Devo May 28 Acts 10

⁹About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. ¹⁰He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. ¹¹He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. ¹²It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. ¹³Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.”  ¹⁴“Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.”  ¹⁵The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”  ¹⁶This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven.  ¹⁷While Peter was wondering about the meaning of the vision, the men sent by Cornelius found out where Simon’s house was and stopped at the gate. ¹⁸They called out, asking if Simon who was known as Peter was staying there.  ¹⁹While Peter was still thinking about the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Simon, three men are looking for you.

²⁷Talking with him, Peter went inside and found a large gathering of people. ²⁸He said to them: “You are well aware that it is against our law for a Jew to associate with a Gentile or visit him. But God has shown me that I should not call any man impure or unclean. ²⁹ So when I was sent for, I came without objection. I ask then why you sent for me.”

Meditation

1. The Jews did not want to interact with the Gentiles, they don’t go into their homes, or touch their things, or eat at their table, etc.  This is mainly because the Gentiles eat what was forbidden by Jewish laws, they are ceremonially unclean, and interacting with the Gentiles would make the Jewish people unclean.
2. However, while Cornelius’ messengers were on their way to Peter, God used the vision to change Peter’s view toward the Gentiles.
3. Is there anything (of culture, background, custom, habits, education, interests) that have limited or prohibited you of true fellowship or reaching out to others?
4. Reflect on you prayer experiences.  In what areas have you experienced God’s guidance in prayer?
5. What are some of the social and cultural barriers that you need to break through as you seek to reach out to your friends for the gospel?

Devo Acts 6:1-7 May 22

¹In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Grecian Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.²So the Twelve gathered all the disciples together and said, “It would not be right for us to neglect the ministry of the word of God in order to wait on tables. ³Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this responsibility over to them ⁴and will give our attention to prayer and the ministry of the word.”  ⁵This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. ⁶They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them.  ⁷So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith.

Meditation

1. The life of Early Church was full of miracles, sharing, and fellowship.  How wonderful it would have been to be a member of this “Perfect” church.  In fact, the Early Church also had problems just like today.  There is no perfect church until the coming of Christ in union with believers.
2. If you have been frustrated with your church, are you willing to spend the same amount of energy to pray for your church and pastors?
3. Spend a few minutes to pray for your church, pastors, ministries and other believers.

Devo Acts 5 May 21

¹Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. ²With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.  ³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? ⁴Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied to men but to God.”  ⁵When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. ⁶Then the young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him.  ⁷About three hours later his wife came in, not knowing what had happened. ⁸Peter asked her, “Tell me, is this the price you and Ananias got for the land?” “Yes,” she said, “that is the price.”  ⁹Peter said to her, “How could you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? Look! The feet of the men who buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out also.”  ¹⁰At that moment she fell down at his feet and died. Then the young men came in and, finding her dead, carried her out and buried her beside her husband. ¹¹Great fear seized the whole church and all who heard about these events.

Notes:

The sin that Ananias and Sapphira committed wasn’t that they’ve kept some money for themselves.  After all, the sale of the property and the amount to donate were their decisions.  They sinned in deceiving God and His people.  They were severely punished for deception for greed will corrupt the church and the work of the Holy Spirit.  It seems Ananias and Sapphira were bound by their desire for approval or acclaim.  They couldn’t give freely and honestly as led by the Holy Spirit, but rather needed to use their giving to increase their reputation.  God could not allow such motives to pollute the powerful work of his Spirit in this first body of Christians.

Jesus said, "Let your yes be yes, and let your no be no."  The temptation to deceive God's people into thinking that I am very spiritual or generous is always present.  It is necessary to cleanse ourselves of all deceit and evil.  In what ways are you not being true to who God made you to be?

Devo Acts 1:6-14 May 15

⁶So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”  ⁷He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”  ⁹After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.  ¹⁰They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. ¹³When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

Reflection:

During the days between his resurrection and ascension, Jesus demonstrated and spoke truth about himself in order to prepare his disciples for a clearly defined task.  Jesus instructed His disciples to witness to the world, but they must first wait for the Holy Spirit.  Similarly, when God entrusts us with a task, we need to first depend on the power of the Holy Spirit.

Do I like to get ahead of God and try to depend on your own abilities and enthusiasm, not knowing that WAITING is also part of God’s plan?

I need to pray for the Holy Spirit to show you specific areas where I am “impatient to wait” and have gone ahead of God with your own ideas of what is good.

Devo May 14 John 21:15-23

¹⁵ When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” ¹⁶ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” ¹⁷ He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?”and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep.¹⁸ Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” ¹⁹ (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

²⁰ Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” ²¹ When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” ²² Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” ²³ So the saying spread abroad among the brothers that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

Personal Note:
Jesus asked Peter "Do you love me?" three times.  Jesus did not try to shame and humiliate Peter, but rather affirm and commission him to do the work of a pastor/shepherd by feeding the sheep.  We have all failed God, but when we repent by faith, God accepts us and affirms us to do His work that brings glory to God.

Regarding the disciples' pondering on what happen to Judas, Jesus challenged the disciples to just focus on following Him instead of being judgemental.  I struggle when I see leaders who claim to follow Christ sinned shamefully and disgrace God's name.  God reminds me that "If it is my will that those Christian leaders remain until Jesus comes, what is that to you?  You follow me."

Devo May 1 John 12:20-26

²⁰ Now among those who went up to worship at the feast were some Greeks. ²¹ So these came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida in Galilee, and asked him, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” ²² Philip went and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip went and told Jesus. ²³ And Jesus answered them, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified.²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. ²⁵ Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. ²⁶ If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him.

Meditation:

1. What does Jesus mean when he talks about a grain of wheat dying and reproducing itself?  Every spring, many of us would bury seeds in our gardens and in a few weeks enjoy the bloom of flowers and the nourishment of vegetables.  Jesus is teaching us that instead of grasping more tightly to whatever we value, we are to hold it more loosely, letting it fall from our hands into the ground.  Then, “if it is buried, it sprouts and reproduces itself many times over.”(v24, The Message Bible)
2. Wait for Jesus to show an area of your life – a relationship, a decision to be made, and so on, – in which you are holding on to the status quo, and not allowing God to bring growth or change.  In what way might this be destructive or suffocating?