Hi, I am Claude and welcome to Acts.net.

This topics "Growing and the Pain" has 3 chapters that we will be walking through together.

Acts 2, Acts 3, Matthew 24

What does growing stand for? Why are we so protective? The best is why not get all the knowledge inside our brain in the first two years after our birth so we can dominate the world around you. Isn't what I child does when he/she makes the connection from crying to receiving?

When you are a baby, there are steps to follow. The usual first step is to say, mom or dad. Next comes chewing on everything you see. Now the big one is walking on all four limbs. Yes, two hands and two feet. You followed by grabbing on chairs to help lift you up. Finally, now you can walk on two feet. For the parents, this is the crucial part. Most parents will take everything that is eye level and bring them up another two feet. This way, the baby will not grab things that he/she should not play with. From this point on, the parents will never have another chance to sleep a regular night. The child will dream of the possibilities for tomorrow.

A child cries for a reason. But what is the reason? Change diaper, give food, needing for closeness, or a toy. Until the child receives what he/she wants, you will try almost everything until the child gets what is required, then, will stop, even when we grow up. We still have those ideas that if we cry enough, someone will come to our rescue. Well, maybe not crying but something to bring attention to yourself.

How busy the disciple was after Peter made his speech.

Acts 2:42-47
- They were devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
- Reverential awe came over everyone, and many wonders and miraculous signs came about by the apostles.
- All who believed were together and held everything in common,
- and they began selling their property and possessions and distributing the proceeds to everyone, as anyone had need.
- Every day they continued to gather together by common consent in the temple courts, breaking bread from house to house, sharing their food with glad and humble hearts,
- praising God and having the good will of all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number every day those who were being saved.

What else did the disciples do? Here are a few things that happened in the Temple at 3 p.m. Saving (Acts 2:47), healing (Acts 3:6), teaching (Acts 3:12), preaching (Acts 3:13), encouraging (Acts 3:17), repentance (Acts 3:19) and others like sharing material goods, helping people who were low on food. This is what all Christians did because they loved Him, who loved them first.

This is a small token of what they were doing. Don't you think this is all good? They also had time in jail. When you become Christian, you will start to feel something inside of you. You will speak to a friend, and the next thing you might do is start talking about your experiences with the Holy Spirit. We then come to the most significant part, and then they might want what you have, and they will come and have supper with Jesus. Now you have a new brother in Christ. They will like to share what they have, that you just gave them. This has been going on since Jesus left Earth, and He wants us to be with Him.

What we read and what we see today is all about being Christ-like. If we do to others as we would do to Him, who calls us to help others. He will see how much we love our neighbours as we love ourselves. That is what the world should really be.

Now we go deeper into this growing pain. One day all Christians will have to wake up and get away from fraternizing with the enemy. Yes, most Christians do what was happening in the old testament and kept going in the new testament. The difference now is that we seek something, and when we find it, we do not let go. The issue is that people found God and they became Christians, and the Holy Spirit joined them in their hearts. If we keep doing what we do, we could be in real trouble when Jesus calls everyone home. It is one thing to be a non-Christians, but God will be more severe with Christians when judging everyone.

Here is part of Matthew 24:
The Lesson of the Fig Tree

Mat 24:32 “Learn this parable from the fig tree: Whenever its branch becomes tender and puts out its leaves, you know that summer is near.
Mat 24:33 So also you, when you see all these things, know that he is near, right at the door.
Mat 24:34 I tell you the truth, this generation will not pass away until all these things take place.
Mat 24:35 Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
No One Knows That Day and Hour
Mat 24:36 “But as for that day and hour no one knows it – not even the angels in heaven – except the Father alone.
Mat 24:37 For just like the days of Noah were, so the coming of the Son of Man will be.
Mat 24:38 For in those days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day Noah entered the ark.
Mat 24:39 And they knew nothing until the flood came and took them all away. It will be the same at the coming of the Son of Man.
Mat 24:40 Then there will be two men in the field; one will be taken and one left.
Mat 24:41 There will be two women grinding grain with a mill; one will be taken and one left.
Mat 24:42 “Therefore stay alert, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come.
Mat 24:43 But understand this: If the owner of the house had known at what time of night the thief was coming, he would have been alert and would not have let his house be broken into.
Mat 24:44 Therefore you also must be ready, because the Son of Man will come at an hour when you do not expect him.
Mat 24:45 “Who then is the faithful and wise slave, whom the master has put in charge of his household, to give the other slaves their food at the proper time?
Mat 24:46 Blessed is that slave whom the master finds at work when he comes.
Mat 24:47 I tell you the truth, the master will put him in charge of all his possessions.
Mat 24:48 But if that evil slave should say to himself, ‘My master is staying away a long time,’
Mat 24:49 and he begins to beat his fellow slaves and to eat and drink with drunkards,
Mat 24:50 then the master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not foresee,
Mat 24:51 and will cut him in two, and assign him a place with the hypocrites, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

How far do you want to test God? I hope that you will reconsider your situation. When we get to Heaven, and God calls you to get judged, you will have no one to help you, no one to defend you, no one to comfort you, only you, God and Jesus.

Do you really want this to happen, to feel so low? If you repent now from the bottom of your heart and soul, and ask God to forgive you, then God will forgive you. This must be done before He comes again. Guaranteed He will come. It could be in the next 5 minutes or the next month. Who knows, only the Father. Don't procrastinate, do it now and save your life.