Monday Devotional: May 12, 2025

Bible Reading: Acts 11:11-18 (NRSVUE)

¹¹ At that very moment three men, sent to me from Caesarea, arrived at the house where we were. ¹² The Spirit told me to go with them and not to make a distinction between them and us. These six brothers also accompanied me, and we entered the man’s house. ¹³ He told us how he had seen the angel standing in his house and saying, ‘Send to Joppa and bring Simon, who is called Peter; ¹⁴ he will give you a message by which you and your entire household will be saved.’ ¹⁵ And as I began to speak, the Holy Spirit fell upon them just as it had upon us at the beginning. ¹⁶ And I remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said, ‘John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ ¹⁷ If then God gave them the same gift that he gave us when we believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could hinder God?” ¹⁸ When they heard this, they were silenced. And they praised God, saying, “Then God has given even to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

“Who was I that I could hinder God?” Peter asks during the culmination of his speech in Jerusalem. It seems like an obvious question. Who among has the right or authority to hinder the work of God?

Peter makes this statement in regard to his religious experience. Often, we, like the circumcised believers in Jerusalem, quickly dismiss someone’s experience if it does not line up with ours. And if another’s experience falls outside our interpretation of scripture, then we surely cannot understand it.

Peter makes this statement in regard to his religious experience. Often, we, like the circumcised believers in Jerusalem, quickly dismiss someone’s experience if it does not line up with ours. And if another’s experience falls outside our interpretation of scripture, then we surely cannot understand it.

We lose the richness of God’s activity when we limit our understanding of it to scripture alone. In fact, we cannot really understand the Acts of the Apostles until we can come to grips with experience. This is a book full of experiences!

Most of us interpret the scriptures based on our experiences. We spent time in Bible studies, but often we sense God at work in life around us. The ordinary experiences of life provide the most fertile ground for seeing the words of scripture sprouting to life before us.

Peter’s experience leaves no doubt in the minds of his hearers that God’s Spirit has worked in an amazing way in the Gentile population. The Spirit is free and frees, working always for the good of those for whom Christ died. What might the Spirit have I mind for us? Rather than doubt or question the validity of others’ experience, we might first ask, “Who am I that I could hinder God”?

Prayer

Lord, may we never hinder your Spirit. Amen.

By Derrek Belase, The Upper Room Disciplines 2013, page 144.

Bible Study

“Embracing Life” By Von W. Unruh

Unit 2: Living Water

Session Title: Master of the Waters
Focal Passage: John 6:16-25
Background Text: John 6:16-25
Purpose Statement: To rejoice in the knowledge that Jesus is in charge.

Questions:

• What does the miracle of Jesus walking on the water tell you about God? What does it tell you about the world? What does it tell you about the relationship between God and the world?
• Where do see the presence of Christ in creation? What difference doe sit make for our world that Jesus is in charge?
• When has Jesus come over the water to be with and comfort you? How did that make you feel?

Zoom Session

Monday, May 12, 2025, from 6:00 pm to 7:00 pm.

(For Zoom Link, send an email to [email protected])

In-Person Session

Wednesday, May 14, 2025, from 1:00 pm to 2:00 pm, Conference Room, McGee Building.