Acts, continued

Hey everyone!
I hope you are all having a good week so far. I can't wait to update you on some of the progress in my patio garden! Hopefully I can get a blog post about that written up for later this week. :) For now, enjoy the next two chapters of Acts!

Soli Deo Gloria,
Meghan


Acts 3
I think it's neat that the name of the temple gate is "Beautiful" :) It's amazing to see the change in these disciples who, only weeks earlier, were hiding in a room fearing for their lives. Now they are speaking boldly in the temple. Peter and John don't let the healing they performed go unexplained but address at that very moment, while the man is still there, how this was accomplished and that Jesus was the Messiah. I can appreciate his directness and bluntness with the crowd in this matter, but we also begin to see their compassion for the people, when they tell the crowd that they "acted in ignorance" but that they can turn, be forgiven and refreshed. I love the idea of being in a time of refreshing. I feel in a way that these readings have been something like that, something to refresh my soul and my relationship with God.

Acts 4
The same people that condemned Jesus and schemed against him must now faces his followers and the fact that belief in Jesus as the Christ will not fade. However, they seem more tentative now in their treatment of the disciples than they did of Jesus, only detaining them for a night and letting them off with a stern warning. But Peter and John realize that they cannot remain quiet, so they pray that God would give them boldness to speak the truth and continue to work in and through them. How often do I come up to an obstacle only to breakdown and give up? In the ladies' Bible study, we studied the Prayer of Jabez and part of that is asking that God's hand would be on me. With God all things are possible and nothing should stop me from doing His will for my life. Following the early church's example, I should also be generous when God blesses me. If my cup is overflowing, it should be flowing into the lives of those around me, showing them God's love as well.