Month: August 2024

Acts 4:18 – Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (NLT)

Why do many Christians resist sharing the Good News of Jesus with others?  I’ve often asked this question to various people, Sunday School Classes, and church groups. Common answers that I have received include: we don’t want to appear judgmental; we don’t want to seem hypocritical; we are afraid of being rejected; we don’t know how!  I’ve heard other answers, as well, but the overwhelming theme seems to be fear of failure.

In today’s passage from Acts, we have a picture into the Church in its infancy.  There is something striking about the early church – their dependence upon the Holy Spirit!  In the first five chapters of Acts alone, we encounter the work of the Holy Spirit over fifteen times. Here, in chapter four, Peter is speaking before the Jewish leaders, defending the actions of the followers of Jesus.  We are told in Acts 4:8 that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit before he began to speak.  Having been filled with the Holy Spirit, let us note what Peter says in verse twenty: “As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Peter was human. I think that it is safe to say that before receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter had a healthy level of fear of failure within him. That all changed when he was filled with the Holy Spirit! Because of the Holy Spirit, Peter could not help himself.  Perhaps this is why so many mainline Christians fear the Holy Spirit!  The Holy Spirit will move us forward.  Consider the last verse of this passage: “And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.”  Sharing God’s truth – and even living God’s truth – takes a boldness that we most often cannot find within ourselves.  Jesus tells us, however, that the Holy Spirit is available to us, and that the Holy Spirit will help us (John 14:16).

When we are weak – or scared – the Spirit strengthens us.  Today, let us seek the Holy Spirit, that we might be bold in word and action.

Posted by Ramón Torres

James 5:1 – Look here, you rich people: Weep and groan with anguish because of all the terrible troubles ahead of you. ² Your wealth is rotting away, and your fine clothes are moth-eaten rags. ³ Your gold and silver have become worthless. The very wealth you were counting on will eat away your flesh like fire. This treasure you have accumulated will stand as evidence against you on the day of judgment. ⁴ For listen! Hear the cries of the field workers whom you have cheated of their pay. The wages you held back cry out against you. The cries of those who harvest your fields have reached the ears of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.

⁵ You have spent your years on earth in luxury, satisfying your every desire. You have fattened yourselves for the day of slaughter. ⁶ You have condemned and killed innocent people, who do not resist you. (NLT)

Ouch! James has gone from practical faith to downright meddling!  Or so it seems when we consider this passage from a human point of view.  Does the Word of God condemn the rich?  Compared to most of the people in the world, and certainly when compared to even the rich of James’ day, we are the rich who live in luxury.  Do we not have most every desire of ours satisfied?  Then what are we to do with this passage that appears to condemn most middle and upper-class Americans? Let us remember, while Jesus certainly challenged the rich, there was only one person that he ever told to go and sell all that he had and give it to the poor.  Jesus was not anti-wealth.  The Word of God is not anti-wealth.  The Word of God is, however, opposed to those who value wealth over people.

Consider what the prophet Amos said to the rich women of the land.  “Listen to me, you fat cows living in Samaria, you women who oppress the poor and crush the needy, and who are always calling to your husbands, “Bring us another drink!”  (Amos 4:1 NLT)  Now forget the word ‘women’, this is the Word of God, so it speaks to all, male and female.  Forget the ‘drink’ in “Bring us another drink”.  In fact, you can substitute anything you want in place of ‘drink’.  Amos was telling the rich people that because they were living lavish lifestyles while people were starving, they were wrong and sinful in the eyes of God. 

This is what James is telling us in this passage.  Because God cares for every human being, we must care for every human being.  To have much is not a sin.  To have much and not be willing to give to those less fortunate is a sin.  Well, then, some may ask just how much we are required to give.  That, my friends, is between you and God.  You should, however, seriously talk this over with God!  It is the will of God that all Christians be generous.  Consider 2 Corinthians 9:6 – “Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. ⁷ Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” Then in verse eleven Paul writes: “You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and through us your generosity will result in thanksgiving to God”.

Each of us, this very day, will be granted by God an opportunity to be generous.  Let’s be ready for that opportunity! 

Posted by Ramón Torres

James 4:13 – Look here, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we are going to a certain town and will stay there a year. We will do business there and make a profit.” ¹⁴ How do you know what your life will be like tomorrow? Your life is like the morning fog—it’s here a little while, then it’s gone. ¹⁵ What you ought to say is, “If the Lord wants us to, we will live and do this or that.” ¹⁶ Otherwise you are boasting about your own plans, and all such boasting is evil. 

¹⁷ Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it. (NLT) 

Christian faith put into practice daily – that’s what the Book of James is all about.  In this short passage we have one of the most powerful verses concerning our daily lives, but first let’s consider the uncertainty of life.

None of us is guaranteed a tomorrow, today is a precious gift.  It is a gift to be lived to the fullest.  The Bible is full of such references to the frailty of mortal life.  Psalm 102:11 – “My life passes as swiftly as the evening shadows.”  All too often we become so preoccupied with planning for the future that we miss out on living life to the fullest right now.

The powerful verse from this passage is verse seventeen: “Remember, it is sin to know what you ought to do and then not do it.”  This brings the definition of sin to a whole new level!  We clearly know what sins of commission are – doing those things that are contrary to God’s will.  In verse seventeen we are taught about sins of omission – not doing the things that God desires.  We can live our lives with an appearance of godliness.  We can avoid, to the best of our human ability, sins of commission.  By our outward appearance many would consider us a fine example of Christianity, yet we can still be living a blatantly sinful life.  When we fail to do the things that God puts upon our hearts, we have sinned.  Was it God urging us to be more generous, and we failed to do so?  Was it God that urged us to speak to that person, and we didn’t?  When we know what we ought to do, but do not do it, we have sinned. 

We all need a Savior!  Thanks be to God that Jesus paid for our sins!  Today, let’s do two things.  First, let us thank God for grace and forgiveness.  Second, let us seek God’s Spirit to give us the strength to do what we know God desires of us.  By doing so, we will live life to the fullest, and that’s Good Stuff! 

Posted by Ramón Torres