Kristi Burchfiel

Take Action, Day 24 A gospel of convience. Read Acts chapter 24. Paul was being held prisoner and the official who was holding him captive would call him out every so often to talk to him about the gospel. But, he would only call him out when it was convenient. It’s very interesting to think about the fact that some people only want to hear God’s word when it’s convenient to them. They are not interested in understanding the challenges or the difficulties. They don’t want to know about the problems. When we are talking with people about the gospel, it becomes much more about their convenience than the urgency…

Take Action, Day 23 Trying to understand. Read Acts chapter 23. Poor Claudius was so confused. He had a prisoner, Paul. Everybody seemed to be upset with Paul, and Claudius had no idea why this message was causing such an uproar. Claudius sought to understand and he listened to the message, but really didn’t get why everything was as bad as it was. He didn’t understand why people thought Paul was deserving of death. When we are sharing the message of Jesus Christ with those who don’t know anything about Jesus or God’s word, they can become truly confused why any of it matters? Why is this such a life-or-death…

Take Action, Day 22 Paul’s purpose. Read Acts chapter 22. Paul is sharing his testimony with the people. As we read through this summary of all that Paul has gone through, the people seem to be okay with everything about it until Paul explains his purpose. This one verse seems to absolutely drive them crazy. They are not okay with his purpose, and they do not believe that he should be going to the gentiles and speaking to them. Solely because of this they become so angry they try to kill him. Do we know and understand our purpose as clearly as Paul did? Do we seek to follow through…

Take Action, Day 21 Assumptions. Read Acts chapter 21. Paul has returned to Jerusalem. When he arrived the believers there were excited to hear his stories. They shared with him what had been going on in the city as well,. What we learn is that several of the Jewish Christians thought that Paul was not following all of the Jewish laws anymore. This was concerning to them. So when Paul started going around the city and in the Temple, those people started making up assumptions and sharing them with others. Assumptions can be disastrous to ministry. We can go into situations with the very best of intentions and through a…

Take Action, Day 20 Completion. Read Acts chapter 20. Paul shares about the hardships that he has gone through and those that he will continue to experience. As we read this chapter, we get reminded that the Christian life is difficult, but that we are to have the aim of finishing well,. It’s not enough just to start the race. We must finish the race. God has given us purpose and abilities, and he desires that we use those to further his Kingdom and share his message. As we close up 2024 and start the New Year of 2025, we need to take an inventory of how well we did…

Take Action, Day 19 The power of the moving of God. Read Acts chapter 19. As we continue to read through the book of Acts, we see another chapter where the power of God is demonstrated. People who are accepting Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior experience meaningful and dramatic change in their life as a result of this decision. God still does meaningful and dramatic change in the lives of the people that accept him even today. We are to recognize that this world needs a desperate change, and God can provide that. He is the answer to the problems and issues that we have been facing. As…

Take Action, Day 18 Planning with God’s help. Read Acts chapter 18. As Paul continues his journeys, he visits numerous places and finds incredible opportunities to continue to share the message of God’s word. Not only does he help people learn about and understand Jesus Christ, but he also stays and teaches and trains them so they have a solid foundation in the scriptures and their new belief. We see Paul having an opportunity to make plans when he’s going to return to various places, and he indicates that he will come back if it’s the Lord’s will. We need to understand that same level of planning. I love to…

Take Action, Day 17 Prove it. Read Acts chapter 17. As Paul was making this missionary journey, he encountered so many different types of people. Some people refused to believe the message of Jesus and became angry. Some people were simply uninterested in anything religious. Other people were excited to hear the message. The people in the city of Berea were very interesting to me. They heard the message that Paul spoke and then they went back and they did their own study. They did their own research to understand and prove that what he was saying was true. Do we take the words of others for granted and accept…

Take Action, Day 16 Come and help. Read Acts chapter 16. Paul is trying to figure out where to continue on his mission trip. Several of the places they were trying to travel to have been closed to them. Now God sends a vision that tells them to go over to Macedonia. They see that as the focus that they have needed so that they can continue to follow through on what God has been sharing for them to do. It can be easy sometimes to get a little lost in the action we’re supposed to be taking. It’s hard to understand our purpose and to always be walking exactly…

Take Action, Day 15 Disagreements between believers. Read Acts 15. Paul and Barnabas had done so much to start the work of the ministry of the early church. They traveled and they preached. They taught and they reached others,. Yet there came a moment one day when both got upset with each other. We will never know exactly the specifics of the argument. But we know what it was around a young man by the name of John Mark and the fact that he had left early on a previous mission trip. It doesn’t really matter why they were arguing, but it’s important for us to understand that there was…