by Jen | Mar 26, 2024 | 6-11, Acts 1, DISO studies
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Hi again! As I write this, I’m looking forward to celebrating my favorite holiday (Easter 2024) this weekend. This year, I’m planning to revisit what the Spirit revealed to me in the study of Matthew 28:1-15 we just concluded. If you worked through the passage with me, I hope you also have plans to reflect on what the Spirit showed you from that miracle of miracles. Happy Easter!
Last Week’s Work
MY PERSONAL TREASURE
This time, I’m drawn to the promise I found in v8, “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.” I can’t wait to see how the Holy Spirit uses this “wow!” to help me grow and perfect my walk with God!
Now that I know what to focus on, let’s talk about what I learned as far as the setting of this passage.
WHO (CHARACTERS)
Three characters are referred to in v8:
- you (predicted to be my witnesses in v8 and identified as Men of Galilee in v11),
- the Holy Spirit, and
- my (also referred to as the Lord in v6, and This Jesus in v11).
I’m already familiar with the Holy Spirit and Jesus, the Lord, but I have more questions about the people Jesus made that promise to. I want to know if I have anything in common with them. I’m certainly not a man, nor am I from Galilee, but I do believe I have witnessed Jesus’s miracle-working power myself.
WHERE (LOCATIONS)
Key locations in this text are found in v8: Jerusalem, all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
In v10, I discovered Jesus was lifted up into heaven, and (as I mentioned above), v11 identifies the you characters as being of Galilee, which I recognize from other studies I’ve done as being a region north of Samaria and Judea (where Jerusalem is). Of course, this gives me pause. Why would Galileans be called to testify to those living in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria? I definitely want to scratch around this more when I get to Step 4 (Refine)!
I was almost done with this blog when I realized the text doesn’t indicate where this conversation took place. I do see in Acts 1:12, “they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem…” so I’m thinking it happened on Olivet, but I’m not sure. I’ve written myself a note when I get to step 4 to see if Mark, Luke, or John indicate where it happened, since I know Matthew doesn’t mention it in the last chapter of his gospel.
TIMEFRAMES
I can’t believe I almost missed the subtle but powerful word when in v8! I know it always starts a phrase that impacts the timing of something in God’s Word, and I even picked it up in verses 6 and 9! But it wasn’t until I read through the passage again that the Spirit revealed power comes WHEN the Holy Spirit [comes] upon you. In other words, no Holy Spirit, no power.
If you’ve studied with me before, you know this is a constant struggle of mine—to rely on the Spirit for power instead of trying to do things in my own strength.
I also felt a personal connection to the time data in verse 7. To the men’s question about the restoration of Israel’s kingdom, Jesus says, it is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.
The passage doesn’t tell us why Jesus said that, but from my perspective it’s not hard to anticipate one likely reason. If I knew when it was coming, I’m sure I’d waste a lot of time and energy worrying about it and/or trying to change the timing or some other aspect of it.
Dig-In Challenges
I love how the Spirit is already showing me more than I anticipated in this study. I hope you’ve discovered some interesting gems here, too, and it spurs you to work through more of this process. Here’s what I’ll be doing this week:
- PRAY each time I start to study using my prayer from last week.
- MINE: Look for repeated concepts in this passage and, if I find any, consider how that repetition might be relevant to my personal treasure from v8;
- MINE: Locate any special statements (blessings, commands, curses, prayers, promises, and warnings) connected to that treasure; and
- MINE: See if I can find any lists (3 or more similar items mentioned in the text) and their relevance to my treasure.
See you next week!
GO TO WEEK 4 >
by Jen | Mar 19, 2024 | 6-11, Acts 1, DISO studies
NEW TO THIS STUDY? START HERE.
Welcome back, I’m glad you’re here, my friend! I just want to remind you I’m sharing my answers in these posts to provide an example of the treasure that can be discovered through this process. If you’re working with the Holy Spirit and are seeing different results, know that you’re on the right track, even if your findings are different from mine.
That’s because He knows what each of us needs in our faith journey. How awesome is God that He provides our own personal Bible tutor—and the more we study, the more we will develop the skills to hear the Spirit’s voice. So, let’s keep studying!
Last Week’s Work
MY PRAYER
The first task from last week was to develop a prayer I promised to pray every time I sit down to study this section of Scripture. Here’s mine:
Father God, thank You for Your Word and for clear steps to help me see, understand, and apply it to my life now. Thank You for Your Holy Spirit, who opens my eyes, ears, and heart, and brings to mind all that you have taught me about Your Word so far. Bless this study of Acts 1:6-11 and all those who are studying with me. May we see You in all that we encounter here! In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.
Because I’m still sometimes forgetting to pray before I start digging, I copied this onto a colored notecard I use as a bookmark in my study journal. It really is hard to teach this old dog new tricks!
HUH? and WOW! MOMENTS
Next, I slowly read through the study text, focusing on my reactions, and noting the parts that caught my attention. Here are my responses:
- HUH? Verse 6 reads, “… they asked him, ‘Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom of Israel?’” What does the bold text mean?
- WOW! Jesus told the disciples in verse 8, “… you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you.”
- WOW! Verse 9: “… he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”
- WOW! and HUH? Verse 11: “This Jesus… will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” What does the bold text mean?
I’m not sure what to think about this story. There isn’t a lot of detail: who is “they” with whom Jesus met as these things happened? The 11 remaining disciples? Others? Where did this take place? When did it take place? We have a lot of fact-finding to do in the next few weeks, and it appears we’ll have to look to the verses’ context to see if we can find any of this out.
I’m looking forward to it! I hope you are, too.
Dig-In Challenges
Next week, I plan to:
- Read my prayer bookmark each time I start studying this passage!
- MINE: Identify which aspect of this study I feel the Spirit leading me to dig deepest into right now. It could be one (or more) of the Huh? and Wow! Moments I wrote about this week, or some other item the Spirit hasn’t yet called to my attention.
- MINE: See if I can find out more about the setting of the scene in Acts 1:6-11 (who’s involved, where and when did the action take place), and note anything the Spirit emphasizes.
See you again soon!
GO TO WEEK 3 >
by Jen | Mar 12, 2024 | 6-11, Acts 1, DISO studies, Introduction
Welcome, and thank you for joining me for this Digging into Scripture Ourselves (DISO) study!
Let’s Study Acts 1:6-11!
When I suspended our studies in October 2023, we were working through a select group of miracles of Jesus, and now it’s time to complete that series with Acts 1:6-11, which recounts Jesus’s ascension.
This week, I’ll work through two of the five steps in the new process using Acts 1:6-11. If you want to work along with me, here’s what I recommend you start with:
- A copy of Acts 1:6-11, plus access to the entire book of Acts.
I copy the text from www.blueletterbible.org, paste it in a word processing program (Google docs or MS Word), change the formatting to suit my preferences, and print it out. If you want to use the ESV translation, here’s a copy I created that you can use.
- A study journal.
I’m old-school and like the pen/pencil and paper method for journaling my studies, but you can do this any way you want. If you don’t think you have time to physically write or type your notes, consider recording an audio of your thoughts, or use your smart phone to dictate into a notes app.
But really, if you studied with me before, you know you’re welcome to just read the posts I publish here. They’ll help you become more familiar with the process and show you how the Spirit speaks to my situation. I’m praying that there will be enough similarities between my life and yours that you’ll find it worth your while to keep checking in with me, even if you can’t study along on your own yet.
Dig-In Challenges
So here’s what I’m going to do this coming week:
- PRAY: I’ll be creating a prayer that I can pray every time I study Acts 1:6-11. I’m going to write it in my study journal, so I’ll have it handy each time I study.
- SURVEY: And then I’ll read Acts 1:6-11, noting anything that makes me say, “huh?” (as in, “I wonder what that means?”) or “wow” (as in, “that is so awesome!”). I’ll record these so I can come back and choose one I think the Spirit wants me to dig more deeply into right now.
I’m looking forward to sharing what I discover in this process with you—I hope you’ll stop by next week!
GO TO WEEK 2 >
