ON BECOMING MULTIPLIERS
Today’s Reading: Acts 5-6
Click scripture link to read online or HERE to listen online (then click the symbol of the audio speaker above the scripture portion on the right-hand side).
Saint Stephen's Gate on the northeast side of the Old City walls of Jerusalem. We walked through this gate just last Tuesday. The first Christian to have his earthly life taken from him for Jesus' sake was the Deacon, Stephen. What an amazing example of faith and courage! Just before he died he exclaimed that he saw the heavens opened and Jesus standing at the right hand of God (Acts 7:56b - tomorrows reading).
Key Verse: Acts 5:41, 6:7
So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name…Then the word of God spread, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests were obedient to the faith.
“Believers were increasingly added” (5:14). “You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine” (5:28). “The number of disciples was multiplying” (6:1). “The disciples multiplied greatly” (6:7). Here is a theme repeated over and over. This is the way God intends His Church to grow. We should ask ourselves the question, “Are we seeing growth in our Churches?” Here we find the growth came because new believers were added. There are many local churches, but only one Church. Transferring believers from one congregation to another does not constitute growth for the whole Church. The gate pictured above is the traditional site where Stephen was stoned to death. We can expect strong opposition when large numbers are being converted to Christ. We may want to take our spiritual temperature. If we are content to remain as a handful of believers who just bless each other in a local church, we may be almost dead and not know it.
PRAYER FOR TODAY:
Lord Jesus, please grant me the great privilege of bringing new people to You today. May I never be content with just maintaining the numbers of believers as it is presently. Show me in a heart-wrenching way that people are lost eternally without You. Give me a passion to win souls to Yourself and to eternal life. In Jesus’ Name, Amen!
100 PERSONAL WORDS:
As a teen, I read “Passion for Souls,” a book by Oswald J. Smith. I was never content after that to lavish the blessings of Christ on myself, forgetting about lost people. I felt that I was a most selfish person if I would keep the Good News of Jesus and eternal life to myself. Sharing Christ became an absolute essential. If that was not happening in my personal contacts and eventually in the churches I pastored, I became desperate in my prayers, arising earlier and earlier in the mornings to pray. I knew that I could not do this on my own, and that the power of God came upon me directly in proportion to the way I prayed in my private times with God. If you should ever read the biographical sketch of David Mainse on the internet, please read between the lines and know that everything of eternal value that may be there has been born and has thrived out of a “passion for souls.”
Yours to help us become believers like those in today’s reading,
David
In our church The Sherwood Church of the Nazarene it seems like we have an abundance of babies we need a new nursary as pastor Filsinger said. It is good
to see it multiply I still don’t know everyones name . I like seeing the young go up
front waving their banners/flags and dancing
God Bless everyone on on our blog and for those who just joined
Lianne Hogg
I have tried o contact you on contact@100words and it always comes back(or the address on the blog) glad you have my new email
Such adversity Peter and the apostles suffered. Not sure I would be able to withstand the persecution easily.
You are such a special man Rev. with a special wife to support you. May God continue to bless you both with his love and guidance.
Blessings dear fellow saints.
This story made my day.
http://www.denisonforum.org/cultural-commentary/1255-christmas-gift-brings-together-idaho-boy-and-filipina-girl
Thanks for sharing that link, Lynda–what an incredible story! Praise God!
Thanks David for this blog. It is helping me be more consistent in my Bible reading and also you are helping me understand God’s word more clearly.
May God continue to use you in your Senior years as you daily send out today’s Bible reading. Truly enjoying it.
Oh, the horror of Stephen being stoned to death representing Jesus Christ–the first martyr. It is alarming to know that people in parts of the Islamic world continue to be stoned to death, 2000 years later, as punishment for breaking Sharia law. The divide in our world is devastating, still, but the power of the light of Jesus over darkness prevails. Oh Jesus, I call to You to save those who are suffering from such anguish, now. Let them call Your name to be saved! You are the light of our world! You are the only way, truth and life and we know that no one comes to the Father except through You (Jn 14:6); just as Stephen saw You, Jesus, standing at the right hand of God as the heavens opened to him (Acts 7:56b).
Yesterday, I was blessed to share Jesus Christ with a complete stranger–it felt so natural and meaningful and right. The loss when people don’t know Jesus is senseless. Thank you, David Mainse, for leading by example, how to reach out and share the great news of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ! We are nothing without You but everything with You. God’s continued blessings to all saints, on this wintery day! Amen!
Amen Beverlee, amen.
Dear Rev. David M.
Once more you make us understand how being blessed as christians also demands from each of us the full commitment of spreading The Good News of Jesus for all those that dont know him and have not surrendered their lives.
Have a blessed day my fellow blog buddies.
xoxoxo Carole.
I’m amazed at the marvelous structures that were built many years ago, the intricate crevices …thank you Reynold for capturing the beauty of this ancient structure!!
My prayer too is to be the instrument by which others come to a living faith in Jesus Christ. Lord Jesus I pray this in your Precious Name!
What an example the Apostles were; how sensitive to the leading of the Holy Spirit of God! May it be so in me Jesus!! and in His Church today!
Thank you for being a good example and encouraging us to win souls David which is so important. It touches my heart and strengthens me. Amen, Beverlee. Blessings saints!