Acts 2:42-47 Video Devotional

Posted on May 21, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. And awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. And all who believed were together and had all things in common. And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.” (Acts 2:42-47)

The formula for effective church ministry is simple. Acts 2:42 has been the key since they were first practicing it in real-time. The results speak for themselves. So what’s different? Why haven’t results like that happened…at all since? Was it a special time in that God wanted to get the numbers up quick? Or is there something to this formula that churches today are missing?

Again, the answer is simple. But the implementation is immensely difficult. The trick is that they weren’t working for growth – or for money – or for power. They were simply, in intent and heart, following the Holy Spirit and living day by day doing what He asked and being who He wanted them to be. Would we be ok living for God if we lost all our money, influence and saw no visible response? Something tells me that libraries full of books on church growth tell another story.

Evidence tells us that we are concerned with earthly success instead of simply devoting ourselves to God and study of the scriptures. What should all of our effort lead to? If people only grow in their faith, but no more money comes to the church, is that successful?

The problem is in the motives, not necessarily the actions. If we choose to focus on doing our job as a church (see Acts 2:42) purely from the motivation to seek God as a community of individuals and leave it fully up to Him the consequences, I think we might get back towards the original intent. If our focus is purely following the Spirit, then we are not responsible for what happens – He is.

And that’s the point. He will bring other people to where He wants them to be. If we are who He wants us to be, then we will never have to try to grow; it will happen purely organically at the will and work of the Spirit. Who knows how many or how fast – again, that is not our worry. Simply follow Him and let what happens, happen. Don’t try to be a big church or an influential member. Simply be – enjoy His presence and listen to His voice. Or, as Acts 2 puts it, devote yourself to the apostles’ teaching (scripture) and fellowship with your church family (care about the relationships), break bread and pray. Make it about your relationship with God, not your popularity, fame, or the church’s benefit.


Acts 2:5-13 Video Devotional

Posted on May 20, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , ,

“Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 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—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” (Acts 2:5-13)

I love this passage. Not only does this start the “church age” with the arrival of the Holy Spirit, but His arrival causes such a change in people that outsiders (non-believers) think they are drunk! The miracle of this story is that once the Spirit arrived, the believers started talking in their native language, but they were in a crowded place where there was a large, multi-cultural (and therefore multi-language) gathering. Even though the believers were speaking in their own language, each person heard them in their native tongue! God is really wanting to get His message out.

What strikes me about this most is the line about them thinking they are drunk. Partially because it makes me chuckle, but mostly because the power of the Holy Spirit is so strong that the onlookers in this story notice such a drastic and immediate of a change in people that leads them to conclude they must be drunk. This happened quick and was overt. And that’s the key, which is also the challenge for today.

How much of a noticeable difference does the Holy Spirit make in you? If it’s not drastic – or even noticeable, then you might want to check on your spiritual health. The Holy Spirit in you is a deposit, guaranteeing your inheritance with Jesus. He regenerates our souls, reviving us from spiritual death to life. And He works in us towards God’s good pleasure, to do good works which He created beforehand that we should walk in them.

That sounds nothing like a life under our own power. It shouldn’t look like it either to an onlooker. What does it look like to you?


Acts 1:21-26 Video Devotional

Posted on May 19, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , ,

“So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” (Acts 1:21-26)

The story about Matthias being named as one of the 12 is a very intriguing story to me. You have this little snippet of the disciples in the time between the ascension and Pentecost (about a week and a half), wherein which they (through prayer) decide to select the one to take Judas’ place. Scripture prophesied his office would be replaced and Mathias was chosen by casting of lots.

There isn’t anything wrong or any glaring sin shown in this story – in fact, it comes across as a very normal and expected thing to do. Except for one glaring omission. Throughout the rest of Scripture, we hear nothing of Matthias. I am sure he was around for some things, and who knows, we don’t know the identity of the author of Hebrews (no evidence suggest it was him, just to be clear), but it is hard to make an argument from silence that Matthias’s promotion was anything noteworthy. Maybe that’s just because it wasn’t noted anywhere.

Again, this is nothing against Matthias, but I have always been very curious as to why this story (with no follow-up about him) is mentioned in Scripture, especially when juxtaposed against one of the main characters of the book, Paul. My theory is simple – looking at this book as Acts of the Holy Spirit, Paul is God’s choice to “replace” Judas and be the 12th apostle. However, before the arrival of the Holy Spirit, the 11 disciples jumped in with both feet (as per usual) and acted on impulse, to which God allowed them (it certainly didn’t interrupt His plans any).

With its place in the book (right at the beginning of the sequel of Luke), it appears more to me that Luke places this there to act as a recap of sorts – reminding his readers of how the disciples acted and what power they had before the arrival of the Holy Spirit. This makes a perfect comparison to the strength and power on full display once Pentecost happened. Thus, we see without the Holy Spirit: impetuousness and the same old disciples; and after: POWER.

Why is this important? Because it sets up the main character – the Holy Spirit! His arrival changes everything! With Him on the scene, a dripping faucet turns into a raging river of God’s power flowing through these people and the consequences are on full display – people starting turning to Jesus by the thousands! Friends, we can do nothing on our own power, but by the power of God, there is nothing that can stand against us! Run to Him, dear friends. Run to the Spirit and let it be all Him. “Then he said to me, “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts” (Zechariah 4:6).


Acts 1:6-11 Video Devotional

Posted on May 18, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , ,

“So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 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.” 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. 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.” (Acts 1:6-11)

What must if have felt like to watch Jesus rise up into Heaven? I bet it looked cool, but at the same time, devastating. The disciples were still trying to figure this out as they go along – after all, they survived the cross and then scored this huge victory by seeing Jesus rise from the dead – only to end up at the ascension, watching Him leave again. This time was much better than the first, but I imagine it still being quite painful.

And it is at this time Jesus lays down the action plan moving forward. We WILL be His witnesses – is that a command, or a declaration? Without going too much into semantics, it appears that this is more of a declaration that actually speaks louder than one might expect. This is what He lays down to His disciples – His goal is that the gospel would expand outward from Jerusalem and become something that would reach across the whole world. For that to happen, Rome would be a great place to see that explosion take place.

Thus, as we read through the book of Acts, we see the gospel first in Jerusalem, then moving outward all the way until we end up in Rome, with Paul on house arrest, having all sorts of people come in to talk with him and hear the gospel. It sounds like Jesus’ declaration came to fruition – at least the beginning stage of it. And that’s where the church comes in.

The title of the Book is officially “Acts of the Apostles”, though I do not think that is the best option for the title. The book launches us with the declaration and ends with the catalyst of Paul being in Rome and the gospel fully taking off around the world; but that was just the beginning – it hadn’t reached the ends of the earth yet – in fact, it still hasn’t, which means that declaration is meant to include us as well. He is using us to be His witnesses as well.

And then we have the true power behind the book. Over and over we will see as we work our way through Acts that the Holy Spirit is the One making everything happen – at one point, Peter’s shadow is performing miracles! That shows us it is actually the Holy Spirit doing the work – thus I suggest calling it “Acts of the Holy Spirit” and that title holding true today. This is His work and we are along for the ride. Enjoy this, my friends! We are along for the ride in the river of God – which He graciously allows us to participate in!


Acts 8:1-8 Video Devotional

Posted on May 15, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“And Saul approved of his execution. And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Devout men buried Stephen and made great lamentation over him. But Saul was ravaging the church, and entering house after house, he dragged off men and women and committed them to prison. Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ. And the crowds with one accord paid attention to what was being said by Philip, when they heard him and saw the signs that he did. For unclean spirits, crying out with a loud voice, came out of many who had them, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was much joy in that city.” (Acts 8:1-8)

Here is exile story number 3 – the great dispersion. In chapter 1, Jesus tells the disciples and those at the ascension that they WILL be His witnesses there and across the globe. It’s the same command in Genesis 9. Be fruitful and multiply. However, that isn’t how the disciples initially respond. Instead, they hide in the upper room unsure and afraid. Even after they receive the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, the story is still centered around Jerusalem. That is, until Paul arrives on the scene (as Saul) and persecutes the believers.

Interestingly, it is Paul’s actions before his conversion that cause the great dispersion of which he would become the chief missionary. It seems, though, that the Christians in Jerusalem were kicked out of town by God through Paul’s persecution. Side point for those that are curious. Saul did not become Paul because of his conversion – Saul is simply the Jewish version of his name and Paul the Roman version.

Anyway – the dispersion is the third scriptural example of God sending out His chosen people because of a failure to get His blessings out there on their own. This command is a chief command of God and a huge part of His purposes for us – we are to be the blessing to the world by going out and sharing Jesus with others – down the street and across the oceans. If you as a believer choose not to do that, do not be surprised if your choice is taken away and you are sent out there anyway. God has a way of making sure His blessings are passed on. Pray that His will would be done in your life – willingly and joyfully.


Ezekiel 5:5-12 Video Devotional

Posted on May 14, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , , ,

“Thus says the Lord God: This is Jerusalem. I have set her in the center of the nations, with countries all around her. And she has rebelled against my rules by doing wickedness more than the nations, and against my statutes more than the countries all around her; for they have rejected my rules and have not walked in my statutes. Therefore thus says the Lord God: Because you are more turbulent than the nations that are all around you, and have not walked in my statutes or obeyed my rules, and have not even acted according to the rules of the nations that are all around you, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, even I, am against you. And I will execute judgments in your midst in the sight of the nations. And because of all your abominations I will do with you what I have never yet done, and the like of which I will never do again. Therefore fathers shall eat their sons in your midst, and sons shall eat their fathers. And I will execute judgments on you, and any of you who survive I will scatter to all the winds. Therefore, as I live, declares the Lord God, surely, because you have defiled my sanctuary with all your detestable things and with all your abominations, therefore I will withdraw. My eye will not spare, and I will have no pity. A third part of you shall die of pestilence and be consumed with famine in your midst; a third part shall fall by the sword all around you; and a third part I will scatter to all the winds and will unsheathe the sword after them.” (Ezekiel 5:5-12)

Going back to Abraham, God gives him a very particular promise that fits in with a particular blessing. Abraham would be blessed so that he could bless the nations around him (including the nation that would come from him). We know the full intent of this blessing is the coming of Christ into the world to save the world and that all nations would be blessed through Christ. However, as it fits with God’s nature, he sets up a “preview” of Christ’s blessing as the example of the people of Israel. They are to be a blessing to the nations around them. They are to bring people in (such as the foreigner and the sojourner) and live as examples of God’s blessing to them.

Obviously, they didn’t do it. As the above passage explains, the Israelites were no better (even worse!) than the nations around them and in no way showed or shared the blessing that God charged them with. So God acts (again) with an exile. They were scattered because they were not being the blessing they were supposed to be. In this story, forcing them to scatter wasn’t to force them to be that blessing (in a lot of ways, the nation seemed to refuse to be that blessing), but as direct punishment and, I believe as a chance for them to turn it around. A redirection, so to speak. Looking throughout history we can see quite easily that when people have it easy, they tend to get lazy. Be getting put back into a difficult situation is usually enough to get someone to shake the dust off and get back to work.

This was meant as a refining time for the Israelites; get them to remember their calling and get back to work. This holds a good warning for us as well, today. If we are going to continue to allow entitlement and expected power be our security blanket, I wouldn’t be surprised for God to shuffle things up under our feet. Who knows? Maybe even the current pandemic could be a version of that. The point is, though, again that God is all about getting His blessings out to everyone. If we aren’t doing our part (which includes actively being involved in sin and ignoring the call), we should expect to be shaken up and forced back on to our feet – because, as we pray, His will WILL be done.


Genesis 11:1-9 Video Devotional

Posted on May 13, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“Now the whole earth had one language and the same words. And as people migrated from the east, they found a plain in the land of Shinar and settled there. And they said to one another, “Come, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly.” And they had brick for stone, and bitumen for mortar. Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make a name for ourselves, lest we be dispersed over the face of the whole earth.” And the Lord came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of man had built. And the Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they have all one language, and this is only the beginning of what they will do. And nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and there confuse their language, so that they may not understand one another’s speech.” So the Lord dispersed them from there over the face of all the earth, and they left off building the city. Therefore its name was called Babel, because there the Lord confused the language of all the earth. And from there the Lord dispersed them over the face of all the earth.” (Genesis 11:1-9)

Have you ever wondered why this story is even in the Bible? It seems out of place in a lot of ways. It is a very small snippet of a story that seemingly answers one main question that affects us today – why we have different languages. Other than that, it seems a pretty small blip that is stuck in between two sets of genealogies. However, if we take a moment to look past the obvious, I think there are some really cool things that point us toward God in a way that shows the unity of His nature and plan.

To understand this story fully, it is best to go back a few chapters to Genesis 9, where we see the most recent command from God. “And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth” (Genesis 9:1). The rest of chapter 9 focuses on the end of Noah’s story and chapter 10 is a genealogy. While a LONG time passed between chapters 9 and 10, the command from God was clear and long standing – be fruitful, multiply and fill the earth. That didn’t change.

This is why the Tower of Babel story is so important. It’s not about the height of the structure or human architectural abilities. That’s too simple of an understanding. The people had stopped expanding across the earth, ignoring the command to fill the earth. We were created to be the care-takers of this planet and this is exactly what these people were not doing – they were also stopping future generations from doing so by providing a large urban center to keep people in one place.

The problem is that God called them to expand across the globe, fill it and ultimately spread the blessing of humanity (as originally intended) to all corners. This would certainly not be the last time God asked us to spread the blessings He gave us, and He has shown consistently that His blessings are meant to be spread and He will make sure they are spread. Thus comes an appropriate punishment. He created languages and in their confusion, they spread out to fill the earth, thus accomplishing His original plan.

An interesting story, and on its own, could be just that. However, though God is creative, He is not random. He is very planned and purposeful and we see in the Bible two other situations that deal with people on a large scale that includes a command from God to spread His blessings – which the people disobey. He then responds with a punishment that forces them to comply with His plan. Looking at those 3 stories together shows us a very intentional and purposeful God that will stop at nothing to make sure the whole earth receives His blessings. Come back the rest of the week to learn about those other situations.


Leviticus 17:10-12 Video Devotional

Posted on May 12, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , ,

“If any one of the house of Israel or of the strangers who sojourn among them eats any blood, I will set my face against that person who eats blood and will cut him off from among his people. For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it for you on the altar to make atonement for your souls, for it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. Therefore I have said to the people of Israel, No person among you shall eat blood, neither shall any stranger who sojourns among you eat blood.” (Leviticus 17:10-12)

“The Lord spoke to Moses in the wilderness of Sinai, in the tent of meeting, on the first day of the second month, in the second year after they had come out of the land of Egypt, saying, “Take a census of all the congregation of the people of Israel, by clans, by fathers’ houses, according to the number of names, every male, head by head.” (Numbers 1:1-2)

Following up from yesterday’s post, we see that there was something keeping Moses out of the direct presence of God – sin. Moses was not able to come into the tent of meeting because His sins were not atoned for. However, by the time we get to the beginning of Numbers (see above), that problem has been dealt with and God speaks to Moses inside the tent of meeting. This is a key development, and the fact that these verses surround the book of Leviticus tells us the book contains a key understanding to the ability to be in the presence of God.

Leviticus foreshadows Jesus on Calvary. During this book, God sets up the rules for the day of atonement (among other things) and how His people are to handle sins. Blood, which is the life of the animal, is required for the atonement sacrifice. Someone (or something) must die to pay for sins – it is the blood that makes atonement by the life. However, we know now (thanks again to hindsight) that animals’ blood does not work for humans. It has to be the blood of a human.

“For it is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Consequently, when Christ[a] came into the world, he said, “Sacrifices and offerings you have not desired, but a body have you prepared for me; in burnt offerings and sin offerings you have taken no pleasure.” (Hebrews 10:4-6)

Jesus, as the perfect God-man, is able to make the sacrifice because of His righteous life, but also because He is human – and as a human can be a representative for the human race. As the Old Testament shows us, atonement is necessary for direct access to God (Moses being a great example). But we know that the only acceptable sacrifice for our atonement was Jesus. He is truly our only way, our only truth, and our only life.


Exodus 40:34-38 Video Devotional

Posted on May 11, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , , , , , ,

“Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter the tent of meeting because the cloud settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. Throughout all their journeys, whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the people of Israel would set out. But if the cloud was not taken up, then they did not set out till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the Lord was on the tabernacle by day, and fire was in it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel throughout all their journeys.” (Exodus 40:34-38)

“The Lord called Moses and spoke to him from the tent of meeting, saying, “Speak to the people of Israel and say to them, When any one of you brings an offering to the Lord, you shall bring your offering of livestock from the herd or from the flock.”” (Leviticus 1:1-2)

Moses was definitely an important guy, but he was still a guy – sinful, fearful and prone to anger. He needed to be saved (just like us), but wasn’t able to look back at Jesus and the cross and know salvation like we do. He had to look forward towards a veiled promise that God would take care of everything. But Moses is saved through Christ, just like us; so God gives us that visual and shows us through Moses’ journey how that worked.

Tomorrow we will get into more of this, but with today’s passage above we see that there was a time, even after Moses had been used in incredible ways by God, where Moses was not allowed in the direct presence of God. We know he got there (after all, God talked with Moses face to face), but the power of this story is when and how.

At the end of Exodus and beginning of Leviticus, God speaks to Moses (after His glory filled the tabernacle) from outside the tent of meeting. God is inside, but Moses can’t come in. So Moses stood outside to hear the Lord. Then God starts talking about offerings and such. Interesting. This is a clear setup to what the book of Leviticus is about. We will discuss that more tomorrow, but today let us together celebrate the fact that Moses, a flawed character, yet faithful and loyal in his relationship with God was no better than you or me. He needed saved by grace through faith just like we do now, and we know that Moses does reach the direct, intimate relationship status with God – which with the ripping of the curtain of the Holy of Holies during the crucifixion, we can also have direct access to God and cry out to him intimately “daddy!”

Let us enjoy God’s gift to us of hindsight and the ability to see how intricately and powerfully He laid out the plan of salvation and the promise of Jesus. Blessings to you!


Genesis 50:24-26 Video Devotional

Posted on May 8, 2020 by admin in Video Devotional | Tags: , ,

“And Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die, but God will visit you and bring you up out of this land to the land that he swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob.” Then Joseph made the sons of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones from here.” So Joseph died, being 110 years old. They embalmed him, and he was put in a coffin in Egypt.” (Genesis 50:24-26)

The ending verses of Genesis chronicle the end of Joseph’s life and the last words he said to his brothers. Joseph knew Egypt was not their home, and with his unusual understanding of the time it can take for God’s promises to be fulfilled, seemed clear that their journey from Egypt would not happen for a while. But again, Egypt was not their home.

This was so clear to Joseph that he made his brothers promise to carry his bones with them when they left, a promise fulfilled in Exodus 13:19 by Moses. What is cool here is that Joseph had the future vision in his sights – he wasn’t focused on the immediate, he was intent to see God’s promises fulfilled despite how long it may take to come to pass.

This is consistent with his character throughout his story. God’s promises may take time (see Hebrews 11:39 – “And all these, though commended through their faith, did not receive what was promised”), but they are all fulfilled. Whatever situation you find yourself in, relax and be patient, for God’s promises will come to completion in Christ Jesus. We just don’t know exactly when. Blessings to you!


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