Out-god God?

Acts 15:10 says, "So why are you now trying to out-god God?" Have you ever tried to do that? God sends an answer to our prayer and we try to out do His answer. God sends provision and we run to a relative for a loan. God severs a relationship and we run to the first available arms we can find! We can't out-god God! When He answers, guides, provides, and even prunes we should allow God to be our God! He is better at it than we are anyway!

Left at the Door!

Today's passion4word reading is Acts 12. It is the familiar story of the angel freeing Peter from Herod's jail. There is one part of this account that caught my attention. It is the part of the passage which says, "When he knocked on the door to the courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. But when she recognized his voice—Peter's voice!—she was so excited and eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door and left him standing in the street." Early in the chapter we are told that these folks had been praying for Peter's release and now their prayer is answered, but Rhoda leaves him standing in the street! How many of us pray for miracles, guidance, and directions only to have the answers show up at a time and in a way we don't expect, so we leave them standing in the street? For what have you been praying? When the answer arrives on the scene get excited, but don't forget to let it into your life! Knock, knock . . . Who's there? Open the door you might just be surprised who and what is trying to get in!

Catch His Attention!

Today's Passion4Word reading gives us a very simple recipe for catching God's attention. Before we look at the passage just the idea that we can catch God's attention should stop us in our tracks. Just think . . . even though His plate is full with nation destroying tragedies, wars, famines, and any number of other mind boggling scenarios, the attention of the Creator of the universe can be captured by us! That alone is a truth that should humble us while causing us to live with a new level of confidence. So what is it that turns His face towards us? The angel's recipe in Acts 10:5 ("Your prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God's attention.") is simply prayer and neighborly acts. What????? Shouldn't it be church attendance, witnessing, preaching, or a vow of poverty? Shouldn't those be the things that causes God to sit up and take notice? We make it to0 complicated and difficult. Spending time talking to God and loving others through random acts of kindness causes God to tune in to us! We have a direct phone line to God's ears. We can simply dial 1 for prayer or 2 for kindness! Why are we so scared to pick up the phone and dial those numbers?

Face Check

Today's passion4word made me stop and think. We are in Acts 6. This passage talks about how men set Stephen up by paying bribes to men to lie about him. Verse 15 is the verse that stopped me in my tracks.

"As all those who sat on the High Council looked at Stephen, they found they couldn't take their eyes off him—his face was like the face of an angel!"

Maybe we all need to do a little face check from time to time! Having a "face like an angel" has nothing to do with how good looking you are or whether or not you got your makeup on just right this morning. It has everything to do with verse 5 which says, "Stephen, a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit". Take a few minutes today and look in a mirror. Instead of thinking about what you see take a moment and ask yourself this questions, "What do others see?" Any angel faced people out there? They wouldn't be able to take their eyes off us if we make sure we are full of faith and the Holy Spirit!