A Journey with ACTS 1:16-19

Greetings Everyone, 

Here is the next segment in my Journey with ACTS.  This one was a pretty big eye opener for me and I'm really excited to share it with you all.  It may be a bit unconventional but, it's what I feel was placed upon my heart to write. One thing I'd like to remind everyone at this point is that everything posted here will be a rough draft and has not been edited as thoroughly as it probably should be. With that in mind feel free to share your comments and suggestions in the comments below.

Blessings, 

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Brothers,” he said, “the Scriptures had to be fulfilled concerning Judas, who guided those who arrested Jesus. This was predicted long ago by the Holy Spirit, speaking through King David. Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us. (Judas had bought a field with the money he received for his treachery. Falling headfirst there, his body split open, spilling out all his intestines. The news of his death spread to all the people of Jerusalem, and they gave the place the Aramaic name Akeldama, which means “Field of Blood.”)” -Acts 1:16-19 NLT

Often we take the mistakes of the past and turn them into something they are not meant to be. We see that something needs to be done and despite what we may be feeling on the inside, we act. This is what I believe Peter was doing in this instance. God had promised him and everyone else that he would sent another and instead of waiting for whomever was to come, The Holy Spirit, he moves, he acts, and he may actually have been making another mistake. But we’ll get to that in a few moments…

For now let’s direct our focus back to Judas, he is after all the one who betrayed Jesus and for all intensive purposes, Peter and the other disciples. The passage above is a pretty crude sight to think about but it can serve as a reminder of how horrible Judas’ act was and teach us that there are consequences for our actions.

From what we can tell in biblical history, Judas thought that Jesus had come to lead a rebellion. When he came offering love instead of war, my guess would be that Judas betrayed him thinking that Jesus would finally act.

Instead of waiting to see what God had planned Judas basically took things into his own hands. His intention may have been to give Jesus a reason to act but that was not what God had already planned. Sometimes we too can take things into our own hands and instead of waiting for God to act, we take it upon ourselves to change the outcome.

We forget all too easily, that our job is to trust in God’s plan and let Him do the heavy lifting. Our job is to embrace God’s plan knowing that we may not always like the direction He takes us.

Judas failed to realize was that God’s plan was bigger than any war that could have been fought. My guess is that Judas didn’t actually realize this until everything had been said and done already. We all make mistakes, if there is anything that can be learned from these few verses, it would be that God’s plan may come into fruition the way we expect it to.

You may also say that all mistakes come with their own consequences, for Judas betraying the savior lead to one of the worst. But I’d like to think that the lesson is more about trusting God with the desires of our heart and understanding that He sees things come a much bigger perspective than we ever will.

5/23/16 1:30am Revised 6/08/16 2:30am