Tag: world-view
Gentile Pentecost!
Scripture reading for May 19: Acts 10
“While Peter was still saying these things, the Holy Spirit fell on all who heard the Word. And the believers from among the circumcised who had come with Peter were amazed because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out even on the Gentiles. For they were hearing them speaking in tongues and extolling God. Then Peter declared, “Can anyone withhold water for baptizing these people, who have received the Holy Spirit just as we have?” And he commanded them to be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. Then they asked him to remain some days.” Acts 10:44-48
Peter was a Jewish believer in Jesus. The Jews were taught to maintain separation from Gentiles. But as Peter was praying, God gave him a vision and then spoke to him by the Holy Spirit, instructing him to go with Gentiles who would come to his home. These Gentile men had been sent by the Roman centurion, Cornelius in obedience to God’s instructions to him. All of these events were planned by God and designed to bring these Gentile believers into the body of Christ, His Church. They were also designed to expand Peter’s world view concerning Gentiles and their calling as Spirit-filled believers.
Peter went with the men to Cornelius’ home and found a crowd of friends and relatives awaiting him. He explained how God had planned this event and how he had come in spite of his Jewish upbringing and rules forbidding interaction with Gentiles. As Peter preached Jesus as Lord, the Holy Spirit took over the meeting and fell on those in attendance. They began to speak in tongues and glorify God. Peter and his Jewish companions were amazed and declared that these Gentile believers should be baptized in the Name of Jesus Christ. The baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking in tongues had convincingly shown them that God had shown no favorites but wanted all men, Jew or Gentile, to be empowered and saved.
Has God ever brought about events in your life that turned your thinking and understanding upside down? In what ways had the Holy Spirit been working in Cornelius to bring him to salvation? Though Peter was saved and filled with the Holy Spirit, why did God have to help him to reach out here?
Prayer: Father God, sometimes my past religious training and traditions have limited my willingness to love others and share Christ with them. Forgive my ignorance and fill me with Your Holy Spirit. Use whatever means necessary to bring me to a fuller Christ-centered world view. Amen.
The King from Heaven
Scripture reading for January 1: Matthew 1
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son, and you shall call His Name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:18-21
Joseph, son of Jacob, was a godly carpenter of the tribe of Judah living in Israel under Roman occupation. He knew God’s Laws and sought to live by them. His world view was shaped by his parents, his past history as a Jew, and by God’s Word. Joseph likely would have memorized the first five books of the Old Testament before he became a man at thirteen. He was a carpenter by trade and lived an ordinary life. He was betrothed to Mary, another of David’s line, when his world was shaken by the revelation that Mary was pregnant! Wanting to offer grace, he decided to divorce her quietly. But God broke into his world view through an angel appearing in a dream declaring to him, “Do not fear.” The angel explained that this child, to be named ‘Jesus’, was conceived by the Holy Spirit and would save His people from their sins.
How was Joseph’s world view challenged by God? What were some of the objections that he was being asked to overcome by faith? Would Joseph have been able to understand all the implications of the angel’s statements?
Prayer: Lord Jesus, as I contemplate these questions and this amazing story of Joseph and Mary and Your plan to save Your people from their sins, expand my world view as You did for Joseph and Mary. Help me overcome my natural tendencies and fears and to walk by faith in Your Amazing Word. Amen.
2025–The world according to Jesus!
Bible Reading Plan: one chapter of the ESV New Testament five days a week
Dear Friends and citizens of the Kingdom of heaven,
Greetings in the Majestic Name of Jesus Christ!
In Luke 21:33 (ESV) Jesus states, “Heaven and earth will pass away, but My Words will never pass away.” As we begin a new year, we choose to ask our Lord Jesus to guide us and transform our thinking, attitudes and resulting actions to reflect His eternal Word.
Our world view is initially formed before salvation by our inherited sin-nature that places us at the center of everything. Relying on the desires of our fallen nature, we easily succumb to the world’s pressure to conform to its definition of ‘normal’. We seek to create our own views of reality through our senses and whatever training is given to us by our parents, peers, and educators. Our world in America not only condones but encourages choices about our sexuality, our morality, and our freedom to be and do anything it now considers ‘woke’, despite laws already on the books or God’s Law which never changes. As those who have repented of our conformity to the world, we seek daily transformation of our thinking through reading and hearing God’s Word.
I have chosen the theme “The world according to Jesus” to guide our reading of the New Testament this year. I am using the English Standard Version (2001) and will read a chapter each day, five days a week, beginning in Matthew and ending with Revelation. As you read along with me, I will share in devotional form a passage from each chapter that helps me understand life and God’s plan for us. Please feel free to make your own journal or to comment on my posts by sharing what God is showing you. “Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17 ESV)
I am thankful for the Holy Spirit Who will help each of us to stay faithful and be conformed to our Lord Jesus and discern worldly habits. Have a blessed year of reading and watch daily for our Lord’s return!
In His Love, Pastor John Morse