Everything Is Soooo Difficult…

I was reading through the second chapter of Acts this morning and hit a couple of things that really stood out to me.  The book of Acts is written by Luke and is actually considered to be a continuation of his first book (the Gospel) kind of like a sequel, sometimes called Luke-Acts.  Acts documents the beginning of what we now know as the Christian church.

• Acts 2:1-13 – In verses 1 through 12, we see that the Holy Spirit has filled the people with His power.  It says that the people were speaking in languages different from their own.  This is not to be confused with the prayer language of tongues that we read about in 1 Corinthians 12 and 13, as each persons’ speech was understood by the people around them.  However, the crowd thought they were all drunk because they did not understand this power of the Spirit.  How often do we dismiss someone because they may act in a way we don’t understand?…even in church?
• Acts 2:22-41 – Verses 22 through 36 put Jesus in a context that the Jews would have understood.  Jews knew the facts about David and had no question that David was a servant of God.  When Luke puts Jesus in the context of David and shows the Jews that Jesus is much greater than David and was the Lord that spoke to his Lord (verse 34), it’s like a light bulb goes off!  Verse 37 tells us, “When the people heard this, they were cut to the heart.”  3,000 people then gave their lives to Christ and joined the church, AT ONE TIME! I don’t know about you, but I would love to see 3,000 folks join my church!
• Acts 2:42-47 – After joining the church, verses 42 through 47 tell us about how they acted toward each other.  They were “devoted to the Apostles’ teaching, breaking bread, and prayer.”  They were filled with awe and many miracles were performed.  Verse 44 is the kicker for me…”All the believers were together and had everything in common.”  They sold everything they had and continued meeting together every day, breaking bread in their homes, praising God, and “enjoying the favor of all the people.”

So…that is the basic story of how the church began, and I can see some pretty massive gaps in where we are now…  I believe that we try so hard to make our lives into something that we desire that we manage to make the most simple things difficult.  These early Christians were full of joy from the Lord and didn’t analyze every single thing.  They just enjoyed the Lord and enjoyed it with each other.  So, let’s make an honest effort to quit making everything so difficult, and just enjoy the Lord!