April 10 | Acts 1:3-11

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DAILY READING

Acts 1:3-11

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REFLECTION

I Can Only Imagine

By David Thompson

I can only imagine, no not the song by "MercyMe." No, but it is very relevant to me for this devotional. Acts 1:3-11 brings to my mind a time I wish I could have been with the disciples and friends of Jesus in that place. As I read the following jumped out at me, "After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God." I longed to be by His feet as He spoke to those present. I needed just a little bit more and my path to be a teacher might have changed. That scene would have done it for me, I believe.

I remember as a young Christian wanting more of Jesus and the Holy Spirit. I, like "Doubting Thomas" wanted something more tangible in my early spiritual walk. I wanted everything my Jesus was willing to give out. To be there and to hear and to see the proofs He provided would have been such an amazing thing. As I said, I can only imagine with those proofs and the other admonitions of these verses, and the gift of the Holy Spirit fully internalized, where my life would be right now. Whatever it was God would have me do, I was ready. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that usually unnecessary assurance.

To add to that, when I was a young Christian it was a time of a lot of end times prophecies. Books and movies by Hal Lindsay (The Late Great Planet Earth) told us that the time was now that Jesus would come back. What was the harm in that (now 45 years later). Let me share a couple of results of having too much end times in our churches. In the late 70's and early 80's, it terrified and intimidated many. For example, when my younger brother was 22 years old, he gave his life to the Lord and had decided to go to a theological seminary in hopes of becoming a Pentecostal pastor. Many in the church advised him to forget about that and just to do good spiritual work in the time he had left. He was told that four years in college was a waste of time as Jesus was coming back very soon. I can only imagine what would have become of my brother if he had gone to seminary. He lived close to the Word and prayer for about four years and Jesus didn't come back. He fell into some old pre-Jesus habits and at age 31, died of a drug overdose. I also think about Jesse, who was a very bright student in high school and he too heard the naysayers warn him about going to college. So instead of going, he chose to work for Chrysler and hated every day of his last 10 years there until he reached retirement. Again, I can only imagine...

For some the wish for more end times prophesy spoken from the pulpit seems like a great idea. You know, get forks thinking and making themselves ready. However, I for one lived through all of that and it did little to encourage me and instead it scared me. Perhaps we should yearn for more passages like those in Acts 1:3-11 as our assurance of our forever afterlife here in Acts and many other places in the Bible are accurate and reassuring. I look forward to the day I am with Jesus and all of the saints. I will be praising Him and sitting at His feet.

I look forward to our Revelations study that starts next week, knowing we have excellent pastors that will teach us a very hard to understand book.

I can only imagine...

PRAYER

Dear Jesus,

I long to be in Heaven and to be at your feet. Help all of, us no matter what our own father was like, to know there will be a day when we will see you face to face with you and God, our perfect Heavenly Father. What a glorious day that will be.

Give us listening ears and give our pastors the words to help us understand Revelations.

Amen!

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

David Thompson

I am the administrator of the Daily Worship Blog. My wife, Carla, and I have been attending UALC for seven years at the 9 o'clock service at Mill Run. We have two children, Catherine and Aaron. I have been a Christian for 53 years and am thankful that my Savior has given me two spiritual gifts that have carried me both spiritually and vocationally all my life: they are teaching and administration. I look forward to spending many years here at UALC to serve my Lord and Savior.