Thoughts for Life: Do Your Friends Know all They Need to Know? *

"You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all. You know what has happened throughout Judea, beginning in Galilee after the baptism that John preached--how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and power, and how he went around doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil, because God was with him. We are witnesses of everything he did in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They killed him by hanging him on a tree, but God raised him from the dead on the third day and caused him to be seen. He was not seen by all the people, but by witnesses whom God had already chosen--by us who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead. He commanded us to preach to the people and to testify that he is the one whom God appointed as judge of the living and the dead. All the prophets testify about him that everyone who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name." (Acts 10:36-43)

The Pocket Testament Leagues’ Pocket Devotions www.ptl.org

“Peter tells his audience that they already know the story of Jesus Christ -- so he just repeats it -- nothing fancy just the facts. The following is a simple outline of what Peter said:

1. Jesus' coming was foretold to the people of Israel.

2. Peace would come through Jesus.

3. Jesus is Lord of all.

4. God Himself anointed Jesus.

5. Jesus proved who He was by His actions.

6. The Apostles (and others) were witnesses.

7. Jesus died and God raised Him from the dead.

8. The Apostles were chosen by God to provide for us a record of Jesus' life and His Words.

9. Everything written in the Old Testament is about Jesus.

10. Anyone who believes in Jesus receives forgiveness of sins through His name.

Most of us know this information really well, in fact many of the non-Christian people we come in contact with already "know" about Jesus. But do they really know the whole story of Jesus? I think that was Peter's point -- they had certainly heard about Jesus -- they had some of the pieces -- what they didn't know was how it all fit together.

One Thanksgiving my mother spread out one of those 2,500 piece puzzles on the coffee table in our family room with the idea that we would all work at putting it together. What she didn't tell us was that she only gave us 2,250 pieces (250 pieces short). Whether this was an over-sight on the part of my mom or one of her jokes, you can only imagine the frustration of my brother and sisters as we tried to put something together without all of the pieces.

My point in all of this: How can someone make a decision about Jesus if they only know bits and pieces? Peter wanted to make sure everyone had all of the components and knew how they all fit together.”

Today’s 34th truth: If you are “born again”, you are bringing every thought into captivity. (2 Cor. 10:5)