Acts 19:8-10

Yesterday we spent the afternoon with our children and grandchildren in the serenity of the Quarry. The 66 acres is mostly trees and sandstone rock and in the little cabin we built on the property we find such tranquility. We can appreciate the creativity of God. It is a blessing passed down from my parents to me and will someday pass to the girls. We all live in the suburbs but it is our place of gathering and rest. 

In Jesus we can all  find peace!

We plant the seed of the truth of salvation in Jesus Christ but only Holy Spirit can nourish it.

Plant anyway! We never know whose life we may touch. Not everyone will accept God’s gift of salvation but He wants them too!

What a beautiful thing it is to remember and remind ourselves of God's power and sovereignty over this world. He continues to control the seas and calm the chaos throughout Scripture (Job 38:8-9;  Proverbs 8:29;  Jeremiah 5:22;  Mark 4:39-41) and in our lives today. First5 

Every day after school, the young son of a well-known Rabbi would enter his house, place his backpack on the dining room table, leave the house through the back door and head into the woods behind the house.

At first, the Rabbi gave little thought to his son's ritual. Until it continued, for days, and then for weeks. Every day, out into the woods for almost a half hour. The Rabbi grew concerned.

"My son," he asked one day. "I notice that every day you leave our home to spend time in the woods. What is it you are doing there?"

"Oh papa," the son replied. "There is no need to worry. I go into the woods to pray. It is in the woods that I can talk to God.”

"Oh," the Rabbi said, clearly relieved. "But you should know, as the son of a Rabbi, that God is the same everywhere.”

"Yes, papa. I know that God is the same everywhere. But, I am not."

This little boy knew, instinctively, that there are two spaces in our lives. And both are important.

In the first space, we generate activity, productivity, accomplishment and achievement (and yes, busyness, worry and a wee bit of stress). In this space we carry our calendars, our smart phones, our iPads, and our to-do lists.

But there is a second space. In this space we find sanctuary, quiet, reflection, contemplation, and meditation. In this space we find replenishment, spiritual nourishment and renewal. In this space is born prayer, music, poetry, friendship, amazement, awe, wonder, renewal, and if we are lucky, unrepentant napping.

“God is the same everywhere. But, I am not.”

When we honor sanctuary space, we say yes to sufficiency. We say yes to enough. In other words, our value is not predicated on what we achieve in the first space. Take to heart William Sloane Coffin’s reminder that “God's love doesn't seek value, it creates value.  It is not because we have value that we are loved, but because we are loved that we have value.  Our value is a gift, not an achievement.”

I am whole, filled with grace and sufficiency. And from that wholeness spills tenderness, tenacity and compassion to the world around me. SabbathMoments 

Acts 19:8-10

8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God. 9 But when some were hardened and did not believe, but spoke evil of the Way before the multitude, he departed from them and withdrew the disciples, reasoning daily in the school of Tyrannus. 10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks. The New King James Version

Because Ephesus is a key city for travel and business, it allowed Paul’s testimony of Jesus to spread throughout the Roman province of Asia (a region on the west coast of modern-day Turkey. People visiting Ephesus had the opportunity to hear Paul preach the gospel, and those who believed would have then spread the message to the various places they visited and lived. Faithlife Study Bible

From Ephesus, other churches were born in Asia Minor—in Colosse, Smyrna, Pergamos, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Note the sequence of events. Paul tried explaining the things of the kingdom of God to the Jews in the synagogue for three months. After he was finally rejected, he took those who had believed and started a new “school” for the study of the Scriptures in the facilities of a philosopher named Tyrannus. During the two years that Paul conducted these classes, all who dwelt in Asia heard the gospel. This indicates that Paul and the students of the school did more than study; they must have witnessed to others as well. The NKJV Study Bible

Acts 1:3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

Acts 19:8 And he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months, reasoning and persuading concerning the things of the kingdom of God.