Thoughts From Acts 1 - Part 2

 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers. Acts 1:9-14

                                     500 years earlier Zechariah wrote

"3 Then the Lord will go out and fight against those nations, as he fights on a day of battle. 4 On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south. 5 You will flee by my mountain valley, for it will extend to Azel. You will flee as you fled from the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah. Then the Lord my God will come, and all the holy ones with him.6 On that day there will be neither sunlight nor cold, frosty darkness. 7 It will be a unique day—a day known only to the Lord—with no distinction between day and night. When evening comes, there will be light.8 On that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it east to the Dead Sea and half of it west to the Mediterranean Sea, in summer and in winter.9 The Lord will be king over the whole earth. On that day there will be one Lord, and his name the only name."

       The angel said to the disciples to stop staring into Heaven, Jesus is gone. But He isn't gone for good - He's coming back at a later time to be King over the whole earth. The disciples, as seen in the previous verses, thought Jesus, the long-awaited Messiah, was going to set up His throne now but now they are finally going to realize there are two comings of Jesus - one to die and save (the Lamb) and one to conquer, punish, and reign (the Lion).

      We still await the second coming 2000 years later and the angel would tell us the same thing - be encouraged, Jesus is coming back and we win! In the meantime, though, meet together, pray together and then get out there and reach the world for Christ. How much time do we spend praying together? It makes no earthly sense, but I'm convinced that from my experience of personal revival with power from on high, that meeting together for prayer will be what changes the world. It's not hiring firms to come up with a marketing and growth plan, it's not bringing in special speakers to draw people in, it's groups of 2-4 meeting at 6AM to pray for 45 minutes before the day starts. I dare you - do that for a year and see what happens!