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Written by Ann Thiede, volunteer with Iron Rose Sister Ministries in Arkansas

“One of the most powerful emotions is gratitude. If we can find ways to be thankful and grateful throughout our life, we will find the power and emotional strength to walk through some of life’s hardest seasons.”

This portion from the YouVersion Bible app devotional, Creating a Heart of Gratitude, exemplifies the early Christians — men and women — forgiven, redeemed, and compelled by the love of Christ in spite of trials and tribulation. They have left a powerful legacy for the church today.

In Acts 1, the disciples of Jesus witnessing Him ascend back to His Father after the resurrection could only be called a dramatic experience. Afterwards, to the amazement of all, the Holy Spirit descended like flames upon the Christ-followers gathered in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. Peter preached, and all that had gathered from various nations understood his powerful words in their own language! He ended by proclaiming, “Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ.” (Acts 2:36 NIV). Three thousand Jews and proselytes, cut to the heart, believed his message and were baptized! Genuine love, fellowship, and gratitude characterized these new disciples — the first church.

Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46-47)

By Acts 4:4, the church grew to five thousand! By Acts 5:14, “more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” Disciples were making disciples as the Good News spread.

But then, in Acts 7, Spirit-filled Stephen was stoned to death and “a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria” (Acts 8:1). This would appear to be bad news, but no! “Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went” (v4). Joy and ‘in-spite-of’ gratitude were their strength!

Philip spread the Good News in a Samaritan town and then was invited into a chariot and shared the Scriptures about Jesus with an important Ethiopian eunuch. At one point the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. Why shouldn’t I be baptized?” (Acts 8:36). So Philip baptized him, “and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing” (v39). Imagine this grateful new disciple going back to Ethiopia and spreading the Good News!

The Spirit’s work continued. While persecuting and imprisoning Christians, Saul (as recorded in Acts 9, 22, and 26) dramatically encountered Christ, realized the truth of His Lordship, and then created havoc among the Jews by immediately preaching Jesus and His resurrection. In the meantime, Peter broke protocol and preached to a devout Gentile centurion, Cornelius, and his close friends and relatives. In the middle of preaching, the Holy Spirit fell on these Gentiles as He had in Acts 2! “The circumcised believers who had come with Peter were astonished that the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out even on the Gentiles” (Acts 10:45). God’s grace and resulting gratitude surely filled the hearts of Saul, now Paul, and Cornelius!

Acts 9:36-42 recounts another supernatural event among the disciples in Joppa. Dorcas, or Tabitha, who was always doing good, helping the poor, and clothing the widows, died. She was so beloved that Peter was urged to come at once. He prayed, took her by the hand, and presented her alive once more! With great joy and gratitude, the news spread, and as a result “many people believed in the Lord” (v42).

The book of Acts illustrates a Christ-loving cloud of witnesses motivated by grace and producing a great harvest of souls. Who will you join? Philip sharing Jesus with a stranger? Peter proclaiming Good News to previously shunned people? Dorcas honoring Jesus as she shares His love while doing good? Paul asking prayers for words to “fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel” (Eph 6:19)?

May gratitude for all God has done in your life be your driving force.

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Written by Gaby Medrano, Iron Rose Sister Ministries volunteer from Nicaragua in Colombia

Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. (Eph 5:11 NIV)

Imagine a beautiful orange tree planted in land where the soil is filled with weeds, thorns, parasites, and invasive plants. The tree will be completely barren and fruitless. The weeds don't work to bear fruit; they only consume nutrients from the soil, choke out life, and destroy everything around them.

The apostle Paul calls sins "unfruitful works" because they are exactly like that weed that takes up space, absorbs your energy, but at the end of the day produces nothing of real value for your spiritual life, your family, or your inner peace. It is empty productivity—a barrenness disguised as life.

We live in a world of constant change, where we are expected to adapt to different scenarios, situations, fashions, places, or cultures. If you don't, you simply "don't fit in" or "don't adapt"; that's how you will be judged. However, God has called us to make a difference—to be light in the midst of darkness—and for that we have to make a difference by being the light, the salt. Many times, we will not fit in, or we will not allow ourselves to adapt, because the most important thing is not expectations or appearances, but the truth—the Word of God that never changes, that was, that is, and that will be.

The apostle Paul explains that through the power of the Spirit, believers should get rid of their old fleshly nature and live according to their new spiritual nature. This path of change leads to a holy way of life, for as Christians we are to be imitators of God. That is what the filling of the Spirit is all about. "Be holy, because I am holy" (1 Pet 1:16), and do not imitate the world, because if we do what the world does, we clothe ourselves like the world; we resemble the world.

Christians are not to be accomplices or companions in sinful practices. Unmasking these acts does not necessarily involve speaking evil or attacking those who do, but rather making God's truth shine through righteous, upright conduct, blameless testimony, and a lifestyle that contrasts with evil. You can rebuke an evil deed as long as you confront it with meekness, love, respect, seeking its restoration, not its humiliation, considering yourself, lest you too be tempted, as His word says.

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Gal 5:19-21)

The acts of the flesh are very evident and clear—they cannot be hidden. As mature Christians in the faith, we must flourish in the Spirit and let ourselves be guided by Him, knowing that by our own strength we cannot do much, but we have the responsibility to fight daily against sin and depend totally on God. We recognize that as humans, fallen from Eden, our nature is inclined towards evil, towards selfishness and pleasures of this world. But the apostle Paul reminds us in his letter that we have spiritual weapons with which we can fight: "Put on the full armor of God, so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes" (Eph 6:11).

We must search the Scriptures daily, just as we check our cell phones daily. Observe very carefully what we are feeding ourselves with: what we are watching, the music we are listening to, who we are spending time with, what we are reading, what testimony we are projecting. Are we being influenced, or are we influencing others? Are we differentiating ourselves from the world, or are we like chameleons camouflaging ourselves according to our environment? If so, we will not produce fruit.

Paul taught the Christians of Galatia how to enjoy freedom in Christ and not be enslaved by the effort to gain God's favor through religious observance or good works. True goodness does not come from personal effort, but from submitting to the Holy Spirit so that He can produce the fruit of righteousness in our daily lives.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. (Gal 2:20)

Let us long to be fertile ground and to be able to lead others to be fertile. Let us pray to God that we may sharpen iron with iron up close or at a distance.