Acts 1:6-11

Acts 1:6-11:

Then some of the ones who were coming with were asking him, saying, “Lord, is it in this time you restore the kingdom to its former state to Israel?  And he said to them, “None of you are to know the times or marked durations which the father placed in his own authority.  But you will receive a power after the Holy Spirit comes upon you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and even in all Judea and Samaria and unto the furthest earth.  And after having said this – while they looked – he was being lifted up and a cloud took him up from their eyes.  And as they were gazing intently into heaven while he journeyed, also behold two men had attended to them in brilliant clothing.  and who said, “Galilean men, why do you stand while looking attentively into the heaven?  This Jesus – the one who was taken up from you into the heaven in this manner – will come in the manner which you saw him journey into the heaven. 

Thoughts for Today:

First Thought:

My first thought goes along with the thought I put up for yesterday.  I’ve often heard people say they struggle with figuring out “what God wants for my life.”  I think it is because we don’t want to accept what God wants for our life.  We want God to pick something else besides what we know He has picked.  God wants us to proclaim Him to the world.  We don’t want to do that, so we think God surely wants me to do something else: be the greatest musician, the best doctor, the best teacher, the best politician, whatever.  Not that there is anything wrong with these things, but God is pretty clear what He wants from us: proclaim Him to the world.

How good are we at doing what Jesus commanded?  Are we His witness?

Second Thought:

Jesus scolds His disciples for wanting to know when Jesus was going to rule.  He tells them to focus on more productive things and quit focusing on when “they will be elevated into power.”  It’s kind of self-mongerish of them to be wondering when Jesus will become king and when they will rule through Jesus’ power.  

Are we any different?  Do we focus on the glory jobs or are we willing to do the grunt work that God asks us to do? 

Third Thought:

I love the angels’ comments to the disciples.  To put it in today’s slang, these “men in white” look to Jesus’ disciples and say: “Dudes, what are you doing?  The Man just told you to get off your butt and go tell people about Him.  But you are standing here staring up into heaven with your mouths gaping open catching flies.  Get to work!”  Sometimes I think we need the blunt to bring us back to reality.  

How do we spend our time?  Does God have any reason to send us an angel to look at us, shake his head, and wonder when we are going to get to work?  But this doesn’t apply to just us as individuals; what about us as a church?  What parts of our church (or churches or denominations) would God wonder if we are actually going to do something to proclaim Him?

Passage for Tomorrow: Acts 1:12-14