Acts 8:1-25, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: RECEIVE HIS LOVE

In Romans chapter 8,  Paul asks five life-changing questions:

1. “Won’t God, who gave us Christ, also give us everything else?” 

God won’t leave us to fend for ourselves.

2. “If God is for us, who can ever be against us?” 

God’s presence tilts the scales of security forever in our direction.

3. “Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own?” 

Once God accepts you, what other opinion matters?

4. “Who then will condemn us?  Will Christ Jesus?” 

The answer is NO!  Christ sits next to God as our divine defense attorney who mutes the voices of our accusers.

5. “Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love?” 

Paul’s “Eureka!” conclusion:  Nothing and no one can drive a wedge between you and God’s love!

Read more Come Thirsty

Acts 8:1-25

Saul was right there, congratulating the killers.

8 1-2 That set off a terrific persecution of the church in Jerusalem. The believers were all scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. All, that is, but the apostles. Good and brave men buried Stephen, giving him a solemn funeral—not many dry eyes that day!

3-8 And Saul just went wild, devastating the church, entering house after house after house, dragging men and women off to jail. Forced to leave home base, the followers of Jesus all became missionaries. Wherever they were scattered, they preached the Message about Jesus. Going down to a Samaritan city, Philip proclaimed the Message of the Messiah. When the people heard what he had to say and saw the miracles, the clear signs of God’s action, they hung on his every word. Many who could neither stand nor walk were healed that day. The evil spirits protested loudly as they were sent on their way. And what joy in the city!

9-11 Previous to Philip’s arrival, a certain Simon had practiced magic in the city, posing as a famous man and dazzling all the Samaritans with his wizardry. He had them all, from little children to old men, eating out of his hand. They all thought he had supernatural powers, and called him “the Great Wizard.” He had been around a long time and everyone was more or less in awe of him.

12-13 But when Philip came to town announcing the news of God’s kingdom and proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ, they forgot Simon and were baptized, becoming believers right and left! Even Simon himself believed and was baptized. From that moment he was like Philip’s shadow, so fascinated with all the God-signs and miracles that he wouldn’t leave Philip’s side.

14-17 When the apostles in Jerusalem received the report that Samaria had accepted God’s Message, they sent Peter and John down to pray for them to receive the Holy Spirit. Up to this point they had only been baptized in the name of the Master Jesus; the Holy Spirit hadn’t yet fallen on them. Then the apostles laid their hands on them and they did receive the Holy Spirit.

18-19 When Simon saw that the apostles by merely laying on hands conferred the Spirit, he pulled out his money, excited, and said, “Sell me your secret! Show me how you did that! How much do you want? Name your price!”

20-23 Peter said, “To hell with your money! And you along with it. Why, that’s unthinkable—trying to buy God’s gift! You’ll never be part of what God is doing by striking bargains and offering bribes. Change your ways—and now! Ask the Master to forgive you for trying to use God to make money. I can see this is an old habit with you; you reek with money-lust.”

24 “Oh!” said Simon, “pray for me! Pray to the Master that nothing like that will ever happen to me!”

25 And with that, the apostles were on their way, continuing to witness and spread the Message of God’s salvation, preaching in every Samaritan town they passed through on their return to Jerusalem.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Matthew 5:21-30

“You’re familiar with the command to the ancients, ‘Do not murder.’ I’m telling you that anyone who is so much as angry with a brother or sister is guilty of murder. Carelessly call a brother ‘idiot!’ and you just might find yourself hauled into court. Thoughtlessly yell ‘stupid!’ at a sister and you are on the brink of hellfire. The simple moral fact is that words kill.

23-24 “This is how I want you to conduct yourself in these matters. If you enter your place of worship and, about to make an offering, you suddenly remember a grudge a friend has against you, abandon your offering, leave immediately, go to this friend and make things right. Then and only then, come back and work things out with God.

25-26 “Or say you’re out on the street and an old enemy accosts you. Don’t lose a minute. Make the first move; make things right with him. After all, if you leave the first move to him, knowing his track record, you’re likely to end up in court, maybe even jail. If that happens, you won’t get out without a stiff fine.

27-28 “You know the next commandment pretty well, too: ‘Don’t go to bed with another’s spouse.’ But don’t think you’ve preserved your virtue simply by staying out of bed. Your heart can be corrupted by lust even quicker than your body. Those leering looks you think nobody notices—they also corrupt.

29-30 “Let’s not pretend this is easier than it really is. If you want to live a morally pure life, here’s what you have to do: You have to blind your right eye the moment you catch it in a lustful leer. You have to choose to live one-eyed or else be dumped on a moral trash pile. And you have to chop off your right hand the moment you notice it raised threateningly. Better a bloody stump than your entire being discarded for good in the dump.

Insight
In ancient thinking, the “heart” was considered a person’s core—the source from which flowed all thoughts, words, and actions. In Matthew 5, Jesus emphasizes that life in God’s kingdom requires radical transformation and continual reshaping of our hearts so that we cultivate a profoundly different way of life—one that’s invitational and beneficial to the world (vv. 14–16).

Vanity on Fire
Create in me a pure heart, O God.Psalm 51:10
In February 1497, a Monk named Girolamo Savonarola started a fire. Leading up to this, he and his followers spent several months collecting items that they thought might entice people to sin or neglect their religious duties—including artwork, cosmetics, instruments, and dresses. On the appointed day, thousands of vanity items were gathered at a public square in Florence, Italy, and set on fire. The event has come to be known as the Bonfire of the Vanities.

Savonarola might have found inspiration for his extreme actions in some shocking statements from the Sermon on the Mount. “If your right eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away,” said Jesus. “And if your right hand causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away” (Matthew 5:29–30). But if we interpret Jesus’s words literally, we miss the point of the message. The entire sermon is a lesson on going deeper than the surface, to focus on the state of our hearts rather than blaming our behavior on external distractions and temptations.

The Bonfire of the Vanities made a great show of destroying belongings and works of art, but it is unlikely that the hearts of those involved were changed in the process. Only God can change a heart. That’s why the psalmist prayed, “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (Psalm 51:10). It’s our heart that counts. By Remi Oyedele

Reflect & Pray
What behaviors or distractions might be on your list of “vanities”? How do you try to “manage” them?

Holy God, please give me the grace to surrender my heart to You and yield my life’s vanities to the purifying fire of the Holy Spirit.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
Receiving Yourself in the Fires of Sorrow
…what shall I say? "Father, save Me from this hour"? But for this purpose I came to this hour. "Father, glorify Your name." —John 12:27-28

As a saint of God, my attitude toward sorrow and difficulty should not be to ask that they be prevented, but to ask that God protect me so that I may remain what He created me to be, in spite of all my fires of sorrow. Our Lord received Himself, accepting His position and realizing His purpose, in the midst of the fire of sorrow. He was saved not from the hour, but out of the hour.

We say that there ought to be no sorrow, but there is sorrow, and we have to accept and receive ourselves in its fires. If we try to evade sorrow, refusing to deal with it, we are foolish. Sorrow is one of the biggest facts in life, and there is no use in saying it should not be. Sin, sorrow, and suffering are, and it is not for us to say that God has made a mistake in allowing them.

Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

It is in the middle that human choices are made; the beginning and the end remain with God. The decrees of God are birth and death, and in between those limits man makes his own distress or joy.  Shade of His Hand, 1223 L

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Tuesday, June 25, 2019
How to Always Have a Good Day - #8467

Our daughter-in-law got our then-baby granddaughter off to a great start - every day. In fact, if you're in any way related to one of Snow White's seven dwarfs (Grumpy, in particular) or even negative old Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, this baby girl could have helped you. Each morning her mother would sit our little darling in her lap and say, "Honey, 'This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.'" After which she raised the baby's hands above her head and shook them as Mama said, "Ya-a-a-ay!" It was so cute. But what about that day when this little girl was throwing up about every fifteen minutes? That actually happened once when they were visiting us. It was so sad to watch it. I mean she had this troubled look on this little face, followed by a fountain of gross stuff erupting from her little mouth. Mom said, "Honey, even this day is the day the Lord has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it." And before Mom could grab baby's hands, this time she raised one hand all by herself as Mommy said, "Ya-a-a-ay!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "How to Always Have a Good Day."

You've probably guessed by now what our word for today from the Word of God might be. It's Psalm 118:24. Say it with me if you know it. "This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it." Great verse, and the best possible perspective to make every day a good day. Because every day is a God-day - a day designed by God for you before you were born. David said, "O Lord...all the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be" (Psalm 139:16).

So does that mean every day is going to be a day you love and enjoy? Silly question. God knows that the recipe for our days needs to include a balance of ingredients, some sweet, some sour. Some of the greatest times I have ever had with God, most of the strength and most of the character God has developed in me has come from the hardest times in my life. A hunk of coal becomes a diamond because of heat and pressure. A lump of clay becomes valuable pottery through being poked and prodded and cooked. Muscles develop by having to lift something heavier than they've ever lifted before. No, a "day the Lord has made" doesn't mean it won't have pain and loss and pressure in it sometimes.

But the rejoicing in your day comes from knowing that this day is part of The Plan - the Grand Plan of a Heavenly Father who knows exactly what I need and knows exactly when I need it. During seasons when the income for our ministry has left us very vulnerable, you just hope each day that this day's giving may make a big difference. But you know what, it just turns out to be another day where the total is fairly meager.

On days like that, our bookkeeper, who has to deal with all of the bills, has often said to me after reporting some disappointing number, "Another day to trust Him." Exactly. You can rejoice every day because it's another day to trust Him. It's another day to serve Him. Wherever God puts you today, that's a divine assignment - putting you in a position to show that you have a God who loves you and sustains you no matter what.

And every day is another day to praise Him. Maybe your lens has just been trained on the problems and the burdens. You need to get your wide-angle lens on and look at the blessings that are all over your life. David said, "Lord, You have assigned me my portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; surely I have a delightful inheritance" (Psalm 16:5-6). On any given day, if you're looking for God-sightings, there's always something to praise Him for and there's always something to trust Him for.

So in the waking moments of your day, remind yourself out loud that day, "This is the day the Lord has made" - not your finances, not the weather, not your feelings, not your kids, and not your circumstances. The Lord!