Rescued

“They are your people still, your inheritance whom you powerfully and sovereignly rescued.” (Deuteronomy 9:29 MSG) Moses is talking to God in this passage. Recounting a series of moments in which he interceded for the wayward Israelites. And this final verse of the chapter paints such a clear picture of God's work. The powerful and sovereign work of God didn't stop with the Israelites in the Old Testament.

God rescues! He is the rescuer. He comes into our mess. Our trouble. Our problems. Our pains. Our selfishness. Our often self-inflicted upheaval. Our personal slavery of the soul. And He rescues.

It may not feel that way or seem that way. Especially when life is beating you up. But God rescues. He does it powerfully. In a demonstration that declares he alone has the ability to do it. He does it sovereignly. With the dignity and veracity of the King of All.

He brings anyone who would come to him into himself. An inheritance. A part of the family.

Yeah, sign me up for that.

December 17 - Who Are You?

Acts 19:11-20

But the evil spirit answered them, “Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?” (Acts 19:15 ESV)

The powers of darkness might know your name. They knew Jesus, they were with him in eternity past before being tossed out of heaven during their attempted coup. They recognized Paul. He had made such an impact for the Kingdom that they had taken notice. Word had spread throughout the demon ranks about the preacher Paul.

Are you on their radar? When your life takes you into contact with a new group of people do the spirits of darkness there get nervous? I think they should.

Jesus told Peter that his church would be an advancing church. We don't just sit back and wait for people to come to us, that's fool hardy and pointless. No, we need to step up, step out, and step into enemy territory.

Maybe the enemy will know your name. Maybe not. But when you step into the role that God has for you you will wear the adopted identity of the name above all other names, Jesus. Who are you? You are his!

December 6 - Gaze Into Heaven

Read: Acts 7:51-60

But he, full of the Holy Spirit, gazed into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God. And he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” (Acts 7:55, 56 ESV)

Stephen preached the truth of Christ in Jerusalem and was shaking up the status quo. Grace and power followed his message. Lives were being changed. The religious elite were not happy—Jesus was gone but his followers continued to proclaim his life and message. They drug Stephen to court, trumped up false charges, and asked him to defend himself.

Instead of defending himself Stephen preached his final sermon. It was an exegetical masterpiece as he wound his way through the Torah, Prophets, and Psalms to declare Jesus as the promised Messiah. He delivered solid truth, unflinchingly, to a mob eager for blood. And it was more than they could handle.

As he drew near to the end of his message he looked up, perhaps for a measure of reassurance and comfort. The power of the Holy Spirit came upon him and he had a supernatural vision of God and Christ there with him. The declaration of Jesus' position was more than the ruling authorities could handle.

Not only was Stephen obviously not going to be shut up, but here he was publicly declaring Jesus alive and well. He was stating outright their powerlessness. They were enraged. They attacked and killed him, stoning him to death.

The truth so offended these leaders that they were willing to forsake everything they pretended to serve in order to justify themselves. The truth of Jesus forces a reckoning. Some will accept it, many will reject it. Stephen gazed into Heaven and saw with supernatural eyes the wonders of God. I pray that the truth of Christ would prompt us all to do a little Heaven-gazing.

December 5 - Full of Grace & Power

Read: Acts 6:8-15

And Stephen, full of grace and power, was doing great wonders and signs among the people. (Acts 6:8 ESV)

Jesus' followers are supposed to be like Stephen. We are supposed to be people who are full of grace and power. People who do great wonders and signs.

Stephen was so impactful as he ministered in the name of Jesus that it bewildered the extremely religious Jewish leadership. So much so that, just as they had done to Jesus, they decided to have Stephen killed. They concocted a phony trial with false witnesses, and they besmeared his reputation through villainous slander.

Stephen remained full of grace throughout. And it was only by the power of God that he withstood their torments. In fact, the whole ordeal only served to better illuminate the power of God at work in Stephen's life.

Today when Christians talk about God's power they are often looking for something supernatural or miraculous. I believe those things can and do happen, but perhaps more often the power of God works in His followers to sustain them through difficulty. Grace and power are fully at work when a lost sinner is made to shine like a saved saint.

December 3 - In Jesus' Name

Read: Acts 3:1-10

But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. (Acts 3:6, 7 ESV)

Three little words. "In Jesus' name." Where I'm from they are almost the token ending to every prayer I have ever heard, and quite a few that I have prayed. But there is power in Jesus' name. It is a special name.

Peter knew there was authority in the name of Jesus. He had experiential knowledge of the power of Jesus. Also, he had faith—and was emboldened by the Holy Spirit—to proclaim healing for the crippled man at the gate.

The name of Jesus gets thrown around a lot by people who assume that its a magic set of syllables. Too often people wrongly assume that they can declare something supernatural will happen, sprinkle the name of Jesus around—and then POOF, that thing has to happen. That's not how it works. It has never worked like that.

Peter rightly understood that authority rested with Jesus. The power was from the Holy Spirit. And that the combined faith of the parties involved activated the work that God was looking to do in the life of the crippled man. Peter knew that in Jesus' name he had access to God, he had access to power, but he did not have control.

September 16 - I Am He

John 18:1-11

When Jesus said to them, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. (John 18:6 ESV)

Armed men showed up with a secret team in the middle of the night to arrest Jesus. He had withdrawn to a secluded place he often visited for a time of private prayer and preparation with a chosen few of his followers. They came seeking him—knowing who he was, his reputation, and his power.

Jesus identified himself when the armed force asked for him. As he did they withdrew from him and fell before him on the ground. They were tripping all over themselves, taken aback by the power of his identity and his declaration. Why?

Because their reasons for approaching him were corrupt, whereas he was holy. Their power was founded on the broken rules of men, and his was seated in the foundations of heaven. Their identity existed based on the controlling fear of their office, while Jesus' identity echoed from across eternity as the Son of God.

The identity of the Son of God bears weight. So much so that his life, death, and resurrection irrevocably altered the destiny of the universe. It was enough to make a mob fall over themselves, it was enough to confound the religious hypocrites, and it is enough to forever change the direction of our lives.

March 16 - Say and Do

Read: Luke 9:1-6

And he called the twelve together and gave them power and authority over all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal. (Luke 9:1, 2 ESV)

Jesus gave them power and authority. The disciples became his ambassadors. They became his representatives everywhere they went. Not just in name either. He gave them authority, but also the power to back it up.

Everywhere that these men were to go they were to boldly proclaim the truth of the gospel. And then to demonstrate that truth they were commanded to perform miracles. They would say something, and then they would do something that would demonstrate the legitimacy of their statements.

When we speak of Jesus do we offer action that shows the truth of our convictions? Shouldn't we? Christianity is not just about checking off a list of beliefs. It is also more than just running out and acting out of altruism. The Christ followers life is a balance of both. It is about proclamation and demonstration. It is saying and doing.

To fully embrace life as a disciple of Jesus is to embrace the power and authority Jesus gives us. That means saying who Jesus is to you, and then demonstrating the same thing.