Tagged: Daily Reflection

“The congregations grew stronger in faith and daily increased in numbers.” –Acts 16:5 The early Church grew in numbers daily. “Day by day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). The early Church grew daily because: “They went to the temple area together every day, while in their homes they broke bread” (Acts 2:46). “Day after day, both in the temple and at home, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news of Jesus the Messiah” (Acts 5:42). “Each day they studied the Scriptures” (Acts 17:11). They encouraged “one another daily” (Heb 3:13)....

“This is My commandment: love one another as I have loved you.” –John 15:12 Gentile Christians were commanded by the leaders of the early Church to change their eating habits and sexual practices (see Acts 15:20). People are usually very resistant to limitations on their food consumption or sexual activity. However, the Gentile Christians read the letter containing their new orders with “great delight at the encouragement it gave” (Acts 15:31). For those in love, obedience, in even the most difficult matters, is a delight. The psalmist prayed: “To do Your will, O my God, is my delight” (Ps 40:9)....

“The apostles and the presbyters accordingly convened to look into the matter. After much discussion, Peter took the floor.” –Acts 15:6-7 This meeting of the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem was one of the most important in history. This is not because they ruled against the necessity of circumcision for Gentile Christians but because they removed an obstacle to world evangelization. The result of the meeting was that “Paul and Barnabas continued in Antioch, along with many others, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord” (Acts 15:35). Furthering evangelization is the criterion by which we judge the...

“You are clean already, thanks to the word I have spoken to you.” –John 15:3 We must let the Lord clean us so that we can bear fruit abundantly. If we don’t let the Lord clean us “in the bath of water by the power of the word” (Eph 5:26), we will be thrown into the fire to be burned (Jn 15:6). “Blessed are the clean of heart” (Mt 5:8, our transl). In nine days, we will begin praying the Pentecost novena. This can be a time of miraculous cleansing, leading to unprecedented fruitfulness. If we let the Lord have...

“They called the congregation together and related all that God had helped them accomplish, and how He had opened the door of faith to the Gentiles.” –Acts 14:27 Because God is Love (1 Jn 4:16), He wants all people to be saved (1 Tm 2:4). Because all people are naturally alienated from God, we all needed God to do something extreme to open the door of faith and break through our resistance to His saving grace. God even became a man and let the devil kill Him. Jesus did this to show us His love for, and obedience to, the...