Monday – Gospels and Acts

Reading – Acts 2

Highlight Verses:

“Here we are—Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, the province of Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, and the areas of Libya around Cyrene, visitors from Rome (both Jews and converts to Judaism), Cretans, and Arabs. And we all hear these people speaking in our own languages about the wonderful things God has done!””
‭‭Acts of the Apostles‬ ‭2‬:‭9‬-‭11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

There is so much I could say about this chapter.

As one who believes that the Holy Spirit is still alive and active today, I could go on about Pentecostal theology.

But two other things stood out in this chapter to me today.

I’ve always believed God’s timing has been perfect.

To have Jesus arrive at a time when Rome had united much of the world was brilliant.

As seen by the wide variety of cultures present that day, pathways for the spreading of the Gospel were present like never before.

It was the exact point in history that the Gospel could spread the widest. Any earlier and those cultures would not have come together to that extent. Any later and the breakdown of the Roman Empire would have inhibited the spread. If He had come today, 100 generations of people would have missed out on the Gospel.

The second thing I noticed was the message that came through the gift of tongues.

They spoke of the wonderful things God had done.

They weren’t prophecies warning people to repent.

They weren’t legalistic lectures on following the law.

They were words of praise for God.

Messages of warning have their place.

But the fact that God chose praise to spread the Gospel by highlighting the goodness of God and all that He does should give us a clue in how to best spread the Gospel.

The most effective method I have seen for spreading the Good News is people telling people the awesome things that God has done for them.

What do you tell people about what God has done for you?
Have you thought through how to tell your story to those who are curious about how God has changed you?