What Happened at the Gate? Day 5 - The Book of Acts

In the previous post we finished chapter 2 and today we are looking at the first 10 verses of Chapter 3.


This is one of the most well-known parts of the book of Acts especially by children as we often cover this story in Sunday School and other kids events and use the song

"Silver and Gold have I None"

to help the children remember the event.

I love how learning a song that is based on Bible verses can help us to learn God's Word and this is a great example.

Each verse in this section has something important to highlight.

1.   Going Together to Pray
2.   A Beautiful Gate
3.   A Simple Request
4.   An Attention Getter
5.   Expectancy
6.   The Truth is Spoken
7.   Needs are Met
8.   Joyful Praise
9.   A Miraculous Work of God
10. Wonder and Amazement


Even though I know this passage so well I still can get the happiness of this event and the joy of this event.

Happiness and joy are not the same and here I think we have a good example of the difference.

The people were glad for the man but the man himself was full of joy.

I'm sure he was happy too but only he could know the real joy because this miracle had happened to him, and changed his life forever.

It is such a good example of the change in our lives when we accept God's salvation: it brings us happiness and real joy and changes our lives forever because of an encounter with Jesus.

Happiness and joy are not the same and here I think we have a good example of the difference.

There are lots of things we can learn about salvation here but also lots of things to learn about how Christians can witness to others.  Just look at those verses again and see it from those two points of view and be encouraged.

You can find all the other posts in this series at

The Book of Acts Page

She Burnt Them Again! - A Dose of Encouragement

Do you ever ask your kids for the password?


Do your kids think you are mad?


We had a little password in our family which I would often ask for as any of our kids were coming into the house.   And they all knew what it was - Sausages.  


You may ask:  What does this have to do with Encouragement?

But as often happens here at Sandra's Ark - Let me tell you a little story about us.

So we had this little password in our family and everyone knew what it was - Sausages. 

They would humour me and say it as they were coming into the house

And I would then repeat it in a silly bass voice and kind of draw out the word

A silly little thing that as the kids got older they would frown at.

There was never anyone else around when I would ask for it so why would they be embarrassed by it?


They also frowned and muttered at the fact that whenever I would grill sausages I would burn them.
Well they and their dad would say I had burned them but I would just cut off the really hard bits and eat away quite happily.

But I have to tell the truth - I had burned them!

I burned them because I could never have enough patience to wait for them to cook nicely but always went off to work on the computer or to read a book or even do some housework (ok not too often for that last one) and then - well - the sausages just got burned because I would forget about them.


I tried baking them in the oven too but even then I would forget about them and burn them.

You see I'm always looking for shortcuts to things because I don't have enough patience, or because I get bored doing any one thing for too long.

I love to make nice meals if there is someone else around to help or talk to me while I do it but when I'm preparing & cooking on my own - no!

I want the quickest way to provide the meals.

I have been known to make easier, quicker versions of meals like the 10 Minute Chicken Korma
and sometimes I have even made the desserts so easy that they hardly even really qualify as desserts such as my Ginger & Pineapple Log (Super Short Version) which basically is not a log!

I promise you I really do know that microwaves are not just for reheating coffee  -  oh yes this is another one of my little quirks or one of the "Oh No Mum!" things that the kids would frown at but I see nothing wrong with reheating my mug of coffee two or three times during the day.

I Love Coffee!

I really Love Coffee!

and

I Love my Coffee Mug!

I Love my Other Coffee Mug!

I really Love my Coffee Mugs!



And then we come to the big, big, bad thing that I did to our middle child

Fred & I went to live in Belgium and left him behind in Northern Ireland 

because he had started university there.

I know this is something that people outside the family probably found more strange than the family did.  I felt I could sense people saying:  "What kind of a mother would leave her child on his own?"

So there you have it I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother.

I would rather read a book than do the ironing.

I would rather do a word puzzle than clean the oven.

I would rather write my blog than hoover the house.

I would rather write a list than actually do the things on the list.

I would rather go sit watch a dvd 
than 
finish up the mess I made because I had started to try to organise the study 
& 
boy can I make a mess while trying to organise things.

I am not perfect and never have been a perfect mother!

But Mostly

I would rather have a coffee and sit & chat with my now grown up kids about how 

Jesus has worked in our lives.

He has redeemed us, healed us, kept us safe, 

answered our prayers, never left us alone, helped us in everything

 and 

we are all thankful that He is still doing so 

no matter what country we may have lived in 

or are in at the moment

because 

He is the Perfect One.

You see I can't be perfect because I am human but thankfully with Jesus I have the help to do all the things He has planned for me.

If you like you can visit my about me section and see the poor hubby and kids who had to put up with me not being a perfect mum - oh and the middle child is the tallest one with his arms around us all in the snow.

The Right or Wrong Way? - A Dose of Encouragement

Previously I had written about Reading One Verse a Day and writing down my immediate thoughts on it and I posted them on facebook for a month.

This had stemmed from me trying to form a new habit where I would read a verse of the bible before I would read my emails each morning.

Well they say if you do something every day for a month you will form a new habit but I am proof that unfortunately

it is just not true.

It is easier to skim through emails while still half asleep than to sit and take in some Words of Scripture.

I'm being honest here.
I need to sip my coffee first thing in the morning and gradually come round because I am not a jump out of bed and be bustling with energy type of person.
I'm more the don't talk to me or ask me to make any decisions until I've had my coffee.

However since this experiment I have been reading a few verses at a time and seeing a benefit from that which I didn't really see before.  I am seeing that even one verse read (no matter how quickly) can leave a thought, idea, or even just one word that may simmer inside and come to fruition later.


I was always more the "read at least a proper paragraph" person because I always felt like everything should be read in context.

Now I'm more "yes I need my context to fully understand" but I also sometimes need a sentence or a word to jar into my subconscious and edge into my thoughts later in the day"

So I was coming to the realisation that there is no right or wrong way to read your bible.

 The most important thing was to read it.

So - What about those times when we come to a passage that we feel we know so well?

• Do we skip it?

• Do we skim over it?

Photo from Graphic Stock




• Do we read it and let our minds wander as we do so?

• Do we read it quickly and think we know what is there and we have already got the relevance of it in the past?

• Do we read it and accept that it is relevant for us TODAY not just because it is part of God's Word but because it is the part He has brought us to TODAY?

I love to read but as time goes by I find that I am skim reading more and more and later I cannot fully explain what I have been reading because as I skim read I am not getting the full details of the subject matter and also not taking the time to let the information register in my brain.

I need to get back to reading more slowly and reading every word.

So I was coming back to the realisation that there is a right and wrong way to read your bible.

 The wrong way is to skim through it.

Is there a Right Way or Wrong Way to Read your Bible?

God's Word is important for my everyday life and I want to encourage you that it is important for your everyday life as well.

Let's get back to actually reading it and absorbing it instead of skimming it.

Or

Thinking we know it well enough already that we can skip bits out.

Where's YOUR Name? - A Dose of Encouragement

In my last Dose of Encouragement  I talked about how we personalized Christmas and today I want to tell you about the Personalized Bookmarks I started to make many years ago.

There were 3 different designs:
2 for girls names
and
1 for boys names.


For the girls names I chose hearts and butterflies and if you have read much of this blog these choices will not surprise you as I Love Hearts and I Love Butterflies.


I have recently written about a simple little Heart Recycle, previously I had done a kids craft post for a Heart Themed Valentine Banner  and in an earlier Dose of Encouragement I shared about how I was Missing the Butterflies in the garden of my new home.

For the boys names I chose books and it is obvious by the Book Reviews on this blog that I Love Books.

Now often when I would be at a Craft Fair or other event selling the bookmarks I would hear children and adults talking to each other and saying

 "Where's MY Name?"

There always seemed to be some expectancy in that question.

Mostly this was simply from someone who wanted to see their name on a bookmark not necessarily to buy one.  But because I also had the meanings of the names on the bookmarks it was sometimes from people who were just interested in knowing the meaning of their name.  This part of it would attract their attention.

"Where's My Name?"

Then there was another question they would ask me

     "Have you got MY name?"

There was always a bit of hope in that question but not always any expectancy.

This would be from the people who really felt they had little hope of seeing their name on any personalised items but it was worth a try.
Like people who had a different spelling of the name compared to others or their name was a very unusual one.


My sister is called Averil and because it is spelt with an "e" she could never find anything with her name, in fact people would often write her name without the "e" thinking they were correcting it. Then she named her daughter Clair without the "e" and they both ended up rarely finding anything personalised for them.

I know that my sister and I had often looked through stands of personalised items in shops just in the hope that one day we would be able to buy something for Clair many years ago when Clair was young, now over the years the odd time we have managed to find Clair's name but not Averil's.


When I heard that question at a craft fair I would ask the person what their name was and help them find it in my bookmark stand or explain that I was sorry I did not have their name but perhaps they would like me to take their name and address and I would make one specially for them.

For the people with names that could never be found this was quite a surprise and also a pleasure to know that someone could offer them something they had as yet never been able to find.
I could simply have said "sorry I don't have that name" and have left it like that but of course that would not have been so good for me trying to sell my items or so nice for the person who had already felt rejected over their name.

Today I was thinking on these two questions and the offer I could make to people.

Then about the question so many people ask themselves with some hope but no expectancy

"Will I go to Heaven?"

"Will I go to Heaven?"

I'm glad that I have the hope and expectancy of my home with Jesus in Heaven.

I'm glad that the Bible tells me my name is written in Heaven.

I'm glad that when I die I will not have to ask

"Have you got my name?"

with some hope  but not with any great  expectancy.

I'm glad that when I die I will not have to hear God say

"sorry I don't have that name"

Because I will be happy as I ask

 "Where's My Name?"

full of  expectancy  to see my name written in the
Lamb's Book of Life

I could make the offer to create a personalised bookmark if the person was willing to buy it.

God has already made us the offer of a life with Him in Heaven and He says we don't even have to pay for it, it is free for us because of the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross.


But why does it have to be through that sacrifice?


Well have a look at John 3:16  "For God so loved the world that He gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish but have eternal life"


Briefly

• God loves us and doesn't want us to be forever apart from him and suffer in hell because of our sin
• He made a way for our sins to be paid for by Jesus taking on our punishment
• He offers us full reconciliation with Him 
• We have only to trust that He means what He has said and will keep His promise, but then if He didn't why would He let His own Son suffer

(see the 3,2,1 video on the sidebar for a fuller explanation)



It's an offer of salvation but we have to accept it.

Now I have a question for you.

Where's YOUR name?

If you have read this far then either you have already accepted God's Salvation and you share that hope and expectancy with me or you are in the place of knowing that you want this gift but have as yet not made that step of accepting it.


Please don't hesitate any longer.


It's an offer you have to accept.

"It's an offer you have to accept"

If you want more help on this please watch the  3 2 1 Video in the sidebar

How We Personalized Christmas - A Dose of Encouragement

In the past we have often given someone a personalised present at Christmas or we have got personalised tree decorations for our kids

BUT  this year

we personalised Christmas quite a bit.

To start with it was our grandson Matthew's first Christmas and although he didn't know what was going on ( not even 8 weeks old by Christmas) we were all thinking about him and we started off by receiving gifts from others mentioning


"Baby's First Christmas"


Then we were at it ourselves because I bought a star tree decoration handmade about Matthew for our tree and then got one identical for Daniel & Suzie's tree.

But Fred was the one who thought of the idea that included everyone.


Now I'm the one who loves mugs and I always find myself glancing over the array of mugs in any place I see them just in case I will see a nice one (should be a bargain of course) or see one that makes me think of someone in particular and I know it will be a nice gift for them.


But Fred was the one who had the idea about the personalized mugs!


So he designed them for each of the family





The mugs for the proud grandparents.






The mugs for the proud aunt and uncle.






The mugs for the proud parents.

Then a mug for each of my 4 Black Boys.



And that is how we personalised Christmas this year.


So often we go through Christmas time in a blur of shopping, cooking, giving gifts, visiting and eating together but do we make sure that the time is really personalised?

We can personalise Christmas time in two ways and neither of them has anything to do with our names on mugs or anywhere else.

We can personalise Christmas Time in 2 ways.

We can personalise it by putting our mark on Christmas.

Yes we need time to shop for gifts and food, cook for the family and friends, give and receive gifts, visit and have meals together but we can also make time to engage with others on a good one to one basis and not just the hurried "Merry Christmas" and "hug".

We can think about little things that will make the time a happier memory for others or a time when they know someone cared enough to talk and listen to them and share a laugh or two.

I can think of a great example that happens each year in the Coffee Shop that our son Daniel manages in Belfast.  On Christmas Day anyone and everyone who may be on their own over Christmas are invited to come to Common Grounds and share in a Freshly Cooked full Christmas Dinner.

Volunteers flock to help and others are eager to donate food or money to provide a special meal and afternoon for anyone who drops in.
This year over 110 people were served and not only they, but also the volunteers were blessed in their time together.



We can personalise it by putting Christ's mark on Christmas.

Yes again we need to do all the practical things and a lot of what is involved now at Christmas time is centred around things rather than the person who is the reason we celebrate Christmas.

We need to make Jesus the Centre of Christmas and the Reason for Christmas.

One thing I insist on each year is that the Christmas cards we send out will always be focusing on Jesus and not referring to Christmas as a season.

  

Here are a few of my favourites  

And one we sent the kids in our Sunday School - deliberately picked to remind the children of the puppet show we had in church that year on the nativity and the fun time they had with the camel puppet.

Even this year when we sent out fewer cards and then sent an email greeting to link to a family letter on this blog we still wanted to express our thankfulness to God for sending the Saviour of the world and chose this picture for our Christmas greeting, keeping Christ at the centre.

We often hear things like:

“if you had been the only person on earth Jesus would have still died for you”

But we are not the only ones so we have a responsibility to put Christ's mark on each Christmas we celebrate here on earth to share Jesus with others and not remove Him from it.

We need to remember "Our mark & His mark".

I generally like to buy my Christmas Cards really early (as in the January sales!) so I am looking again now for a card with a fully Jesus centred theme to make sure I personalise Christmas for Christ.

A New Christmas Decoration - A Dose of Encouragement

I really shouldn't have!

We have so many already!

I'm supposed to be decluttering, not bringing more things into the house!

But I just couldn't resist buying that new decoration for the Christmas tree.

I was out buying special Christmas Cards and looking for ideas for gifts in the Faith Mission Book Shop when I noticed it and the temptation grabbed me.

Fred just smiled when I showed it to him and didn't say the obvious

"not another decoration"  

 he can be so nice to me sometimes ( ok I admit it's not just sometimes but most of the time ).


It's not the only one I've bought this year, but ssssshhh that's a secret until closer to Christmas.

I have to admit I really like tree decorations that bring back memories like our 3 sleighs and the fan that get hung up each year.


But there is something special about bible themed tree decorations and the one I got was definitely bible themed with Mary and Joseph holding the baby Jesus.

Yes I admit is is rather similar to the the one I wrote about in The True Christmas blog post last year.  

But I think perhaps I was drawn to this new one because we have been doing a lot of holding and cuddling of our baby grandson since he was born at the start of last month.

It is amazing how one small child can change the structure of a marriage relationship - it is not just a couple any more it is now a family with another person there forever making a 3 Sided relationship.  This is a life-altering event in any marriage and as was mentioned in a recent post Congratulations;  it can be the best day of the lives of the couple.


Jesus obviously changed the structure of his family not only in the obvious special way as a new life born into that relationship but also because of exactly Who He was - the Son of God.  His birth was not only the best day of the lives of Mary and Joseph but also the best day in the life of the world thus far - God had come down to earth.

Look at the wording on the decoration

Jesus came to be the hope of all the world,

                                                          of everyone,

                                                                           of you ,

                                                                                      of me.

This was definitely a life-altering event for the whole world.

Our new decoration reminds us of the new Hope we have in Jesus when we acknowledge He is Lord and accept His gift of salvation.

Born as a baby but born to be the Saviour of all.

Jesus is all this

and

our true hope, 

regardless of us 

or anything else that is going on in the world.

I am thankful that I have a Saviour and that I have the Hope of all.

If you would like to know more about how you can personally experience this life-altering event please take a few minutes to watch the video 3 2 1 on the sidebar.