Quiet Time in Acts 2
- Filip
- Jun 2, 2022
- 4 min read
EXPAND TO READ: ACTS 2 (HCSB)
Pentecost
1 When the day of Pentecost had arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 Suddenly a sound like that of a violent rushing wind came from heaven, and it filled the whole house where they were staying. 3 And tongues, like flames of fire that were divided, appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 Then they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in different languages, as the Spirit gave them ability for speech.
5 There were Jews living in Jerusalem, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 When this sound occurred, a crowd came together and was confused because each one heard them speaking in his own language. 7 And they were astounded and amazed, saying, “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 How is it that each of us can hear in our own native language? 9 Parthians, Medes, Elamites; those who live in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking the magnificent acts of God in our own languages.” 12 They were all astounded and perplexed, saying to one another, “What could this be?” 13 But some sneered and said, “They’re full of new wine!”
Peter’s Sermon
14 But Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice, and proclaimed to them: “Men of Judah and all you residents of Jerusalem, let me explain this to you and pay attention to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it’s only nine in the morning. 16 On the contrary, this is what was spoken through the prophet Joel:
17 And it will be in the last days, says God, that I will pour out My Spirit on all humanity; then your sons and your daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams. 18 I will even pour out My Spirit on My male and female slaves in those days, and they will prophesy. 19 I will display wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below: blood and fire and a cloud of smoke. 20 The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and remarkable Day of the Lord comes. 21 Then everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.
22 “Men of Israel, listen to these words: This Jesus the Nazarene was a man pointed out to you by God with miracles, wonders, and signs that God did among you through Him, just as you yourselves know. 23 Though He was delivered up according to God’s determined plan and foreknowledge, you used lawless people to nail Him to a cross and kill Him. 24 God raised Him up, ending the pains of death, because it was not possible for Him to be held by it. 25 For David says of Him:
I saw the Lord ever before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. 26 Therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced. Moreover, my flesh will rest in hope, 27 because You will not leave me in Hades or allow Your Holy One to see decay. 28 You have revealed the paths of life to me; You will fill me with gladness in Your presence.
29 “Brothers, I can confidently speak to you about the patriarch David: He is both dead and buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne. 31 Seeing this in advance, he spoke concerning the resurrection of the Messiah:
He was not left in Hades, and His flesh did not experience decay.
32 “God has resurrected this Jesus. We are all witnesses of this. 33 Therefore, since He has been exalted to the right hand of God and has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit, He has poured out what you both see and hear. 34 For it was not David who ascended into the heavens, but he himself says:
The Lord declared to my Lord, ‘Sit at My right hand 35 until I make Your enemies Your footstool.’
36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know with certainty that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Messiah!”
Forgiveness through the Messiah
37 When they heard this, they came under deep conviction and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles: “Brothers, what must we do?”
38 “Repent,” Peter said to them, “and be baptized, each of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children, and for all who are far off, as many as the Lord our God will call.” 40 And with many other words he testified and strongly urged them, saying, “Be saved from this corrupt generation!”
A Generous and Growing Church
41 So those who accepted his message were baptized, and that day about 3,000 people were added to them. 42 And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to the prayers.
43 Then fear came over everyone, and many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles. 44 Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. 46 Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved.
PERSONAL JOURNAL:
SIN (verse 38): Although not directly related to this scripture, You tell us to repent quite clearly here. There is something I must repent of that is weighing heavy on my heart as of late. I have noticed that I am starting to slowly dig back into my irritability at times. Yes, it is FAR less than I once was, but I am upset at myself for going back to it at all. Please forgive me for my slight regression, Father. Forgive me for getting overly upset at my kids over even the smallest things lately. Help me to fully release this irritability to You so that I no longer regress, Father. Help me to truly be released of this heavy weight of irritability I’ve been carrying for so long in my life. Help me.
PROMISE (verses 32-33): I still love hearing and reading about this promise to this day, even though I have read it multiple times throughout scripture. The promise is that God resurrected Jesus and has been exalted to the right hand of God, receiving the full promise and blessings of the Holy Spirit. Thank You for this promise, Father. Even Jesus Himself received the Holy Spirit as a blessing and fulfillment of Your promise. I would think He was the first to receive and from there all followers of His have shared in that promise the amazing blessing of the Holy Spirit which dwells within me. Thank You for this promise and the fulfillment of this promise, Father. Thank You for staying faithful through all that You do, even though I have been immature and rebellious in my faith at times. I know I have not been faithful, but You have been and the way You have showered me with grace constantly just astounds me at times.
ATTITUDE (verse 46): Those spoken about here sold all of their belongings and simply relied on You fully to provide. As they broke bread each and every day with the support and contributions of Your followers around them, they remained in an attitude of joy and humility. Quite simply, they relied fully on You and were completely satisfied with anything You provided, no matter how small or large. They truly walked in joy and humility through these times. I do struggle with both of these attitudes at times. Although I am getting better as of late, I do not the struggle is still present here-and-there. Continue to help me with this, Father. Continue to flood my heart with Your joy, so that it may overflow to those around me. Continue to teach me what it truly means to live in humility, so that I may be a good example of Your kingdom to those around me.
COMMAND (verse 38a): Your command in this scripture is quite simple as it’s only a single word, yet it is something that I have struggled with my entire faith. Your command is quite simply for us to repent. Why do I struggle with repenting, Father? Why do I struggle so much with holding onto the mistakes of my past and present instead of truly releasing them to You for restoration and healing? It’s only a single word, which I would think would be an easy command to follow, yet I seem to struggle quite a bit with true repentance often. I know that the burdens I carry are heavy to me, but light to You. I know that true repentance will lift the weight of these burdens off my shoulders. For some reason, however, I find it difficult to truly release all of my mistakes and burdens to You. Is it because I am still holding onto my flesh? Is it because I am still holding onto the world’s influence over me? Help me to truly dig down into the root of my issues, Father, so that I can live in repentance in my faith, releasing this heavy burden I’ve been carrying my whole life to You fully.
EXAMPLE (verses 17-18, 37-40): I find the doubt, conviction, and struggle that the people in this scripture are facing kind of funny because it also applies to me in my spiritual journey. I too was once afraid of truly living a spiritual life. I too was heavily convicted in my heart when considering accepting Jesus as my Lord and Savior. I too have felt doubts in my spiritual journey since coming to faith. At the same time, I too have experienced the blessings associated with following You. I too have experienced the blessing of the Holy Spirit within me. Although the voice of the Holy Spirit was practically non-existent for a long time since coming to faith due to my own reluctance and stubbornness in the flesh, I am beginning to release all of that slowly but surely in my life. This has produced such great fruits in my spiritual life and in my fleshly life and I am so grateful for You, Father. Thank You for the promises You’ve given in this example and thank You for all the great works You continue to do in me, Father. You have truly been a blessing to me, even though I have not always been a faithful servant to Your kingdom.
*DAILY NOTE: Doubt, worry, fear, conviction, joy, happiness, humility, grace. These are all topics that were discussed today in my quiet time with You, Father. These are also all things that I have experienced many times throughout my life since coming to faith. I do still live in doubt, worry, and fear at times, but those times are becoming less and less as I mature in my faith. I do still experience conviction, which I find to be a good thing because it means that I am slowly but surely beginning to release the burdens of the mistakes of my past to You! I love experiencing Your joy, happiness, humility, and grace in my life. Without it, I would truly be lost and miserable. Thank You for always being there for me, Father. Thank You for Your never-ending grace showered upon me. Thank You for all the things You have done, are doing, and will continue to do in my heart, my spirit, my mind, and my life.
EXPAND TO READ: GENERAL NOTE FOR MY QUIET TIMES
I always "sandwich" my quiet time with God in prayer and do it in a location that I will not have any distractions so that I can be focused on my quiet time with God. Do not worry about how short or long your journal entries are for that day's quiet time. Just focus on the actual quiet time and relational conversation with God through the Holy Spirit and His Word. The journaling is an enhancement to your quiet time conversation with God, but also to allow you to reflect on things later as you can look back on your journal entries later when you do the chapters again in the future to see how you have grown. See the FAQ for more detail on how I do my quiet time.
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