Acts 1

After Jesus was resurrected, He made his presence known for 40 days before ascending to Heaven. I find this interesting because when Jesus was tempted in the dessert by the devil, it was also for 40 days. It makes me wonder if there is a coralation between 40 days of trial and 40 days of testimony. Basically for every day he overcame temptation, he was given one day of testimony for his ultimate victory.  So I wonder if in our lives, for every day we overcome temptation perhaps that's one day in the future that we claim victory. 

The disciples watch Jesus ascend to heaven among the clouds. Then two angels tell them that how he left is how he'll return. So Jesus isn't going to be born on earth again. Therefore anyone who claims to be Jesus but was born on earth would have to be lying. Jesus will descend from heaven the same way he ascended. 

Before leaving, Jesus tells his disciples not to concern themselves with timing because timing is the Lord's. God is not on our clock, we are on his. But he does promise to send them the Holy Spirit and that it will give them power to be his witnesses around the world. I feel this can be interpreted in more than one way. He could be referring to the gifts of the spirit. But he could also be referring to the inner strength that God gives us when we connect with his spirit. Personally I think it's a mixture of both. 

Judas died a cursed death. Even though betrayal was in the Lord's plan that doesn't mean Judas didn't pay the price for it. I once had someone ask me, "If nobody sinned then wouldn't Jesus have died on the cross for nothing?" I feel like the response to that question lies here. Though an argument could be made that sin is part of the plan, it doesn't make a wrong right. Actions still have consequences. Say you wrong someone and are forgiven; does that mean the level of trust remains the same? No. It means they've agreed to move forward with you but you'll still have to earn that trust back. I personally think that Jesus dying on the cross is a response to our choices, not an excuse to keep making bad ones. But I digress.

The disciples come together to fill the vacant spot left by Judas. There are two candidates, Joseph and Matthias. The disciples pray for the Lord's guidance and then cast lots. Matthias was chosen. I take a few things away from this. One is that they prayed for guidance but then cast lots. I've been to a lot of churches that tell you to pray and wait for God to 'speak' to you. But here it implies that one can pray then trust God with that outcome; that you don't necessarily have to wait for God's 'voice'. The other thing I take away from this is that one man was chosen which means the other man was rejected. It must hurt for God to pass you up for a promotion and give it to the other guy. Both were qualified. But I think we see status or jobs from a very wordly perscpective. That fact of the matter is that anything God asks you to do has value. It's humans who try and place that value on a scale. So God has a different plan for Joseph, it's not better or worse. It's just different.