Go WHERE?!

We've reached another new year on planet earth -but the needs are as they've always been. God answers them directly and quite often through those who follow Jesus. We can be certain that's part of His desire for each one of us who claim to know and follow Him.

After His resurrection Jesus told His disciples that when the Holy Spirit came upon them they would be His witnesses in Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth. (Acts 1.8)

From this one statement of the Lord we have incredible amounts of solid and truly practical doctrine.

First- they would not be His witnesses by their intellect, natural talents, the personality of an extrovert, philosophical depth of reason but by the very power of the Spirit of God Who raised Jesus from the dead. Ponder that for a moment.

Then- they would witness about HIM, that is, He would be the focus, central, not themselves. Who He was/is, quoting His words, His acts, His loving example, death and resurrection.

Lastly re. this particular portion of the text, Luke quotes Jesus as telling them they would be doing this in four places, encompassing the entire world.

Jerusalem makes sense, they were Jewish, it was the place they lived and were at the time. Yet it was fraught with danger and they knew it. Though He had clearly risen and was alive having met with them over 40 days time, the religious leaders as well as a portion of the crowd that shouted for Barabbas to be set free and Jesus to be murdered were still in town. Think on that.

But wait, there's more.

Remember that Israel and Judea were not always on friendly terms but had in history been in disagreement and competition one with the other. Is is possible there would be hostility coming their way as they shared the Good News beyond Israel?

Jesus had mentioned Samaritans on occasion but always in a very positive way and in particular as He confronted Jewish religious leaders who like average Jews in Israel thought of them as "half-breeds", impure, spiritually corrupt, in error. In a word, racism was part of this concept of disgust toward the people of Samaria.

Therefore Jesus tells His disciples, (all Jewish) that they are to share the love, grace and truth about Him among some of the most rejected people in the Middle East in their day!

Did Jonah and Nineveh pop up in any of their minds as they heard the Lord telling them these things?!

I wonder if some reading this, in fact if a rather large segment of the church in our time often book a boat going in our own chosen direction rather than in loving obedience do as His disciples did who first heard His words about their calling and future?

Well o.k., Peter and most of the disciples took a fishing trip detour until Jesus called them to the beach and reminded Pete and the rest what He had actually called them to do -and it wasn't fishing for fish!

God have mercy: help us hear, love, obey -and share You and Your Word of Truth and Life to those You call each of us to reach!

Learn what God is calling you to do. Act on it.

NEVER forget the call.

As always, thanks for stopping by, -Glenn