SFJ Bible Reading Plan

Acts 3

The Lame Beggar Healed

3:1 Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.¹ 2 And a man lame from birth was being carried, whom they laid daily at the gate of the temple that is called the Beautiful Gate to ask alms of those entering the temple. 3 Seeing Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked to receive alms. 4 And Peter directed his gaze at him, as did John, and said, “Look at us.” 5 And he fixed his attention on them, expecting to receive something from them. 6 But Peter said, “I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” 7 And he took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles were made strong. 8 And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. 9 And all the people saw him walking and praising God, 10 and recognized him as the one who sat at the Beautiful Gate of the temple, asking for alms. And they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him.

Peter Speaks in Solomon’s Portico

11 While he clung to Peter and John, all the people, utterly astounded, ran together to them in the portico called Solomon’s. 12 And when Peter saw it he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk? 13 The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant² Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him. 14 But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. 16 And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus³ has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.

17 “And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. 18 But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled. 19 Repent therefore, and turn back, that your sins may be blotted out, 20 that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus, 21 whom heaven must receive until the time for restoring all the things about which God spoke by the mouth of his holy prophets long ago. 22 Moses said, ‘The Lord God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your brothers. You shall listen to him in whatever he tells you. 23 And it shall be that every soul who does not listen to that prophet shall be destroyed from the people.’ 24 And all the prophets who have spoken, from Samuel and those who came after him, also proclaimed these days. 25 You are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant that God made with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘And in your offspring shall all the families of the earth be blessed.’ 26 God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”

Footnotes

[1] 3:1 That is, 3 p.m.

[2] 3:13 Or child; also verse 26

[3] 3:16 Greek him

(ESV)

Acts 2

The Coming of the Holy Spirit

2:1 When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested¹ on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.”

Peter’s Sermon at Pentecost

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day.² 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel:

17   “‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares,
  that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh,
  and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy,
    and your young men shall see visions,
    and your old men shall dream dreams;
18   even on my male servants and female servants
    in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.
19   And I will show wonders in the heavens above
    and signs on the earth below,
    blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke;
20   the sun shall be turned to darkness
    and the moon to blood,
    before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day.
21   And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know—23 this Jesus,³ delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him,

  “‘I saw the Lord always before me,
    for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken;
26   therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced;
    my flesh also will dwell in hope.
27   For you will not abandon my soul to Hades,
    or let your Holy One see corruption.
28   You have made known to me the paths of life;
    you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this that you yourselves are seeing and hearing. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says,

  “‘The Lord said to my Lord,
  “Sit at my right hand,
35     until I make your enemies your footstool.”’

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.”

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 And Peter said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.” 40 And with many other words he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, “Save yourselves from this crooked generation.” 41 So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls.

The Fellowship of the Believers

42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. 43 And awe⁴ came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles. 44 And all who believed were together and had all things in common. 45 And they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all, as any had need. 46 And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.

Footnotes

[1] 2:3 Or And tongues as of fire appeared to them, distributed among them, and rested

[2] 2:15 That is, 9 a.m.

[3] 2:23 Greek this one

[4] 2:43 Or fear

(ESV)

Acts 1

The Promise of the Holy Spirit

1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4 And while staying¹ with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5 for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with² the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

The Ascension

6 So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 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. 10 And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, 11 and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

Matthias Chosen to Replace Judas

12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13 And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. 14 All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.³

15 In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, 16 “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” 18 (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong⁴ he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms,

  “‘May his camp become desolate,
    and let there be no one to dwell in it’;

and

  “‘Let another take his office.’

21 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” 26 And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Footnotes

[1] 1:4 Or eating

[2] 1:5 Or in

[3] 1:14 Or brothers and sisters. In New Testament usage, depending on the context, the plural Greek word adelphoi (translated “brothers”) may refer either to brothers or to brothers and sisters; also verse 15

[4] 1:18 Or swelling up

(ESV)

John 21

Jesus Appears to Seven Disciples

21:1 After this Jesus revealed himself again to the disciples by the Sea of Tiberias, and he revealed himself in this way. 2 Simon Peter, Thomas (called the Twin), Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of his disciples were together. 3 Simon Peter said to them, “I am going fishing.” They said to him, “We will go with you.” They went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.

4 Just as day was breaking, Jesus stood on the shore; yet the disciples did not know that it was Jesus. 5 Jesus said to them, “Children, do you have any fish?” They answered him, “No.” 6 He said to them, “Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish. 7 That disciple whom Jesus loved therefore said to Peter, “It is the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his outer garment, for he was stripped for work, and threw himself into the sea. 8 The other disciples came in the boat, dragging the net full of fish, for they were not far from the land, but about a hundred yards¹ off.

9 When they got out on land, they saw a charcoal fire in place, with fish laid out on it, and bread. 10 Jesus said to them, “Bring some of the fish that you have just caught.” 11 So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn. 12 Jesus said to them, “Come and have breakfast.” Now none of the disciples dared ask him, “Who are you?” They knew it was the Lord. 13 Jesus came and took the bread and gave it to them, and so with the fish. 14 This was now the third time that Jesus was revealed to the disciples after he was raised from the dead.

Jesus and Peter

15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Feed my lambs.” 16 He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” He said to him, “Yes, Lord; you know that I love you.” He said to him, “Tend my sheep.” 17 He said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love me?” Peter was grieved because he said to him the third time, “Do you love me?” and he said to him, “Lord, you know everything; you know that I love you.” Jesus said to him, “Feed my sheep. 18 Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 19 (This he said to show by what kind of death he was to glorify God.) And after saying this he said to him, “Follow me.”

Jesus and the Beloved Apostle

20 Peter turned and saw the disciple whom Jesus loved following them, the one who also had leaned back against him during the supper and had said, “Lord, who is it that is going to betray you?” 21 When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about this man?” 22 Jesus said to him, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me!” 23 So the saying spread abroad among the brothers² that this disciple was not to die; yet Jesus did not say to him that he was not to die, but, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you?”

24 This is the disciple who is bearing witness about these things, and who has written these things, and we know that his testimony is true.

25 Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.

Footnotes

[1] 21:8 Greek two hundred cubits; a cubit was about 18 inches or 45 centimeters

[2] 21:23 Or brothers and sisters

(ESV)

Going Deeper

Jesus Understands Betrayal (9-27-14)

Grab your bible and let’s go deeper into John 18

Before we jump into the text, the good news we must cling to is the fact that for those in Christ, we have an Lord who not only gets what we are going through, he has been through many of the hard things we face or will face.  Things like temptation, sadness, betrayal, injustice, pain, and death.

Read: Hebrews 4:14-16

Jesus took on flesh.  He came here to be our great High Priest.   His coming alone is amazing!  But he didn’t just come!

He came and took on the everyday struggles and temptations and betrayals that you and I face.   He relates!  He understands.

This is a grace we do not deserve!   For those who with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, we receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

Today I want to help us look at how Jesus relates to a very sensitive subject: BETRAYAL!

Before we look to the betrayal of Jesus, what is betrayal?

Betrayal: to be unfaithful, to deliver to or side with an enemy; to violate trust or confidence once held between two parties

One of the most common phrases that people say about betrayal is, “I was stabbed in the back.”  This comes from the understanding that you don’t turn your back on your enemies. The only people you let close or stand behind you are your friends, “people who have your back.”  So, when someone you trust betrays you, they stabbed you in the back. They hurt you when you trusted them.   As a result of many years of doing counseling, I know that some of the deepest wounds many of people carry with them are related to betrayal.  That is what makes this “going deeper” so important.

The most famous betrayal of all time is the betrayal of Jesus by Judas. We don’t know much about Judas or his back story.  We do know that one day Jesus hand picked him to be one of his 12 core group to spend the next 3 years living life together. That means when Jesus was preaching and teaching, Judas was there. When demons were cast out, and people were healed, Judas was there. Judas ate his meals and walked the road with Jesus for three years. Take a second and think of the last person you spent everyday with for three years.  A spouse, brother, high school best friend…do you see my point? Just because Jesus knew Judas would betray him doesn’t mean they didn’t spend solid time together and that his betrayal wasn’t incredibly hard.

Read John 18: 1-11

Can you imagine how the disciples felt in that moment?   This was a betrayal of them as well. You’re a team. You’re together. You share intense life experiences, lots of time together over the course of multiple years, and then one of you absolutely does the unthinkable?  I’m sure the disciples were just stunned.

The betrayal for Jesus gets worse because the other accounts of Jesus’ arrest conclude to say, “Then all the disciples left him and fled.”  Not only was Jesus betrayed by Judas, he was betrayed and abandoned by his entire crew!  It is likely that you too, have been abandoned by people close to you; a parent, a spouse, a brother in the club maybe. The disciples had just finished promising Jesus that they would never leave his side. Isn’t this is a testament to mankind!  This is why our ultimate hope cannot be in family, marriage, friendships, work relationships or brothers in the club.  WHY?  Because people will let you down! The best intentions of man won’t keep him from becoming unfaithful because of the flesh.  The fact is:  People in your life will let you down.

Only God is always faithful and will truly never leave us or forsake us.   His word is the one truth we have to stand on in a selfish world. Everyone else will let you down. While Judas’ betrayal of Jesus is most famous, don’t miss the fact that every one of the disciples fled and choose in the end to save themselves instead of standing up for their friend.

Jesus is then arrested and run through a series of false trials in the middle of the night. While these late night Jewish Trials were taking place under the veil of darkness, we see that Peter and one other disciple followed the arresting crowd to the house of the High Priest.  In John 18:15-16 we read that they were able to get into the house.  What a prime moment for Peter to stand up for and defend his friend.

Read John 18:17-18 & 25-27

The betrayal continues with Peter’s denial that he even knew Jesus.  There is no greater betrayal than to be so very close to someone and then not acknowledge that you even know him.

I realize that some of the betrayal you have been through is incredibly painful.  For you, nothing hurts as bad as having  one who has been close to you utterly disown you for someone or something else. 

Understand this today:  You have a God who gets this!   JESUS RELATES!

My deep prayer for you today is that you allow this news to draw you nearer to a savior that has been there.   One who can relate to us better than anyone because not only has he been there, but he knows us inside and out…and therefore is our greatest support and help!

While many of us can relate in this story to Jesus and the pain we feel when betrayed by someone we love, have you ever stopped to think about how much we relate to Judas and the disciples as well? Maybe, as you read this you realize you have been the betrayer.   As a result, you carry a huge amount of shame and regret and guilt because of your unfaithfulness.

There are so many ways this plays out:  There are the obvious ones: cheated on a spouse, sold out a coworker, gave yourself to addiction instead of parenting your kids. These betrayals are extremely painful and real. But what about the more subtle betrayals?

– Silence can be a huge betrayal.  For instance, silence in a marriage or a relationship.  Maybe you are well practiced in not saying much of anything to your spouse. You wear a ring on your finger but you don’t really engage your spouse with the sacrificial love of Jesus and thereby you betray the intimacy and oneness God intends for you to share with your spouse.

– Laziness can be a huge betrayal.  We selfishly find ourselves taking the easy road in a work situation, or in your club duties, and thereby you betray the commitment you once made to faithfully give all you have as unto the Lord.

For those of you not convinced you relate to the betrayer, those of you thinking, “I have not done such a thing to someone I loved.  I am a faithful person.”  What about what we do to Jesus every time we sin and take what he has done for us for granted or purposely choose to deny his way and choose our own?  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God – Romans 3:23

The reality is, we have all participated in the greatest betrayal of all time. The betrayal of God’s deserved GLORY!  We betray God’s glory by trying to make our lives about ourselves.  This is the crux of our lostness, our sin, our deserved death. The reality is: There is a burden, a weight, a regret and remorse that we who have betrayed another carry with us. So, the imperative question we ask is, “What do we do with our tears of remorse?”

How did Judas feel about what he had done to betray Jesus? Well, what is good is he had great remorse, but what is tragic is he did not have repentance.   He felt bad, but he didn’t take up a new course in light of his confession.  Confession without repentance is still death.   Repentance is taking up a new path in light of the Gospel.

In contrast, Peter also betrayed Jesus by denying him three times. It says that he wept bitterly, that he was devastated, that he felt horrific about what he had done!  He too had remorse and was filled with regret. But, as soon as he heard Jesus was alive, after the resurrection, Peter ran to the empty tomb, looking for Jesus.

Read John 20:1-10

Peter wanted to see Jesus. He wanted to look Jesus in the eye. He wanted to tell Jesus that he was sorry, and he wanted to ask for forgiveness.  This is the sign of repentance.

A repentant heart is sorry for its error but doesn’t get swallowed by it.  It pursues a different path.  A new beginning.

True Repentance is surrender!  It is surrendering your current wrong path to get on the right one. True gospel repentance is huge. The grace of God through Christ’s death for our sin is the only motivation that leads you to hate the sin without hating yourself.

Later in scripture, we see that Peter did change. He was not a perfect man, but he was a changed man. Judas, on the other hand, had remorse, but not repentance.  He felt bad, but he never changed. Now, I must ask: Is this you?  You cry, and you feel bad, and you grieve the consequences, but if you don’t hate your sin, and if you don’t bring it to God and the people you’ve offended you will only know discouragement and despair.

Not dealing with your remorse is a serious thing.  I have seen it derail people for the worst.  Tear apart marriages, cause parents to walk out on their kids, lead to heavy drinking or drug use.  I have seen it cause people to retract from society and social life into their home, their bedroom, into false realities of TV, online gaming, and other false realities.   I have seen it cause faithful men in this club to walk out on the mission and brotherhood they once were so faithful to.

Rather than Judas saying he was sorry, he made a noose. Rather than making it right, he made it end. And he put a noose around his neck, and he jumped off a tree branch, and he hung himself. Acts records that his intestines burst out, and his guts came out of his body, and that’s the end of Judas Iscariot.  This is a picture of remorse, not repentance. Hear me today!   It’s not enough to just feel bad. You’ve got to bring your regret to God, and you need to be changed by the grace of God. You need to hear the Gospel today and let it change you at your core.

I have good News for you today!  If you have been betrayed, JESUS relates and he has made it possible to connect with you in such a way that he can heal and empower you to restore what is broken in the betrayals you have endured. If you have betrayed someone you love, Jesus is the only way you have the true power to repent and forgive and heal and take up a new path.   You need Jesus!

Praise God! Jesus saw his mission through to the end so that we could repent, believe and be saved!  Borrowing from the words of Joseph, Jesus can say, “My betrayers meant it for evil. God meant it for Good.”

Praise be to God.

By His grace and for His glory,

-Shepherd

Soldiers for Jesus MC

Bakersfield CA