Thinking Outside the Box

May 27

(Acts 11:7-12 NIV) ““Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' {8} "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' {9} "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' {10} This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. {11} "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. {12} The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house.””

(Isaiah 43:19 NIV) "See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the desert and streams in the wasteland."

God often calls us to do things that we wouldn’t ordinarily do, in ways we’ve never done it before. This is what happened to Peter. One phrase we use today to express this concept is “thinking outside the box”. In Peter’s vision, the Lord called him to think outside the box. God was doing a new thing! The church would need to greatly expand its box. Today, many churches have a box that everyone is expected to fit into, and woe to the person who thinks outside of that particular box. But many people that Jesus wants to save do not fit in the average church’s box. It must grieve the Holy Spirit that while Jesus is building a mansion in glory, His church seems to be consumed with box- making. And while God’s people strain to maintain their precious little boxes, Jesus comes along and says, “Your boxes are way too small.” In these last days, it’s time to think outside the box. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Repentance Unto Life

May 26

(Acts 11:18 NIV) “When they heard this, they had no further objections and praised God, saying, "So then, God has granted even the Gentiles repentance unto life.""

(Luke 5:32 NIV) "I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.""

(2 Corinthians 7:10 NIV) "Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death."

(Isaiah 30:15 NIV) "This is what the Sovereign Lord, the Holy One of Israel, says: "In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it."

The early church soon concluded that even Gentiles had been granted the opportunity to repent and receive new life in Jesus. What does it mean to be granted repentance unto life? It is the combination of God’s sovereign grace and our free will. First, it is a grant. We do not have to pay it back. We cannot pay it back. We have been granted salvation. It is by grace we have been saved. But the grant is for an opportunity. We have been given the opportunity to choose -- to believe in faith that Jesus saves. We can receive God’s gift, or refuse it. We can repent and receive eternal life, or we can decline God’s offer and continue to live in the darkness of death. Repentance unto life means choosing to let God change our life. We abandon our old destructive behavior, and embrace new life- giving behaviors. We are born again into a new life with Christ. Have you repented unto life? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Opposing God

May 25

(Acts 11:16-17 NIV) “Then I remembered what the Lord had said: 'John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.' {17} So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?”

(Hebrews 11:7 NIV) “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.”

(Jonah 1:1-3 NIV) “The word of the Lord came to Jonah son of Amittai: {2} "Go to the great city of Nineveh and preach against it, because its wickedness has come up before me." {3} But Jonah ran away from the Lord and headed for Tarshish. He went down to Joppa, where he found a ship bound for that port. After paying the fare, he went aboard and sailed for Tarshish to flee from the Lord.”

When God calls us to go somewhere, and do something for him and we refuse, we end up opposing God. When Jonah refused to go to Nineveh, he was opposing God. If Noah had declined to build an ark, he would have been opposing God. And if Peter had not obeyed the vision and gone to the household of Cornelius, he would have been opposing God. Today, when we will not go where the Lord tells us to go, or do what He calls us to do we also end up opposing God. How foolish can we be? Each one of us has some kind of calling on our life that could reach a household somewhere for Jesus. Maybe it’s a household across the sea. Maybe it’s the household across the street. Maybe it’s even our own household. Go where the Spirit tells you to go, and do what He calls you to do, or join the ranks of those opposing God. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

Sharing Our Story

May 24

(Acts 11:4-15 NIV) ““Peter began and explained everything to them precisely as it had happened: {5} "I was in the city of Joppa praying, and in a trance I saw a vision. I saw something like a large sheet being let down from heaven by its four corners, and it came down to where I was. {6} I looked into it and saw four-footed animals of the earth, wild beasts, reptiles, and birds of the air. {7} Then I heard a voice telling me, 'Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.' {8} "I replied, 'Surely not, Lord! Nothing impure or unclean has ever entered my mouth.' {9} "The voice spoke from heaven a second time, 'Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.' {10} This happened three times, and then it was all pulled up to heaven again. {11} "Right then three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea stopped at the house where I was staying. {12} The Spirit told me to have no hesitation about going with them. These six brothers also went with me, and we entered the man's house. {13} He told us how he had seen an angel appear in his house and say, 'Send to Joppa for Simon who is called Peter. {14} He will bring you a message through which you and all your household will be saved.' {15} "As I began to speak, the Holy Spirit came on them as he had come on us at the beginning.””

When Peter retold the story of his vision from heaven, the Bible says he did so “precisely”. He took pains to describe it accurately. Peter likely retold his story many times in his life. Likewise, the story of Paul is told three different times in the book of Acts. Surely he told it many times. When there is a great story, it gets retold again and again. Peter’s vision and Paul’s conversion were acts of God that shaped the direction of the infant church, and broadened the horizons of Christianity. Our stories are much the same. They may not be as dramatic, but they are no less important. Every true story of God’s grace broadens the horizons of Christianity and helps shape the ongoing narrative of the church. Do not hesitate to share your story. There is no need to exaggerate it or embellish it. It has the power to change lives just as it is. Share it often, and share it precisely. God will do the rest. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day