Times of Refreshing - Day 162 Month 6-11 Week 24-1
Today's Reading (Bible in 1 year)
Joshua 22:21-23:16, Psalm 128, Jeremiah 40, Acts 3:11-4:12
Times of Refreshing
Peter is preaching his second sermon after Pentecost and he is speaking boldly. He is telling people to “repent and return so that their sins will be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.”
Throughout most of my career as a show technician, I was employed full time by churches. However, I also had the opportunity to freelance in the corporate show industry for the company I believe to be the leading north america company. I did it because the pay was very good and it expanded my show presentation knowledge in a way that I could use at the church where I was employed. I’d often work a full day at church, grab a quick nap in my office and be on to a show 3 hours later setting up for the next day. The show may take 3 or 4 days to be completed and maybe get 10 hours of sleep in the 4 day period. As you can imagine, I would physically crash and require some recovery time. These recovery times were times of physical refreshment. After a few days, the cycle of intense work could begin again for the next period of intense work.
In our Acts reading today, the disciples had just been experiencing a time of spiritual refreshing. They spent days together in prayer and likely fasting. They focused on what Jesus had directed them to do and through the power of the Holy Spirit, they became bold and took risks. Peter and John healed through Jesus, the lame beggar at the entrance to the temple. They redirected the glory to God for the healing of the beggar, preached a sermon in the temple right under the noses of the religious leaders and were put in jail until the next day. This seems like a bad ending but it wasn’t because in spite of being put in jail, 2000 more people became Jesus followers and now the church numbered about 5000. As we read on, we’ll hear that many of the apostles were put in prison for preaching and they used it as opportunities to share the good news about Jesus. By the end of our reading today, Peter is preaching to the elders and rulers of the people about turning to Jesus as opportunities to experience refreshing peace.
If you feel like you are under circumstances that are heavy and there seems to be no way out, why not turn to Jesus? Jesus offers you life and a different outlook. No longer do your circumstances rule you but Jesus rules over your circumstances.
If you are a Jesus follower and you have lost your focus, maybe today you can turn back to Him.
As I often mention, if you’d like to know more about Jesus or understand what I am talking about more in depth, please message me. My email address is below and you can also make a comment on my blog.
Have a great day!
Steve
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