On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 1:4-5).

According to the church calendar, we are currently between Jesus’ Resurrection and Pentecost, which occurred after Jesus’ ascension to heaven to be seated at the right hand of His Father. (We will celebrate Pentecost on May 19, 2024). Jesus has commanded his disciples to stay in Jerusalem to wait for their baptism with the Holy Spirit. In hindsight, we understand what Jesus meant. However, the disciples must have been filled with quite a bit of uncertainty. They asked questions, but Jesus told them “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority (Acts 1:7). And then Jesus did promise them “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). What???

What must it have felt like to the disciples during that time? Their beloved leader said he was leaving, but they needed to stay in Jerusalem, a dangerous place for them. Jesus told them just enough to give them hope. He told them to wait for the gift he had promised. Apparently, they would be traveling soon. And they would have power from the Holy Spirit, which perhaps they had some idea about but not fully. And Jesus gave them the ultimate ambiguous command: Wait!

Does anyone like to be told to wait? Indeed, does anyone like to wait? For sure, there are rare circumstances where waiting is better than the alternative. But mostly, waiting is painful. We wait for the doctor, the diagnosis, the treatment date, to recover. We wait for the plane to take off. We wait for the interview, the offer, the start date. We find ourselves in the middle of waiting: for someone to show up, for someone to leave, for the show to start, for the game to be over. Waiting is a fact of life. It is not if we will wait, it is how we wait.

In truth, on an earthly level, we are waiting for all those things I listed above—health, financial, job, relationships; all have a waiting component. However, on a spiritual level, we are also waiting. And although it might not be obvious, God is working while we are waiting. We are on his timetable, rather than the other way around. God is working out his plan for his good pleasure. He has a role for each of us, and he will put us in at just the right time. He will give us our directions and ensure that we have just what we need when we need it. So how do we wait for it?

1. We wait in humility, with the perspective that God is God, and we are not. “You have made my days a mere handbreadth; the span of my years is as nothing before you. Everyone is but a breath, even those who seem secure” (Psalm 39:5).
2. We wait with trust in God. We know that He is able, and that He is loving. “Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Ephesians 3:20). “The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Psalm 103:8).

The apostles gave us the best example of how to wait, and their example is applicable for most any circumstance. We read in Acts 1:13-14 that after Jesus ascended to heaven, they returned to Jerusalem together (as instructed), and “When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers” (Acts 1:13-14).

The next time you find yourself waiting, remember these words. Find some prayer partners and devote yourselves to prayer. Prayer is not what we do as a last resort. It is the first and foremost way to participate fully in God’s plan for our lives.

“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. I say to myself, ‘The Lord is my portion; therefore, I will wait for him.’” (Lamentations 3:22-23).

In Christ,

Judy

“Remember your leaders, who spoke the word of God to you. Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith” (Hebrews 13:7).

We have just completed a study of Hebrews in the Tuesday Bible Study. The last chapter, Chapter 13, includes some instruction to this audience of Jewish Christians who are living in an uncertain world where persecution and false teaching is prevalent. The author is instructing them on how to live their lives in this culture, which unfortunately, closely resembles our own. Therefore, these instructions are applicable also to us.

The focus of this devotional is two verses in Chapter 13 that speak to leadership. The presumption in verse 7 (quoted above) is that the leaders live a way of life that we as followers should imitate. Some of you might quickly react that the leaders you know do not live lives you would want to imitate, and that may be a valid point.

However, I urge you to consider another viewpoint. There is not a staff position at Nashville Rescue Mission that does not include a leadership element. That is because the people we serve are being led by us. Each guest or program participant is subject to our authority as staff. And many of you also supervise staff and program participants.

With this viewpoint in mind, how would the people under your authority evaluate your way of life? If anyone has the opinion that this is judgmental, remember that we are known by our fruit. The people around us do not know us by our good intentions. They often do not care about the challenges we have endured. All they know is what they see and hear.

I pray that we will daily evaluate ourselves in light of this scripture, ask for conviction for where we fall short, and strive to carry out our work roles in a way that is skillful and gracious; that we will strive to be examples worthy of our calling, and that by our example we will lead others to faith in Christ and to a better way of life.

“Have confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you” (Hebrews 13:17).

In Christ,

Judy

“Just as people are destined to die once, and after that to face judgment,so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many; and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are waiting for him” (Hebrews 9:27-28).

We are so very blessed to live on this side of the cross. They had the promise of a Savior. We have the Savior! Those Old Testament heroes of the faith we see listed in Hebrews 11 “… were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect” (v39).

What was that something better that God had planned for us? We have Jesus! Thanks be to God for this indescribable gift!! We have God Himself coming to earth in the person of His Son, as a human, living a perfect life; the gift of His sacrificial atoning death, His miraculous resurrection, and His ascension to Heaven to resume his place sitting at the right hand of His Father. And because of this, we know that we too, we who believe, will also experience resurrection to live in eternity in unity with God. Praise God. This is our hope, and there is no other.

How should we then live? We should live in the truth of the resurrection: that this world is not our ultimate destination. Whatever we experience in each moment of our life on earth is preparation for our eternal life in Heaven. We can persevere because we already know our future. We have these words to live by from the Apostle Paul (1 Corinthians 15:54-58):

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality,

then shall come to pass the saying that is written:

‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’

“The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”

How should we then live? “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”

Jesus himself gave us these commandments, which Matthew recorded:

• “Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?” He said to him, ’You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the greatest and first commandment (Matthew 22:37-38).
• “And a second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets” (Matthew 22:39-40).
• “Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

Note: “How Should We Then Live” as a title and question in this devotional is borrowed from the title of a book by Francis Shaeffer.

In Christ,

Judy