The Promise of the Holy Spirit
1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 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.
4 And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
The Ascension
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.” 9 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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”
Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and
“‘Let another take his office.’
21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 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.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. (ESV)
ELLO… I read
I like verse 7,”He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
I like this verse because it talks about being ready for GOD. We don’t know when HE is going to come back or when HE is going to do anything. HE has HIS timetable and it is set HE can come back whenever HE wants to and I need to be ready for HIM to do so. If I am not ready for HIM I’m not going to have another chance to do good on this earth. I need to pray and ask GOD for help that I am always serving HIM so I am ready for HIM to come back.
CYA
yeaaaaaaa. He usually has a way of not lining up his time with ours..we just have to learn to trust him all the time.
Good comment. d:- )
I also liked verse 7. We absolutly do need to be ready at all times for HIM, glorify HIM always, and in EVERYTHING we do, we do to make HIM shine!
Verse 12 also stuck out to me:
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
I think sometimes when we are reading the Bible we skim over things like ” A SABBATH DAY’S JOURNEY” Can you imagine walking ALLLLLL Day, Can you Imagine walking for yrs!? Can you imagine traveling like Paul did, with no car no plane, by foot. (and boat) Are we that faithful? Would you walk in full faith that God will lead you, w/o complaint? Are you walking this life with God leading you, or are you trying to take charge?
GOD BLESS ALL!!
Xo
S
MMMM… excited to start Acts!!!! d:- D
“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”
It seems like I always choose evangelism verses when I get the chance…It’s ’cause I probably do!!!
The Bible makes it so clear that while we’re here on this earth we’ve got to be ambassadors of Him, and spreading the word for him. We’ve got to be loving others like Christ has loved us, and that includes giving people the chance to enter heaven with us.
But that’s not going to happen if we’re not out there telling people about it!!!
We really need more Christians to start doing this.
Evangelism Nights: meets in True North room 6:30 on Saturdays. Seeeee youuuuu theerrreeee!!!
I also like v.12-14 “devoting themselves to prayer”
This serves as an example of how we should be in our prayer life–constantly devoted to our God and keeping in contact with him. Not just throwing things up once in awhile, but intimately involved in communicating with him. And like they did, maybe even pray together!! It couldn’t hurt. d:- )
Your comments tonight at small group were encouraging. God is doing awesome things in your family. Praise the Lord!
Acts 1:8 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.”
Then: Jesus clarifies how a group of uneducated fishermen will change the world by fulfilling the great commission: with the power of GOD the Creator in the Holy Spirit!
Always: God gives us everything for life and godliness, including the power, through the Spirit, to do what He commands.
Now: He has saved us by grace alone, now let’s do what He says, like the Apostles, and tell people today.
Lord, thank You for salvation and send me today in Your Spirit to tell people!
Mmmmmmmm. I’m feelin’ that!!!
I’ll pray for you. d:- )
Love this.. Thank YOu!
YAY! I was able to log on!
And I’m so excited to start Acts of the Apostles!!
8 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.
I love this verse. I have recently come to the realization that the way we love God and the way He know that we follow him is by following his commandments. So, we can be his witnesses by obeying his commandments. We need to SERVE! (This is more a reminder to myself). I often forget that. Not like I forget forget, but I come home sometimes and think darn! I could’ve been much more of a servant today. I also need to keep my mind much more alert so I don’t fall under Satan’s temptations.
24 And they said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
How lucky to be Matthias!!! Wow. That is such an honor to be chosen like that. Well really all the apostles are lucky but still. That reminds me of how lucky we are to be chosen by Christ too! I am so glad I am not one of the ignorant ones, and that I have the opportunity to bring Christ into the world that I live in.
Me tooooooooo!! d:- D
I’m just a taaad bit tired so if this comment is wrong then correct me please. Judas during his suicidal fall blew up???? That’s what I got from it…And I never knew that. That is interesting. This chapter made me think of all those people that I’ve talked to in the past who didn’t believe that Jesus rose from the dead…and it makes me think about all the apostles and how they would have died for a lie then and why in the world would you do that? That’s stupid. This one kid that I used to basically talk to everyday about it would say that all 12 of them were crazy so they didn’t care if they died…and I said if that’s true, then all the other people in this world that are dying or willing to die for their faith are crazy too and that includes me. What is the probability of all of us being crazy? Just dumb. It’s one of those moments though where I need to be gentle with the person that doesn’t know Jesus because I once was one of them too. May the Lord come back soon. Maranatha.
Mmmmm. Don’t stop evangelizing!!!! d:- DD
18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out.
This verse talks about the suicide of Judas. After the amazing sermon this weekend about being devoured by Satan, this verse really made me think how ANYONE can fall away! Judas was one of the twelve disciples who did miracles and heard the Lord Himself preach! And yet that wasn’t enough! Judas got caught up in the things of this world and Satan took hold of him. Rather than having godly sorrow that brought repentance, Judas has worldly sorrow and pity for himself that ended up with his own death (2 Corinthians 7:10). I need to NOT learn from he example of Judas, and in fact do the EXACT OPPOSITE of what he did. I need to not get caught up in the world, and instead get in the Word, pray, trust in God and His plan, and be accountable with other Christians so that Satan doesn’t devour me like he did Judas. The example of Judas really opens my eyes to how one who seems so close to the truth can actually fall away! Don’t stop standing!!!
Mmmmm. Feelin’ that Cameron!! d:- D
Nice comment Cam. Keep standing in Christ!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority
MMM sometimes this verse is so hard for me. I usually dont have issues with worrying, and I’m blessed for that. But i do have issues wanting to do things my way and not trusting God for his plan. Because I’m human I know that i think my ways are best and that I know what is best. But lately it has been my prayer that I would be content in God alone and in his plan! I need to humble myself and make sure I am trusting in God and his plan for my life and being content in that alone!
Love this Morgan! You are so right!
I need to humble myself and make sure I am trusting in God and his plan for my life and being content in that alone!
How awesome is that you understand this NOW!!
AMEN!
great comment!
11 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.”
I really like this verse because it really makes me think of one thing: MARANATHA! Jesus is coming back for his people. But, like Jesus says in verse 7, it is not for us to know when because God has his own plan. I know that I need to be trusting in this and in God more because he has a plan for everything in my life and everyone else’s. I pray that I would always be trusting in the Lord for everything and that I would be living with a MARANATHA-mindset because He can come back any day (hopefully soon!).
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
8 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.
WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT HAS COME UPON YOU. This is critical. And necessary.
Self-deceit is lethal. Lting to ourselves by trivializing/minimizing/justifying the sin in our hearts and lives, or the idolatry we exercise by putting ourselves or anything or anyone above God in our hearts and lives, and we grow up in a Christian home and go to church. A dangerous and deadly business for our souls when we have not yet received the Holy Spirit! Sitting in church, listening to teachings with hardened, embittered hearts. Telling ourselves that we fall under His umbrella, yet somehow, we’re getting drenched and saturated by all the sin in our hearts and lives. Sitting there, listening to God’s Word, HEARING it, but having no power by His Holy Spirit to make a stand and be DOERS of His Word.
Without the Holy Spirit, we get trapped and deceived by that devouring lion who ruthlessly hunts us down, and we are rendered absolutely POWERLESS if we don’t have the Holy Spirit’s power.
“Well, MAN, Stace, how do I know if I HAVE the Holy Spirit living inside me?!” Great question! That’s between you and the Lord. But Scripture serves as a Guide telling us what it means to be saved. A great self-check is I John. God MEANS for us to be SECURE in our salvation. He tells us that when we die to ourselves-let go of everything that we want to have control over, confess COMPLETELY (not compartmentally) in a remorseful heart the sinner and wretch that we are, that we need a Savior, and that One and Only Savior is Jesus Christ, and we run AWAY from the sin in our lives, and go running TOWARD Him, yielding to Him in loving and grateful submission, willing to do whatEVER He commands of us or beckons us to…these are all evidences of justification.
But it must be with our WHOLE HEART. We must not deceive ourselves by tucking even just one or two things away, deep into the dark caverns of our souls. Thinking (even subconsciously) that nobody will get hurt, because we’ll just keep them locked down in this dungeon, and not let them come out. BAD CHOICE! DEATHLY CHOICE! These uglies MUST come out. We MUST offer them up to God, bring them out of the darkness and into His marvelous light! And He WASHES US CLEAN, He purifies us and makes us BRAND NEW by the blood of Jesus Christ. And it is HIS POWER we receive when that happens. We are DUNKED INTO the Holy Spirit. He takes up residency within our hearts, and He leads us. We live to submit to Him and live out His commands. We learn His commands and get trained by Him as we crack open His Word. First we learn the ABC’s-how to speak the fundamentals of His language of love. And the trials and tests of life may result in bruises on our heads, legs, hearts, or wherever, as we bump around, fall down, and learn to stand uprightly through practice and discipline/correction. But soon enough, and in HIS time, we are speaking a common language, walking and then running with Him. And this happens by being in His Word and living it out, adhering to the power of His Holy Spirit Who lives within us once we’ve died to ourselves, praying His will in, for, and through our lives, living to be a vessel for HIM and not for ourselves, and keeping up with the pack (the church) so that the lion is less likely to snatch and clutch us.
And when we have His power, He brings our lives to be a WITNESS for Him–attesting to His power to save and redeem lives. And we live to SHARE this power and love with ANYONE. We testify not only in words, but by living-by the Holy Spirit-lives that are full of Street Cred: being DOERS of His Word.
He does it ALL. All we have to do is submit with willing hearts. In pure humility. And even then, it is, AGAIN, the HOLY SPIRIT, Whose power is within us if we are indeed saved, that gives us this heart.
We serve a mighty God. We serve THE ALL mighty God.
Wow Stacy!!!!! This is…practically an essay!! haha. AWESOME!! Keep up the dedication! Feelin’ it! d:- DDDDD
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
I have a habit of planning my day out the night before, and then the next day when it dosn’t go as planned I tend to be dissapointed or try and figure out what went wrong. My problem is I need to trust in God! I can’t control what is going to happen in my life, so instead of worrying about it, I should pray about it and trust in God because I can’t change or influence what “the Father has fixed by his own authority”. I pray that I will be able to trust in You God that way I do not rely on worldly things when I have you!
Great to see you at small groups tonight! Keep up with the good comments!
8 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.
Yaay! We’re starting Acts! This entire chapter was really interesting to me, and I learned some things about Judas that I didn’t know…But verse 8 really stuck out to me because it reminded me that we will have power when the Holy Spirit is upon us..and not only that, but we are going to be God’s witnesses in..well, everywhere. It’s a great reminder to us that we can do all things through Christ who can strengthen us aaand that we have the privilege of being God’s witnesses and I personally need to remember that.
Great comment! I really liked how you pointed out how with Christ we can do everything because He strengthens us!!! :)
Great to have you at small groups tonight! It is such an awesome privilege to be used by God to spread the Good News!
8 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.”
Verse 8 nicely summarizes the man themes in the Acts of the Apostles. First, we are told of the Spirit’s power that will equip and drive the evangelism and miracles that will follow as the apostles go out and establish the church. Jesus tells the apostles to start witnessing in Jerusalem, then to Judea and Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth. The key for their success will be that they are given the Holy Spirit which will help them to effectively proclaim the gospel, provide power for the victory over sin, Satan, and demonic forces, and equip each believer with a gift to use to build up the church. As I read Acts 1 this morning I am spurred on to rely on the Holy Spirit for evangelism, fighting off sin and Satan, and using my spiritual gifts in the church. I am thankful for the gift of the Holy pPirit and I am praising God today that I have Him with me every step of my Christian life so that I have the power to glorify God in all that I do!
Wow! Great comment Beth! Your so encouraging! :)
Verses 8-11 are a great setup for the rest of the book, but they also answer some basic questions about my Christian life today.
What am I waiting for? The return of Christ. That should be the moment I hope for everyday. That should be the hope that inspires me to live for him.
What am I supposed to do while I wait? Be a witness for Christ. Make disciples. Reading through the book of Acts should inspire all of us to finish the school year strong as witnesses for Christ!
All I can say is Maranatha. Seriously, this whole chapter is a reminder that Jesus is comming back!!!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
This is yet another one of thouse verses that reminds us that we arnt going to know everything. All we need to know is in our Bibles and for the rest we just have to trust God with all our beings (which isn’t easy but it is SO worth it).
8 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.”
I LOVE this verse!! God has given us the power to spread His name and the gospel to the rest of the world through the Holy Spirit! It gives me confidence to know that since my only purpose is to make more disciples, God fully equips me. He provides for us in everything, even evangelism. I am so glad that we don’t have a blind faith, but a faith that has logic and reasoning! Thank you God for the power of the Holy Spirit inside of me, and use me to share your name MORE!
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
Peter and the rest of the disciples relied on prayer to make decesions. They did not just do whatever they thought best. They prayed with an openess and willingness to do what God wanted. Too often we can say to God, “I will do what you want, if…”. Instead, as Pastor Mike often says, we need to sign a blank check and let him fill in the amount. This is the attitude I want to have as I make decesions both big and small.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
Acts chapter one!!! After reading this Chapter One verse stood out to me the most. That Is verse 7. It is saying that we do not know what the Lord has planned for our future. Sometimes I can get frustrated thinking what may happen in the future. But I need to remember that God is in control. I need to not worry and trust in the Lord.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.”
This verse remindes me to put my trust in God because he has a plain. His time to come back is for him to know not me and I need to be ready for him because he could come at any time. This verse also encourages me to be BOLD for my faith since I have the Holy spirit. It tells us that we will be God’s witnesses. That means that I should be telling other all the time about what Christ did.
8 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.”
It is really important to continue acting as witnesses for Christ, because that is what he commands.
8 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.”
This weekend Bobby talked about how it’s the fringe gazelles that get picked off by the lion; Acts 1:8 offers great reminders that 1) we are to be living the Christian life and doing God’s great work alongside others (Jesus says witnesses, plural), and 2) we also don’t have to be isolated in the sense that we have the awesome gift of the Holy Spirit. I need to continually turn to the Holy Spirit to give me wisdom and strength and to help protect my thoughts against the stalking lion whose looking for any chance to devour me. The Holy Spirit offers us great power to resist temptation and sin, but we need to turn to Him before trouble even presents itself. To be truly on guard is to anticipate trouble and be vigilant. I need to steer clear of situations and influences that I know could cause me to stumble. The more I read God’s word, rely upon the power of the Holy Spirit, and turn to my Christian friends for accountability, the more I’m able to spot and sidestep bad situations.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
This verse is so cool! It is telling me that I should not worry about when, how, or why God is doing something in my life but I should trust in Him. If we worry, we are in sin because we are doubting that God can take care of it and we think we need to take it into our own hands.
Good comment Brennan! Great to see you on here!
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
This verse really points out how important prayer is. Im not going to lie, prayer is something I am constantly struggling with. I like to read my bible at night so I dont get interrupted, usually by the time I finish its 10:30 and im usually really tired, (yes I do go to bed early) but because im alone and not distracted I want to pray, only to find out im dead asleep. It makes me feel so bad especially because im rejecting God. Its not fair to God that I spend more time on facebook than in His word and praying, because when it really comes down to it, facebook is so pointless. One thing that I have noticed about prayer is that when I pray for God to put people in my lives to evangelize to them, He always comes through. Last night I prayed that God would put people in my life so I could share His word in any form. And today I talked to a kid in my math class about if he had a testimony and why baptism doesnt save you, plus I was able to let a girl borrow my, Why the Bible book when she didnt have a book for free reading time. Its amazing to see how God always comes through and even though it may not be the way we want or expect it to be, it always ends up better! I pray that when it comes to prayer and reading the bible, I would put it first and not get lazy, and continue to have meaningful prayers and spread Gods word!!! :)
Lets step up our prayer lives Emily! Great comment!
Going to Small Groups tonight!!! This will be my 2nd or maybe 1st time this year! sports finally don’t get in the way!
Acts 1:
1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach.
Some of the book of the Bible or the letters written by the apostles that have the words of God are written to people. These letters are sometimes to churches or people. Here it’s addressing a person named Theophilus. It’s quite interesting, even some of the Gospel, it addressed somebody. I forgot who and what Gospel.
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Here what the apostles are doing. These people were the closest to God. They were Jesus hand choosen disciples. They were with Jesus while Jesus was down on earth. How do they live? They devote themselves to prayer. Prayer shows your faith. Prayer shows your reliance on God. I need to pray more, there is so much to pray for. People always make up that excuse, that there’s not enough.
20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,
“‘May his camp become desolate,
and let there be no one to dwell in it’;
and
“‘Let another take his office.’
I think it is so cool how God prophisized about how Jesus would be betrayed. It is amazing how so many people who knew of this did not believe it and when it came true they questioned why. Peter even took Christ Jesus aside and told him to go another way and Christ rebuked him. The prophesies that the Lord made in the Old Testement are so cool how they came true after so many years. Its so hard to believe that after all of that, people still don’t recognize Jesus as their savior.
11 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.”
all this book, i read it one time before and cant wait to read it again.:)
i read little bit of most comments and they were AWSOME.
i bett alot of people when they read this verse thinks about–MARANATHA! Jesus is coming back soon, and we must be ready,i cant wait till that day happens..and we should live everyday like the day is the day that Jesus is coming back!!! we shoundt be worrying about little small things in the world, like i was doing last night and today.so the verse really help me outt. im so tired of living in the world, i just want to see Jesus face to face:))))))))
one more time saying—-
MARANATHA
amen! :)
2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
I was convicted when I read this because I sometimes don’t give the Holy Spirit the credit that it is due. The Holy Spirit is who Jesus taught with when He was here on earth, and is just as much God as both the Father and the Son. I need to remember this more!
8 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.”
You know what is so cool? We have the same Holy Spirit working in us as they did back then! We have the power to speak boldly about Christ and know that the Holy Spirit is the one that enables us to do so! I am so very thankful that the Spirit is inside of me and I want to make sure I am feeding it with godly things such as the bible, sermons, worship music, and prayer- all the time!!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
I like verse 7 because it shows how God already knows the time that he is coming back. This really just makes me want to live more and more for Christ everyday becasue I don’t know when he is coming and I want to be ready when he does.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
I really like how the disciples completely rely on God in prayer to make this decision of who should become a part of the twelve. This convicts me because I know I have made many decisions or done things without consulting God or praying for Him to show me where I should go. LORD, please help me to be completely submissive to your will at all times and depend on you to show me where you want me to go. Please forgive me for all the times I have just decided to do what I thought was right without consulting your will; in the future, please help me to always pray and ask for your guidance so that I would truly go in the direction you want me to.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
Acts is such a great book! I love this verse because God does everything on his own timing, and it is perfect that way. Sometimes we feel like when we pray that our prayers need to be answered right away. God may or may not answer our prayers right away, but he definitely has a purpose for every single one of us. I have no right to demand from God to know what will happen in the future because I know that God has great plans for me that I can’t even imagine! He also has a specific season, day, and time of when he will come back again! How awesome will that day be, when every knee will bow!
Great comment Dessy!
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Prayer is such an important necessity to our Christian lives. Some Christians believe that they dont have to pray because they think they dont need God, but they wouldnt necessarily admit this. Praying to God is showing God that we know we arnt in control and that our only way to succeed in life as a Christian is to be praying constantly. I know I struggle a little bit with prayer, but I am working on it. I have made this ‘God box’ out of a shoe box and that when I am anxious about something I write it and then I put it in the box. The box is to resemble me ‘casting my anxiousness on Him’ and showing Him I know He is in controll of my life. Another thing I need to be doing is praying for other people when they ask me to pray. Sure Ill pray several times for them, but then I wont follow that prayer up. I need to ask people how theyre doing with that I prayed for them with, and keep them accountible. Prayer is so important and I needs to be stepped up in my life.
Wow! awesome comment kelsey! Love the God box idea! :D
Yeah! I think that is an awesome idea! Cast those cares to the Lord! ~ 1 Peter 5:7
Acts is a good book and it teaches us the beginning of the church. It’s a good way to start something when you place God in control of it. Before even starting, Peter, who was the leader of the disciples, decided that they needed to fulfill scripture and do what God had commanded them to do. So, by putting God in control of their decision, they chose on who would take the twelfth spot of the discipleship. It’s always good to see how righteous men did things. It teaches me how to do things. When I am about to embark on anything, I need to realize that God needs to be my leader, not myself. God first, that’s the only way to live.
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen.
I like how these guys don’t even attempt to make a descision by themselves. They immediately go to God, praying for His will to be done. Then they let God decide, and it all turns out the way it was supposed to. Obviously it’s a great example of what to do when i have to make any descision. ASk God, what He wants, and pray that His will is done, not my own selfish way. I want to be like the disciples, who fully relied on God and that His will was what they wanted to happen.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority
I like this verse! It is hard sometimes when things in life don’t seem to make sense in my mind but then I remember God has a plan for my life and I know I need to be content with that and put all my trust in him not letting my worries or fears get in the way. God is in control of my life and he created everything and he is in full authority!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
Know one will know the day that God comes, every time i read verses like this, that remind of us of his coming, it makes me check myself. I know for a fact i do not want to be in sin, or giving into temptations when Jesus Christ comes back. I want to be ready, and i want the Lord to say “well done good and faithful servant”. I need to really make sure that i am living 100% every day like it could be my last day.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
Sometimes I want to understand why God times events in my life the way He does…I also think and pray about the return of Christ and want it to be soon! This verse puts it very clearly…God has it all under control and events will happen exactly when they should. I’m thankful to serve a sovereign God who has all of the power and the knowledge…and His will is going to be done. I’m going to trust in Him and His perfect timing.
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
I’ve really been struggling with this lately; letting God take care of things the way He chooses to and not trying to take the reigns. It’s difficult, because especially in this society (which emphasizes hard work to direct your own destiny) it’s easy to get sucked into the stress that comes along with doing things yourself. I really need to pray constantly that God’s will would be done through me and that I would just let the Holy Spirit guide me and trust that God will always provide for me.
I’ll be praying that you will preach it!! :) I’m excited for you! :)
8 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.
I have a simple comment tonight. Being a Christian gives you power. Power to preach the good news. Power from God. Let’s use it. let’s preach the gospel until our dying breath.
8 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.”
I need to get out there and spread the gospel. Jesus came. He died for your’s and my sins and He rose again. People don’t know that and it could be my fault for not telling them! Get Jesus’s name out there! :]
-7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.”
-God’s plan is perfect whether or not we know it. and God gave us the power to witness about the good news and we need to be doing that.
-11 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.”
-this verse is reassuring of Jesus’ return. He will come back as He promised.
-21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 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.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
-like we talked about tonight at small groups, when we lose an accountability partner, we need to replace them so we don’t fall away from Christ. :)
Great to see you at small groups tonight Natalie and great point about seeking out accountability. It is up to us to confess our sins to other Christians ~ James 5:16
Natalie! Great to see you on here! Let’s keep seeking out accountability!
11 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.”
I have one word… MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!! This verse just gets me excited to know that Jesus is coming back just as he once left earth! I need to be eagerly awaiting Christ’s return and living ready for his return! Although I should be excited about the Rapture, I also need to be serious about it and know that the time is coming soon so I need to be ready!
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
We need to be ready for Christ’s return. I am so excited for the Rapture when the Lord will come back! yet this also means I need to be living every day in this life as if it were my last on earth because I need to be spending my time wisely….meaning evangelizing and spreading the Gospel. Many people become so excited over things in this world, yet I’ve realized that the thing I’ll always be most excited for is the day I see my Savior face to face. I want to help non-Christians understand that they should care about God’s existence and Christ dying for their sins because they will face judgement and hell vs. heaven some day soon.
This is a good chapter. Tonight in small groups, we talked about the disciples adding another disciple because they needed that group of twelve. This reminds me that I need my group, Katie was talking about how many times the pastors tell us to have or make Christian friends, and not the make friends with non-Christians. If I want to stand up or keep standing I need to be on a foundation that won’t let me fall. God is my foundations and my friends are the beams that hold and make the house. My friends display what I am. I am so ready for whatever comes my way because I have a foundation of God and I have Christian friends. Bring the hurricane.
Atta girl! Or, shall I say, “Atta Missus”! ;)
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
This verse just reminds me to never worry about what the Lord has in store. We as humans don’t need to know when the Lord is returning or whenever something interesting happens. It’s none of our business. Until the Lord comes back, he wants us EVANGELIZING!!! We need to get up and go tell the world about Jesus Christ and his returning. Many people are always worrying about the future and whats going to happen, but either way the Lord has it planned out for a reason. He doesn’t do it to harm you, but to prosper you and give you hope. Jeremiah 29:11
Great to see you on here my friend! Let’s see if you can make it all the way through the book of Acts! That would be awesome!
8 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.
Through the Holy Spirit I have strength to obey God and do what he tells me to do. It is amazing to me still that I have God living in me. The Holy Spirit dwells in me and convicts me of sin and encourages me to do what is right. Part of that is evangelizing and carrying the gospel to the ends of the earth. I want to be used by God in whatever way he wants. I want to be always willing to go where the Spirit leads and to do what the Spirit wants me to do.
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
Prayer is so important! Just like Jesus, the disciples were devoted to spending time in prayer to God. I need to be like them and place more of an importance of talking to my Creator! I am going to pray more throughout the day and have more concentrated times of prayer because I know that I need God to help me get through each and every day!
I read…
As we talked about at small groups when one person falls away we need to try to get them to come to Christ, but then also be inviting others into your circle of friends so that you might not fall. In this case, there were 12 disciples. When Judas stopped standing they replaced him with another disciple, Mattias. I pray that God would keep my friends standing but if they do happen to fall that I would keep surrounding myself with Christian friends.
11 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.”
I am eagerly awaiting this day! I am glad that I can trust in Jesus’ promise to come back one day! The day Jesus comes back is going to be the single greatest moment in any of us who are Christians’ lives. I can hardly even grasp the magnitude of how truly incredible it will be, because it is out of my comprehension, as God is. I do know that I can wait earnestly and be steadfast in my faith while I do however! I want to be ready when Jesus comes back. I don’t want him to come back while I am doing something that isn’t pleasing to him.. and the only way to ensure that is to be always doing things that are pleasing to him!!!
Maranatha Lord Jesus!
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”
This passage reminds me of what we have been talking about at church and in small groups. What the disciples felt as they watched Jesus leaving them is probably a lot like how the seniors graduating True North feel. They no longer have anyone to hold their hand or any training wheels on their bike, they will be going out into the real world and facing many trials. As a junior in high school, i need to focus on growing and strengthening myself in the Lord, and becoming closer to the flock and having a ring of friends that can hold me accountable, so that I can be prepared next year to depart from True North as well.
Good comment Matt! Great to see you on here!
haha that’s an interesting inference!! no more training wheels for me!! :P
8 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.”
Now Acts! I’m loving SOTD! This verse is a great reminder that Jesus Christ knew he would return to his throne in heaven once his work on earth was done. So, he provided us with the Holy Spirit to give us the strength and encouragement being with us all the time. God truly gives us every single thing we could ask for and beyond to help us keep standing for him!
26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
I thought that it was interesting that lots were cast both for Jesus clothes while he was on the cross and when the deciples were looking for someone to replace the Judas who betrayed Jesus. It is really cool to see the things that God uses to fulfill his will, often times we would not even think of some of the things he uses…
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 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.”
This is an amazing verse. We may not be apostles, but this command applies to us also. As Christians we have to be evangelizing every chance we get, not just in words but in actions. I pray that I will be a good witness for GOD.
This chapter talks about Jesus ascending into Heaven. It says that in the same way, He will return. Jesus is coming soon. No one will know the day or the hour and he will come like a thief in the night. There will not be any warning. Just suddenly in the twinkle of an eye we will be in Heaven at the feet of our Creator. I am looking forward to that day but I need to remember that every day here on Earth may be my last. Therefor, I want to live with that Maranatha. mindset. Only through Jesus can we be saved from judgement. I know that I don’t want to be facing God’s wrath. So live each day as if it were your last. Living for Jesus
Great seeing you on here Matt! Looking forward to more comments on Acts!
8 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.”
The Holy Spirit is described as powerful here and it is awesome to think that God has given us believers the Spirit living within us. This verse talks about being witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Seeing how God desires us to be His witnesses to the world, has made me want to make sure that I am acting as one accurately representing Christ to everyone around me (whether that means I go on a missions trip around the world or in my local neighborhood)
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
I love how Jesus tells everyone in his own way that only God knows what will happen and when. And all we need to do is trust that he will do everything he has promised to us.
“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.”
I just love the foreshadowing in this verse that is also discussed in Revelations. (Also known as a prophecy.)
Ahhhh, such a blessing to be reading Acts!!! Lovin’ every bit of it!!!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
It’s been sooooo tough being patient at Trabuco. It seems like every luncheon, event, or club meeting that goes on is awesome, but the people dont respond right away. However, God showed me over time as people started getting connected that I cannot speed up God’s timing. He will bring them to me in good time, and I just have to do my job in pray. It can especially get hard to be patient when we think about Heaven! We obviously would rather be in heaven than on Earth, but our time here is still extremely important. As eager as I am to get to heaven, I wanna see more people get saved before I go there. It’s scary to know that the lion has ALREADY devoured some people….and I wanna stop it at any cost. It’s the Maranatha mindset, but with a period. Like Ben said, we should be anxious to go to heaven, but fearful for those who don’t make it.
8 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.”
At True North, we really emphasize evangelizing and spreading the Gospel. With campus lunches and saturday night evangelisms, we always are getting out there to tell people the Gospel. Sometimes it can seem repetetive and boring, but we have to remember that we don’t know how much time we have left on Earth. The rapture could come tomorrow, and if I evangelize today I give people the opportunity of being in heaven with me the next day! We have to look to the future for our motivation. But, we also can look at the past. When we think about how much we sin, and how much Christ gave for us, we can do nothing but serve him in humility. If he went as far as to die on a cross for us, than we can sacrifice our time to preach to others how they can know God.
Maranatha.
Dude, I will be praying for your patience as you finish up the year at Trabuco!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
it is very exciting for me to think about the end of the worl when Jesus will come back! it is also very exciting to know that God has already set a date for it to happen. knowing that it could be at anytime makes me have a sense of urgency to get the gosple out and evangelize. there are sooo many people who havent heard the gospel however there seems to be sooo few people that are willing to share it with them. i need to make sure i dont fall into the people that do not share the gospel for whatever reason. i need it to be one of my top priorities.
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!.
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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”
O man, as I was reading this I was getting so excited. I cant imagine what it must have been like to see Jesus ascend like that up into the clouds! He is amazing and is so glorious, I cant wait to be in heaven with Him and worshipping the Father. That would be so cool if Jesus came back soon and took us to our home. But even though we should be looking forward to Him taking us home, there is a reason that He has not yet come back to take us. I want to make sure that I always keep the gospel and evangalism in the forefront of my mind so that it is one of the first things that roles off of my tongue whenever I meet somebody new.
Now reading your comment is getting me excited! We should encourage one another with the truth of the rapture all the time! ~ 1 Thessalonians 4:18
7,”He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.”
I think this verse is applicable to our lives in so many different ways and aspects. In this specific passage they are asking Jesus when He is going to come back to restore the kingdom, and he says it is not for us to know when this is going to happen. For God in his mighty power has set a day for it to happen. And I think that we are not supposed to know for many reasons one of them being so that we are eagerly anticipating the return of Christ cause it tells us in the Word that He will return soon and we should be watching for Him to come. He will come like a thief in the night, He is not going to tell us when He is going to come He will just show up. One other reason I think that we do not know is for the purpose of living for Christ every second. We need to have the mindset of that Christ can come at any time and we need to be ready for that and be serving Him every second of our lives and not be wasting it with living in sin and pointless things.
I think one other thing that we can take away from this verse is that Gods timing and will is perfect. It is not for us to know or try to find out. There are so many people claiming that they know exactly when Christ will return and all of that but here we see that it is not for us to know, and majorly we need not to question any of Gods plans and when He makes them happen for His plans and will for our lives is so much greater for us in the end. We might think that our plan is awesome and will be the best for us but that is not true Gods perfect will is the thing that will bring the most glory to God and that in the end is all that we seek!!!!
I like this chapter and how it talks about the leaving the plans of our lives up to God! So many times we get wrapped up in planning what we are gonna do in the future, we dont stop to think that we may not be doing the will of God!! We always must trust God for whatever goes on in our lives!!
MARANATHA!!!!!!!!!!!!
8 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.”
How are we doing at obeying the command that Jesus left? Are we being good witnesses for Christ? In everything I say and do, I need to make sure that I am bringing glory to my Lord. That means taking every opportunity to spread the Good News, as well as live a life obedient to his word.
I am really enjoying reading these comments tonight and chatting with some of you on Facebook. It is so exciting that we are starting the awesome book of Acts and I hope many of our True North brothers and sisters will join us in this!
8 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.”
According to this verse, we are the ends of the earth. And what a great opportunity we have to rep Christ every day in the high schools of the OC! I am praying that True North will be full of students who are witnesses and live their lives with street cred so that others will want to become Christians too!
24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”
I love how the disciples handled this really big decision with prayer. They didn’t take a vote on who was the most liked or popular, or even who seemed the most spiritual or devoted, but instead turned to God for the answer. All big decisions should be made with lots of prayer, instead of just the world’s standards of what seems like the best choice. God wants to- and SHOULD be- put first in our lives–always!!!
10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 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.”
Excited to be reading Acts together! These verses are amazing, that some people literally saw Jesus going up into the heaven is just incredible. It is also awesome that some day–hopefully very soon–we will see Jesus coming on the clouds to bring us to himself!
Tonight at my small group we were talking about how hard it is to stay standing all through your life till the last day. I am praying for those girls and myself that we will cast all of our distractions and cares to the Lord, never acting like we can bear them alone, but also that we would be strong in the Word, to resist temptation and even the Devil himself. Maranatha!
8 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.”
THis is a great verse. It is a reminder that we, as christians are witnesses for Jesus Christ! We must witness to the ends of the earth! It is amazing to think that the Holy Spirit is always there and he gives us the power to witness and stand up for your faith. It is always comforting to know that the Holy Spirit speaks through me and will comfort me in tough situations. I pray that the Holy Spirit will give me boldness and speak through me when i evangelize/witness.
8 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.”
this is a pretty good verse if we are christians we will be gods witnesses forever untill the end of this earth with the power of the holy spirit.
14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
The chapter talked of how there were 120 people gathered in the one room. “All these with one accord” shows that the bothers and sisters in Christ were united together. Christians should be of the same mind as one another. Romans 15:5 says, “May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus.” And when these early Christians came together to be of the same mind, they devoted themselves to prayer. Prayer is incredibly crucial to the Christian life. As individual prayer is needed in communicating personally with God, it is also important to gather as fellow believers to join together in group prayer.
To be honest, my prayer life is not at a premium right now. Recently, I have been slacking off more and not dedicating to God the time that I should be giving him in prayer. I usually have my largest chunk of prayer in the morning, and then pray smaller things throughout the day. Yet every morning is a battle between waking up and spending the time in prayer or hitting the snooze to sleep in 20 more minutes. And while it is great reading and posting every morning here, I know that I will get more out of my reading and delight even more in God’s Word when I have been close to God in prayer. And no matter how much time I spend in prayer, when I stand before God in judgment, I know I will look back and see how I could have prayed more. With this in mind, I need to be continually growing in spending time in prayer with God. From praying before meals and smaller things throughout the day to a solid chunk of time to come quiet before the Lord, I need to be praying continually, as 1 Thessalonians 5:17 tells us. I need to take joy in personal prayer, as well as joining with fellow brothers and sisters together to devote ourselves to prayer!
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
God has everything in his hands. This verse shows how he has got everything in his hands. Its not up to us to know everything. This verse just makes me feel better because God knows everything about everything, so I dont have to worry! God is in control of my life and It relieves me from all stress.
Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
The transformation that all these disciples experienced was huge! From being ashamed of Christ, these apostles became bold as lions to face even death with the testimony of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ on their lips. Now that is 116 status! I want to be bold! I want to represent Jesus Christ like these people. I want to be bold as a lion to share the truth no matter the persecution or awkwardness. For God’s glory! Amen!
Acts 1
6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
This verse is so telling of the overwhelming majority in Israel who believed that Christ would become their king and restore Israel to power. This sentiment was affirmed on Palm Sunday when they thought the messiah had come to save them from their oppression under the Roman Empire. Not even the apostles understood that Christ came to redeem them for His Heavenly Kingdom not for any earthly kingdom. These guys were very well studied in the scriptures and they still were misguided in the interpretation of the scripture. Jesus continues to let the apostles know that it is not for them to know the details of the providence of God. The apostles could only perceive things in a temporal way and not in the way of the Spirit which was given to them later.
John 16:13 13 When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come.
11 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.”
It’s been two thousand years since He ascended into heaven, and many of us Christians have been doing His will. it is the last stand, and while it seems like hardships have been piling one on top of the other, Jesus will come back! Don’t stop standing :D