Now Is The Time: Acts Youth JourneySample

A POWERFUL END TO A POWER-FILLED BEGINNING

PRAY:

Lord, you caused me to take this “Journey” for a specific reason. It was not by accident that I spent these 30 days discovering your truth in the pages of your Word, but by divine providence. Let me not hear your Word only, but also seek to do it in practical, life-giving ways. Fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit that I may finish strong in the work you have called me to do.

READ:

Acts 27.1—28.31

The last two chapters of the book of Acts offer a dramatic end to our “Journey” through this fascinating account of the spread of the gospel during the birth of the Early Church. Paul and the crew that is taking him by ship to Rome to be tried, battle a tremendous storm. Against Paul’s warnings, the ship had set sail and was now being battered mercilessly by wind and waves. After many days, God tells Paul that all lives would be spared, but the ship would be wrecked, and it occurs just as God said. Upon arriving on the island of Malta, a poisonous snake bites Paul, but no harm comes of it and he goes on to heal everyone who seeks it. Later, he sails to Rome, and attempts to convince the Jews there that he is innocent of the charges against him. Some agree and others don’t. Every obstacle that tries to hinder the Word is overcome. The chapter comes to a close and we are left with a striking visual. For two years Paul is kept under house arrest, yet he is allowed to have visitors and to preach the gospel openly without interference. Anticlimactic? Not really. Cliffhanger? Not even. The Holy Spirit has been poured out on those willing to receive God’s Word, and the “Acts” continue.

This 30-day Journey has empowered us to take God’s Word to our generation. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah hundreds of years before Jesus’ birth, God said, “Rain and snow fall from the sky. But they don’t return without watering the earth that produces seeds to plant and grain to eat. That’s how it is with my words. They don’t return to me without doing everything I send them to do” (Isaiah 55.10, 11). Word up!

REFLECT:

Where do you go from here? You have read how the Lord was with the apostles who chose to believe him, to call upon his name, and who put their lives on the line to make sure the gospel did not stay hidden, but would be “a light for other nations” (Isaiah 49.6). How can you reflect that light? What can you do? What impact will you have?

RESPOND:

The truth is, you can do a lot with whatever resources you have. You can start by brightening the corner of the world in which you find yourself. Try subscribing to the Acts 1.8 Assignment at NowActs.com/Act Do an act of kindness—consistently. Cultivate a servant’s heart. Study God’s Word. Let its principles guide your life. The Bible instructs you in this way: “Don’t let anyone make fun of you, just because you are young. Set an example for other followers by what you say and do, as well as by your love, faith, and purity” (1 Timothy 4.12). Give every area of your life over to God and he will honor your obedience.

Lord Jesus, bless us abundantly as we struggle in faith to keep our eyes on you and our minds on the prize you have offered through the finished work at Calvary. Give us your favor and cause us to rock the world with an explosion of the fervor you have given us through the work of the Holy Spirit. Let each of us be pioneers of the next “Acts” before this world comes to a close. Amen.