Day 172, Morning
Today’s morning meditation is available below in audio and script formats. The audio version is also available for free download on the player.
Reading
Certain people came down from Judea to Antioch and were teaching the believers: “Unless you are circumcised, according to the custom taught by Moses, you cannot be a part of this.” This brought Paul and Barnabas into sharp dispute and debate with them. So Paul and Barnabas were appointed, along with some other believers, to go up to Jerusalem to see the apostles and elders about this question.
The apostles and elders met to consider this question. After much discussion, Peter got up and addressed them: “You know that some time ago God made a choice among you that the Gentiles might hear from my lips the message of Jesus. God, who knows the heart, showed that he accepted them by giving the Holy Spirit to them, just as he did to us. He did not discriminate between us and them. Now then, why do you try to test God by putting on the necks of Gentiles a yoke that neither we nor our ancestors have been able to bear? No! We believe that it is through grace that we are invited in, just as they are.”
—Acts 15 (NT)
Stillness
As your day begins, spend a few moments in silence and stillness.
Dwelling
Read the passage again. Find a word or phrase that catches your eye or moves your heart. Slowly repeat it in your mind. Pray your thoughts, desires, needs, and feelings from your meditation.
Prayer
Creator of color, Lord of variety, forgive our attempts to make your church fit a bland oneness. Differences frighten us, so we instinctively downplay them—which only reveals our ignorance of the gospel and you. Thank you, triune God, for showing in yourself something so refreshingly different, a unity that is not uniformity but a refreshing diversity. Amen. (BC)
Abbreviations
BC The Belgic Confession
CAC The Center For Action & Contemplation
CD The Canons of Dort
CIB Church In Bethesda Prayers
HC The Heidelberg Catechism
NT The New Testament
OT The Old Testament
RP - Ryan Phipps
WC The Westminster Confession
WLB Words To Live By
WLC The Westminster Larger Catechism
WSC The Westminster Shorter Catechism