me to find my strength in You. Constantly remind me to remain faithful to the task You have given me. Like Joshua, Peter and John, I have a job to do. Give me strength and courage to do it well. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Deuteronomy 29-30, Acts 3

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Times of Refreshing.

Deuteronomy 29-30, Acts 3

But to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to understand or eyes to see of ears to hear. ­– Deuteronomy 29:4 ESV

God had made His divine will known and knowable. He had made His rules, regulations and requirements easy to discern and non-debatable. It was all very black and white. “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil” (Deuteronomy 30:15 ESV). The people of Israel had no excuse when it came to knowing what God expected of them. Moses told them, “This command I am giving you today is not too difficult for you to understand, and it is not beyond your reach” (Deuteronomy 30:11 NLT). The difficulty lie not in knowing God’s commands, but in keeping them. The key to life was obvious: “Loving the Lord your God, obeying his voice and holding fast to him” (Deuteronomy 30:20 ESV). But the resolve of the Israelites would prove insufficient for the task. Left to their own devices and dependent upon their own strength, they would eventually fail to live up to God’s standards – not because they did not know them, but because they lacked the capacity to keep them. The giving of the law produced a stark contrast between the holiness of God and the sinfulness of man. Paul clarifies the role of the law in the lives of men: “For apart from the law, sin lies dead. I was once alive apart from the law, but when the commandment came, sin came alive and I died. The very commandment that promised life proved to be death to me. For sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me” (Romans 7:8-11 ESV). Without the giving of the law, the people of Israel would have been oblivious to God’s holy and righteous expectations. They would have been ignorant of His divine standards. But Moses had made sure that the Israelites were up to speed with and fully aware of all that God expected of them. And His divine requirements would eventually expose their human deficiencies. They lacked the ability to remain faithful. Their hearts and minds would wander from God. They would knowingly disobey Him and prove unfaithful to Him. They were missing one thing – the key ingredient to living in faithfulness to God. “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about God?

The book of Deuteronomy is all about the faithfulness of God, not the failure of man. The history of the people of Israel, as revealed in the book of Joshua and all through the chronicles of the kings, tells of a people who lacked the ability to remain faithful to their God. Their faithfulness is displayed in vivid detail on virtually every page. They are repeatedly referred to as a people with rebellious hearts. God calls them stiff-necked and stubborn. And all the dire warnings God had given them regarding what would happen if they proved disobedient would come true. They would end up driven from the land of promise. God would bring a foreign power to lay siege to their cities and bring destruction to the land. They would end up in captivity worshiping other gods and living in isolation from the one true God. And yet, despite their disobedience, God would once again prove His faithfulness. “Then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have mercy on you, and he will gather you again from all the peoples where the Lord your God has scattered you.If your outcasts are in the uttermost parts of heaven, from there the Lord your God will gather you, and from there he will take you. And the Lord your God will bring you into the land that your fathers possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous and numerous than your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deuteronomy 30:6-11 ESV). The prophet Ezekiel spoke of a day when God would provide for His people the missing ingredient necessary for them to live in obedience and faithfulness to Him. “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezekiel 36:26-27 ESV).

What does this passage reveal about man?

Knowing the expectations of God is not enough. Having a firm grasp on the holy requirements of God will never result in a life of holiness. A spiritual life requires the Holy Spirit. Human flesh is incapable of living spiritually, without the power of the Holy Spirit. Paul tells us, “For the desires of the flesh are against the Spirit, and the desires of the Spirit are against the flesh, for these are opposed to each other” (Galatians 5:17 ESV). In fact, “the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, lustful pleasures, idolatry, sorcery, hostility, quarreling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish ambition, dissension, division, envy, drunkenness, wild parties, and other sins like these” (Galatians 5:19-21 NLT). These very “works” were evidenced repeatedly in the lives of the Israelites long after they conquered the land of Canaan and settled in it. Their human nature produced fruit that was not in keeping with God’s will. These people had been hand-picked by God, given the law of God, and had experienced the presence and power of God. Yet, they proved unable to live in faithfulness to God. And such is the plight of all mankind.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

The Israelites were a living, breathing example of man’s inability to live up to God’s righteous standards, even though they knew it well. Their own sinful natures were the greatest hindrance to their efforts at living holy lives. Holiness would prove unattainable without the indwelling power of God’s Holy Spirit. But when Jesus appeared on the scene thousands of years later, He would come to live a perfectly holy life, in complete obedience to the will of God and made by possible by the Spirit of God. His humanity would be assisted by the Holy Spirit, providing us with an example of godliness made possible by the life of the Son of God, the power of the Spirit of God, and all in keeping with the divine will of God. In his address to the Jews standing in Solomon’s Portico, within the Temple complex, Peter called them to repentance. He told them, “turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come again from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus” (Acts 3:19-20 ESV). Peter was telling them that Jesus was the key to them receiving the one thing they needed to experience a time of refreshing. Jesus was the source for accessing the power they had been lacking all along. The Son of God was the means by which they could receive the Spirit of God and be equipped to live in obedience to God for the first time in their lives. Paul writes of this cooperative effort on the part of the Trinity in his letter to the believers in Rome: “There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death. For God has done what the law, weakened by the flesh, could not do. By sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and for sin,  he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not according to the flesh but according to the Spirit” (Romans 8:1-4 ESV). Christ fulfilled the requirements of the Law. He not only lived in complete obedience to the law of God, He paid the penalty required by the law for the sins of mankind. His perfectly sinless life made Him the perfect, sinless sacrifice. And as a result, both Jews and Gentiles can experience the forgiveness of God because of the sacrifice of the Son of God, and experience the life-changing power of the Spirit of God.

Father, You have brought time of refreshing to my life and for that I am grateful. You placed Your Holy Spirit within me, giving me the ability to not only understand Your will for my life, but to live in keeping with it. You have provided me with the power to live righteously that I lacked on my own. You provided righteousness through Your Son that I could have never produced on my own. I have received the missing ingredient required to living a holy life: The Holy Spirit. All because of Your gracious and merciful love. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Deuteronomy 27-28, Acts 2

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Blessed and a Blessing.

Deuteronomy 27-28, Acts 2

And all the people of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you. ­– Deuteronomy 28:10 ESV

God was serious when He called His people to live in obedience to His commands. They were not suggestions. They were not up for debate or open to interpretation. And God made it abundantly clear that obedience to His law came with unbelievable blessings, while disobedience would result in devastating consequences. If the Israelites obeyed God, they would enjoy a place of honor and exaltation as His people. They would experience God’s favor in the form of fruitfulness, abundance, victory in battle, and recognition among the nations as being the people of God. But disobedience would be extremely costly. The warnings found in chapters 27 and 28 were meant to be deterrents toward disobedience. Their free-will choice to disobey God would not go unnoticed or unpunished. And it’s interesting to note that many of the curses that are outlined in these two chapters are violations of the commands of God. “And you shall be only oppressed and robbed continually, and there shall be no one to help you. You shall betroth a wife, but another man shall ravish her. You shall build a house, but you shall not dwell in it. You shall plant a vineyard, but you shall not enjoy its fruit” (Deuteronomy 28:29-30 ESV). By disobeying the laws of God, they would experience first-hand what violation of those laws felt like. God had told them, “You shall not steal” (Exodus 25:15 ESV). Yet if they failed to obey that law, they would find out what it was like to be on the receiving end. They would discover the devastating consequences of life lived in opposition to God’s divine will.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God’s intention had been to make Israel a showcase of His grace and mercy. They were to be a witness to the nations of His abundant power and amazing love. He had told them, “And all the peoples of the earth shall see that you are called by the name of the Lord, and they shall be afraid of you” (Deuteronomy 28:10 ESV). But their disobedience would have a completely different outcome. “And you shall become a horror, a proverb, and a byword among all the peoples where the Lord will lead you away” (Deuteronomy 28:37 ESV). They would go from being a blessing to becoming a curse. They would move from being blessed by God to being under His curse. But God’s desire all along was that they might be a blessing. He wanted to pour out His grace, mercy, and love on them. He desired them to be a shining example of what it looked like for men to live in obedience to and in favor with God.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God’s favor required man’s obedience. The blessings of God were conditional and demanded adherence to His commands. Throughout these two chapters in Deuteronomy we see “if…then” statements that clearly indicate that enjoyment of God’s blessings required obedience to His laws. But in spite of Moses’ dire warnings, the Israelites would find it virtually impossible live up to God’s exacting standards. They just didn’t have it in them. Their hearts would prove to be unfaithful. Their strength would prove to be too weak. Their good intentions would not be enough to overcome their bad choices. And God knew exactly what was going to happen. He was not surprised by their inability to live up to His holy standards. He gave His law to them in order to illustrate just how holy He was and just how difficult it would be for ordinary men to meet His extraordinary requirements. The apostle Paul understood the role of the law well. “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing an opportunity through the commandment, produced in me all kinds of covetousness” (Romans 7:7-8 ESV). When God gave the law to the people of Israel, they found themselves facing an impossible task. They had been given God’s righteous standards and yet were ill-equipped to meet those standards. They were sinful men and women attempting to live up to the righteous requirements of a holy God. And they would fail. Every one of the curses outlined in these two chapters would take place. They would end up in exile, living in a foreign land, serving as slaves to a pagan king and worshiping false gods. Their fortunes would be reversed. They would go from many to few, from blessed to cursed, from free to slave, from honored to reviled, and from worshiping the one true God to serving “other gods of wood and stone” (Deuteronomy 28:64 ESV).

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

But God had a plan. He was not done. His relationship with the people of Israel would not end with their failure to keep His commands. The history of the Jewish people is a picture of God’s faithfulness, love, mercy and grace. He had made a covenant with them and He was going to keep that covenant in spite of them. While they proved to be faithless, He would be faithful. He would do what He said He would do. Yes, He would fulfill every one of the curses. They would end up in exile. They would experience every single one of the consequences outlined in these chapters. But they would also experience God’s amazing grace when He restored them to the land and returned them to their rightful place as His chosen people. And God would fulfill every one of His promises made to Abraham. He would make the descendants of Abraham a blessing to the nations. It would be through the nation of Israel that Jesus would come. He would be born a Jew, required to keep the laws of God and meet the exacting standards that God had given to Moses. Jesus would be the one man who would do exactly what God had commanded to be done. He would live in obedience to the laws of God, resulting in a perfectly sinless life, and making Him a perfectly blameless sacrifice for the sins of mankind. But Jesus was not just destined to die. He would rise again, and He would return to His Father’s side in heaven, sending His Holy Spirit in His place. And we see the arrival of the Spirit in the second chapter of Acts, when He came upon the disciples and empowered them to speak in foreign languages they didn’t know. These “Galileans” were transformed by the Spirit of God and became powerful witnesses for God. These common Jews would end up being a blessing to the nations, including “Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians” (Acts 2:9-11 ESV). The disciples would be blessed and a blessing. They would receive the power necessary to live in obedience to God’s laws and reveal to the nations “the mighty works of God” (Acts 2:11 ESV). And that is exactly what God wants to do in my life. He has blessed me through His Son and He wants me to be a blessing to the nations. He wants my life to be a living testimony of His grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. He wants my life to exhibit His power and testify to the fact that a holy life is impossible without the help of the Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit is only available to those who have placed their faith in the only man who was able to live a holy life: Jesus Christ. “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 1For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10 ESV).

Father, You have blessed me with the gift of Your Son. You have saved me. You have given me new life and the promise of eternal life. But You have also called me to be a blessing to all of those around me. May my life be a constant reminder and an illustration to those around me of Your grace, mercy and love. Never let me forget that I was as hopeless as the Israelites when it came to living the life You have required of all men. I was incapable of meeting your exacting standards. But You sent Your Son to do what I could never have done. He lived the life I couldn’t have lived and He met the standard You required, making Himself the perfect sacrifice and payment for the sins of mankind. And His death made it possible for you to extend Your blessings upon all those who would accept His gift of new life through His death. Thank You! Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org

 

Deuteronomy 25-26, Acts 1

/ kdmiller55 / Leave a comment

Chosen by God.

Deuteronomy 25-26, Acts 1

You have declared today that the Lord is your God, and that you will walk in his ways, and keep his statutes and his commandments and his rules, and will obey his voice. And the Lord has declared today that you are a people for his treasured possession, as he has promised you, and that you are to keep all his commandments, and that he will set you in praise and in fame and in honor high above all nations that he has made, and that you shall be a people holy to the Lord your God, as he promised. ­– Deuteronomy 26:17-19 ESV

The Jews were God’s chosen people. They were the descendants of Abraham, the very offspring God had promised to give him after having called him out of Ur. Now they stood on the edge of the very land God had promised to give Abraham as his inheritance. God’s original promise to Abraham had contained three parts: A land, a seed, and a blessing. The land was almost theirs. All they had to do was go in and conquer it according to God’s plan. Obviously, God had given Abraham many descendants or seed, because by this time the Jews were large in number. But as Paul reminds us in the book of Galatians, God’s promise regarding the seed was not just referring to the fact that Abraham would have many descendants. He would have a very specific descendant, through whom God would bless all the people of the earth. “Now the promises were spoken to Abraham and to his seed. He does not say, ‘And to seeds,’ as referring to many, but rather to one, ‘And to your seed,’ that is, Christ” (Galatians 3:16 NASB). God had something far greater in store for the people of Israel than simply their occupation of a particular plot of land somewhere in the Middle East. He had a more important reason for choosing them than just the pouring out of His divine grace, favor and mercy on them alone. God had set them apart in order that through them He might bring about the birth of His Son. The people of Israel were integral to God’s plan for redeeming mankind. To them alone He had revealed His divine will and given His holy commandments. They experienced His divine presence. They enjoyed the benefits of His immense power and immeasurable grace. They were a people holy to the Lord, a conduit through which He would bring His Son into the world in order that He might bless the world.

What does this passage reveal about God?

God never does anything without a reason. His actions are always purposeful and meaningful. And while we might not always understand His ways, they are always righteous and just. God Himself tells us, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts” (Isaiah 44:8-9 ESV). God had His reasons for choosing Abraham. He had a plan in mind when He made the people of Israel His prized possession. He had a purpose behind the giving of His commandments to a people who could never keep them. There was a reasonable explanation to His making of a covenant with a nation who could never uphold their end of the agreement. A cursory study of the history of the people of Israel, as revealed in the Old Testament, would seem to reveal that they were a failed experiment that didn’t quite turn out as planned. But the New Testament reveals that God’s their seeming failure was actually preparation for the second part of His divine plan. While they would fail to be the blessing to the nations He had commanded them to be, He would still bless the nations through them. He would send His own Son as a descendant of Abraham. Jesus would be born a Jew, in fulfillment of God’s promise to give the people of Israel a permanent King from the house and lineage of King David. Jesus appeared on the scene during a time in which the nation of Israel was struggling under the heavy hand of Rome. They were once again subject to the humiliating domination of a foreign power. They lacked a king, an army, and a national identity. They were weak, powerless, and hopeless, left to wonder where their long-awaited Messiah might be and when God was going to restore them to His divine favor. But when Jesus came, He declared a kingdom of a different sort than they were expecting. He came to offer a release from captivity to something other than Roman rule. His was a spiritual kingdom offering freedom from the bondage of sin and the inevitable condemnation of death that a sinful life deserved. Jesus did not show up on earth to rule and reign, but to suffer and die. It was all a part of God’s plan.

What does this passage reveal about man?

God’s plan for mankind is sometimes hard for us to comprehend. Even the disciples were confused when Jesus’ life ended with His tragic and unexpected death by crucifixion. That was not what they had expected. It caught them off guard and left them demoralized and defeated. They went into mourning and hiding. As far as they were concerned, with the death of Jesus, their dreams were shattered. Their Messiah was dead, and so was any hope of Him setting up His kingdom on earth. But little did they know that this was all part of God’s plan. Jesus had come to suffer and die, not conquer and rule. He came to provide release from captivity to sin, not from subjugation to Rome. Jesus died, but He rose again, and He revealed Himself to those very same disciples who had given up hope and hidden themselves behind locked doors. Luke tells us, “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” (Acts 1:3 ESV). Then “he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father” (Acts 1:4 ESV). There was more to God’s plan. The Holy Spirit had to come, just as Jesus had predicted. God was going to transform a ragtag group of cowering, hopeless disciples into a powerful force that would literally rock the world. These simple Jewish men and women would end up being the catalyst for a major religious upheaval that would leave the world changed forever. None of them knew what was going to happen, even though Jesus had told them in advance. They were oblivious was to what God was going to do to them and through them in the days ahead. But God had chosen them for a reason. The disciples had thought their role as followers of Jesus was to be His assistants and co-rulers when He set up His kingdom on earth. Little did they know that they were going to be His witnesses “in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8 ESV). God had great things in store for them.

How would I apply what I’ve read to my own life?

God has a plan that is far greater than anything I could have ever imagined. His choosing of me has far greater ramifications than just my own personal salvation and escape from the consequences of my own sin. God didn’t choose me just to save me. He wants to use me. Just like the disciples, I am to be a witness for Him on this earth. I am to be His ambassador, spreading the good news of His Kingdom wherever I go. I have been chosen so that I might witness to His grace, mercy, love and forgiveness. I have received the “promise of the Father” in the form of the Holy Spirit, so that I might have the power necessary to accomplish all that God has for me to do on this earth during my lifetime. It isn’t about me. It is about God’s Kingdom and the fulfillment of His plan for all of mankind. The disciples had thought it was all over. But little did they know that it was all just beginning. Their greatest days were ahead of them, not behind them. God was going to use them in incredible ways to spread the good news of Jesus Christ and salvation to the ends of the earth. And we are still part of that ongoing process. I must be about the work of the Kingdom. I must see my role here as an extension of what was begun by the first disciples of Christ all those years ago. God’s plan is not yet finished. His redemption of mankind is not yet complete. His Son has not yet returned. So until He does, we have work to do. It was for this task that we were chosen.

Father, keep me focused on Your plan, not my own. Use me to accomplish Your will, rather than my own. I want to live with Kingdom purpose and a future focus. Your plan is still being unfolded, day by day. I want to be part of that plan. Never let me forget that You chose me for a purpose – not just to take me to heaven some day – but to make a difference on this earth as one of Your chosen ones. Amen

Ken Miller
Grow Pastor & Minister to Men
kenm@christchapelbc.org