30 Days - Day 6

Day 6

Acts 2:42

42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and in prayers.

Pentecost came and with it the birth of the Church. In one day 3000 people were added to that early group of disciples. If we were to take such an event and put it in a modern context I wonder what we would see. What would happen among the leadership the next day or maybe even that very night? What would be the top priorities of the church body. Would they start a building program? Would they organize and set up a bunch of programs. Would they set up a bunch of management positions. Would they be talking about how to keep all these people in the church now that they have been saved. In short would they be more focused (as we all tend to be) on the human aspects or on the spiritual ones.

Please don’t misunderstand. We always need to be wise in the way that we approach things. Having an understanding of the needs and how to meet those needs is important but so often when we are doing that we tend to take God out of the picture and only ask and answer according to what is humanly possible. The disciples had already had this experience on more that one occasion when a huge crowd had formed around Jesus. Jesus, send them home... they need something to eat, the disciples pleaded. There was no way that they could see to provide for such a crowd of people. Yet, there was Jesus saying, no, you give them something. Though initially the disciples had forgotten the lesson of the fish and bread, now they were reminded by the Holy Spirit. Rather than running around and trying to figure out a big church management plan they instead “continued”. They continued steadfastly in doctrine, fellowship, breaking of bread and prayers.

So often our tendency is that once we have achieved/experienced some success that it becomes our responsibility to manage it. To make it continue. The wonderful thing about what God does is that it is not our responsibility. It is our responsibility to continue in what He has called us to do. They didn’t fall back on their on plans and abilities. Instead they relied in and rested on the spiritual power that had brought them to this blessing. Because they continued in reliance on God instead of seeing them fighting just to keep up with the blessings of God we instead see God “added to the Church daily those who were being saved”. Having begun in the Spirit we should be careful not to try to be made perfect in the flesh.

Prayer Requests Day 6

For today we would just ask you to "continue" in the requests that we have already presented throughout this week. We would especially ask you to pray for Friday's requests for our friends and acquaintances which are included again here below. But please also look back through the other requests for the other posts as well. We appreciate you continuing with us in prayer for these people and other requests.

1) Zoran, Nada and Indi - Indi still doesn't sleep well (1 1/2 years old), they are in a process of buying land to build a house - has been a long process for them, salvation
2) Miro, Mateja and their girls Leah and Enya - Miro seeking new position at work, Leah, Enya & Christian enjoy playing together, Mateja back to teaching after summer off, salvation
3) Sandra & Ales - expecting their first child, soon to be married, salvation
4) Marko, Jadranka, Ursala & Henrik - Ursala beginning high school, Jadranka has been our language tutor, salvation
5) Also for acquaintances - Michael & Katerina, Kirsten & her husband, Marija & Vladko, Anya
6) English students - Ana and Barbara
7) Others with whom we have occasional contact, new contacts, and that God would bring people across our path that are seeking and prepared for the message of the gospel