Rocks. Ships Cove. Fort Williams. Picture by Jennifer Hansen
Our blog is inspired by the Holy Spirit.
The high priest rose up and all his companions,
that is, the party of the Sadducees,
and, filled with jealousy,
laid hands upon the Apostles and put them in the public jail.
But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison,
led them out, and said,
“Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life.”
When they heard this,
they went to the temple early in the morning and taught.
When the high priest and his companions arrived,
they convened the Sanhedrin,
the full senate of the children of Israel,
and sent to the jail to have them brought in.
But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison,
so they came back and reported,
“We found the jail securely locked
and the guards stationed outside the doors,
but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”
When the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report,
they were at a loss about them,
as to what this would come to.
Then someone came in and reported to them,
“The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area
and are teaching the people.”
Then the captain and the court officers went and brought them,
but without force,
because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
Emphasis mine Acts 5:17-26
“Go and take your place in the temple area,
and tell the people everything about this life.”
As I read the Gospel passage, I, we, reflected and realized this is a different statement from what we have heard earlier.
Tell everything about this life implies, no sorry, states very clearly, that this life, now being offered, is VERY different from the life the Jewish people have ever experienced.
The Jewish people, up until now, had the law written on stone tablets, and now the law is written for those who were baptized in their hearts.
We are talking about life with the Holy Spirit infused in your soul, which makes the Jewish people, and you and I who are Baptized, LIVING TEMPLES.
The first time I fully started believing that I was a living Temple got me thinking about the many times I had locked God out, knowing I could work it out myself because I did not believe God was in my corner.
What a fool I was!
A Living Temple. We have talked about this many times, but since this is the Second Week of Easter, let’s quickly review how this came about.
God frees the Jewish people from the Egyptians, and Moses demands God go with them.
God has Moses make a tent where the Presence of God resides.
King David wants to build a fine house for God but is denied because of all the blood King David has spilled in his many battles.
God had Solomon build a Temple where God resided until the Jewish people started worshiping other gods, and then God left and never returned.
What happened to the Jews should also be a warning to all of us. Never think you can just go on thumbing your nose at God and there are no repercussions.
There are, and if you are like so many others, you will blame God for those repercussions and never once thank God for all the blessings you have received.
After the Babylonian exile, the Jewish people returned to their homeland, but God never returned to the temple.
Jesus comes, is Crucified, and after He is raised from the dead, with His Father, sends the Holy Spirit into the Souls of those who are Baptized.
The “Spirit World” has been established, and the “world” has been defeated.
Wow!
Talk about a change; if we have the faith of a mustard seed, we can heal people, and raise people from the dead, to mention two; oh yes, I read 90 Minutes In Heaven by Don Piper. Don was in a bad auto accident, ruled dead by the paramedic on the scene, was prayed over by a Baptist minister for over half an hour, and returned to life.
The Apostles were sprung from jail by an Angel!
Also, notice it happened so the Apostles could return to the Temple and proclaim the Glory of God the Father.
They weren’t sprung from jail so they could go home, order pizza, and slap each other on the back on how lucky they were.
Tim Gray of The Formed made this comment on April twelfth. Pope Innocent IV commented on the Epistle reading of Peter and John healing the cripple that Peter commented that they didn’t have Gold or Silver, but what they had they would give, and they proceeded in the name of Jesus to heal the cripple. After receiving a bag of gold, Pope Innocent IV said to St. Thomas Aquianis, “The Church now can’t say we don’t have Gold or Silver,” St. Thomas Aquianis replied, “Which is why we can no longer say Rise & Walk.”
No, their job, which is the same as ours today, is to spend our life-giving Glory to the Triune God, so others will want to join us in worshiping a God of Outrageous Love.
If you want to join Team Jesus, pray. Thank you, Father, for the difficulties (Name the difficulty……………) you have ALLOWED in my life; I know you will take care of me. Pray this until you smile, and that smile tells you, you are back with the Holy Spirit living in the “Spirit World.”
Sidebar:
Twenty-twenty-three has been an exciting year so far.
Many changes are happening in my, our life.
This Easter was another example.
Gail and I went to Connecticut for Easter as we have for the past five years, but this year, Gediyon was the only grandchild also attending.
I reflected at the dinner table and remembered when the house was full of diapers and dogs, and it seemed chaos was the norm.
I loved it and hoped it would never end.
Well, this year, it ended, and I am sure Gail, our sons, and their wives realized the change that was happening.
Gail and I will see Gediyon and Brenna graduate from college in a few weeks, their college years went by way too fast, and all of us are wondering what will happen next as they go out into the world.
I will pray every day they find life in the “Spirit World” and the Joy that fills a person by living in the “Spirit World.”
We have to pass this along:
Now and then, I get asked why I use We and Us and not I and My.
When I read the Screw Tape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Lewis had a chapter detailing how satan wants us to use I and my because those terms are false. It’s NOT your life, car, or anything else.
Everything is God’s,
Why?
The Cross.
You and I can’t do anything on our own.
Period,
And if you think you can, you’re kidding yourself, which is why we credit the Holy Spirit at the top of our blog because I realize it can’t be written without the Holy Spirit.
Bill Emmonds, Heather’s dad, sent me a sermon about taking personal credit and leaving out God, which blew me away. Alistair Begg’s sermon is one of the best I have ever heard.
Log into YouTube, and in the search bar at the top, type:
The Man on the Middle Cross Said I Can Come
Pick the version that has the Three Crosses on a hill at sunset.
Thanks, Bill.
Picture:
Rocks. Ships Cove. Fort Williams. Picture by Jennifer Hansen
Please keep Snapping!
Remember, if you want to submit a picture, no people, please, because we have to get permission from that person to use their photograph; in the comments section at the bottom of our blog, tell me you want to submit a picture, and I will send you my email address in our reply on Thursday. By sending your picture, you consent to allow us to reprint that picture in our next book, God Thoughts 2023, with your name and any comments in the Blog.
