Full Circle

March 26

(Acts 7:17-35 NIV) ""As the time drew near for God to fulfill his promise to Abraham, the number of our people in Egypt greatly increased. {18} Then another king, who knew nothing about Joseph, became ruler of Egypt. {19} He dealt treacherously with our people and oppressed our forefathers by forcing them to throw out their newborn babies so that they would die. {20} "At that time Moses was born, and he was no ordinary child. For three months he was cared for in his father's house. {21} When he was placed outside, Pharaoh's daughter took him and brought him up as her own son. {22} Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action. {23} "When Moses was forty years old, he decided to visit his fellow Israelites. {24} He saw one of them being mistreated by an Egyptian, so he went to his defense and avenged him by killing the Egyptian. {25} Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not. {26} The next day Moses came upon two Israelites who were fighting. He tried to reconcile them by saying, 'Men, you are brothers; why do you want to hurt each other?' {27} "But the man who was mistreating the other pushed Moses aside and said, 'Who made you ruler and judge over us? {28} Do you want to kill me as you killed the Egyptian yesterday?' {29} When Moses heard this, he fled to Midian, where he settled as a foreigner and had two sons. {30} After forty years had passed, an angel appeared to Moses in the flames of a burning bush in the desert near Mount Sinai. {31} When he saw this, he was amazed at the sight. As he went over to look more closely, he heard the Lord's voice: {32} 'I am the God of your fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.' Moses trembled with fear and did not dare to look. {33} "Then the Lord said to him, 'Take off your sandals; the place where you are standing is holy ground. {34} I have indeed seen the oppression of my people in Egypt. I have heard their groaning and have come down to set them free. Now come, I will send you back to Egypt.' {35} "This is the same Moses whom they had rejected with the words, 'Who made you ruler and judge?' He was sent to be their ruler and deliverer by God himself, through the angel who appeared to him in the bush.””

Stephen’s history lesson continues with Moses. God’s people were enslaved in Egypt, but began to outnumber the Egyptians. Pharaoh began a forced infanticide, but baby Moses was placed in a basket, adopted by Pharaoh’s daughter, and raised as an Egyptian. At age forty, Moses killed an Egyptian in defense of his people, and fled to Midian. After forty years there, God spoke to him out of a burning bush, commanding him to return to Egypt and become their deliverer and ruler. Moses obeyed. He had come full circle. There are two lessons here. First, when God wants a job done, He prepares His ministers, and waits for the right time to send them. Hurry and haste are not godly traits. Second, when God wants a job done, He often sends someone who has “been there, done that”. Don’t be hasty in returning to your “Egypt” -- God may send you full circle in His time. Wait on the Lord! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day     

 

Faith of Our Fathers

March 25

(Acts 7:1-16 NIV)  "Then the high priest asked him, "Are these charges true?" {2} To this he replied: "Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Haran. {3} 'Leave your country and your people,' God said, 'and go to the land I will show you.' {4} "So he left the land of the Chaldeans and settled in Haran. After the death of his father, God sent him to this land where you are now living. {5} He gave him no inheritance here, not even a foot of ground. But God promised him that he and his descendants after him would possess the land, even though at that time Abraham had no child. {6} God spoke to him in this way: 'Your descendants will be strangers in a country not their own, and they will be enslaved and mistreated four hundred years. {7} But I will punish the nation they serve as slaves,' God said, 'and afterward they will come out of that country and worship me in this place.' {8} Then he gave Abraham the covenant of circumcision. And Abraham became the father of Isaac and circumcised him eight days after his birth. Later Isaac became the father of Jacob, and Jacob became the father of the twelve patriarchs. {9} "Because the patriarchs were jealous of Joseph, they sold him as a slave into Egypt. But God was with him {10} and rescued him from all his troubles. He gave Joseph wisdom and enabled him to gain the goodwill of Pharaoh king of Egypt; so he made him ruler over Egypt and all his palace. {11} "Then a famine struck all Egypt and Canaan, bringing great suffering, and our fathers could not find food. {12} When Jacob heard that there was grain in Egypt, he sent our fathers on their first visit. {13} On their second visit, Joseph told his brothers who he was, and Pharaoh learned about Joseph's family. {14} After this, Joseph sent for his father Jacob and his whole family, seventy-five in all. {15} Then Jacob went down to Egypt, where he and our fathers died. {16} Their bodies were brought back to Shechem and placed in the tomb that Abraham had bought from the sons of Hamor at Shechem for a certain sum of money."

Stephen lifts up the early fathers of faith found in Genesis. Abraham believed God and went where he was told to go. Faith and obedience go hand in hand. His son Isaac became a child of the promise after years of waiting. Isaac’s son Jacob, was drawn out of his deceit and into faith, and was given a new name. Jacob’s twelve sons eventually grew into that new name, becoming the twelve tribes of Israel. One of them, Joseph, was despised and rejected by his brothers. Sold into slavery, but blessed by God, he rose to become a great leader, and with grace, provided a salvation for the very brothers who had tried to kill him. Believing God; faith and obedience; becoming a child of the promise; getting a new name; finding grace and salvation in one who was thought dead… all these are pictures of faith in Christ. It’s a faith we are called to emulate today -- the faith of our fathers. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Full of God’s Grace and Power

March 24

(Acts 6:8-15 NIV) "Now Stephen, a man full of God's grace and power, did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people. {9} Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)--Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia. These men began to argue with Stephen, {10} but they could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke. {11} Then they secretly persuaded some men to say, "We have heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God." {12} So they stirred up the people and the elders and the teachers of the law. They seized Stephen and brought him before the Sanhedrin. {13} They produced false witnesses, who testified, "This fellow never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law. {14} For we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place and change the customs Moses handed down to us." {15} All who were sitting in the Sanhedrin looked intently at Stephen, and they saw that his face was like the face of an angel."

Stephen was one of the seven men chosen by the apostles to help oversee the distribution of food for those in need. He also had prophetic gifts and began to preach the word of God with authority. He is described as a man who was “full of faith and full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom” -- “a man full of God's grace and power”, who “did great wonders and miraculous signs among the people”. The religious experts “could not stand up against his wisdom or the Spirit by whom he spoke”. When Stephen spoke, “his face was like the face of an angel”. Today we would call Stephen a “superstar”. Being a superstar for God will get you noticed, especially by those who oppose the name of Jesus. Stephen faced his persecutors and never flinched. Are you full of God’s grace, wisdom, faith, and power? You will face opposition and persecution. Take it as a compliment and shine! -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Shared Ministry = Church Growth

March 23

(Acts 6:5-7 NIV) "This proposal pleased the whole group. They chose Stephen, a man full of faith and of the Holy Spirit; also Philip, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas, and Nicolas from Antioch, a convert to Judaism. {6} They presented these men to the apostles, who prayed and laid their hands on them. {7} So the word of God spread. The number of disciples in Jerusalem increased rapidly, and a large number of priests became obedient to the faith."

(Romans 12:4-8 NIV) “Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, {5} so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. {6} We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. {7} If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; {8} if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully.”

New workers were chosen to lighten the load on the apostles, and the church grew rapidly. Ministry works best when it is shared. No one can effectively do everything. Spirit filled ministry is a team effort. Growth happens when team members concentrate on their areas of calling and gifting. The church must find ways to help people do what they do best. When leaders wear too many hats, their knees will eventually buckle, and the church will lack vitality. But the church needs more than just workers -- she needs workers who are Spirit-filled Jesus lovers, because Christ is the most important commodity we have to share. We must do more than just fill stomachs to obey the great commission. Compassion that is void of Christ may satisfy our humanity, but it will not glorify God. If we give people food, but fail to give them Jesus, we have failed to be the church. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day