Ooh the Scriptures for this week! The Lectionary has four, three of which are so much fun and the fourth has gold in it too. Welcome to afaithtalk, I am so glad you’re here. This is going to be fun.
First let’s pray:
Lord Jesus, I’m asking for the words, the lesson and the focus because I see so much and I need You to drill it down to what exactly You want to focus on in the interest of time and so that the lesson today is one to remember. All for You, Lord. Amen.
Acts 8, John 15, 1 John 4, and Psalm 22. What a roundup. Some of the most fun stories to ever read.
So let’s start with the most fun. In Acts 8 we find Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch. As they travel they find water and the eunuch asks to be baptized. So they stop, get out and Philip baptizes him. This is what happens next…
8:39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; the eunuch saw him no more, and went on his way rejoicing.
8:40 But Philip found himself at Azotus, and as he was passing through the region, he proclaimed the good news to all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
Is that not amazing? The Spirit can physically move you not just steps but miles at a time. I love this idea. That the Lord’s Spirit can snatch us away. My guess is one day we will all have that experience but we won’t find ourselves in Azotus, we’ll find ourselves in the sky with Jesus.
These are the golden words from Psalm 22:
22:6b those who seek him shall praise the LORD
22:27 All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD; and all the families of the nations shall worship before him.
22:29 To him, indeed, shall all who sleep in the earth bow down; before him shall bow all who go down to the dust, and I shall live for him.
Praise the Lord, yes, live for Him.
Beloved, Yes, that is you, that is me, we are beloved. That’s how John writes his letters. This is from 1 John 4:9-11.
God’s love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them.
Love, Love, Love, it’s everywhere Love. Oh how wonderful it is to be loved by God.
And His words straight from John 15. Abide in Love.
15:4 Abide in me as I abide in you. Just as the branch cannot bear fruit by itself unless it abides in the vine, neither can you unless you abide in me.
15:5 I am the vine, you are the branches. Those who abide in me and I in them bear much fruit, because apart from me you can do nothing.
15:8 My Father is glorified by this, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples.
Yes, verse 5 is absolutely true. Nothing that will last anyway.
Bear much fruit. That’s what a life with the Spirit is supposed to do. Bear much fruit. And just so you can remember what some of those fruits are… this from Galatians 5:22-23a…But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.
Ah what a gift Faith is. Work it, Grow it, Use it. Share it.
I especially enjoyed the parts from John.