A Journey with ACTS 1:12-15

Greetings,

Here is the next segment of my Journey with ACTS. For me these few verses reminded me of how easily it can be to forget the importance of spending time with our Great God in prayer. Sometimes we just simply get in way deeper that we should without seeking God's direction. Let me know what you think of these few verses. Blessings,

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Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, a distance of half a mile. When they arrived, they went to the upstairs room of the house where they were staying.

Here are the names of those who were present: Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James (son of Alphaeus), Simon (the zealot), and Judas (son of James). They all met together and were constantly united in prayer, along with Mary the mother of Jesus, several other women, and the brothers of Jesus. -Acts 1:12-14 NLT

There isn’t much to say about a bunch of names, is there? Well, there is another aspect to these verses though. If you keep reading until verse 14 you see they all continued to meet together and that they were constantly in prayer. This is a great word of encouragement.

Think about the previous verses for a moment, the disciples were distracted by seeing Jesus ascend. Suddenly two angels tell them to get going, so they do. They head right back to the upper room and begin to pray. I’d like to think they went there seeking direction. There wasn't really any real reason to stay close by but they did and they did so by with drawing to a safe place. Sometimes all we can do when it comes to seeking God is withdraw.

We are told in other places in scripture to ‘go into the closet and pray (Mt. 6:6). Scripture doesn't say God runaround like a cry person. It say's pray. That same verse also tells us to seek a quiet place. Finding a quite place can help you find your focus and I'd like to think that is what the disciples were doing in this instance. 

Maybe this is a message about how we should pray today. God has so many wonderful things to offer us and when we get distracted we can lose sight of those things. Finding time to dedicate to praying with God can help bring our lives to where they need to be in order to move forward.

5/15/16 12:45am

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During this time, when about 120 believers were together in one place, Peter stood up and addressed them. - Acts 1:15 NLT

It’s hard to believe that pretty much every time the apostles came together and prayed, they were in the upper room and many times I’d imagine that they were quite crowded. People were looking for a safe place. To be honest, there were still those who sought to hurt those that followed the way of Jesus, but something was coming. 

Here in this passage, we begin to see just what Jesus was saying when he said ‘another is coming.' It was the beginning of one of the most amazing scenes I've ever read about in the scripture. However, something else was coming as well. Something that might even have send the disciples the wrong way.

Now there are times when we are meant to keep praying and there are times when we need to act. I’d like to believe this moment was one of the latter but I’d be wrong. Many believe this instance was meant to be the former. Peter stood up, and on his own addressed the crowd. He knew many felt lost and probably thought to himself, ‘I know let’s act’ when holding off might have been the better thing to do.

Truthfully, these 120 people weren't just sitting there doing nothing. They were acting, through prayer, and maybe just maybe, they needed to act in that fashion a little bit longer. Why? Well, because God doesn't always speak to us right away. Sometimes what he really wants from us is to simply wait. Let's be honest though, if we know anything, we know that as humans we are often impatient and do act on our own. It's part of our sinful nature.

This can often lead to making a few mistakes.

5/22/16 1:05am

Blessings in Christ and thanks again for visiting us at "The Gathering Room" Stand Strong and continue to believe the teachings given to you... (2 Thes. 2:15b NCV), M.E