Believe in the Right Thing! - 31 Days in Acts

It is Day 26 of 31 Days in Acts and I'm realising how close to the end of this month we are.


Again we have come to one of my favourite chapters of Acts.
So much happens in this chapter and a clear Gospel message for us all to use.

We meet some important characters that do help with the advancement of the Gospel.

But for right now I would just like to look at one verse in this chapter which is where all the focus of this chapter should really go.

I have worked with Kids Groups and Sunday Schools for over 40 years and one of the best ways to help children to memorize scripture is through song.

One of the first visualized kids songs I bought was the one that taught this verse.  

The song is called

"S A L V A T I O N"

and the first verse of it goes

(spelling out the letters of the word Salvation)

which is just the truth of the Gospel and we should not water it down but remember that it simple and clear - we will not enter God's Presence without His Salvation.

Then the second verse brings in the action we need to take

which is to receive His gift of Salvation because we cannot work to earn it; it is freely offered to us through the death of His son Jesus.  

Then the reference of the verse this is all based on and the instruction to 

Believe

but not just believe in anything,  believe in the Lord Jesus.

Even though this may have been a song for children to learn from the message is still the same for all of us no matter what age and throughout all time the message will never change.  It is the only way to Heaven, it is the only way to have your sins forgiven as you repent before God and accept His gift of Salvation.

It is the only way, Believe!

Check out my other posts about the Book of Acts

The 31 Days in Acts Page

What Do You Believe In? - A Dose of Encouragement

This word

Believe 

         
                   is on the lips of everyone around us.

It is

    Printed in Wall stencils.

        Found on free Printables.

            Cropping up in digital scrapbooking.



There are many home decor shops sporting  "believe" plaques - and I have one in my bathroom which I have mentioned in two previous posts
  5 Little Touches  &  Happiness, Happiness

On Facebook I see this word often.



People use it to encourage others.



But my question today is

The definitions of the word BELIEVE is

accept that (something) is true, especially without proof,  

 to trust (in something)

So the answer to my question is  NO  it doesn't make sense on its own.

It is dependant on something else with it so that we can have a proper understanding.

Any time I sit and look at my plaque I am challenged to consider what I believe in, what words I would add.


Now what would you rather have with it?


What comes with the word believe is important, not just anything will do.

We can't just glibly say we believe in any old thing now can we?


I have a piece of word art for digital scrapbooking that says

I also have a butterfly plaque in my ensuite which says Believe in Miracles.

I know which of these I would rather choose to believe in.



Do you?



And I am happy & joyful that I know this.



I want to encourage you today to think about what you really believe in, what you trust in and what you would stand up and be counted for.

I believe in God the Father, 

Son and Holy Spirit 

and
 His Word, the Bible.

I'm glad I know who I believe in and that I can depend on Him and His Word.


Let's stand up and be counted for believing in

What is True and Dependable

Happiness, Happiness. - A Dose of Encouragement

If you are in the UK and can remember back quite a few years you may be able to remember a song called "Happiness"

It was recorded in the 60s but was extremely well-known for many years.

I was in the bathroom running a bath last Thursday afternoon when suddenly I started to sing this old song.  Now I was headed out later in the day for a doctor's appointment and if anyone had asked me if I was happy I probably would have thought I wasn't really so why was I singing this song?

Well here is the reason

In a post last year I talked about 5 Little Touches I had used to make the bathroom of this house mine as opposed to just being the bathroom I ended up with from the previous owners of the house.

One of these things was my bath pillow which I got new because my old one was too well worn.

I had noticed this one in a bargain shop called B&M  which I love to browse round any time I am near it.  I knew it would match the decor and it just made me smile to look at it.  It is also extremely soft.

So obviously as I was preparing my bath I had subconsciously noticed the bath pillow and the chorus of that song just popped into my head.

I had some time to think about those words and how I felt while singing them as I soaked in my nice, long, hot bubble bath.

I have been blessed with a lot of happiness as well as joy.

I am often happy about little things that may seem silly to others I just love to have a laugh at some of the silly things that made me happy.

And I am very thankful to God for being like that and finding happiness in little things.

But it was the first sentence that I really started to dwell on as I lay in that bath.

Yes I could say that God had gifted me with things to make me happy or even say He had gifted me with Happiness although it is not the greatest thing that He has given me.

But what about the fact that happiness is something we can help to give to others.

We can give various things to others but do we give them something to make them happy?

What about those little letters and cards we talked about 2 weeks ago in the post Tears over a Little Letter?

Of course making someone happy does not always involve giving them an actual physical object.

We can bring happiness into someone's life in many other ways.

Maybe we can help them out with a task that they can't do for themselves or just give them some support like in I Had Plans a post from last year.

I have another object in my bathroom that reminds me of something else.

What about helping someone to come to know the saving grace of the Lord Jesus so that they can know His forgiveness of their sin and become a child of God?

Share with them the knowledge of the greatest gift God has for them.

Yes, Happiness is not the greatest gift God has given me because here is the greatest gift in this verse, the gift of Salvation.  

The words of that song may not be completely true but they did nudge me into thinking about happiness, and I do thank God that I am blessed with happiness and also the deep joy of knowing Him.

So let's be encouraged to go and share some happiness with others.

Perhaps then some day you will be able to share the Bible verse with them as well.