“Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” – James 4:7

This is a great reminder of a few essential truths about the adversary. The devil is real and will attack Christians. However, the devil is a coward. He can certainly seem scary but he’s also unimaginably weaker than the God Who lives in you if Jesus is your Lord. That means, if you live a life in alignment to God and obedience to King Jesus, the devil will flee from you. You’re too full of God to be successfully attacked by the devil! Live a life that pursues the joy of close relationship with God and there’s nothing the devil can do but run away.

Remember that the devil can’t make you do anything. Not if you’re sealed by the Holy Spirit. As a follower of Jesus, you’re marked as belonging to God. Though the devil can certainly tempt you and lie to you, he can’t make you do anything. So resist him! Stay in God’s Word daily so you can see through the devil’s lies. Pursue personal holiness so you can resist the devil’s temptations. When you resist in the strength and power of Jesus, the devil will have no choice but to run off.

Note that you don’t have to beat the devil. You don’t have to wrestle with him, beat him down, or throw him out yourself. You just need to submit to God’s good authority over your life and then stand firm in resisting the devil. He might go after you for awhile, but in resisting the devil, God will win the victory and the devil will leave. The devil hates Christians and loves to go after those who are spiritually weak, isolated, and unsubmitted to God. Those are Christians he can really have fun with. But if you’re in fellowship with God, Jesus, and other believers and you’re committed to resisting the devil’s methods, he will flee. #FollowJesus

“For so the Lord has commanded us, saying,
‘‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles,
that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
– Acts 13:47

It would be impossible to overstate how important this task is to God! He has made all people in His image and made all people to be in relationship with Him. He desires to gather believers from every tribe, tongue, and nation, reconciling them to Him through faith in Jesus Christ. The task given to Barnabas and Saul remains an urgent, ongoing task for the church. We are to live and speak in such a way that we ARE a light for those who don’t yet believe in Jesus. We must get the words of life and the message of salvation to the ends of the earth.

The task is huge. Currently, there are billions who are unlikely to even hear the Gospel message from a Christian, much less embrace it. That doesn’t make it impossible. Nothing is impossible for God! It’s our responsibility, in this generation, to move this work forward. It will require devotion and sacrifice. It will require an educated church that is focused on prayer for the nations and people groups that need the gospel. Pray for God to prepare them to hear and respond. Pray for God to raise up those who will go and speak the message of salvation. Pray for God to raise up those who will translate the Scripture into their native language.

It will require sacrificial giving of financial resources to support translation efforts, the distribution of Gospel materials, the use of technology to spread the Gospel, and the sending of cross-cultural missionaries. It will require the devotion of time to support and encourage those who go and to welcome those coming to our community from the nations. It will require some to go, just as Barnabas and Paul did. Who will go to the nations? Is God calling you? #FollowJesus

“So Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul, and when he had found him, he brought him to Antioch. For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.” – Acts 11:25-26

Here we catch a glimpse of a pivotal moment in the history of our faith. Most of the time we Christians want to keep doing church the way we like to do church. It’s familiar and comfortable for us. It helps us worship more easily. We don’t tend to like change and strongly prefer to keep doing what we’ve always done. Not so with the church in Antioch! They had the courage to change church and in the process, they changed the world!

This was the first church to actively reach out to non-Jews with the good news of Jesus Christ. When those non-Jews started believing in large numbers, the church had to adapt. The church was growing rapidly and the culture of the church was changing radically. Those new believers weren’t like the old believers. No doubt there was tension between the groups. There were challenges about how to disciple people coming into the church from a pagan background.

However, this church didn’t ignore those challenges or waste the opportunity God provided. Barnabas went and found Saul (aka Paul). Saul was a brilliant scholar, a formally trained Jewish teacher, and a man who knew how to navigate the Gentile world and speak effectively to those from a Greco-Roman background. In this bold decision to bring in a unique (and relatively inexperienced) new leader, the church positioned itself to become the church we know today. From the Antioch church would come the great missionary journeys that would spread the faith across the Mediterranean world. It was in Antioch where The Way came to be known as Christianity.

Give thanks for these Christians who didn’t hold so tightly to how they’d always done church that they missed out on reaching the world for Christ! Be inspired by their flexibility and courage. Examine yourself and see where God might be calling you to set down some preferences and traditions for the sake of reaching those who are far from God today. #FollowJesus

“But Peter and John answered them, ‘Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.’” – Acts 4:19-20

Ordered to stop talking about Jesus, this was the answer given by Peter and John. It was respectful, yet blunt. They HAD to keep talking about Jesus. Why? Because He’d commanded them to and because the good news of Jesus is just so good that everyone needs to hear it. With all due respect to earthly authority, love and obedience required them to keep telling people about Jesus. So they did!

Would you do the same? Are you doing the same? The good news of Jesus Christ is still so good that everyone needs to hear it. Like Peter and John, you have also been commanded by Jesus to talk about Him with others. People need to know that there is hope in Jesus. They need to know that they are loved by Jesus. They need to know that they can have their sins forgiven through faith in Jesus. They need to know that there is healing and reconciliation with God available through Jesus. They need to know there is purpose, meaning, and dignity for their life in Jesus.

You’ve got good news to share, so share it! Don’t let fear of anyone keep you from telling people that good news. Don’t let rules and regulations keep you from telling people that good news. Fall so in love with Jesus that you can’t help but talk about Him with others. #FollowJesus

“And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.” – Acts 1:9

What a moment!!! Can you imagine it? The disciples had probably gotten used to the idea of the resurrected Jesus suddenly appearing amongst them, teaching them, and explaining their future. He’d been doing it for weeks. Then this happened… Jesus rose up to heaven right before their eyes!!! As He rose, a cloud reminiscent of God’s presence on earth surrounded Him and takes Him from their sight. Incredible!

Think about this moment as you think about Jesus today. This event was witnessed by many people who went to their (early) graves swearing to its truth. Jesus not only rose from the dead, He ascended into heaven right in front of people’s eyes. Wow! Hopefully that thought makes you want to break into worship and praise of King Jesus! Go ahead and worship Him right now if it does…

Jesus is there in heaven right now, ruling and reigning at the right hand of God the Father. He is alive. He is in authority. He is the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Lion of Judah, the Lamb that was Slain. Praise Him and #FollowJesus!