“’God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.’” Acts 2:32.
In Peter’s speaking to the crowd on Pentecost morning, he proclaims that he and the other disciples were eye witnesses to the fact of Jesus being raised from the dead by His Father. Peter is, also, giving a witness, or a testimony, to being an eyewitness to Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Not only did he see the events that he speaks about, he is bearing testimony to those facts to many people, follow Jews, who did not previously know about them. Peter was telling his story. He was laying out the facts for his listeners to hear, to judge within their own hearts, and to respond accordingly.
I am challenged to think through how clearly I present the story of Jesus, as I understand it, to those around me, who may or may not have previous understanding of who Jesus is. One, do I present the story, or do I resist, for some reason? Two, when I tell the story, do I “water it down” or do I present it in a clear, understandable, and truthful manner? Without getting all hung up about it, I need to challenge myself with this thinking. Peter’s life, as with all the other disciples, was dramatically changed as a result of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and at the coming of the Holy Spirit, and now, he was bold in proclaiming this truth! If Peter was transformed like that, I, too, can reflect a similar transformation, even though I was not an “eyewitness”. I can still be a witness “of the fact”.
How are you doing in telling the story of Jesus? Are you being a witness to the His resurrection? How is that showing in your life? St. Francis of Assisi was known for saying that he witnessed to the Gospel of Jesus in all that he did, and sometimes he even used words. His point is obvious: our life, not our words, is our prime witness or testimony of the reality of the resurrection of Jesus. Do you and I live in such a way that gives testimony to His resurrection?
Take some time today to reflect on your witness. What does your life say? Not just your words. If you are like me, it is a mixed report! But I desire to be a consistent “witness of the fact”. How about you?
Saturday, August 25, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
August 16, 2007
“’Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay.’” Acts 2:27-28.
Peter spoke to the crowd that Pentecost day about the ultimate miracle performed by God in raising Jesus, His Son, from death and the grave. Now, in this verse, Peter speaks of how Jesus’ resurrection impacts his own life, and, also, the life of anyone who chooses to follow Jesus. He talks of the joy that has filled his heart and the praises that naturally come from out of his mouth, as a result of the incredibly good news that he is not abandoned to the grave. Peter has realized that God has raised Jesus from the dead as the first of many, many more who will be raised up to new life, as well. The same God, who in deep love and compassion, raised Jesus up, has given Peter (and us!) this hope that he speaks of in this verse.
I must admit that on most days, I do not reflect on the hope that springs from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the hope that we have in God raising us up. I have to admit that I do not remind myself of His resurrection power, nor do I live in the joy that springs out of that. This is one reason that I struggle, at times, rejoicing in God. Whenever I do reflect on His loving act of raising Jesus from the dead, I am blown away by it and it causes “my heart to be glad and my tongue to rejoice”, but I realize that I do not do this enough!
How about you? How does Jesus’ resurrection affect you today? Do you find that, like me, you do not reflect on it enough? We put so much emphasis on Jesus dying on the cross that it seems we are more concerned about Him dealing with our sin than we are about deeper, eternal questions. Now, don’t get me wrong; my sin does need to be dealt with, and for those of you who know me, you know how true that is! And it is true about you, too, knucklehead! And, yet, I spend more time thinking about my sin than I do the positive impacts of the resurrection on my life today. Take some time today to reflect on the resurrection – on God raising Jesus from the dead and His raising of people down through the ages and on through our time, into the future. Think of the impact of the resurrection on your personal life. How does it affect you today? How will you live today as a result of the resurrection of your life to new life?
Peter spoke to the crowd that Pentecost day about the ultimate miracle performed by God in raising Jesus, His Son, from death and the grave. Now, in this verse, Peter speaks of how Jesus’ resurrection impacts his own life, and, also, the life of anyone who chooses to follow Jesus. He talks of the joy that has filled his heart and the praises that naturally come from out of his mouth, as a result of the incredibly good news that he is not abandoned to the grave. Peter has realized that God has raised Jesus from the dead as the first of many, many more who will be raised up to new life, as well. The same God, who in deep love and compassion, raised Jesus up, has given Peter (and us!) this hope that he speaks of in this verse.
I must admit that on most days, I do not reflect on the hope that springs from the resurrection of Jesus from the dead and the hope that we have in God raising us up. I have to admit that I do not remind myself of His resurrection power, nor do I live in the joy that springs out of that. This is one reason that I struggle, at times, rejoicing in God. Whenever I do reflect on His loving act of raising Jesus from the dead, I am blown away by it and it causes “my heart to be glad and my tongue to rejoice”, but I realize that I do not do this enough!
How about you? How does Jesus’ resurrection affect you today? Do you find that, like me, you do not reflect on it enough? We put so much emphasis on Jesus dying on the cross that it seems we are more concerned about Him dealing with our sin than we are about deeper, eternal questions. Now, don’t get me wrong; my sin does need to be dealt with, and for those of you who know me, you know how true that is! And it is true about you, too, knucklehead! And, yet, I spend more time thinking about my sin than I do the positive impacts of the resurrection on my life today. Take some time today to reflect on the resurrection – on God raising Jesus from the dead and His raising of people down through the ages and on through our time, into the future. Think of the impact of the resurrection on your personal life. How does it affect you today? How will you live today as a result of the resurrection of your life to new life?
Thursday, August 9, 2007
August 9, 2007
“’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.’” Acts 2:24.
Peter proclaims that, while all of humanity sought to kill Jesus and keep Him in the land of the dead, God raised Him from the sin-induced “agony of death”. Peter was making his proclamation to the large crowd of festival-goers in Jerusalem that morning so long ago, and God has been making this proclamation down through the centuries. Jesus could not be contained by the grave! He was made alive again, but not in His old body. He was raised from the dead in a new, glorious body! While death was the evil intention of those in the religious and political establishment, God, in His deeper plan, used Jesus’ death for other, ultimate purposes.
In my last writing, we were confronted with the responsibility of Jesus’ death. As hard as that is to believe (“How could we be responsible for His death?”), this week, we are confronted with something much harder to grasp, intellectually. We are confronted with Jesus being raised from the dead. We call this “the resurrection”, and it is the most outstanding, central event in all of history. And yet, most of humanity struggles believing that it could have happened. It is so hard for our minds to get around the concept of someone coming back to life, after they have died, especially after dying such a brutal death as did Jesus. Faith and trust become key ingredients for acknowledging Jesus’ resurrection.
For me, while I believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it is mostly an intellectual decision that I choose to believe. Unlike Peter and the other early followers of Jesus, I did not have the “luxury” of witnessing first hand Jesus’ ministry among them and then to witness His death, burial, and resurrection. Nor did you, unless you are quite a bit older than me! And yet, as followers of Jesus, many people choose to believe in a literal resurrection of Jesus. And through the centuries, many believers placed their lives quite literally on the line because they chose to believe in Jesus’ resurrection.
What do you think of the resurrection of Jesus? How significant is it in your life? Take some time today to reflect and to remember that the grave could not hold Jesus down and that God raised Him to new life!
Peter proclaims that, while all of humanity sought to kill Jesus and keep Him in the land of the dead, God raised Him from the sin-induced “agony of death”. Peter was making his proclamation to the large crowd of festival-goers in Jerusalem that morning so long ago, and God has been making this proclamation down through the centuries. Jesus could not be contained by the grave! He was made alive again, but not in His old body. He was raised from the dead in a new, glorious body! While death was the evil intention of those in the religious and political establishment, God, in His deeper plan, used Jesus’ death for other, ultimate purposes.
In my last writing, we were confronted with the responsibility of Jesus’ death. As hard as that is to believe (“How could we be responsible for His death?”), this week, we are confronted with something much harder to grasp, intellectually. We are confronted with Jesus being raised from the dead. We call this “the resurrection”, and it is the most outstanding, central event in all of history. And yet, most of humanity struggles believing that it could have happened. It is so hard for our minds to get around the concept of someone coming back to life, after they have died, especially after dying such a brutal death as did Jesus. Faith and trust become key ingredients for acknowledging Jesus’ resurrection.
For me, while I believe in the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, it is mostly an intellectual decision that I choose to believe. Unlike Peter and the other early followers of Jesus, I did not have the “luxury” of witnessing first hand Jesus’ ministry among them and then to witness His death, burial, and resurrection. Nor did you, unless you are quite a bit older than me! And yet, as followers of Jesus, many people choose to believe in a literal resurrection of Jesus. And through the centuries, many believers placed their lives quite literally on the line because they chose to believe in Jesus’ resurrection.
What do you think of the resurrection of Jesus? How significant is it in your life? Take some time today to reflect and to remember that the grave could not hold Jesus down and that God raised Him to new life!
Thursday, August 2, 2007
August 2, 2007
Here is another story from the files of Priority One:
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of having both of my sons join me at the Lake Champion men’s weekend. Josh had just recently moved back to the East Coast from Colorado and was settling with his wife, Heather, and their beautiful daughter, Bailey (No, I am not prejudiced!), close to the Hartford, CN area. Our other son, Mark, was entering his junior year at college, and was taking a couple of days off from classes to attend the weekend with his older brother and me. I must admit that, while I was very excited about them coming, I was very nervous about how they would like the weekend.
It did not start off well. Mark’s car broke down just a few miles away from his school, and we had to make arrangements on the fly for him to have it towed to the Lehigh Valley, for his mother to meet him, and for him to pick up another car for him to drive up to the camp. If that wasn’t bad enough, Josh almost did not come at all. He was going to get a later start due to his work, and was considering blowing it off all together. Once he decided to come, with the gentle prodding from his wife, he had to fight the horrible traffic between Hartford and the New York Thruway. It took him quite a long time, and he arrived right at the end of dinner.
The weekend went uphill from there, and the three of us had an enjoyable, fun time together. I could tell that, as the weekend went on, Josh, particularly, seemed to be relaxing more and was beginning to connect with other men from the Lehigh Valley and elsewhere. He, also, was connecting to Bart Campolo, our speaker that year. On Saturday night, we had a brief meeting time in which we gave the opportunity for someone to stand and tell briefly what God was doing in their lives, as a result of the weekend together. Toward the end of the time, in which I was moderating from the front, Josh stood to speak. I must admit that I was now REALLY nervous.
Josh introduced himself by saying that he and I had struggled in our relationship for 12 or so years, and that he had built up resentment and bitterness towards me, as a result of years of misunderstanding. He then turned to me, saying, “Dad, I forgive you, and would you please forgive me? All that I want is to be your son and your friend.” Needless to say, I was crying like a baby as I came off the stage and we embraced. It took incredible courage and risky-ness for Josh to stand up and say what he did. I am totally proud of him and am so excited about our relationship today. We have come a long way since that weekend, and I am glad to report that we are so much closer as a result of his courage to break through.
How about you? Josh took an incredible risk to seek to restore our relationship. Are there any relationships that you need to go back to repair? A son or daughter? A parent? Your spouse? Maybe there is someone outside of your immediate family that you need to go to. Take time today to resolve this, as Josh did, and to work towards restoration. Will you begin to do that today?
A couple of years ago, I had the privilege of having both of my sons join me at the Lake Champion men’s weekend. Josh had just recently moved back to the East Coast from Colorado and was settling with his wife, Heather, and their beautiful daughter, Bailey (No, I am not prejudiced!), close to the Hartford, CN area. Our other son, Mark, was entering his junior year at college, and was taking a couple of days off from classes to attend the weekend with his older brother and me. I must admit that, while I was very excited about them coming, I was very nervous about how they would like the weekend.
It did not start off well. Mark’s car broke down just a few miles away from his school, and we had to make arrangements on the fly for him to have it towed to the Lehigh Valley, for his mother to meet him, and for him to pick up another car for him to drive up to the camp. If that wasn’t bad enough, Josh almost did not come at all. He was going to get a later start due to his work, and was considering blowing it off all together. Once he decided to come, with the gentle prodding from his wife, he had to fight the horrible traffic between Hartford and the New York Thruway. It took him quite a long time, and he arrived right at the end of dinner.
The weekend went uphill from there, and the three of us had an enjoyable, fun time together. I could tell that, as the weekend went on, Josh, particularly, seemed to be relaxing more and was beginning to connect with other men from the Lehigh Valley and elsewhere. He, also, was connecting to Bart Campolo, our speaker that year. On Saturday night, we had a brief meeting time in which we gave the opportunity for someone to stand and tell briefly what God was doing in their lives, as a result of the weekend together. Toward the end of the time, in which I was moderating from the front, Josh stood to speak. I must admit that I was now REALLY nervous.
Josh introduced himself by saying that he and I had struggled in our relationship for 12 or so years, and that he had built up resentment and bitterness towards me, as a result of years of misunderstanding. He then turned to me, saying, “Dad, I forgive you, and would you please forgive me? All that I want is to be your son and your friend.” Needless to say, I was crying like a baby as I came off the stage and we embraced. It took incredible courage and risky-ness for Josh to stand up and say what he did. I am totally proud of him and am so excited about our relationship today. We have come a long way since that weekend, and I am glad to report that we are so much closer as a result of his courage to break through.
How about you? Josh took an incredible risk to seek to restore our relationship. Are there any relationships that you need to go back to repair? A son or daughter? A parent? Your spouse? Maybe there is someone outside of your immediate family that you need to go to. Take time today to resolve this, as Josh did, and to work towards restoration. Will you begin to do that today?
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