LookingtoJesus

July 26

Bible Reading: Acts 9:32-43

Acts 9:32, “Now there was in Joppa a disciple named Tabitha, which, translated, means Dorcas. She was full of good works and acts of charity.”

We have a lot of quilts around our house. There’s one in the upstairs hallway, a gift from our church family on the first anniversary of our ministry at Lewis and Clark Bible Church. Every family contributed a square, creating a beautiful wall hanging. Years later, the church made another quilt with even more names as the congregation grew. When my mom died, Laura and some church ladies made a quilt full of pictures of Mom with her children and grandchildren, serving as a comforting and precious gift in a time of need. After Laura’s cancer diagnosis, our friend Nancy in Maine and her quilting group made a colorful quilt for her. Our dear friend Mary (now home with Jesus) made quilts for folks in nursing homes and assisted living centers for many years. Our youngest daughter used to help her weekly.  I deliver a lap quilt to every new hospice patient; lovingly knit together by a group of lades from the local Baptist church.

Like many Christian women I’ve known, Dorcas was “full of good works and acts of charity” (Acts 9:36). The main point of her story is the miracle of her being raised back to life, leading many in Joppa to believe in the Lord (Acts 9:42). But there’s another endearing aspect of her story that should encourage us all.

Dorcas had a heart to serve others, always looking for opportunities to share Jesus’ love. She had a special place in her heart for widows. As a hospice chaplain, I’ve seen how difficult it is for those who have lost a loved one. How good it is when someone offers an encouraging word or caring presence. Dorcas made “tunics and other garments” for them (Acts 9:39). When Peter arrived where Dorcas’s body lay, he found widows eager to show him what Dorcas had made. Those garments were more than just clothing; they were evidence of Jesus’ love through Dorcas’ efforts.

Dorcas loved Jesus by loving others. She used her sewing talent to provide and encourage those in need, making beautiful garments as Jesus made something beautiful of her life. The love of Jesus worked through her to bless others, demonstrating how things should work. You may not be a seamstress, but God has given you unique gifts and talents to serve Him. Opportunities abound—all you need is a heart to serve, and God will take care of the rest. That’s part of what it means to love like Jesus!

God weaves something beautiful of our lives when as we find ways to serve others.

BLEST BE THE TIE THAT BINDS
Blest be the tie that binds
our hearts in Christian love;
the fellowship of kindred minds
is like to that above.

Before our Father’s throne
we pour our ardent prayers;
our fears, our hopes, our aims are one,
our comforts and our cares.

We share our mutual woes,
our mutual burdens bear,
and often for each other flows
the sympathizing tear.

When we are called to part,
it gives us inward pain;
but we shall still be joined in heart,
and hope to meet again.

July 25

Bible Reading: Acts 9:26-31

Acts 9:31, “And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, (the church) multiplied.”

John MacArthur, who has faithfully served for 55 years as senior pastor of Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, California, has said, “You take care of the depth of your ministry, and let God take care of the breadth.”  That’s the dynamic that is evidenced here.

Our text lays out the simple formula for church growth, and it’s not as we might expect.  Despite continual opposition and intense persecution, the church multiplied!  It didn’t just survive; it thrived.  Having burst forth from the confines of Jerusalem, it expanded throughout “all Judea and Galilee and Samaria” (Acts 9:31).  It did so “in the comfort of the Holy Spirit” (Acts 9:31).

As previously noted, the church did not grow or expand because of any earthbound planning or effort.  It prospered because of the working of the Spirit.  Jesus had foretold of such things, saying: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper” (John 14:16).  The term translated “Helper” (akin to the term “comfort” found here) means literally “one called alongside to help.”  He is the enabler; the One who supernaturally enables us to do any of that to which we are called.  Without Jesus, we have no ability to do anything, but with the Spirit, who is responsible for mediating the presence of Jesus in and through us (John 16:14), we are empowered to go beyond the boundaries of what we believe is possible (Ephesians 3:20).

The same principle that worked to grow and expand the church is at work in the life of every believer, for the Spirit indwells every believer.  Spiritual prosperity, in whatever way we choose to measure it, is a heaven-borne reality for those yielded to the Spirit, thus allowing Him the freedom to work in our lives in supernatural fashion. 

Take care of the depth of your walk with Jesus, and God will take care of the breadth of its influence.

THE COMFORTER HAS COME
O spread the tidings ‘round
Wherever man is found,
Wherever human hearts and human woes abound;
Let every Christian tongue proclaim the joyful sound:
The Comforter has come!

Refrain:
The Comforter has come, the Comforter has come!
The Holy Ghost from heaven, the Father’s promise given;
O spread the tidings ‘round wherever man is found:
The Comforter has come!

The long, long night is past, the morning breaks at last,
And hushed the dreadful wail and fury of the blast,
As o’er the golden hills the day advances fast!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]

Lo, the great King of kings with healing in His wings,
To every captive soul a full deliverance brings;
And through the vacant cells the song of triumph rings;
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]

O boundless Love divine! how shall this tongue of mine
To wondering mortals tell the matchless grace divine:
That I, a child of hell, should in His image shine!
The Comforter has come! [Refrain]

July 24

Bible Reading: Acts 9:20-25

Acts 9:25, “But his disciples took him by night and let him down through an opening in the wall, lowering him in a basket.”

Rejected by a mission society, and yet determined to serve, Gladys Aylward spent her life savings on a train passage to China. That dangerous journey took her across Siberia on the Trans-Siberian Railway at a time of fighting between Russia and China.  The Russians detained her, but she evaded them and make her way to a Japanese ship.  Another ship took her to China.  Then she endured a long trip across China to her mission station.  Upon arrival at her post, the locals threw stones at her.  But God kept her safe.  She was later much used by Him to evangelize a region and even save many lives.

God worked a miracle in saving Saul.  He who had despised the followers of Christ, had become one himself.  He proclaimed Jesus to be the Son of God.  The Jews were none too happy with their former friend.  He’d been leading the way in the effort to eradicate Christians, but now he’d betrayed them.  Worse than that, his radical transformation and bold witness both confounded and frustrated them.  They met his first preaching opportunity with intense opposition and even plotted to kill him.  But God providentially worked—as he would countless times henceforth—to protect him.  His disciples put him in a basket and let him down through an opening in the wall.

Jack Arnold, “This was one of the most meaningful experiences in Paul’s life.  Why?  He was learning humility and dependence upon Christ for success.  He was learning that heritage, education, background, position and even zeal did not make one a success for Christ.  He was learning that God did not need his abilities as much as his availability.  Without this humiliating experience Paul would have never learned how much he needed Christ to carry out His ministry through Paul.  Paul also had to learn that when he preached primarily to the Jews, he caused trouble, for God was slowly teaching this young man that his preaching ministry was to the Gentiles primarily.”

“He would be a missionary simpleton who expected plain sailing in any work of God.”—James O. Fraser

GOD WILL TAKE CARE OF YOU
Be not dismayed whate’er betide,
God will take care of you;
Beneath his wings of love abide,
God will take care of you.

Refrain:
God will take care of you,
through ev’ry day, o’er all the way;
He will take care of you,
God will take care of you.

Through days of toil when heart doth fail,
God will take care of you;
When dangers fierce your path assail,
God will take care of you. [Refrain]

No matter what may be the test,
God will take care of you;
Lean, weary one, upon his breast,
God will take care of you. [Refrain]

July 23

Bible Reading: Acts 9:10-19

Acts 9:11-13, “And the Lord said to him, ‘Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.’ But Ananias answered, ‘Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem.’”

One can appreciate Ananias’ reluctance.  He’d heard about all the evil Saul had done to the saints in Jerusalem.  If the church had a “Ten Most Feared” list, his name would have been at the top.  If there’d been a list of the “Ten Most Unlikely to be Saved,” he would have topped that list as well.  Why in the world would God tell him to visit that man?  But that’s exactly what God commanded Ananias to do!

In November 1945, Chaplain Henry Gerecke was called into the office of his commanding officer.  He’d been assigned to the 6850^th Internal Security Detachment at Nuremberg.  Why?  To serve as chaplain to the top Nazi war criminals on trial there.  He was told he didn’t have to, given the unpopular nature of the task, but he decided to go. 

“The men he went to see in their cells at Nuremberg, Germany, just after midnight on Wednesday, 16 October 1946, were no ordinary prisoners. They were high-ranking Nazis sentenced to be hanged for the vilest crimes.  He walked with each of the ten condemned men from their cells to the gallows. He heard all their last words. Some expressed thanks and faith. Others stayed defiant to the end, their belief in Hitler still unshaken, even though he was dead. One condemned man even shouted, ‘Heil Hitler!’ on the gallows before taking the final drop into the darkness.”

—War and Grace, Short biographies from the World Wars, by Don Stephens, published by Evangelical Press, Faverdale North, Darlington, DL3 0PH, England

Though there are some in our lives we might deem irredeemable, Saul’s conversion proves none truly are.  God’s mercy is such that it can reach beyond any human set limitations (Isaiah 55:6-9).  The God who “desires all people to be saved,” may lead us to share truth with some “unsavory” soul.  In that respect, both Ananias and Chaplain Gerecke have left us with good examples to follow.

“The mercy of God is an all-embracing mercy and it breaks down the barriers that man erects.” – Alistair Begg

THE MERCY OF GOD
Thy mercy, my God, is the theme of my song,
The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue;
Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last,
Has won my affections, and bound my soul fast.

Thy mercy, in Jesus, exempts me from hell;
Its glories I’ll sing, and its wonders I’ll tell;
’Twas Jesus, my Friend, when he hung on the tree,
Who opened the channel of mercy for me.

The door of thy mercy stands open all day,
To the poor and the needy, who knock by the way.
No sinner shall ever be empty sent back,
Who comes seeking mercy for Jesus’s sake.

July 22

Bible Reading: Acts 9:1-9

Acts 9:1-2, “But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem.”

I love to read Christian biographies, especially those that highlight God’s intervention in a person’s life, to save them. Conversion stories, with their diversity and consistent themes of life before conversion, the conversion experience, and the subsequent transformation, are my favorites. One of the most radical transformations is that of Saul.

The Apostle Paul is the church’s greatest missionary, saving countless souls and establishing numerous churches. He authored more books of the Bible than anyone else and was privileged to have a foretaste of heaven (2 Corinthians 12:2-4). Despite suffering greatly for the gospel (2 Corinthians 11:23-28), he rejoiced in his sufferings, understanding their role in his life’s purpose—to know Jesus Christ better (Philippians 3:10). He devoted his life to ministry (Philippians 1:21-24, 2:17), and he fought the good fight and finished the course (2 Timothy 4:7), leaving an example worth emulating (Philippians 3:17).

Before all that, he was the church’s greatest enemy.  His own testimony speaks to his radical pre-conversion depravity. He was “breathing threats and murders against the disciples of the Lord” (Acts 9:1-2), locking up many saints and casting votes for their deaths (Acts 26:9-11), violently persecuting the church (Galatians 1:13), and being a blasphemer and persecutor (1 Timothy 1:13). Saul was actively engaged in his murderous activities at the time of his conversion. His reputation was so repugnant that God had to convince Ananias to go to him after his conversion (Acts 9:10-14).

Paul’s salvation was entirely the result of God’s grace. He acted ignorantly in unbelief, and God’s grace overflowed for him (1 Timothy 1:13-14). Paul explains that Christ’s ability to save him shows His perfect patience and serves as an example to all who believe in Him for eternal life (1 Timothy 1:16). If Jesus could save Paul, He can save anyone. Paul’s personal testimony, declaring that “He loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20), and his proclamation that “by the grace of God, I am what I am” (1 Corinthians 15:10), highlights the profound impact of God’s grace in saving and transforming a hate-filled persecutor into a love-filled Apostle.

If Jesus could save such a man as Saul, He can save anybody.

GRACE GREATER THAN OUR SIN
Marvelous grace of our loving Lord,
Grace that exceeds our sin and our guilt!
Yonder on Calvary’s mount out-poured–
There where the blood of the Lamb was spilt.

Refrain:
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that will pardon and cleanse within;
Grace, grace, God’s grace,
Grace that is greater than all our sin!

Sin and despair, like the sea-waves cold,
Threaten the soul with infinite loss;
Grace that is greater– yes, grace untold–
Points to the Refuge, the mighty Cross. [Refrain]

Marvelous, infinite, matchless grace,
Freely bestowed on all who believe!
All who are longing to see His face,
Will you this moment His grace receive? [Refrain]

July 19

Bible Reading: Acts 8:30-40

Acts 8:35, “Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning with this Scripture he told him the good news about Jesus.”

Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch did not find themselves seated together in a chariot by mere coincidence. The Ethiopian eunuch, an important court official of the queen of the Ethiopians, was returning home after traveling to Jerusalem to worship. The journey from Ethiopia to Jerusalem spanned 1500 miles and took months to complete, presenting significant challenges. Despite this, he was determined to worship God. Little did he know what awaited him.

Philip was divinely guided to his place in the chariot by “an angel of the Lord” (Acts 8:26). The same God who used Philip to reach an entire region directed him to this solitary soul on a desert road. It was all part of God’s plan. They sat side-by-side in the chariot, one seeking the truth and the other well-equipped to share it.

The Ethiopian eunuch was reading the Scriptures and had questions. Philip, filled with the Spirit, preached Jesus to him (Acts 8:35; NASB). The eunuch believed in Jesus.

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news” (Romans 10:15). There are no more powerful or glorious words than the witness to Jesus. In recent years, I’ve had the privilege of sharing Jesus with many people, often those nearing the end of their lives. It always warms my heart to meet someone longing to hear the truth. There are people within your reach who need to hear. These opportunities are never mere coincidences. God skillfully orchestrates them. Our role is to share the beautiful truth. To preach Jesus!

“How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”—Romans 10:15

I LOVE TO TELL THE STORY
I love to tell the story
Of unseen things above,
Of Jesus and His glory,
Of Jesus and His love.
I love to tell the story,
Because I know ’tis true;
It satisfies my longings
As nothing else can do.

Chorus:
I love to tell the story,
’Twill be my theme in glory
To tell the old, old story
of Jesus and His love.

I love to tell the story;
’Tis pleasant to repeat
What seems each time I tell it,
More wonderfully sweet.
I love to tell the story;
For some have never heard
The message of salvation
From God’s own holy Word. [Chorus]

I love to tell the story;
For those who know it best
Seem hungering and thirsting
To hear it like the rest.
And when, in scenes of glory,
I sing the new, new song,
’Twill be the old, old story,
That I have loved so long.

July 18

Bible Reading: Acts 8:26-29

Acts 8:26, “Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, ‘Rise and go toward the south to the road that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.”

Acts 8:29, “And the Spirit said to Philip, ‘Go over and join this chariot.’”

In serving God, it’s good to be ready to hear and heed His call.  The Apostle Paul spoke of the need to be “useful to the master, ready for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:21).  Philip, being filled with the Spirit and wisdom (Acts 6:3), was ready to respond to whatever God asked of him.  Was someone needed to wait on tables in the feeding of the widows?  Philip was ready to serve.  When persecution caused the church to scatter into a new region, Philip was ready to go to share the good news with those who’d not yet heard.

God called Philip away from a successful evangelistic campaign to meet with a solitary soul.  An Ethiopian eunuch, a court official of the Queen, was traveling to Jerusalem to worship (Acts 8:27).  Reading from the prophet Isaiah, he didn’t understand and was wondering as to whom the prophet was speaking of.  Philip shared the good news with the man, who then believed (Acts 8:38).  According to church tradition, the Ethiopian eunuch later returned as a missionary to the Ethiopians. 

The same God who led Philip to Samaria to evangelize crowds of people was well-pleased and able to direct him to that desert road to preach the gospel to a solitary soul.  Philip was in the right place at the right time with the right words to say—but not by accident.  The Ethiopian eunuch had a desire to know the truth, Philip was ready to share it—God took care of the rest.  Being “full of the Spirit and of wisdom” (Acts 6:3) Philip’s “here am I” response to the Spirit’s leading allowed for him to be used by God in a dramatic and fruitful way.  Are you even now yielded to the Spirit in such a way that you are ready to hear and heed God’s call?

I’m ready to go, Lord—anytime, anywhere, at any cost!

LORD, LAY SOME SOUL UPON MY HEART
Lord, lay some soul upon my heart,
And love that soul through me;
And may I bravely do my part
To win that soul for Thee.

Chorus:
Some soul for Thee, some soul for Thee,
This is my earnest plea;
Help me each day, on life’s highway,
To win some soul for Thee.

Lord, lead me to some soul in sin,
And grant that I may be
Endued with power and love to win
That soul, dear Lord, for Thee. [Chorus]

To win that soul for Thee, my Lord,
Will be my constant prayer;
That when I’ve won Thy full reward
I’ll with that dear one share. [Chorus]

July 17

Bible Reading: Acts 8:9-25

Acts 8:18-20, “Now when Simon saw that the Spirit was given through the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money, saying, ‘Give me this power also, so that anyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.’ But Peter said to him, ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!”

I heard a commercial the other day for a psychic outfit that was encouraging listeners to “connect with one of (their) specialized advisors to get the clarity and guidance you need.” Their service even comes with a satisfaction guarantee: “If it’s not the best reading you’ve ever had, it’s free!”  It’s sad to realize that there are folks who call them when God has extended an open invitation of salvation to whoever will call upon His name.  Only in Him can one find true clarity and guidance—and eternal life!

Simon had gained quite a following in Samaria!  The people, from the least to the great, “paid attention to him because for a long time he had amazed them with his magic” (Acts 8:11).  They even thought his magic powers to be from God!  He touted himself to be “somebody great” (Acts 8:9).

But then Philip came to town bearing something far more powerful—”the good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ” (Acts 8:12).  The gospel message is “the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16).  The people believed Philip’s message and were saved. 

Simon provided entertainment.  The gospel message brought changed lives.  Simon’s magic drew attention to himself.  Philip’s message was all about Jesus.  Simon later asked to be given the power to lay hands on folks that they might receive the spirit (Acts 8:18-19).  His request coined a term that has been with us ever since.  “Simony” is the act of selling church offices or roles or sacred things.  That’s his legacy.  Philip’s gospel worked to save and change lives, and even transform a city for good, in the cause of Christ.  Philip neither professed nor sought greatness, but his legacy lives on in the example he set.

The gospel alone has the power to save and transform lives.

CLEANSE ME
Search me, O God, and know my heart today;
Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray.
See if there be some wicked way in me;
Cleanse me from ev’ry sin and set me free.

I praise thee, Lord, for cleansing me from sin;
Fulfill thy Word, and make me pure within.
Fill me with fire where once I burned with shame;
Grant my desire to magnify thy name.

Lord, take my life and make it wholly thine;
Fill my poor heart with thy great love divine.
Take all my will, my passion, self, and pride;
I now surrender; Lord, in me abide.

July 16

Bible Reading: Acts 8:4-8

Acts 8:4-5, “Now those who were scattered went about preaching the word. Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed to them the Christ.”

Have you ever, like Jonah, resisted doing something God has told you to do?  In Jonah’s case, God worked despite Jonah’s reluctance to compel Jonah to obey.  A similar thing happened when God worked to scatter the church to new regions.

Jesus had commissioned His Apostles to bear witness of Him “to in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). The problem was that the Jews in that day despised the Samaritans, so much so that they’d journey around Samaria rather than pass through it (John 4:9).  More disturbing even—on one occasion—Jesus’ disciples asked Jesus if He wanted them to “command fire to come down from heaven (on a village of the Samaritans) and consume them” because they refused to receive Jesus (Luke 9:54)!

It took the martyrdom of Stephen and a great persecution to move the people of God to do that which God had purposed to do.  They fled the city, but “those who were scattered went about preaching the word” (Acts 8:4). They’d been reluctant to go, but once scattered, they scattered the gospel message and found lots of folks who were eager to hear.  Don’t shrug off that person in your life who is difficult-to-get-along with. Maybe God has put you in their life so they might have the opportunity to hear the truth about Jesus.  God is good at breaking down boundaries that way (Revelation 5:9).

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.”—Galatians 3:28

THERE’S A WIDENESS IN GOD’S MERCY
There’s a wideness in God’s mercy,
like the wideness of the sea.
There’s a kindness in God’s justice,
which is more than liberty.

There is welcome for the sinner,
and more graces for the good.
There is mercy with the Savior,
there is healing in his blood.

But we make God’s love too narrow
by false limits of our own,
and we magnify its strictness
with a zeal God will not own.

For the love of God is broader
than the measures of the mind,
and the heart of the Eternal
is most wonderfully kind.

If our love were but more simple,
we should rest upon God’s word,
and our lives would be illumined
by the presence of our Lord.

July 15

Bible Reading: Acts 8:1-3

Acts 8:1, “And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles.”

Time and time again, we find examples in the Bible where God shows Himself as being able to bring good out of bad.  The cross of Jesus stands as the preeminent example, as he triumphed over sin and death through his death.  The same dynamic is at work in the believer’s life, for God is able to cause all things (including things we would deem “bad”) to work together for good (Romans 8:28). 

Saul hated Christians. He did all he could to destroy the church and was even going house-to-house, dragging away men and women.  But when those believers fled Jerusalem to escape persecution, they took the message of the gospel with them.  Instead of hindering the growth of the church, the persecution had the opposite effect, spreading the outreach of the church into previously unreached regions.

John Piper has commented on this: “God rules over the sufferings of the church and causes them to spread spiritual power and the joy of faith in a lost world. It is not his only way. But it does seem to be a frequent way. God spurs the church into missionary service by the suffering she endures.”

We all face troubles of various kinds, but it’s good to remember that God is sovereign over the affairs of our lives.  God is great at turning our troubles into triumphs.  Our part is to trust Him, as we look for the good He will bring out of our bad.

God has no trouble turning our troubles into triumphs!

SO SEND I YOU
So send I you to labor unrewarded
To serve unpaid, unloved, unsought, unknown
To bear rebuke, to suffer scorn and scoffing
So send I you to toil for Me alone

So send I you to bind the bruised and broken
Over wandering souls to work, to weep, to wake
To bear the burdens of a world a-weary
So send I you to suffer for My sake

So send I you to loneliness and longing
With hart a-hungering for the loved and known
Forsaking kin and kindred, friend and dear one
So send I you to know My love alone

So send I you to leave your life’s ambition
To die to dear desire, self-will resign
To labor long, and love where men revile you
So send I you to lose you life in Mine

So send I you to hearts made hard by hatred
To eyes made blind because they will not see
To spend, though it be blood to spend and spare not
So send I you to taste of Calvary

“As the Father hath sent me, so send I you”