• Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 31, 2024

    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…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 30, 2024

    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…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 29, 2024

    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…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 28, 2024

    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…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 27, 2024

    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…

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    Christian Devotional – December 26, 2024

    Take Action, Day 14 Hardships. Read Acts chapter 14. As Paul and Barnabas were moving through the area and sharing the good news of Christ, they really came to understand what the word hardships truly meant. Paul was stoned and left for dead. They were rejected everywhere they went. People heard the message and believed, but others were threatened by the message and retaliated. When we think of the Christian life, we don’t often think of the hardships that it entails. When we bring people to Christ, they need to understand that. Christianity is not the quick solution and easy fix. Jesus went through struggles and we will as well.…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 25, 2024

    Take Action, Day 13 Support. Read Acts chapter 13. Merry Christmas!! In our reading today, it’s time to extend the reach of the early church. As the leaders are praying, they receive the word from God that it’s time to send out Paul and Barnabas, so they lay their hands-on them and send them out. There was no special power or ability that was given by laying their hands-on them. But, it was a tremendous show of support. If we’re going to take action to be obedient to God, yes, we can do it by ourselves. And even if we are the only ones being obedient, we are still called…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 24, 2024

    Take Action, Day 12 Trusting God. Read Acts chapter 12. As we read this chapter, we see a man in a dire and desperate situation. Others have already been killed for their belief in Christ and now Peter is imprisoned with the intent of killing him. God works a miracle and saves him. But it always fascinates me the level of trust and faith that Peter had in God at that point. You see, not even an angel showing up in his midst was enough to wake him up. He was sleeping so soundly that the angel had to grab hold of him and shake him awake. For many people,…

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    Christian Devotional – December 23, 2024

    Take Action, Day 11 The unexpected direction. Read Acts chapter 11. Peter had quite an experience in the last chapter, and it certainly wasn’t what he expected to have happen. But, he was open to God’s leading. As a result, God moved and worked. Unfortunately, not everyone else was happy about the turn of events. Peter had to remind them that part of taking action is ensuring that we aren’t getting in God’s way. When we are following God, we will encounter situations where we didn’t really expect the results. But, we need to be careful that we are still seeking to be obedient to God. We don’t want to…

  • Devotional

    Christian Devotional – December 22, 2024

    Take Action, Day 10 Acting the same for everyone. Read Acts chapter 10. This is such an incredibly pivotal chapter for the early church. Here we see them coming to the understanding that God desire everyone to be saved. The message of God is designed for Jews and Gentiles alike. God does not show favoritism, and God desires everyone to come to repentance. We are to take action, as we’ve seen so much through previous chapters, and it’s important that we understand that action should be focused toward every single person. There is no one who is more worthy or less worthy of receiving God’s forgiveness. Are we focusing on…