Daily devotion – Church growth, God’s way!
Acts 2: 46 So continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, they ate their food with gladness and simplicity of heart, 47 praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.
The Psalmist wrote, “Happy are the people whose God is the LORD! – Psalm 144:15.
When the Spirit of God is at work and His people gather together in one accord, gladness is the natural outcome.
The mix of daily fellowship and communal worship also led to singleness of heart.
Paul would later write of the importance of the Church having one heart for God to those in Ephesus – 1 I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called, 2 with all lowliness and gentleness, with longsuffering, bearing with one another in love, 3 endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. 4 There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called in one hope of your calling; 5 one Lord, one faith, one baptism; 6 one God and Father of all, who is above all, and through all, and in you all.
Whilst around us the world disintegrates, we pray for the Church to be strong in its collective love for Christ and its passion to serve Him.
We need to have undivided hearts!
One of the greatest evils in the Church today is the heart that is split in two – half yearnings for spiritual things, and the other half yearning for worldly things.
What do you get when you mix the two?
You get the same result as when you mix hot water with cold: you get lukewarm results!
And we know what Jesus said about that. It is so nauseating to Him that He will spit it out!
Rev 3:16 “So then, because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will vomit you out of My mouth.”
When the Church becomes what God wants it to be, then God will do for the Church that which He has declared He will do – and what He desires to do.
He will add to His Church daily those that should be saved.
The early Church did not have a door-to-door evangelism program.
They had the Apostles’ doctrine, fellowship, communion, and prayer.
And as they applied themselves steadfastly to those things, the Lord Himself built the Church.
47 “…..And the Lord added to the church daily those who were being saved.”