Category: Devotions

Acts 2:28

You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.

There are road journeys that are dishevelled and uneven that cause a slowing down.
There are roadblocks causing diversions which bring inevitable delays.
There are roads that are death-traps bringing fear along the journey.

Ever journeyed down such a road with someone only to discover the person and the journey weren’t who you thought they were and you experienced an unnecessary slowing down, delay and fear?
You are not called for such roads.
You are chosen for the paths of life where joy abounds!
He wants you thinking, speaking and acting in ways that produce life not death.
And the promise is of joy!
So next time you agree to go on a journey ask yourself can I trust that person? Can I trust that they will take me on paths of life?

Acts 2:27

… because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.

It seems very strange to write that on the morning of Tuesday 20th October in northern Uganda I along with 3 friends nearly died in a bad accident where our car rolled a few times. Battered and bruised we all walked out of it dazed but very thankful. As we were rolling I was sure I was going to die and in those moments I was thinking how I hadn’t banked on dying in this way before and that it was quite inconvenient! When I got out of the car I was thankful my surety was so wrong!
I am thankfully alive today!
But thankful also that even when the day comes and I am not here I will still be alive for I will not remain decaying in a grave!

For those facing death and those nursing death, the assurance of the resurrection of Jesus being our resurrection is all-comforting!

Amen!

Acts 2:26

Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope,

ALSO!

Because He went through dark days yes I will walk through valleys.
Because He died yes I will die.
BUT
Because He rose …
I also …!

Whatever the state of my body I live in hope. A sure and certain hope that whatever happens I will live.
You see friends, it is all about resurrection.
The resurrection is everything.
In life and in death.
That is why today you can be happy and you can rejoice.
You will live!

Acts 2:25

David said about him:” ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

Again to reiterate the plan and purpose of God for Jesus coming, Peter quotes David from Psalm 16.

At the start of this prophecy we are comforted today:
1. The Lord is before me.

It means He is my confidence. I the helpless wait upon Him my helper. He is always present.

2. He is at my right hand.

It means the place of honour and of most importance. So the Lord my helper is always present and is the number 1 in my life.
3. I will not be shaken.

It means nothing that comes upon me will cause me to fall. I will stand firm. My confidence in Him.

What great truths are ours today in Jesus!

Acts 2:24

But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Jesus went through the pain and suffering of death.
Agony.
Jesus was dead. Fully dead.

Peter moves his audience to the central issue of the Christian faith: resurrection.
This is not some eternal myth of a spirit floating in heaven.
This is the raw truth.

Jesus was dead. He was gone. But he came back to life. He was here again. Fully alive. Not an hallucination. Not some ghost. But in bodily form. Recognisable. With speech and hearing. With the same traits.
Death comes but it’s not the final say.
Resurrection remains.
What was true for Christ, because of Christ, is true for you and me.

Acts 2:23

This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross.

He was handed over.
He was nailed to the cross.
He was put to death.
But God was never in a crisis.
It was indeed something pre-arranged.
It was in His plan.

Whatever bad happens to you.
It sits in the hands of a good God.
There is a purpose.
You will see it.

Acts 2:22

“Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.

Peter moves from the signs and wonders in the heaven and earth pointing to the last day of the Lord to Jesus himself.
It’s like Peter was saying, “We have already seen signs and wonders”. In the life of Jesus. Jesus who came from a place that was low in status demonstrated the signs and wonders to you. “From Nazareth came Jesus a man like us, but different because God was working through him at the centre of your lives”.
The point is this: the signs have already happened. They can be found in the miracles of Jesus.
There’s no need to look anymore. He came. He was here right before your noses.
Jesus the sign and the Saviour that the sign points to.
How does that work? He is the first and the last, the beginning and the end. It is all about Him.

Acts 2:21

And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’

But it’s okay Joel says. Though it will be tough everyone can be saved.
Everyone.
Isn’t that amazing!
Every one.
All the people in your family, at your work place, in your town.
100%
And so Peter introduces the theme of salvation which will be talked about, preached and written throughout the early Church.
But first, Peter is at the end of the world, and Jesus is coming back and it is tough in the world, it is difficult to live. But it is okay because every person can be rescued from this terrible time. Whatever they go through, disease, pain, death, they can be found, they will be saved. There is a saving from the terror of our world. Salvation is now.
Some need saving from circumstances today that are brutal. Some need saving from others and some from themselves.
All of us need the Saviour for heaven but we also need the Saviour from earth.
Every person is included.
At any time, any place all they need to do is call.
“Jesus!”

Acts 2: 20

The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord.

Here it is, the day of the Lord. This phrase was always used as the very last day. The judgment day. That day may seem frightful to many but to the Church it is a great and glorious day.
Jesus is here!
Prior to that day it is not so glorious.
The sun is not shining and the moon has changed colour.
Last month we all saw the red blood moon and many have used this verse as an indicator that when it appears so does Jesus.
I saw the moon but I didn’t see Jesus. Though I will for sure.

The Jews were familiar with prophetic imagery. Here is an example in this verse.
The sun and the moon changing are the indicators that prior to the coming of the Lord there will be happenings that will greatly effect the world we live in. Traumatic events, world changing crisis points, sudden destabilising of all that we have known.
We are in the prior to the last day!
It is near.

Acts 2:19

I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.

These 2 distinct entities, heaven and earth, for so long separated by a void which every Jew hoped to cross are going to be working together in demonstration.
Heaven will be filled with wonder
Earth will be filled with fear.
Behind it all is the God of all who is showing that the days are coming to a close. The time is near.
Though we can only guess at the wonders of heaven, today, more than at any other time, we live amongst the signs.
But God is here.