The most recent book of the bible I finished was Galatians, and the last book of the New Testament that I have to cover is Acts. I’ve been hopping around over the last month or so to different passages in God’s word based on ministry needs over that time. But now it’s time for me to really dive in for myself.
I just got back from a trip to Mexico to build a house for a family in need with a bunch (53) of middle school students and amazing leaders (36). And one of the things that we did while we were there was to identify something that we wanted to leave in Mexico and no longer do, to essentially, “Put Off” and then to prayerfully consider something we were going to do differently (“Put On”) when we got back home, that the Lord was putting on our hearts through his Holy Spirit. In my case, the thing I am ‘Putting Off’ is “Skating through life and ministry” and my ‘Put On’ is to “Dive In & Go Deep”.
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 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. Acts 1:1-3
Here in the first couple of verses of Acts, we find that this is the second book that the apostle Luke wrote to Theopolis. I think the biggest things that stand out to me in just these first couple of verses as I get started is just Luke’s desire to call out the amazing proof of the resurrection of Jesus. How Jesus spent forty days appearing to several people and confirming his resurrection through walking into a locked room, showing the wounds from his crucifixion, and even eating and drinking to show that he was real in human form and had risen.
Lastly, the thing that he was doing after his resurrection was speaking about the Kingdom of God. Isn’t this exactly what we should be doing after we have been resurrected from our dead old lives? Even in his resurrection, Jesus was modeling for us exactly what he wanted us to do in our lives after receiving the beautiful gift of grace and mercy through his own sacrifice on the cross.
APPLICATION:
Well, hopefully this is s sort of obvious, but my application that I take away from just these first few verses in Acts is that I need to be living a life that is talking about the Kingdom of God in my resurrected life.