Contemplative Bible Reading

Acts 22:16 (New Living Translation) 16 What are you waiting for? Get up and be baptized. Have your sins washed away by calling on the name of the Lord.’ In this verse, Paul is retelling the story of how he came to follow Jesus as the Christ. Ananias is talking to Paul. He tells Paul […]

[Read more →]

Acts 17:30 (New Living Translation) “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him…” In the sentences preceding this, the readers are informed of God’s history with mankind. In this sentence, we read the prior ignorance was overlooked. No […]

[Read more →]

Acts 19:23-24 (New Living Translation) 23 About that time, serious trouble developed in Ephesus concerning the Way. 24 It began with Demetrius, a silversmith who had a large business manufacturing silver shrines of the Greek goddess Artemis. He kept many craftsmen busy. Here is Demetrius. He works with silver to fashion all sorts of things […]

[Read more →]

Acts 9:15-16 (New Living Translation) 15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel. 16 And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.” God is conversing with Ananias […]

[Read more →]

Acts 1:17 (New Living Translation) Judas was one of us and shared in the ministry with us. Much is written about Judas, the one who betrayed Jesus. There is much speculation about his eventual state in the greater scheme of things. Let’s consider this one sentence. Peter is talking. He admits that Judas was on […]

[Read more →]

Acts 17:16-17 (New Living Translation) 16 While Paul was waiting for them in Athens, he was deeply troubled by all the idols he saw everywhere in the city. 17 He went to the synagogue to reason with the Jews and the God-fearing Gentiles, and he spoke daily in the public square to all who happened […]

[Read more →]

Acts 10:1-4 (New Living Translation) In Caesarea there lived a Roman army officer named Cornelius…One afternoon about three o’clock, he had a vision in which he saw an angel of God coming toward him. “Cornelius!” the angel said. Cornelius stared at him in terror. “What is it, sir?” he asked the angel. Cornelius was one […]

[Read more →]

Acts 7:57-59 (New Living Translation) 57 Then they put their hands over their ears and began shouting. They rushed at him 58 and dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. His accusers took off their coats and laid them at the feet of a young man named Saul. 59 As they […]

[Read more →]

Acts 6:15 (New Living Translation) At this point everyone in the high council stared at Stephen, because his face became as bright as an angel’s. How did Stephen appear in this verse? Whatever it was, everyone was staring at him. I guess is appearance was remarkable in some way. The rest of the verse states […]

[Read more →]

Acts 5:42 (New Living Translation) And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: “Jesus is the Messiah.” Yeah, yeah, yeah, blah blah blah. NOT. What the followers of Jesus were doing was radical. It was dangerous—deadly dangerous as some were executed for this. Here […]

[Read more →]