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Money can’t buy everything

by Sean Hotinski

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You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God (Acts 8:21).

Read Acts 8:1b–13

Yesterday, we heard of Simon the Magician’s conversion to Christianity. In today’s devotion, we hear of his quick spiral into confusion. When Simon saw Peter and John giving people the Holy Spirit through the laying on of hands, he offered them money to ‘purchase’ this gift so that he could do likewise.

Peter was furious in response and sharply rebuked him. ‘May your silver perish with you, because you thought you could obtain the gift of God with money!’ (Acts 8:20). These are probably the harshest words of Peter. Perhaps Peter learned for himself the value of a sharp rebuke when Jesus said to him, ‘Get behind me, Satan!’ after Peter tried to convince Jesus to avoid the cross (Mark 8:33). Now, it’s Peter’s turn to correct someone’s error: we cannot purchase anything of God with money.

Sometimes, unfortunately, we can be a bit like Simon. It’s easy to think that money can solve all our problems in the church. For example, we might think that the church’s ministry and mission will sort itself out just by giving financially. It’s true some genuinely can only help this way (due to health problems or other reasons), and their service is something we thank God for. The problem arises when money becomes the solution in people’s minds rather than our Holy Spirit-led evangelism or acts of service, even when we’re capable of it. But Peter taught Simon a valuable lesson: money can’t buy everything. The Holy Spirit is a free gift of God. Sure, the Spirit can use ‘our’ money to the glory of God and the furthering of his work, but never to buy faith and the works of Christ. Those are free, undeserved gifts of God’s grace, which no amount of money could ever be enough to purchase.

Ultimately, the key focus in life must always be following our Lord Jesus Christ in faith. That is where we begin with solving problems in the church and the Christian life. Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not lean on your understanding (or money!). Trust that as you follow Jesus, he will make the path clear in life.

Lord Jesus Christ, you know all things. Forgive me for times when I think money can solve my problems and the church's problems. Forgive me for all the times when I don’t go to you first and foremost in all my troubles or worries. Guide me in the path you want me to take in life. Make me the person you want me to be. In your holy name, I pray, Amen.

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When wonders and signs are enough

by Sean Hotinski

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Simon himself believed and was baptised … astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw (Acts 8:13).

Read Acts 8:1b–13

In Tuesday’s devotion, we heard that the signs and wonders performed by Stephen weren’t enough to convince his Jewish opponents, the Sanhedrin, about the truth of Christianity. They stoned Stephen to death.

Here, Philip (not one of the twelve but one of the seven) performs wonders and signs amongst the Samaritans – people who were hostile to the Jews and vice versa – and yet, surprisingly, the opposite happens. Not only do they listen to him attentively, but many of them also even believe him and put their faith in Jesus. What happens here defies all reason and logic and is truly a miracle of the Holy Spirit.

Simon was a pagan magician who practised magic in Samaria and was even called by the people ‘the power of God that is called Great’ (Acts 8:10). But when this influential pagan heard Philip preach about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, he also believed and was baptised (Acts 8:13).

What we learn in all of this is that God’s ways are not our ways. We have our thoughts and ideas about people. We think we know who we’ve figured out – whether or not they’ll accept the gospel. But the Lord alone knows. The Lord can make Christians out of the people we thought would never change. The Lord can defy our notions of what seems logical or reasonable to accomplish his good and gracious purposes.

Keep in mind that this happened after Stephen’s martyrdom and the persecution that drove the disciples out of Jerusalem. As a grain of wheat only bears much fruit when it falls into the earth and dies (John 12:24), sometimes we have to face rejection from unbelievers before we see the results of the gospel. But that’s okay: when we tell others about Jesus, we’re serving God above all, not people. It is God who commends us for our work, and it is God who works through our witness for his good and gracious purposes.

Heavenly Father, sometimes I see opportunities to talk with others about Jesus, but I don’t because I’m afraid of rejection. Please forgive me for my cowardice. I pray that You fill me with your Holy Spirit so that when the time is right, I can tell people what you would want me to tell them in the way that you would want me to say it. In Jesus’ precious name, I pray. Amen.

Sean Hotinski is from Perth, Western Australia. He is currently in Adelaide with his wife, Olya, studying to be a pastor, and is doing vicarage at St Paul Lutheran Church, Blair Athol. In his spare time, Sean enjoys reading and studying the Bible, looking into Christian apologetics, game design, and going on walks.

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Dying a Christian death

by Sean Hotinski

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Then he fell on his knees and cried out, ‘Lord, do not hold this sin against them’ (Acts 7:60a).

Read Acts 7:17–29

We’re now at the final part of Stephen’s speech, where he concludes his defence before the Sanhedrin. In response to their charges that Stephen has blasphemed the temple, Stephen quotes Isaiah, saying the temple itself cannot contain God. He then accuses the Jews of betraying and murdering Jesus, just like their ancestors, who did the same to the prophets.

Amazingly, we’re told that just before the Jewish leaders stoned Stephen to death, Stephen was full of the Holy Spirit and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of God in heaven (Acts 7:55,56). Jesus fulfilled his promise not only to Stephen but also to all Christian disciples when he said the Holy Spirit would teach them what to say when they are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities (Luke 12:11,12).

Stephen died what we would call a ‘Christian death’. That is, he died at peace with himself and having forgiven others, which was the same way in which our Lord Jesus died (Luke 23:34, 46). Even though Stephen had every right to be resentful towards his enemies, he chose instead to forgive them and leave his fate securely in God’s hands.

This ‘Christian death’ is the sort of death every Christian should want to die. This isn’t a morbid thought, nor does it only apply to martyrdom. It applies to every day of our lives, because every day, death is a real possibility.

This should impact how we live day-to-day life. It should affect how we proclaim the gospel. It should give us assurance in Jesus as our only hope and Saviour in life. It should even empower us to say ‘I love you’ each night to our loved ones before we go to sleep.

I’m sure Stephen didn’t expect to die when he got out of bed that morning. But he did. And it can happen to us, too. So, love those who are closest to you. Tell them that you love them each night before you go to sleep. And, above all, before the beginning and end of each day, be at peace with God and forgive others.

Lord Jesus, I commit my life and all I have into your hands. Grant that I may continue doing this all the days of my life, by your grace at work in me. In your name, I pray. Amen.

Sean Hotinski is from Perth, Western Australia. He is currently in Adelaide with his wife, Olya, studying to be a pastor, and is doing vicarage at St Paul Lutheran Church, Blair Athol. In his spare time, Sean enjoys reading and studying the Bible, looking into Christian apologetics, game design, and going on walks.

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When wonders and signs aren’t enough

by Sean Hotinski

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

But God turned away and gave them over to worship the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the prophets (Acts 7:42a).

Read Acts 7:17–29

Today, we continue with the disciple Stephen’s speech before the Jewish chief priests, in which he presents his defence. Stephen says: ‘[Moses] led [the Israelites] out of Egypt and performed wonders and signs in Egypt, at the Red Sea and for forty years in the wilderness’ (Acts 7:36).

After the ten dreadful plagues of Egypt, the historic exodus and parting of the Red Sea, and the manna from heaven, one would think that people would have enough evidence by now to believe Moses was God’s prophet and messenger. But apparently, it wasn’t. The Israelites asked Aaron to make a golden calf because Moses was ‘taking too long’. Then, God gave them over to their idolatry.

That phrase ‘wonders and signs’ comes up earlier in Acts when the Apostle Peter says that Jesus performed wonders and signs in the Israelites’ midst, just like Moses and Stephen (Acts 2:22). Yet, in response, Jesus’ people crucified him by the hands of Gentiles. We’re seeing a pattern here, aren’t we? Holy prophets of God perform wonders and signs to point people to salvation, but people reject them in response.

Maybe this has happened to you. Perhaps you’ve done some evangelism and given people really good reasons to believe or convincing Bible passages. But those people just don’t believe. It can be easy to feel down in the dumps. But we need not feel this way. This is simply the reality of life: the natural human rejects the things of God. Only the Holy Spirit-led human accepts them.

By our own power, we can’t bring anyone to Christianity. Only God can do this. But this is good news: we know that just as God worked through Stephen, who proclaimed the word of Christ, he also works through us when we share the gospel. Because of this, every time we’ve witnessed someone was never in vain and never will be. Thanks be to God!

Heavenly Father, thank you for being with me in all the times when I shared Christ, your word, and your gospel with others. Please guide all people I interact with to you. Fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I can confess Christ faithfully. In Jesus’ name, I pray, Amen.

Sean Hotinski is from Perth, Western Australia. He is currently in Adelaide with his wife, Olya, studying to be a pastor and is doing vicarage at St Paul Lutheran Church, Blair Athol. In his spare time, Sean enjoys reading and studying the Bible, looking into Christian apologetics, game design, and going on walks.

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God provides

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

He supposed that his brothers would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand, but they did not understand (Acts 7:25).

Read Acts 7:17–29

The first Christian martyr, Stephen, preached the gospel to some Jewish non-Christians. Because they couldn’t stand up against the wisdom and Spirit with which Stephen spoke, they slandered him before the high priest and accused him of several false things.

In response, Stephen gave them an outline of Israel’s history. When the Israelites were enslaved in Egypt and Pharoah ordered that all the little boys should be killed, it seemed like all hope was lost. However, God protected Moses by sending him Pharaoh’s daughter, who adopted him as her son. God provided.

When Moses saw an Israelite being wronged by an Egyptian and struck down the Egyptian, he thought the Israelites would understand that God was giving them salvation by his hand; however, they did not (Acts 7:25). Only later on did they realise this, when Moses led Israel out of Egypt. God used Moses to save the Israelites, which means that the ultimate ruler and redeemer of Israel is God himself. God again provided.

The point of Stephen’s words is that God was the one who provided for his people, Israel, all along, but they didn’t always see this. In the same way that the Israelite man didn’t understand that God was giving salvation through Moses (see Acts 7:23–29), the chief priests did not understand that God was giving salvation through the hand of his servant, Jesus Christ. Despite this, God still provided for his people in Stephen’s day through Jesus and his redemptive work on the cross.

How many times in your life have you felt like God wasn’t providing for you? Like nothing seemed to be going well? Like all hope was lost? And yet you haven’t perished; you’re still here, with the word of God, reading this devotion. God provided for Stephen by giving him the words to say to his slanderous opponents. Throughout your life, God has also provided for all your needs and will continue to do so in the future. Because no matter what, God our Father is faithful; he will always provide for his children.

Heavenly Father, help me to trust in you always as my eternal provider. Thank you for all the gifts that you daily give to me. In Jesus’ name, I pray, with the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Sean Hotinski is from Perth, Western Australia. He is currently in Adelaide with his wife, Olya, studying to be a pastor and is doing vicarage at St Paul Lutheran Church, Blair Athol. In his spare time, Sean enjoys reading and studying the Bible, looking into Christian apologetics, game design, and going on walks.

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If only we persisted

by Pastor Matt Bishop

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He was amazed at their lack of faith. Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village (Mark 6:6b).

Read Mark 6:1–13

‘If only … ’ It’s a phrase heard at every church level. ‘If only our church building was more comfortable, we would have more people.’ ‘If only the pastor preached better, people would flock here.’ ‘If only our church modernised our teaching, we would not be dying.’

Even if the above were all true, they wouldn’t necessarily lead to more believers. There is an old joke that when congregations think about the pastor they want, they start with Jesus and then have to make a series of drastic compromises until they end with the person in front of them. Yet today’s reading shows that even if you got Jesus as your pastor, that would still not be enough. It wasn’t 2000 years ago in his hometown. It still isn’t today. How many caring, impressive and intelligent colleagues, family and friends do you love who have heard his message but take offence at it? Not even Jesus Christ, the Son of God and Saviour of the world could convert everyone to believe in his promises.

What Jesus does next is a beautiful encouragement, though. Amazed at their lack of faith, he then goes around teaching from village to village. In other words, he doesn’t give up. He persists. Despite the rejection, scorn and ridicule, Jesus goes even deeper into his mission. And not just alone in a sort of ‘I think I’m right, but I respect others may not, so I’ll just go on my own’ kind of way. Instead, he puts stubborn, must-be-obeyed calls on people’s lives, drafting them into the very work he knows won’t succeed with everyone. Beyond drafting us in, he keeps persisting all the way to his ultimate rejection embodied in his trial, torture, nailing, death and grave.

Thank God our dear Lord did. Risen eternally from death, he asks us also to keep persisting out of his living witness and power. He knows our ineptitudes, fatigues, distractions and sins. But he also knows they have been covered in his blood and new life. And he knows this message is worth a crack for every single person. For he knows his brothers James and Jude eventually got with his message.

So rather than ‘If only’ as a precondition to faithfully doing his work, how about ‘Let’s persist in the one who now lives in us’?

Thank you, Holy Spirit, for bringing us Christ, who persisted to death for our sins and now persists in making us alive in him. Give us your spirit of might that we may persist in his wisdom when our ‘wisdom’ says to give up. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Pastor Matt Bishop serves at St Paul Lutheran Church and primary school at Blair Athol SA. He is having a pretty full year supervising Vicar Sean Hotinski and chairing the General Pastors Conference planning committee and conference. That’s why he goes fishing to unwind – the beautiful Venus Bay on the Eyre Peninsula being a favourite spot.

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More than enough to bear

by Carolyn Ehrlich

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Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us, for we have had more than enough of contempt (Psalm 123:3).

Read Psalm 123

Have you ever reached the end of your tether? Have you been buffeted by the opinions of others? Experienced scorn and contempt? Bullied in your childhood perhaps? Bullied in your workplace? Frowned upon because you are different somehow?

Your heart aches for some space, for some mercy, to be shown some love. These are hard patches … wilderness living … prickles, desert, hot dry winds, drought, thirsting for a reprieve, thirsting for love, hungry to be noticed, desperate to be heard, aching to be understood, to be known. Everything feels dry and parched. Wandering, wondering, unseen, unheard.

And yet, there is a place to look, a lament to be made, a cry to be vocalised. It is okay to cry out to God when things are tough. Look up, not in. Look up, not down. Look up, not out. Look to the only One who knows, who has heard, who has experienced. Look to Jesus and cry out. In your despair, look to the Lord our God. Jesus knows. Jesus was scorned. Jesus was treated with contempt. Jesus suffered. Jesus the man-God experienced all the feelings that you are experiencing. He, truly, extensively knows. He cares. He loves you. He is merciful. He is faithful.

Look to him and cry out:

Have mercy on me, Lord, have mercy on me. My soul has had enough, enough scorn, enough torment, enough contempt. I lift my eyes to you only. Have mercy on me. Amen.

Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the fields of disability and rehabilitation. Today, Carolyn is kept busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.

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Knowing God’s truth

by Carolyn Ehrlich

Click here to download your printable verse to carry with you today.

And the high priest said: ‘Are these things so?’ (Acts 7:1).

Read Acts 6:15–7:16

Toward the end of yesterday’s reading, we read that people were stirred up against Stephen – a man full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. False witnesses were found. When asked by the high priest whether the allegations were true, Stephen had a decision to make. He could speak to save himself or use the moment to speak the truth of God’s love and care for his people. He spoke of God’s faithfulness to his people. He spoke of the well-established evidence that God blessed his people throughout history. Staring death in the face, Stephen humbly submitted to God’s truths that he refused to deny. He was stoned for his conviction.

What would you do in Stephen’s situation? Ponder that for a moment. In today’s world, we are so often bombarded with messages of self-preservation at all costs. But how did Stephen approach this time? He confidently knew God’s truth. He knew God’s love. He knew the truth of God’s love and care for his people across history. Whatever he was facing, he wanted others to know the importance of God’s truth. He knew deeply that he was loved – so deeply that he had the face of an angel (Acts 6:15).

God loves each of his chosen people deeply, and faithfully. He loves me and he loves you. Know that truth. Ponder God’s love. God loved Abraham. He was faithful to his promise to Abraham. Stephen knew that. Whatever you are facing today, know that God is faithful. Know that your reward is not in this life, but in eternity. Know that God has a better plan. And when you are asked ‘Are these things so?’, trust that you can rely on God’s truth, revealed in Scripture. God’s truth about you trumps anything that false witnesses might say.

Loving Father, your truth is the only truth. You continually show us that our reward is not in this world, but in eternity with you. Amid whatever we are facing today, help us to know your love – intimately, personally, and relationally. Thank you for the gift of eternal life through your son, Jesus. Amen.

Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the fields of disability and rehabilitation. Today, Carolyn is kept busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles, and supporting her family.

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Delegating and stepping up

by Carolyn Ehrlich

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Therefore, brothers and sisters, pick out from among you seven men of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom whom we will appoint to do this duty [caring for widows] (Acts 6:3).

Read Acts 6:1–15

There are two things in today’s Scripture that I want to highlight for our meditation today. First, the 12 apostles recognised they could and should not be trying to do everything. Rather, their work was praying and preaching the word of God. Second, they chose men of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, to minister in the community.

The work of caring for others in our community is important. But it takes a whole community. The apostles found that they could not do everything everyone needed, so some of the most vulnerable people in their community were being neglected. How do we, God’s people, view ministering work in our communities today? Do we get involved? Do we outsource the caring roles of church communities to someone else? What caring work should we, the church, be involved in? Do we select people of good repute, full of the Spirit and wisdom, to perform ministering work? Do we pass this role over to our pastors – who in the footsteps of the apostles might need to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word (verse 4)? If our pastors are devoting themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word, do we expect them to be doing other things instead?

And at what cost? We are often worried about what it costs us to do God’s work. We are frequently more interested in what it costs in terms of reputation than we are about financial cost – although that worries us too. The cost to Stephen was great – rivalry, slander, arrest, false accusation, and martyrdom – the cost of speaking up and out.

The big question that arises for me from today’s reading is ‘God, what are you asking me to step into?’ There are many, many different things that God could be asking me and you to do when we consider how caring for widows in the early church aligns with caring for those people who are vulnerable and needy in our world today. There are also many different things that God could be asking me and you to do that would free up our pastors to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of the word.

Heavenly Father, there is much work to be done. Raise in me the desire to do your work. In our communities, raise people of good repute, full of the Spirit and of wisdom to do your work of caring for all those who are vulnerable and in need. Give us hearts to serve you by providing care to those who need it. Lead us to help where you would have us serve. Use us to create the space for those you have called to serve as pastors in your church to devote themselves to prayer and the ministry of your word. And, Lord, bless all those you have called and who are doing your work in this world. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.

Carolyn Ehrlich lives in retirement with her husband Wayne in Ipswich, Queensland. Prior to retirement, Carolyn worked as a researcher in the fields of disability and rehabilitation. Today, Carolyn is kept busy with hobbies, supporting the Ipswich Lutheran Parish in various leadership roles and supporting her family.

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