Reflecting God - WordAction - The Nazarene Publishing House - The Global Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Embrace Holy Living: "Glad and Sincere Hearts" by Duane Brush for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - Acts 2:38-47

Reflecting God - WordAction - The Nazarene Publishing House - The Global Church of the Nazarene in Kansas City, Missouri, United States - Embrace Holy Living: "Glad and Sincere Hearts" by Duane Brush for Thursday, 1 June 2017 - Acts 2:38-47
"Glad and Sincere Hearts" by Duane Brush
Acts 2:38 Kefa answered them, “Turn from sin, return to God, and each of you be immersed on the authority of Yeshua the Messiah into forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Ruach HaKodesh! 39 For the promise is for you, for your children, and for those far away — as many as Adonai our God may call!”
40 He pressed his case with many other arguments and kept pleading with them, “Save yourselves from this perverse generation!”
41 So those who accepted what he said were immersed, and there were added to the group that day about three thousand people.
42 They continued faithfully in the teaching of the emissaries, in fellowship, in breaking bread and in the prayers. 43 Everyone was filled with awe, and many miracles and signs took place through the emissaries. 44 All those trusting in Yeshua stayed together and had everything in common; 45 in fact, they sold their property and possessions and distributed the proceeds to all who were in need. 46 Continuing faithfully and with singleness of purpose to meet in the Temple courts daily, and breaking bread in their several homes, they shared their food in joy and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having the respect of all the people. And day after day the Lord kept adding to them those who were being saved.
-------

Purity in the human heart can be an elusive virtue. Like humility, once it is recognized, the very moment we try to force or focus on it, it vanishes. This is because purity is not a goal, in and of itself, it is the result of an encounter with a higher, transcending love that woos us away from the corruption of baser goals.
In the days following Pentecost the early disciples demonstrated this purity. Their lives were reordered by the love of Christ poured out through the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit. They had an insatiable hunger to learn more about their new-found faith. They could not let a day pass without the fellowship of other believers. Nothing they owned, that could be used to ease the need of another, was withheld. Praise was their shared language and integrity their shared reputation. This pervasive love so enamored them that anything less was simply unacceptable.
Purity is the inevitable result of an all-consuming divine love.

-------