Opening your life to God’s Word on a consistent basis over a long period of time will slowly but surely begin to shape your thoughts, perspective, attitudes, and actions. You will start out just reading God’s Word and it will eventually begin to read you! God’s truth will challenge you and help you to see as God sees! Watch how God’s perspective will begin to influence you in ways you never imagined! Stick with the plan! Open your heart to God and He will transform you from the inside out!
In His Love,
Pastor Jerry
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. Acts 5:41-42
When they were arrested for sharing their faith, Peter and some of the apostles were threatened by the authorities and told not to share Jesus in public anymore. Peter boldly proclaims that he is a witness to all that God has done and will continue to obey God by publicly proclaiming Jesus. The authorities have him flogged. This is a public beating where people were literally almost beaten to the point of death. When Peter and the other apostles were released after their beating, they “left the Sanhedrin (religious council that threatened them and beat them) rejoicing that they were counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” Luke then calls attention to the fact that in every area of life that they “never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ.” Here is what rattles me about this scripture: They “never stopped”. That means that it did not matter if they were at church or at work…..they proclaimed the “good news” of Jesus. That means that their relationship to Jesus was not just made public “at temple” but in their homes and with their neighbors! My tendency is to play “stop and go” with my relationship with Christ! When I am at church, it is pretty easy to be open about the good news of Jesus. At the weekend worship services, I sing, I pray, I might even go to the altar but when I leave church…..things sometime change. I may or may not be very open about Jesus. My faith expression will most often be determined by where I am or who I am hanging out with. I’m not sure I have ever experienced what it means to “never stop…..proclaiming the good news of Jesus.” What about you?
What would your day look like if you “never stopped proclaiming the good news of Jesus”? How would it change the way you treat your family in the morning? How would it change the kind of employee you are at work or what your conversations might be like at lunch with your friends? How would you relate to your neighbors if you “never stopped” proclaiming your faith? I don’t mean some kind of weird…”in your face” kind of faith expression but an awareness that everywhere you go and with anyone you meet, you have the opportunity to point people to Jesus through your words and actions…..to proclaim the good news of Jesus!
Heavenly Father, I don’t want to be a “stop and go” follower of Christ. I want to live my entire life in a way that points people to Jesus! Amen.
Beach United Methodist Church
325 7th Avenue North
Jacksonville Beach, Florida, 32250
904.249.2343