Tuesday June 20th, 2023
« United in purpose, they went to the Temple every day, ate at each other’s homes, and shared their food with glad and humble hearts »
34 Then Peter said, “Now I understand that God doesn’t play favorites.
35 Rather, whoever respects God and does what is right is acceptable to him in any nation.
36 God sent his word to the people of Israel and brought them the Good News of peace through Jesus Christ. This Jesus Christ is everyone’s Lord.
37 You know what happened throughout Judea. Everything began in Galilee after John spread the news about baptism.
38 You know that God anointed Jesus from Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power. Jesus went everywhere and did good things, such as healing everyone who was under the devil’s power. Jesus did these things because God was with him.
39 We can testify to everything Jesus did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem. People hung him on a cross and killed him,
40 but God brought him back to life on the third day. God didn’t show him
41 to all the people. He showed Jesus to witnesses, apostles he had already chosen. We apostles are those men who ate and drank with Jesus after he came back to life.
42 He ordered us to warn the people, ‘God has appointed Jesus to judge the living and the dead.’
43 In addition, all the prophets testify that people who believe in the one named Jesus receive forgiveness for their sins through him.”
44 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came to everyone who heard his message.
Understand
We often tend to forget that the Church of Jesus Christ started in a home setting (Acts 1:12-14).
The family unit is indeed a sub-unit of the entire Church.
The home setting is therefore the best nursery to bring up young converts in the Lord, because at that level, it is very easy to avoid hypocrisy, as everyone is familiar with everyone.
When the Holy Spirit asks the question that is today’s topic, He is actually asking us two things: are members of our household Christians, and do we have any fellowship of believers in our homes?
In other words, do you allow the gathering of God’s people in your house for the purpose of sharing the word, praying and caring for each other?
It is important to ensure that all members of our family are born again.
The Lord considers His Church to be totality of people who have given their lives to Him and are living according to His Father’s ideals (John 7:16-17).
We must therefore ensure that members of our household abide by His teachings.
Today’s memory verse describes the early Church’s communal way of life.
The effect of this communal living was the expansion of the Church which Acts 2:47 describes, saying:
« praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved. »
Many people don’t know the tremendous blessings they deny themselves when they refuse to accommodate house fellowship center in their homes.
Are such people not aware of the story of Obed-Edom, who by divine arrangement allowed the Ark of the Covenant to dwell in his house and subsequently received overflowing blessings? 2 Samuel 6:11 says:
« The ark of the LORD stayed at the home of Obed Edom from Gath for three months, and the LORD blessed Obed Edom and his whole family »
When King David heard of how the Lord had blessed Obed-Edom because of the presence of the ark in his house, he suddenly realized that he had pushed his blessings away to another by keeping the ark in Obed-Edom’s house.
Allowing your house to accommodate a gathering of people in Christ’s Name is therefore a wise thing to do.
In today’s Bible reading, the Lord led Peter to the home of Cornelius to preach the gospel of salvation. While he was still speaking, the Holy Spirit came upon the “service” holding in Cornelius’ house.
This was a manifestation of the fulfillment of Christ’s prophecy of a time when people will be able to worship God anywhere in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24).
Church is where two or three people ate gathered in Jesus’ Name, and Jesus Christ will be there among them (Matthew 18:20).
Bring Jesus into your home by establishing a fellowship in your house and make sure members of your family are the first beneficiaries of the grace it brings.
Application: Develop a powerful family prayer altar in your home, witness to your immediate neighbors and proceed further to establish a house fellowship centre in your home.
Author: Bishop Enoch. A. Adeboye.
Edited by Naomie
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