Bible Study with Jairus – Acts 3

睚鲁的圣经世界

During exhausting and depleting times, we all yearn for rest, refreshment, restoration, and hope. Acts 3:19 promises a wonderful blessing to God’s people: “times of refreshing” which come straight “from the presence of the Lord.” (NASB) These times of refreshing are not just a vague memory from the past or a vague hope for the future. Instead, they are a present reality that we can experience every day. When we repent and turn away from our daily worry and wandering away from God, we can experience these "times of refreshing" anytime and anywhere. Hebrews 4:11 (ESV) says: "Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience." As we call on the Lord's name and enter His presence, God saves us from worries and brings us into his rest. Surfing the Waves of God’s Working In Acts, we see Peter being used greatly by God. But we also see him stumbling greatly. On the one hand, he healed lame people and performed miracles. On the other hand, he cowered in the face of legalistic Jews, pretending he didn’t care about the Gentile Christians. Even Barnabas was led astray by Peter’s hypocrisy. This discrepancy demonstrates a profound interaction between human and divine effort in the early church. When Peter cooperated with the Holy Spirit, he performed great acts of service for the Lord. But when he got out of step with the Holy Spirit, he fell and failed. The Holy Spirit can be compared to a puppeteer who directs the puppets, and believers can be compared to the puppets acting on the stage of life. Unlike a puppeteer, however, God does not control us or force us to act a certain way. Instead, we can liken God’s influence to ocean waves. The power of the Holy Spirit can carry us along, like a wave carries a surfer. When a surfer stays in sync with the waves, he will surf the waves and troughs. But when he gets out of sync with the motion and rhythm of the waves, he will be knocked over. Overwhelmed, he will crash to the ground. A surfer needs to understand the wave patterns and how waves move so that he can move in cooperation with the waves’ power. READ MORE: www.jbwm.org