Reading your Bible for today 20

April 20: Acts 9:36-43

KJV Key Verse: Acts 9:40
40 But Peter put them all forth, and kneeled down , and prayed ; and turning him to the body said , Tabitha, arise . And she opened her eyes: and when she saw Peter, she sat up .

Devotion:
It is sometimes amazing what we will believe in. Sometimes we are persuaded by the words people speak because of their skill with words. Other times we do not believe because we do not see physical evidence. Sometimes we just hear something and we know it is true and yet most of the time we wonder and doubt.

God has given each one of us a hugely complex brain which still confuses scientists – even though they are using those very brains to think about the brain! The more they find out about the brain, the more complex and harder to understand it seems. Yet we have no problem believing some things and no problem with learning and applying what we learn (in general). We only seem to use a little of our brains with most of them seemingly doing nothing most of the time. But those brains are what Christ has given us so we may be able to decipher what is right and what is wrong.

Peter was now full into his ministry and no doubt knew of the work Tabitha was doing; coming to see her dead may have been a shock but what he did was probably more shocking to the people around him! I do find it hard to concentrate on my prayers with God if I am in an environment where there is a lot of unbelief or distractions – this is why Jesus chose a place like the garden of Gethsemane to pray in. Peter knew he could talk to Christ and knew He would listen.

What sort of level of faith do you think you have? Do you think you have enough faith to ask God for help and then expect it to happen immediately? I know I do have my moments but on the whole I have learned to depend on Christ and to trust in Him totally. I know I still get things wrong and do things wrong, but I know God will never change and is powerful enough to do anything. Asking for something very specific and expecting it to happen is faith. Show God faith and move forward with Him today!

Points to Ponder:
Do you vote for the person who is right for the job or the person who tells all the jokes?

Are you willing to show faith in God’s truth?