Leaving the Old Life Behind: Simon the Sorcerer

Simon the Sorcerer

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In Acts 8 we read about Simon the Sorcerer, a man who was somebody great in the eyes of many people and liked it that way!  Then Phillip arrived, demonstrating greater power as he testified about Jesus Christ and the eternal life that He offers.  Phillip believed, impressed by the wonders Phillip performed as a sign that God really was at work.  He was even baptised to show that he'd left his old life behind and wanted to now live for God as His child.  However old habits die hard, and when he saw the power Peter and John exercised in giving the Holy Spirit he offered them money if they would just give him that ability.  He wanted to be someone great again, someone people followed as a power in his own right.  Peter made it very clear that this kind of attitude and desire does not fit with God's people, urging Simon to turn away from his sin. 
It's this willingness to leave our old life behind that demonstrates true conversion.  We cannot claim to follow Christ if we are also determined to keep going on our own path.  Sure, we'll mess up - a lot!  But each time we do God by His Spirit helps us to see the sin that is still part of who we are, confess it and leave it at the cross where it has been dealt with by Jesus.  The divine transaction is then completed when we accept from Christ a purity of heart that helps us to move forward as people who are like Him, living by His Spirit instead of controlled by our own sinful tendencies.  Then God will produce all kinds of great stuff in us and through us for His glory, our joy and the blessing of those we touch.

Taming the Inner Uproar: The Story of Martha & Mary

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The story of Mary & Martha in Luke 10 is a great help to anyone who has ever felt overwhelmed, flustered and even just a little bit resentful. It's a story about how one woman's strength - her awareness of others' practical needs and her willingness to serve them - almost grew into a weakness that threatened to steal her joy and damage her relationships. By diagnosing the issue and dealing with it Jesus doesn't do what most of us would and simply try pacify the agitated person. Instead, He gives Martha a chance to gain a right perspective and find freedom from her inner uproar.

Lives to Learn From: Phillip

 
Lives to Learn From: Phillip

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The spread of the Gospel crossed cultural boundaries which the early Jewish believers wouldn’t have expected. But the story of how Phillip spoke to Samaritans & to the Ethiopian on the road remind us of the all-inclusive nature of God’s grace to all people. We are all one in Christ – “One for all”.