Daily Bible Reading – November 22, 2022

If you are reading this, one thing is sure: your heart is beating! You were probably not thinking about that until I mentioned it. Unless you are like Richard, my friend who teaches the Sunday School class I attend, you may take your beating heart for granted. He deals with A-fib and he was very aware of the rhythm of his heartbeat yesterday as his medical care givers shocked his heart to make sure it was beating correctly.

Something else that is real that we may take for granted is the resurrection of Jesus. Is it possible to live with the reality of His resurrection and overlook ‘the power of His resurrection?’ The early church in Acts could not do that. His resurrection was too fresh, too amazing, too unbelievable to take for granted. Luke tells us, “After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive” (Ac. 1:3, NIV). Peter presented to about 120 of the believers the necessity to choose someone to replace Judas as an apostle. There were many things that this person would need to do, but only one thing was mentioned by Luke: “(He) must become a witness with us of his resurrection” (Ac. 1:22). Matthias was chosen for the awesome privilege of joining the company in proclaiming that Jesus was indeed alive!

Peter in his first sermon said, “You put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him” (Ac. 2:23-24). “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of it” (Ac. 2:32).

God forbid that we take for granted the incredible truth that Jesus is alive, and that He lives in us through the Holy Spirit. May we agree with Paul every day: “And this, so that I may know Him [experientially, becoming more thoroughly acquainted with Him, understanding the remarkable wonders of His Person more completely] and [in that same way experience] the power of His resurrection [which overflows and is active in believers]” (Phil. 3:10a, Amplified Bible).

-Al Gary