We each have them.
As you will hear in this PODCAST, the “them” in that sentence refers to what I call “Unfulfilled Longings.”
But will they remain unfulfilled forever?
Guess again!!!
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Acts 12 begins with this poignant—or pregnant with meaning—phrase, Κατ᾽ἐκ-εῖ-νον δὲ τὸν και-ρὸν,
“About that time…”
Words that, as you will hear in this PODCAST, could just as well have been translated,
“At the same time…”
“In the meantime…”
Or,
“Meanwhile…”
Κατ᾽ἐκ-εῖ-νον δὲ τὸν και-ρὸν, “In the meantime,” much was going on in Holy City of Jerusalem itself—gut-wrenching, faith-challenging, life-altering events that rocked the world of these early believers. Profound challenges that had nothing to do with Agabus’ future famine about which they didn’t yet know.
Our passage tonight—a modest four verses in total—goes to the very heart of the #1 longing of every human heart—including our own.
As well as the #1 question that has plagued the human race since time immemorial, including us.
Four short verses that describe what was going in lives of early believers particularly, and the residents of Jerusalem generally.
“About that time…”
All of this, ALL of this, so insightful for us, today, in our time.
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We may not know his name.
But as you will hear in this PODCAST, we surely know his story. As did some 5000 men plus countless women and children, whose lives—after hearing this man’s story—would never be the same again.
This one story—the first of fourteen separate and specific miracles recorded in the book of Acts—exemplifies why I sometimes refer to God as “The God of the surprise.”
Both then and now, God can and will—when we least expect it—apply His divine touch to our circumstances that seem to us to be impossible.
Trust me, to this man who had been lame from birth for now more than forty years (Acts 4:22), his tragic circumstance was definition of impossible. Yet, as Jesus once declared to His watching and wondering disciples (this in Matthew 19),
“With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
He is, and ever shall be, “The God of the surprise.”
Here’s the point. A grand and glorious point indeed: Within the boundaries of God’s perfect will, there is no such thing as a hopeless situation.
Once God enters picture,
“Hope always burns eternal.”
If we learn nothing else from this man, learn this: God can and will insert Himself into our most impossible-seeming situations any time He wants to.
For over forty years, this desperate man had no idea that this day would ever come. But come, it did! In God’s perfect timing, for God’s eternal purposes—including the eternal salvation of literally thousands of people.
Such is our hope! Our hope that with God there is ALWAYS hope. A glorious theme echoed throughout the entire Bible.
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She was a footnote in this chapter of the Jesus Story. But she was NEVER a footnote to Jesus.
And neither are you, as you will be reminded in this poignant PODCAST.
If I had to choose one word to describe this woman — and let me assure you, there are many to choose from, such as desperate, fearful, impoverished, unclean, shunned, rejected, lonely, isolated, alone, damaged — If I had to choose one word to describe this woman, the one word I would choose is invisible.
She was indeed invisible. Totally and completely invisible.
She was invisible to her family, her former friends, her neighbors, her faith community… No one gave a thought to, or cared one whit about, this poor precious woman.
Except for Jesus.
If you have ever been tempted to think that Jesus is mean, harsh, angry, impossible to please, time to meet this woman — who will never look at Jesus the same way again.
And neither will you.
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God bless you as you listen.
Dewey Bertolini’s Podcast
The Latest News from Jerusalem
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Dewey Bertolini 