Acts 2:45 - Too much stuff

Last night I was preparing for a cluster meeting and was looking at Acts 2:42 which is a verse I think we should all heed. As I was looking at this verse I read around it to see what else was said co that I could put it into some sort of context and gain a little more understanding. While doing this I noticed what it said about the early Church in verse 45;

Acts 2:45
     And all the believers lived in a wonderful harmony, holding everything in common. They sold whatever they owned and pooled their resources so that each person's need was met.


Now we have just had Christmas, and I am sure that like me many of you will have received a lot of gifts. I don't want to sound ungrateful here but for me personally many of the things I received I didn't really need or particularly want. It is not that I don't appreciate the time effort thought and money that my family have spent on me, but I pretty much have everything I need or want already. And as a result I have far too much stuff, most of which I never use or need.

Now this has been a thought in my mind for a little while but I feel that with the direction my life is heading and the signals I feel I am receiving that something needs to be done about this in my life. I need to think about what is important in my life and trim down the excesses, streamline and become less wasteful. Get rid of all of the useless paraphernalia in my life and do something useful with the proceeds.

I know that holding things in common is not going to be easy or necessarily practical, but it is possible to collect together everything I can do without, sell it and use the proceeds for expanding God's work somehow. There is the old adage that one man's rubbish is another man's treasure, and amongst the things I own there is considerably more gold than rubbish. I guess that what I am saying is that I am planning on selling a lot of things, getting rid of the years of accumulated material wealth. And yes initially I will be hopefully turning this in to financial wealth, but with that I can follow God's plans and hopefully build up a small store of spiritual wealth that will be worth so much more.

As for God

Psalm 18:30 (NIV)

     As for God, His way is perfect:
     The LORD’s word is flawless;
     He shields all who take refuge in Him.

I would imagine that anyone who said that they had never doubted the Lord or His plans would be lying. As Humans we find it difficult to let go of what we want, of our plans and believing in ourselves. This causes us to ask questions and doubt God's plans because they do not match up with ours or they are not taking us in the direction that we want to go in.

So many times in so many different situations in the Bible we are reminded about God's perfection, the fact that His plans are flawless and in our best interests. In so many stories and parales we see that the Lord only wants the best for us and that in following His will we will recieve so much more than we could gain if we worked on our own.

Jeremiah 29:11  

    I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out-plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for. 

There is nothing He has not already thought of, nothing He has not already planned for. He knows what He wants you to do, He knows what you need to do all that He asks of you. All He asks from us is that we love Him and trust in Him to be there to provide for and support us.

Acts 2:21 (KJV)  

    And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. 

Do you trust in the Lord? When you need Help do you call on His name? I know that often I have tried to do things  without Him, I have struggled on without calling on His help. Time and again I have to learn and relearn the lesson of calling on Him to help. We must remember that God is our father, He wants only the best for us and for us to grow in His image. And like a father He is always there for us when we need Him, whatever the situation.

Isaiah 41:13 (NIV)
     For I am the LORD, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.

Acts 2:42

Acts 2:42
     They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal and the prayers.

Yesterday I mentioned that I have a passion for advocating the return to basics of Christians to constant prayer and frequent Bible study. Another thing I feel that Christians should do is follow the examples and methods of the early church.

Acts 2:47
     As they praised God. People in general liked what they saw. Every day their number grew as God added those who were saved.

There is no reason why we can not see conversions in the numbers that the early Church saw, we just need to go about things in the right way. We need to live our lives daily for God, we need to shine our lights as bright as we can day after day. We also need to provide support for those who are new converts as they grow in their knowledge of Christ. Nurture these young children of God as they grow bolder and more knowledgeable. When we live together sharing our lives with God and each other we become a strong united body in Christ as He wanted us to be. Through our unity in Christ we can do amazing things, without it we are doomed to fail. Which category of Church do you fall into, are you part of a healthy vibrant outgoing Church that is growing or are you a member of a dying Christian community? We all know how to make it work, we have the Bible, our instruction manual, isn't it time we all followed it's commands?

By grace alone

There is absolutely nothing that you could ever do in order to be saved. Nothing at all. It just doesn't work like that.God is not watching and waiting for you to fill the world with good deeds. Not that you should not be living a good life and doing good deeds, Jesus commanded us to do that. It is just that our salvation is not based on it.

Acts 4:12
    Salvation comes no other way; no other name has been or will be given to us by which we can be saved, only this one."

It is only through Christ that we can reach salvation, only through His love can we be made right with God. Jesus was sent into the world to bring the grace that makes us right with God, He was the solution to the problem of sin. By accepting Jesus into our lives and loving Him we can be saved. He knows our limitations and our natures, He knows we will sin again and again. Through the love of Jesus for us though we can be relieved from the guilt of this sin, we can be made right and brought before God by Him.

Those who love Jesus and have accepted Him totally into their lives have been given the Holy Spirit to help and lead us in our daily lives. If we have the Holy Spirit in our lives then we will be fruitful Christians, we will follow the teachings of Christ and do what He commands. That does not mean we will never sin again, but it does mean that when we do, if we repent, ask for forgiveness from Jesus it will be granted and we will be washed clean. Accept God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit into your life, follow the way Christ lay down for us and have eternal life in Him.

Christian fasting

When it was first suggested to me to blog on this topic I didn't really know much about fasting as a Christian. I was under the impression that it was a case of not eating for a period of time. On further study however it is so much more than that. Fasting is not Biblically required in any way. Although there are cases in the Bible of Christ and His followers fasting there is no commandment for us to fast. Even so fasting can be useful for Christians in drawing closer to God.

Fasting is not all about giving up food and starving yourself. It is possible to fast by giving up any worldly thing that distracts you from God. Choosing to give up television or the internet for a period of time in order to spend more time praying is as much fasting as not eating for a period of time. The aim is not to punish yourself or suffer because of the fast, but to grow closer to God. It is about showing that we are serious about our relationship with God in that we will give up something of the world for a period of time in order to spend that time with God.

I did look into some of the rules for fasting that are used in various Christian denominations and to be honest I was surprised by what I found. There are many ways of fasting that even though you are "giving up" food you are still able to eat. For example in the Catholic tradition a partial fast allows you to have one meat meal per day and two small meals not containing meat providing the two smaller meals are not greater than the large meal. Other rules include just giving up dairy, not eating meat or only eating during the hours between sun set and sun rise. There are many different methods of fasting and this leads to a huge amount of flexibility. This flexibility come mostly from the fact that fasting is not something we have been told we must do, we have not been given guidelines to follow in this. Therefore we are able to fast in what ever way works best for us in order to commit to God and spend time in fellowship and communion with Him.

So fasting, there are no hard and fast rules. We are all aware of the time of Lent and giving something up as Jesus fasted in the wilderness. This is a kind of fasting, and some people do go to the level of giving up food and fasting for lent with caveats such as only eating plain foods or only one meal before sunrise. Whatever the method of fasting there should only be one reason to do so, in praise and honour of God, as a method of exalting Him and growing close to Him. It should not be done as a show of faith or a way of proving how good a Christian you are. Fasting is a private choice made by someone in their walk with God in order to concentrate more fully on Him.

Acts 14:23   

    Paul and Barnabas handpicked leaders in each church. After praying-their prayers intensified by fasting-they presented these new leaders to the Master to whom they had entrusted their lives. 

Lord of the Rings

Lord of the Rings in my opinion has to take the title of the best film adaptation of a book ever. With the exception of Tom Bombadil being left out there was almost nothing I was upset or disappointed by in this trilogy. There is some fantastic cinematography and images in these films, some absolutely breathtaking scenes.

One scene in particular has always jumped out at me. In fact it is not really the scene as it appears in the film, but a slight modification. This refers back to about 6 years ago before I "left" the Church and tried to make it on my own. While spending time at a Christian residential I experienced the closest thing to a vision I have ever had. One night while sat in a prayer meeting I saw as if I was part of it the scene from the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring where the combined forces of Men and Elves are fighting Sauron's armies. It was at this point it changed from what is shown in the film. Instead of the great evil, dark form of Sauron entering the battle, I saw a figure standing gleaming white. The light coming from the white figure was so bright it was impossible to see the source other than it was human shaped. Yet even though the light was too bright to see what was at the centre it was not painful to look at. The white figure then proceeded to attack the evil enemy in huge numbers, each swing of his sword.

Now I am not one inclined to visions, and my scientific mind can provide lots of explanations for such occurrences. However the fact that this was during one of the hardest and darkest moments of my life I feel it was not a freak or chance occurrence.

Joel 2:28 and Acts 2:17
        "In the Last Days," God says,
        "I will pour out my Spirit
            on every kind of people:
        Your sons will prophesy,
            also your daughters;
        Your young men will see visions,
            your old men dream dreams.

I think on subjects like this we should be wary about visions and their meanings. God is not the only one who uses visions, God is not the only one who talks to us. We can be under attack from the enemy so easily, and he is a formidable force. The only way to fight back is using the help of God. However attacks form the enemy can be seen to be such, nothing from the enemy can lift you like help from God. The enemy does not have it in him to be good, kind or nice. We should remember that God is the greatest, He is the strongest, He was the first and will be the last.

Revelations 1:8 (KJV)
    I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the ending, saith the Lord, which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.

A vision as simple as showing the greatness of God, showing God fighting against the enemy is not likely to come from the enemy. He does not want us to think he can be defeated. He does not want us to realise that using God's power we can send him packing with his tail between his legs.

Matthew 8:28-29
    They landed in the country of the Gadarenes and were met by two madmen, victims of demons, coming out of the cemetery. The men had terrorized the region for so long that no one considered it safe to walk down that stretch of road anymore. Seeing Jesus, the madmen screamed out, "What business do you have giving us a hard time? You're the Son of God! You weren't supposed to show up here yet!"

Jesus had power and authority over any and all daemons. They knew who He was and they were afraid of His power, because of this they obeyed His commands. Jesus passed on this authority to His believers, He gave us the power over daemons when using His name.

Acts 16:18
    She did this for a number of days until Paul, finally fed up with her, turned and commanded the spirit that possessed her, "Out! In the name of Jesus Christ, get out of her!" And it was gone, just like that.

Mark 16:17 (KJV)

    And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

In my life I have not been blessed with many very close encounters with God. Yet the few I have been blessed enough to experience have been awe inspiring and powerful, at least to me. I may not be a person who sees visions and can hear the voice of God regularly. I struggle to see signs and directions from God most of the time. But even though this is the case I know God is there talking to me all the time, in all situations, in all things. What I need to do is learn to listen to him, I need to quieten my mind to the world in order to hear more clearly. I need to learn to see with eyes that are not clouded by the distractions of this world. I am not naive enough to think I can get to a point where all my conversations with God are as clear as talking to another person but it is a good target to aim for. If I actively work on my relationship with God, spend time alone with Him looking and listening then hopefully I can learn to better hear and see Him.

Struggling with timing

Acts 1:7
    He told them, "You don't get to know the time. Timing is the Father's business.

A friend of mine is having a bit of a struggle at the moment, and I hope she doesn't mind this post but it is intended to help. The issue is down to timing, certain things are not happening to their schedule and it is causing some discomfort. The thing is, God does not work to the same time scales or schedules as humans do.

2 Peter 3:8-9
    Don't overlook the obvious here, friends. With God, one day is as good as a thousand years, a thousand years as a day. God isn't late with his promise as some measure lateness. He is restraining himself on account of you, holding back the End because he doesn't want anyone lost. He's giving everyone space and time to change.

Although we may worry because things do not seem to be happening how or when we would like or expect does not mean God has forgotten or is late. We may be made to wait a long time before things that were promised come to pass. Look at Abraham, he was 100 when Isaac was born. Another friend of mine has a phrase she uses regularly when talking about God's plans. "God doesn't work on time scales we see as reasonable." Sometimes that means that we have to wait for the plan to come to fruition, sometimes it requires that we wait to find out what the plan is. I know my friend knows all of this and that she trusts God to bring everything to a successful conclusion. However we also need to remember that God never wastes an opportunity, he uses the time we are waiting to teach us things we need to learn. Sometimes the lesson we need to learn is to trust in him, other times it is patience or any other lesson. God has plans for each of us and they all work out in His time. Do not try and rush God, try not to get frustrated or angry because you want Him to do things to your schedule. Instead ask yourself, what could God be trying to teach me, what might he be wanting me to get out of this experience. God does nothing without reason and when we look back we can see the sense and reason behind each action. We just need to trust Him, to fully rely on Him and then we will have an inner peace which comes from being completely in His hands.

Christian friends

I have some amazing friends, I haven't always. Until I began attending my Church I had a lot of friends, but no one I could rely on. I thought I had good friends, but time and again I would be let down or left short on something. It has come as quite a shock to me that I have managed to acquire such good friends over such a short period of time. These friends have been there when I have needed them most, they have helped me get through some tough times. Even without knowing it they have done so much for me and asked for nothing in return. It has helped my spiritual growth so much to have Christian friends, it has made fixing my problems and issues much easier than if I had been doing it alone.

Jesus never intended us to be in this spiritual journey alone;

Matthew 18:20
    And when two or three of you are together because of me, you can be sure that I'll be there."

Jesus could just have as easily said that "whenever anyone is worshipping my name or doing good in my name, I'll be there". But we are not supposed to be alone in this, we are supposed to be part of His Church, we are supposed to gather and work together.

Matthew 18:19
    When two of you get together on anything at all on earth and make a prayer of it, my Father in heaven goes into action.

This does not mean that God will not answer our individual prayers, but it is a clear sign that both God and Jesus intended us to work together. As the Church we are the body of Christ, and we have all heard the story about how each part of the body must do their job and by working together as a whole the work gets done. Very often in Churches because they are made up of humans we have disagreements and arguments. This will always happen and does not make you a bad Christian. However the way we act in these situations does say a lot about our faith.

Matthew 5:9 (KJV)
    Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.

From time to time there will be situations where we do not agree with the path our Church is taking, or someone's actions within out Church. Jesus is not saying we should just accept the situation and "lose". He is instructing us to do what is necessary to solve the problem but with as little friction as possible, leaving the best impression of being Christlike.

Regular gatherings are also an important part of Christian life. We should be meeting with other Christians often to pray, worship and eat.

Acts 2:42
    They committed themselves to the teaching of the apostles, the life together, the common meal, and the prayers.

By gathering together like this, as a family, we are strengthening the bonds within our fellowship. All three activities are most enjoyable and productive when done in a group. Jesus was not a hermit or a lone wandering preacher, He surrounded Himself with His disciples. He gave us a model for the Church by his dealings with the disciples. How to act, how to follow, how to learn and teach but also in how to gather. The early Church would gather in each others houses to pray worship and eat together, why should we be any different 2000 years on.

So far I have talked about gathering in groups and Jesus wanting us to be together. But there are times in life where we need to be alone or cannot be surrounded by our Church for whatever reason. We are provided for in these situations;

John 14:16 

    I will talk to the Father, and he'll provide you another Friend so that you will always have someone with you. 

The Holy Spirit was given to us so that we would never be alone, the Spirit is our constant companion as a Christian. God promised to always be there for us and to carry us when we can not bear the load. It is through the spirit that this promise is fulfilled. The spirit is a wonderful gift and ensures we are never left alone, however it can not be seen as a replacement for the Church, there should be no such thing as a lone Christian. There are however situations where Christ instructed us to be alone, to remove ourselves from the bustle of daily life;

Matthew 6:6

    "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense his grace. 

But this is not a commandment to become a hermit or lead a life of isolation. It is Jesus showing us that at times we require the stillness of being alone in order to fully immerse ourselves in the presence of God. After which we should return to our Church and our lives.

These are just my thoughts which have been triggered by conversations with friends recently. But I know from my experiences with Churches I have attended in the past that when only meeting on a Sunday or even less frequently, the health of a Church decline rapidly. We should not let divisions in our Churches become permanent, we should always be on the lookout for how to heal hurts and fix problems in a way that is best for everyone. A Church is a community which cannot exist in isolation, we must work together within our own Churches but also with The Church in general. This is not a new situation, in fact it has been with the Church from the beginning;

1 Corinthians 3:4-6

    When one of you says, "I'm on Paul's side," and another says, "I'm for Apollos," aren't you being totally infantile? 

    Who do you think Paul is, anyway? Or Apollos, for that matter? Servants, both of us-servants who waited on you as you gradually learned to entrust your lives to our mutual Master. We each carried out our servant assignment.  I planted the seed, Apollos watered the plants, but God made you grow.  

As I already said, disagreements and divisions are an inevitable outcome of having humans together. But at the end of the day we have to remember that we are not just humans, we are also Christians too and should act accordingly when our human nature causes problems.

Finally, Jesus left us with His promises and instructions, I would like to leave you with the one bellow as I feel it is a fitting end to what has become a slightly epic post. I apologise for the length but hope that you find it as helpful to read as I have in writing it.

Matthew 28:20

    Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."