6 他們聚集的時候,問耶穌說:主啊,你復興以色列國就在這時候嗎? 7 耶穌對他們說:父憑著自己的權柄所定的時候、日期,不是你們可以知道的。 8 但聖靈降臨在你們身上,你們就必得著能力,並要在耶路撒冷、猶太全地,和撒馬利亞,直到地極,作我的見證。 9 說了這話,他們正看的時候,他就被取上升,有一朵雲彩把他接去,便看不見他了。 10 當他往上去,他們定睛望天的時候,忽然有兩個人身穿白衣,站在旁邊,說: 11 加利利人哪,你們為甚麼站著望天呢?這離開你們被接升天的耶穌,你們見他怎樣往天上去,他還要怎樣來。
12 有一座山,名叫橄欖山,離耶路撒冷不遠,約有安息日可走的路程。當下,門徒從那裡回耶路撒冷去, 13 進了城,就上了所住的一間樓房;在那裡有彼得、約翰、雅各、安得烈、腓力、多馬、巴多羅買、馬太、亞勒腓的兒子雅各、奮銳黨的西門,和雅各的兒子(或作:兄弟)猶大。 14 這些人同著幾個婦人和耶穌的母親馬利亞,並耶穌的弟兄,都同心合意的恆切禱告。
默想:
- 向人傳福音作見證,並非要顯示我們能夠為神做些甚麼,而是要向人傳講神為我們做了甚麼。耶穌要門徒先等候聖靈的降臨(參路24:29),然後才向萬民作見證(參太28:19-20)。
- 同樣的,今天神若吩咐我為祂工作,我也必須倚靠聖靈的能力,才去工作。我是否常常憑自己的能力和熱心去作事,卻不知等候是神計劃的一部分?
- 禱告,求聖靈光照,在我目前所做的事情中,有什麼是我不耐煩去等待神,而跑在神前頭去做我認為好的、對的事情?
禱告與筆錄:
繼續安靜在神面前,與神對話,並聆聽祂對我說的話。將心中的思想(心得),或是與神的禱告,記錄在“靈程筆記”簿上面。
Chapter 1
6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Meditation:
- Witnessing to others about Jesus is not to show what we can do for God but to tell what God has done for us. Jesus instructed His disciples to witness to the world, but they must first wait for the Holy Spirit.
- Similarly, when God entrusts me with a task, I need to first depend on the power of the Holy Spirit. Do I like to get ahead of God and try to depend on my own abilities and enthusiasm, not knowing that WAITING is also part of God’s plan?
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to show me specific areas where I am “impatient to wait” and have gone ahead of God with my own ideas of what is good.
Prayer & Journaling:
Stay with God for a little longer. Continue to converse with God and listen to what he wants to tell me. Then write down any thought and/or prayer in the 2011 “Spiritual Journal” book.
Family Time (Begin this time by reading the passage above using a children’s Bible.)
It’s good to have a Family Devotional Journal to record and add from each day’s journey.
Acts tells how the gospel gets spread. Jesus wants us to share the gospel to others. List ways you can share the gospel in your neighbourhood, your city, your province, your country and overseas. Write the names of people who need to hear the gospel.