shot through the heart

and you're to blame - baby, you give love a bad name (bad name)! nothing wrong with a little bon jovi to get this blog rolling!

i started a bible reading plan yesterday to study through the book of acts over the next fourteen days. i've studied acts before, but since i'm doing the beth moore study "children of the day" and it focuses a lot on community, i thought working through acts alongside it would be appropriate. now, let me tell you what usually happens when i start a bible reading plan: i'm usually working through a book of the bible. that's my usual MO for bible study. i don't often use the bible app on my phone, because i'm a pen and paper kind of gal. i like the wrinkly, thin, tear-stained, marked up, highlighted, used and worn pages of my bible. i like to physically hold the word in my hands - touch them, feel them, etc. so anyway, back to the bible app. when you don't use the bible app for a long period of time, you start getting friendly messages (every day!!) that say things like: "even five minutes in the bible can change your life. want to read now?" then i feel guilty for not reading the bible on my phone. i open up the app, search through some devotions and bible reading plans and pick one. i use it for three days, and then i quit. and the routine starts again. BUT (i have a whole blog post dedicated to this three letter word. you should go find it. it's a good one.) this time, this time is different. i'm going to study acts doggone it, and i'm going to study it with the help of my trusty bible app.

was that too much back story? probably. sorry. i just like for my readers to feel like they know what's going on.

aaaanyway. two things i learned about acts that i didn't know before (maybe i'm just dumb, or maybe i never paid attention before - i should have known these two facts):

1. the actual title of the book of acts is "the acts of the apostles." umm, duh, ashley. this would have been helpful to know all the other times i studied passages from acts. it is, after all, about the work of the apostles in the early church.

2. the book of acts is actually a part two. luke is the first part. interesting.

i read the first two chapters yesterday, and i was reminded once again how much i love the second chapter of the book of acts. over the next few lines i'm going to share with you just an inkling of what i took away from this chapter yesterday, but please, please, please, do your heart a favor and go spend time reading and soaking up acts chapter two. seriously, y'all. it is so good.

basically in chapter two, peter is giving a little sermon to the people who gathered at pentecost. the holy spirit has just come as promised, and the believers are now speaking in all sorts of tongues (y'all, i'm southern baptist. i don't know nothin bout speakin in no tongues - but i find it completely fascinating). some of the people gathered thought they were drunk. peter steps in to redirect their hearts - to share with them that the holy spirit has come as a direct result of the resurrection of christ - the promises he made have been kept.

in verses 22-41 peter gives my absolute favorite gospel message in the entire bible. i feel fire down in my bones every time i read this passage.

now let's take a quick look at a few of my favorite verses:

v. 23 - peter says jesus was "delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of god." affirmation that jesus was always the plan. god didn't create humankind, see that we messed up, and then start scrambling for a way to fix it. salvation was always the plan for revealing himself, our sin, and our need for a savior.

v. 24 - peter teaches that god raised jesus up, "loosing the pangs of death." the beautiful truth in this verse is that this applies to us if we are in christ. because christ was resurrected, death has no hold on us. hallelujah!

v. 37 - after peter preaches the gospel, the people were "cut to the heart" (hence the title of this blog). the gospel wasn't presented with any fancy language, no smoke and mirrors, no praise band with super cool hipster leaders (nothing wrong with that), and no funny jokes and stories. the gospel alone is sufficient to penetrate the hearts of man. peter, a man with a voice, stood up, preached the gospel, and the hearts of the people listening were CUT (hebrews tells us the bible is a sword that will pierce and divide), and look what happens next: "brothers, what shall we do?" they heard the gospel, they were convicted, and they wanted to know what their next step should be. this is what our walks should look like: faithfully in the word - conviction - action (repentance). oh, lord, make this true of me!

v. 39 - i love this verse: "for the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the lord our god calls to himself." there are a few different things for me to point out here. first, salvation in christ is a promise. once you have it, you cannot lose it. how do i know this? because god's word calls it a promise, and in god's word promises are things that he always sees to fruition. always. secondly, there is no such thing as "too far from god." there is nothing that cannot be redeemed (is that a double negative??). there is no heart too hard. there is no sinner too sinful. the cross reaches as far as we need it to. and finally, our salvation is completely dependent upon god. it's god who initiates within us. he calls us. we would not ever seek him on our own; he must first seek us. i could start here with predestination and reformed theology, but i think perhaps that's another blog for another day.

v. 42-47 - the believers were committed to christ and to each other. this is where we see a model of what the church should look like: believers devoted to teaching, fellowship, and praying together. the most incredible thing happened because of their devotion to the church and to each other: "awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done." i would love to see this at first baptist church!! the communion within the church led to believers "having favor with all the people." instead of being hated by the world and unbelievers, the church was loved and favored. oh, for that to be the case today.

i know this quick little piece of prose did absolutely no justice to the words in acts chapter two. please go read it. be encouraged and convicted by it. take it and apply it! pray to see a move of god in your church that would lead to koinonia (greek word for communion) within your body of believers.