When a person walks up to you and begins their conversation with:
“Have you heard?”
“Guess what, I heard…”
“Can you believe they…”
“Between you and me…”
“I don’t want to start anything, but…”
RUN from this conversation for evil prompts the beginning of gossip and slander with these very words. Evil loves to play games with our minds. Unsuspecting people are thrown off track by the gossip. The work of God is hindered, not stopped, but hindered. Our gossip, (yes, I own this sin, too), breaks God’s heart. This tired tool of limited but destructive power of evil is always meant to do harm and cast questionable doubt in the Body of Christ. Believers and nonbelievers all fall for it. It’s time to run from it…
Oh Lord lead us from this temptation and deliver us from evil.” In Jesus Name, Amen!
GOALS
Don’t begin or enter in to a “whispering campaign” meant to destroy a person and the work God is doing in and through them. God sees our hearts, all hearts. His work of helping people find and follow Jesus, His Son so that a pure, holy relationship can be had between God and mankind will be done no matter what. Our daily goal should be to get out of the way of God’s work in the lives of His people. We get in the way when we gossip.
Learn from the tenaciously focused! You will notice in this passage that Paul and Barnabas have learned as leaders to ignore the whispering campaigns! They are continually and keenly focused on Jesus and His Message. The Message is preached no matter what. Whispering campaigns do not stop them. Beatings do not stop them! “The two apostles were there a long time, speaking freely, openly, and confidently as they presented the clear evidence of God’s gifts, God corroborating their work with miracles and wonders.”
Dear Friends, Believers working together in the Body of Christ (the church), let us not enter into whispering campaigns, instead let us encourage each other. We NEED each other! It is not surprising that Paul, who endured and suffered in doing the work of the Lord, in His Name, all for His glory, would continually urge the church to encourage each other. Paul knew gossip maims and often kills relationships within the Body. In fact, there are over a hundred verses in the Bible about encouraging each other…below are a few to get us started.
Let us avoid whispering campaigns. Instead, let’s boldly and consistently turn our conversations to good, in Jesus Name, for His glory. When we put Jesus into our talk and take ourselves out, God smiles. He loves for His kids to get along!
CONVERSTATION STARTERS…
1 Thessalonians 4:18
Therefore comfort one another with these words.
Romans 1:12
That I may be encouraged together with you while among you, each of us by the other’s faith, both yours and mine.
Hebrews 3:13
But encourage one another day after day, as long as it is still called “Today,” so that none of you will be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
HERE’S WHAT TO THINK AND HOW TO PRAY…
An Encouragement for Prayer
“Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart. Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ. That is why I am here in chains. Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.
Live wisely among those who are not believers, and make the most of every opportunity. Let your conversation be gracious and attractive so that you will have the right response for everyone.” Paul to the Colossians 4:2-6, NLT
ACTS—God’s Actions through His Disciples
Acts 14:1-7, The Message
1-3 When they got to Iconium they went, as they always did, to the meeting place of the Jews and gave their message. The Message convinced both Jews and non-Jews—and not just a few, either. But the unbelieving Jews worked up a whispering campaign against Paul and Barnabas, sowing mistrust and suspicion in the minds of the people in the street. The two apostles were there a long time, speaking freely, openly, and confidently as they presented the clear evidence of God’s gifts, God corroborating their work with miracles and wonders.
4-7 But then there was a split in public opinion, some siding with the Jews, some with the apostles. One day, learning that both the Jews and non-Jews had been organized by their leaders to beat them up, they escaped as best they could to the next towns—Lyconia, Lystra, Derbe, and that neighborhood—but then were right back at it again, getting out the Message. (Emphasis mine)
Lord,
I repent of entering into or beginning any whispering conversation that would hurt another brother or sister and hinder your work within us and through us. Deliver me from this evil that entraps us. Help me to run from this temptation! Show me Your ways and I will walk on that path. Teach me. I know you are not finished with me yet!
As we go through and the book of Acts and pause along the passages that reveal the glory of God in those whose hearts are completely His, we begin to see more of God’s glory on display today in our own lives! As we study God’s Word, knowing the love of God that sent His Son to die for our sins, we just cannot take this message lightly. The Message of God’s plan of salvation, through the sacrificial death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus, bubbles up renewed hope, strengthens our faith and refreshes our souls. Jesus is the Way to Truth and gives Life for eternity. No, we cannot take this message lightly for this message is life.
The more we learn about God’s acts through His disciples and followers, we learn that God is doing the same in us today! The more we realize the love God has for us the better we love each other. The more we learn about God’s powerful acts we realize that this same God is at consistently at work in and through us with His power, wisdom, clarity, understanding, with insight to see His glory at work all around us!! Don’t take this lightly, says Paul to new converts, Jewish and Gentiles alike, Jesus lives! Jesus died for all sin. Jesus rose again and is our hope of eternal life with Him.
You can hear the passion in Paul’s preaching as he proclaims God’s message,
“I’m doing something right before your eyes That you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”
The prophets of God said it first. Jesus taught and lived every detail of the words of the prophets of God. Now, Paul, a devout Jew who learned The Law well, is taking his eager audience down the road from history of how God led and protected them to a new covenant—a holy, personal relationship with God—all because of Jesus.
In the background I hear the song, WayMaker…
“Even when I don’t see it, You’re working Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working You never stop, You never stop working You never stop, You never stop working…”
Yes, God has done, is doing and will do what He wills, on our behalf, for our best interests in his mind “right before our eyes…staring us in the face.” We need to stop and recognize His glory and power at work. Don’t take His acts lightly! Grateful people are those who see God at work daily!
Do we really believe what we say we believe about God really real?
Are we part of the grateful group?
“Don’t take this lightly”, says Paul, as he admonishes the cynics, grumblers, selfish, power hungry, world thinkers. SEE and recognize God at work daily! May His salvation bring eternal joy and hope sending us to our knees in grateful praise to God alone through Jesus Christ His Son! Enjoy His Presence! God hasn’t changed or moved. If you don’t “feel” Him, guess who moved.
Friends, as believers we quote Psalm 46:10 often when we are tired and overwhelmed—Be still and know that I am God”. But do we take this passage too lightly, too? Do we really know what it means to be still? It is a popular verse for comforting ourselves and others—many people tend to think this verse means to rest or relax in who God is. This verse does encourage believers to reflect on who God is, but there is more to this psalm than one verse—and verse 10 is actually more of a wake-up call to be in awe than a gentle call to rest. Taking time out of our day to meditate on Scripture and be silent with listening ears toward God is mentioned in other sections of Scripture (Psalm 119:15, Joshua 1:8, Luke 5:16, and others). But this command— “Be still…”—is written in the context of a time of trouble and war; therefore, we should consider the verse with that context in mind.
Friends, we are at war with our enemy consistently. Instead of interpreting “be still” as a gentle suggestion, the meaning in this psalm lends itself more to: “cease striving” or “stop” and more specifically in this context “stop fighting,” which is directed toward the enemies of the people of God. The people of God should interpret the command for themselves to read more like: ‘snap out of it,’ ‘wake up,’ ‘stop fearing’—acknowledge who your God is—be in awe!
Consider Psalm 46 in its entirety. Begin with verse 1. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah”
“There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
“Come, behold the works of the LORD, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations; I will be exalted in the earth!” The LORD of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah”
Are we in awe of God? The more in awe of God we are the more we will see Him at work in our lives!
In fact, “Be still” is the same thing that Jesus says to the wind and the waves in Mark 4:39. The wind and the sea completely died down in silence, in awe and worship of the Creator! Yes! Camp on this idea, friends. Our God, Jesus, and His Holy Spirit, the Three-In-One, are always at work on our behalf! Can I get an Amen?
“There is a silence and stillness that should overtake us in the presence of someone that is so overwhelmingly holy and glorious. The call to all is to be still before our holy, awesome, and glorious God.” John Casteel, Senior Pastor, The Bridge, South Carolina
Yes, the people of God must stop what they are doing and acknowledge that God alone is the sovereign ruler of the universe and commit to following him. He will one day stop all wars and he will be exalted among the nations (the Gentiles and Jewish believers as one family, the Church) and all the earth. There will be no question of who God is and what he is doing.
Don’t take this too lightly…I’m not!
ACTS—God’s Acts Through His Disciples
Acts 13:13-52, The Message
(Bold emphasis mine)
Don’t Take This Lightly
13-14 From Paphos, Paul and company put out to sea, sailing on to Perga in Pamphylia. That’s where John called it quits and went back to Jerusalem. From Perga the rest of them traveled on to Antioch in Pisidia.
14-15 On the Sabbath they went to the meeting place and took their places. After the reading of the Scriptures—God’s Law and the Prophets—the president of the meeting asked them, “Friends, do you have anything you want to say? A word of encouragement, perhaps?”
16-20 Paul stood up, paused and took a deep breath, then said, “Fellow Israelites and friends of God, listen. God took a special interest in our ancestors, pulled our people who were beaten down in Egyptian exile to their feet, and led them out of there in grand style. He took good care of them for nearly forty years in that godforsaken wilderness and then, having wiped out seven enemies who stood in the way, gave them the land of Canaan for their very own—a span in all of about 450 years.
20-22 “Up to the time of Samuel the prophet, God provided judges to lead them. But then they asked for a king, and God gave them Saul, son of Kish, out of the tribe of Benjamin. After Saul had ruled forty years, God removed him from office and put King David in his place, with this commendation: ‘I’ve searched the land and found this David, son of Jesse. He’s a man whose heart beats to my heart, a man who will do what I tell him.’
23-25 “From out of David’s descendants God produced a Savior for Israel, Jesus, exactly as he promised—but only after John had thoroughly alerted the people to his arrival by preparing them for a total life-change. As John was finishing up his work, he said, ‘Did you think I was the One? No, I’m not the One. But the One you’ve been waiting for all these years is just around the corner, about to appear. And I’m about to disappear.’
26-29 “Dear brothers and sisters, children of Abraham, and friends of God, this message of salvation has been precisely targeted to you. The citizens and rulers in Jerusalem didn’t recognize who he was and condemned him to death. They couldn’t find a good reason, but demanded that Pilate execute him anyway. They did just what the prophets said they would do, but had no idea they were following to the letter the script of the prophets, even though those same prophets are read every Sabbath in their meeting places.
29-31 “After they had done everything the prophets said they would do, they took him down from the cross and buried him. And then God raised him from death. There is no disputing that—he appeared over and over again many times and places to those who had known him well in the Galilean years, and these same people continue to give witness that he is alive.
32-35 “And we’re here today bringing you good news: the Message that what God promised the fathers has come true for the children—for us! He raised Jesus, exactly as described in the second Psalm:
My Son! My very own Son! Today I celebrate you!
“When he raised him from the dead, he did it for good—no going back to that rot and decay for him. That’s why Isaiah said, ‘I’ll give to all of you David’s guaranteed blessings.’ So also the psalmist’s prayer: ‘You’ll never let your Holy One see death’s rot and decay.’
36-39 “David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.
40-41 “Don’t take this lightly. You don’t want the prophet’s revelation to describe you:
Watch out, cynics; Look hard—watch your world fall to pieces. I’m doing something right before your eyes That you won’t believe, though it’s staring you in the face.”
42-43 When the service was over, Paul and Barnabas were invited back to preach again the next Sabbath. As the meeting broke up, a good many Jews and converts to Judaism went along with Paul and Barnabas, who urged them in long conversations to stick with what they’d started, this living in and by God’s grace.
44-45 When the next Sabbath came around, practically the whole city showed up to hear the Word of God. Some of the Jews, seeing the crowds, went wild with jealousy and tore into Paul, contradicting everything he was saying, making an ugly scene.
46-47 But Paul and Barnabas didn’t back down. Standing their ground they said, “It was required that God’s Word be spoken first of all to you, the Jews. But seeing that you want no part of it—you’ve made it quite clear that you have no taste or inclination for eternal life—the door is open to all the outsiders. And we’re on our way through it, following orders, doing what God commanded when he said,
I’ve set you up as light to all nations. You’ll proclaim salvation to the four winds and seven seas!”
48-49 When the non-Jewish outsiders heard this, they could hardly believe their good fortune. All who were marked out for real life put their trust in God—they honored God’s Word by receiving that life. And this Message of salvation spread like wildfire all through the region.
50-52 Some of the Jews convinced the most respected women and leading men of the town that their precious way of life was about to be destroyed. Alarmed, they turned on Paul and Barnabas and forced them to leave.Paul and Barnabas shrugged their shoulders and went on to the next town, Iconium, brimming with joy and the Holy Spirit, two happy disciples.
Lord,
I stand in awe of you today. I will be still and be more intent on knowing You and looking for you all day long. I know you are at work. I need to recognize you and give you praise always! Thank you for saving my soul. Thank you for your Holy Spirit who guides and directs me closer to You. Thank you for the last lesson of this passage. Paul and Barnabas had such joy and assurance in you, they just shrugged their shoulders and keep moving on with You in the lead! You are amazing, Lord! Thank you!
In Jesus Name, Amen
Even when I don’t see it, You’re working Even when I don’t feel it, You’re working You never stop, You never stop working You never stop, You never stop working you’re the way maker,
Way maker, miracle worker, promise keeper Light in the darkness, my God That is who You are…
I have lived on this earth for quite a few years now. I have been involved in all kinds of people groups which include family, friends, workplace, teaching, university and church groups. Where two or three are gathered, there seems to be “that one” who knows it all, trumps all conversations and works hard to get the last word. Are you thinking of them now? Wait! Could it be you? Could it be me? At times, we all suffer from this malady…knowing just enough to be dangerous. Right?!?
Take note, friends, Know-it-alls are easy putty in the hands of the devil for he knows that deep down they suffer from insecurities that he can use to destroy the work of God in people, including themselves.
Upon commissioning Saul (Paul) and Barnabas with protégé John Mark to go preach the Gospel beyond Jerusalem, they get on the next ship that is departing to Cyprus. In their teaching at all the Jewish synagogues on the island, they encounter a wizard, a know-it-all, who is obviously from the devil, opposed to all things Jesus. Dr. Know-it-all really steps up his “game” when the Governor wants to hear the gospel from Saul/Paul.
Satan works that way, the closer we come to Jesus, the more tools the devil pulls from his limited tool belt. Satan works fast, slyly, and cunningly as he throws wrenches into God’s work. But remember the power of God rose Jesus from the grave? That same power works through Paul/Saul to stop the diversionary tactics of Dr. Know-it-all.
Friends, isn’t interesting that Paul used the same blinding tactic on Dr. Know-it-all as Jesus used on him? Mm, something to think about, right? Sometimes God uses our past growth experiences with Him to use later. God wastes nothing in our growth years with Him. God is like that. He is the One and Only who knows it all. Only God.
“When the governor saw what happened, he became a believer, full of enthusiasm over what they were saying about the Master.” God’s acts through His Holy Spirit in Paul to bring a leader to believe in Jesus Christ, His Son! Nothing stops what God is doing! Absolutely no one, not even the “Know-it-alls” in our lives.
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 13:1-12, The Message
Barnabas, Saul, and Doctor Know-It-All
1-2 The congregation in Antioch was blessed with a number of prophet-preachers and teachers:
Barnabas,
Simon, nicknamed Niger,
Lucius the Cyrenian,
Manaen, an advisor to the ruler Herod,
Saul.
One day as they were worshiping God—they were also fasting as they waited for guidance—the Holy Spirit spoke: “Take Barnabas and Saul and commission them for the work I have called them to do.”
3 So they commissioned them. In that circle of intensity and obedience, of fasting and praying, they laid hands on their heads and sent them off.
4-5 Sent off on their new assignment by the Holy Spirit, Barnabas and Saul went down to Seleucia and caught a ship for Cyprus. The first thing they did when they put in at Salamis was preach God’s Word in the Jewish meeting places. They had John along to help out as needed.
6-7 They traveled the length of the island, and at Paphos came upon a Jewish wizard who had worked himself into the confidence of the governor, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man not easily taken in by charlatans. The wizard’s name was Bar-Jesus. He was as crooked as a corkscrew.
7-11 The governor invited Barnabas and Saul in, wanting to hear God’s Word firsthand from them. But Dr. Know-It-All (that’s the wizard’s name in plain English) stirred up a ruckus, trying to divert the governor from becoming a believer. But Saul (or Paul), full of the Holy Spirit and looking him straight in the eye, said, “You bag of wind, you parody of a devil—why, you stay up nights inventing schemes to cheat people out of God. But now you’ve come up against God himself, and your game is up. You’re about to go blind—no sunlight for you for a good long stretch.” He was plunged immediately into a shadowy mist and stumbled around, begging people to take his hand and show him the way.
12 When the governor saw what happened, he became a believer, full of enthusiasm over what they were saying about the Master.
Lord,
Thank you for saving my soul! Thank you for making me whole, renewing my Spirit, refreshing my heart, mind and soul with all of you living in all of me. YOU are all I need to navigate this world. I cannot do it on my own. I do not know it all. But you do. My life is in You. I trust and believe in You.
We pray. God acts. If we as the “church” could really wrap our heads around this amazing way God acts in the lives of His beloved, we could, by God’s power in us, revolutionize the world’s thinking bent on everything but God. When we pray as the church, united with each other and to God in whom we say we fully trust and believe, God acts in ways that are beyond our ask, beyond our thinking, beyond our wildest dreams and aspirations! He is God! We are not.
Paul, who also spent a lot of time in jail for preaching Christ writes to the church about how to pray while he prays for the church!
“…I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.” (Ephesians 3:16-21, NIV)
Meanwhile back to God’s story…
The church gathered to pray for Peter at Mary’s house. They were united in purposeful prayer…asking God to save Peter from death planned after the Passover holiday by King Herod. Murder is power and popularity to Herod’s small-minded thinking. But Peter, jailed and heavily guarded, slept like a baby before the day he was to die. Peter, full of Jesus and His Holy Spirit living in him, has profound peace while he waits for execution. And the church continued to pray…
“I can’t believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to.” –Peter
Because the church is praying, God, who is able, does more than Peter and the church dream or imagine! God sent an angel to break Peter out of jail quietly and peacefully. Peter thought he was dreaming until he realized he was on the street! Friends, don’t you love how God works? I love this story of God’s actions!
WHILE the church is praying, Peter knocks on the door of the church. They don’t believe in the answer they have been praying for so they keep on praying and wondering.
Oh Friends, do we do that sometimes? While praying for the impossible to us, God is already at work answering but we don’t trust enough to realize that He is ALWAYS at work for us, not against us, and has already gone before us to answer? There are times we need to look up from praying and see what God is doing!
Peter keeps knocking at Mary’s door, the answer to their prayers has arrived! Finally, they let him in. God acted on their behalf and the behalf of the growing church. With God, nothing is impossible. God has done more than they dreamed in ways that actually started their thinking. God loves doing that, I think. Yes, I KNOW He does!
Peter’s first words to the church are “settle down and go tell the brothers”. In other words, get back to doing what God has assigned us to accomplish. (Great Commission—Matthew 28)
Herod discovers the jailbreak and blames the guards. “Off with their heads!” is his way of saving face. Herod is so overwhelmed with it all, he goes on vacation. That’s what humans do who do not know God or His power. God had enough of Herod when he took all the credit for the food supplies from Judea. As soon as the people praised Herod, God took over and struck him dead on his throne of lies and arrogance. (Yes, quoting Elf and smiling.) We do not and cannot, should not and could not take the place of God. Only God is God and we are not—ever!
AND THE BEST PART OF ALL?
“Meanwhile, the ministry of God’s Word grew by leaps and bounds.”
And the church continued to pray and obey. God acted on behalf of His believing church built on the foundation of Jesus Christ, His Son. Yes, and Amen!
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 12, The Message
Peter Under Heavy Guard
1-4 That’s when King Herod got it into his head to go after some of the church members. He murdered James, John’s brother. When he saw how much it raised his popularity ratings with the Jews, he arrested Peter—all this during Passover Week, mind you—and had him thrown in jail, putting four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. He was planning a public lynching after Passover.
5 All the time that Peter was under heavy guard in the jailhouse, the church prayed for him most strenuously.
6 Then the time came for Herod to bring him out for the kill. That night, even though shackled to two soldiers, one on either side, Peter slept like a baby. And there were guards at the door keeping their eyes on the place. Herod was taking no chances!
7-9 Suddenly there was an angel at his side and light flooding the room. The angel shook Peter and got him up: “Hurry!” The handcuffs fell off his wrists. The angel said, “Get dressed. Put on your shoes.” Peter did it. Then, “Grab your coat and let’s get out of here.” Peter followed him, but didn’t believe it was really an angel—he thought he was dreaming.
10-11 Past the first guard and then the second, they came to the iron gate that led into the city. It swung open before them on its own, and they were out on the street, free as the breeze. At the first intersection the angel left him, going his own way. That’s when Peter realized it was no dream. “I can’t believe it—this really happened! The Master sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s vicious little production and the spectacle the Jewish mob was looking forward to.”
12-14 Still shaking his head, amazed, he went to Mary’s house, the Mary who was John Mark’s mother. The house was packed with praying friends. When he knocked on the door to the courtyard, a young woman named Rhoda came to see who it was. But when she recognized his voice—Peter’s voice!—she was so excited and eager to tell everyone Peter was there that she forgot to open the door and left him standing in the street.
15-16 But they wouldn’t believe her, dismissing her, dismissing her report. “You’re crazy,” they said. She stuck by her story, insisting. They still wouldn’t believe her and said, “It must be his angel.” All this time poor Peter was standing out in the street, knocking away.
16-17 Finally they opened up and saw him—and went wild! Peter put his hands up and calmed them down. He described how the Master had gotten him out of jail, then said, “Tell James and the brothers what’s happened.” He left them and went off to another place.
18-19 At daybreak the jail was in an uproar. “Where is Peter? What’s happened to Peter?” When Herod sent for him and they could neither produce him nor explain why not, he ordered their execution: “Off with their heads!” Fed up with Judea and Jews, he went for a vacation to Caesarea.
The Death of Herod
20-22 But things went from bad to worse for Herod. Now people from Tyre and Sidon put him on the warpath. But they got Blastus, King Herod’s right-hand man, to put in a good word for them and got a delegation together to iron things out. Because they were dependent on Judea for food supplies, they couldn’t afford to let this go on too long. On the day set for their meeting, Herod, robed in pomposity, took his place on the throne and regaled them with a lot of hot air. The people played their part to the hilt and shouted flatteries: “The voice of God! The voice of God!”
23 That was the last straw. God had had enough of Herod’s arrogance and sent an angel to strike him down. Herod had given God no credit for anything. Down he went. Rotten to the core, a maggoty old man if there ever was one, he died.
24 Meanwhile, the ministry of God’s Word grew by leaps and bounds.
25 Barnabas and Saul, once they had delivered the relief offering to the church in Jerusalem, went back to Antioch. This time they took John with them, the one they called Mark.
Oh Lord,
Thank you for this true story of your provisions and protection! Thank you for allowing us to see your glory at work in the lives of the early church of believers in You. Thank you never changing through the centuries in your power, love, mercy and grace. Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank you for all you have done, are doing and will do when your people pray in unity. Help us to love like you love as we help people find and follow you. To YOU be all the glory, honor and praise forevermore!
God does not change in His love and mission for all who He has created. It is we who must change to match what God wants in order to live a life of obedience to God. It is even more than loving Him back, it is having a daily session of conversation where He talks and we listen. We pray asking for wisdom and God gives it. We confess and Jesus forgives us. We speak words of praise and thanksgiving and God sees our hearts’ devotion for Him. We ask in Jesus Name and God responds with more than we ask, more than we could hope, or imagine. If God says—do it! We will never regret the decision of following Him.
But Friends, WE must do the changing of our thinking and behaving in order to hear and obey quickly. In our tradition of religion, we much change and be ready to rise above religious tradition to a deeper, wider, higher relationship with the One and Only who died and rose again for us, Our Master, Savior and Lord, Jesus.
Our example is Jesus. To be “Christ-like”, as believers in Christ which is what the original term, “Christian” meant, we much follow in what Jesus did and spoke. Jesus went to God before doing anything of significance. Jesus asked God what He wanted then Jesus said it or did it. He did nothing on earth without God’s direction. (See John 5) Who are we to think we can bypass God and assume our religion and tradition will carry us through this world unscathed? We don’t stand a chance with the enemy, if at first, we do not go to God, praying in Jesus Name, listening to hear God ready to obey. When God says to do or say something…do it! God will give us the words at the right time in the right Spirit to those led by His Holy Spirit. It is nothing short of amazing to live and walk in His Holy Spirit.
Peter, born and raised a Jew, is now faced with a dilemma. God knew what He needed to do IN Peter so that those outside the Jewish religion and tradition could be brought to experience Jesus’ saving grace. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16) God pointed out that if He said it, it’s okay to depart tradition to help others find and follow Jesus in relationship bringing all His creation back to Him. Remember, Peter was trained by Jesus, Himself and is now more pliable to hear when God’s Spirit speaks.
What must always be in Peter’s driven mind is Jesus’ last commissioning words of continuing the mission to “Go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20, NIV) Peter knew from Jesus that if God says…do it, it’s okay.
Did Peter have an “ah-ha” moment in the vision remembering the “all nations” part of the commission?
It is important for us to stay in step with God’s Holy Spirit for when we do, amazing acts of God happen! God broke through the barriers of religion, race, gender, and traditions to bring the “outsiders” into a loving relationship with Him, through His Son, Jesus, powered by His Holy Spirit. Wow!
Believe and be saved with all sins forgiven AND forgotten! God’s powerful Holy Spirit comes to live in us, guide us, protect us, convict us of right and wrong ways to go (wisdom) and comforts and strengthens us. Live a courageous life of “If God says…do it” kind of life. This is a life of no regrets now and forever in relationship with the Father, God. This is why Jesus died and rose again…so we could boldly come into the throne room of God and talk with Him daily. This is the most important relationship we will ever have. AND it is forever!
The news that Jesus is for all nations is spreading like wildfire! Friends, take note of Barnabas, I love him. I want to be like him. He is so positive, encouraging and loving in His relationships with others. Outsiders are readily welcomed as insiders…part of the whole Body of Christ! THIS is the “church”. A group of people with only one mission—to help all people find and follow Jesus. The outsiders should only remain in that condition for seconds, guided to the inside of God’s love forever!
It all began here…enjoy reading this passage as much as I did. If God says…, do it and be the church who follows His Holy Spirit’s direction!
ACTS—God’s acts through His Disciples
Acts 11, The Message
God Has Broken Through
1-3 The news traveled fast and in no time the leaders and friends back in Jerusalem heard about it—heard that the non-Jewish “outsiders” were now “in.” When Peter got back to Jerusalem, some of his old associates, concerned about circumcision, called him on the carpet: “What do you think you’re doing rubbing shoulders with that crowd, eating what is prohibited and ruining our good name?”
4-6 So Peter, starting from the beginning, laid it out for them step-by-step: “Recently I was in the town of Joppa praying. I fell into a trance and saw a vision: Something like a huge blanket, lowered by ropes at its four corners, came down out of heaven and settled on the ground in front of me. Milling around on the blanket were farm animals, wild animals, reptiles, birds—you name it, it was there. Fascinated, I took it all in.
7-10 “Then I heard a voice: ‘Go to it, Peter—kill and eat.’ I said, ‘Oh, no, Master. I’ve never so much as tasted food that wasn’t kosher.’ The voice spoke again: ‘If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.’ This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the sky.
11-14 “Just then three men showed up at the house where I was staying, sent from Caesarea to get me. The Spirit told me to go with them, no questions asked. So I went with them, I and six friends, to the man who had sent for me. He told us how he had seen an angel right in his own house, real as his next-door neighbor, saying, ‘Send to Joppa and get Simon, the one they call Peter. He’ll tell you something that will save your life—in fact, you and everyone you care for.’
15-17 “So I started in, talking. Before I’d spoken half a dozen sentences, the Holy Spirit fell on them just as he did on us the first time. I remembered Jesus’ words: ‘John baptized with water; you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’ So I ask you: If God gave the same exact gift to them as to us when we believed in the Master Jesus Christ, how could I object to God?”
18 Hearing it all laid out like that, they quieted down. And then, as it sank in, they started praising God. “It’s really happened! God has broken through to the other nations, opened them up to Life!”
19-21 Those who had been scattered by the persecution triggered by Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, but they were still only speaking and dealing with their fellow Jews. Then some of the men from Cyprus and Cyrene who had come to Antioch started talking to Greeks, giving them the Message of the Master Jesus. God was pleased with what they were doing and put his stamp of approval on it—quite a number of the Greeks believed and turned to the Master.
22-24 When the church in Jerusalem got wind of this, they sent Barnabas to Antioch to check on things. As soon as he arrived, he saw that God was behind and in it all. He threw himself in with them, got behind them, urging them to stay with it the rest of their lives. He was a good man that way, enthusiastic and confident in the Holy Spirit’s ways. The community grew large and strong in the Master.
25-26 Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. He found him and brought him back to Antioch. They were there a whole year, meeting with the church and teaching a lot of people. It was in Antioch that the disciples were for the first time called Christians.
27-30 It was about this same time that some prophets came to Antioch from Jerusalem. One of them named Agabus stood up one day and, prompted by the Spirit, warned that a severe famine was about to devastate the country. (The famine eventually came during the rule of Claudius.) So the disciples decided that each of them would send whatever they could to their fellow Christians in Judea to help out. They sent Barnabas and Saul to deliver the collection to the leaders in Jerusalem.
Lord,
I love you with all my heart, mind and soul. I love how you love us back. I love how you put us together to grow as the Body of Christ. Thank you for changing our minds from the very beginnings of your church. Help us to always remember that you play no favorites. All you created are IN to receive your love, mercy and grace. Help us to love like you love us. Help us to help all people find and follow you.
In any group of people in the corporate work world, among family members, among friends on a mission, when ALL people come together in unity, life changes. It’s a better day when a mission is accomplished in unity of purpose. Imagine pouring into this unity the power of the Holy Spirit! When we live life for God, like Cornelius, we get God’s attention.
I’m reminded of 2 Chronicles 16:9, (NLT) that shows what God is doing before He gives His assignments to people who love Him, “The eyes of the Lord search the whole earth in order to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.” God saw the Cornelius, focused on his heart and observed His behavior then gave him a specific assignment. Bring Peter to your neighborhood. Cornelius did just that.
Peter was listening to God, too when a vision came to prepare Peter’s heart to match God’s heart. God plays no favorites. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” (John 3:16)
God is for all. God created all. God is in all who believe. Jesus saves all who believe and repent of their sins. God’s Holy Spirit enters into all who believe, respond and obey.
Friends, I don’t know about you, but I’m praising God right now in tears because I am included in the “all”, what about you?
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 10, The Message (Emphasis in bold mine)
Peter’s Vision
1-3 There was a man named Cornelius who lived in Caesarea, captain of the Italian Guard stationed there. He was a thoroughly good man. He had led everyone in his house to live worshipfully before God, was always helping people in need, and had the habit of prayer. One day about three o’clock in the afternoon he had a vision. An angel of God, as real as his next-door neighbor, came in and said, “Cornelius.”
4-6 Cornelius stared hard, wondering if he was seeing things. Then he said, “What do you want, sir?”
The angel said, “Your prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God’s attention. Here’s what you are to do. Send men to Joppa to get Simon, the one everyone calls Peter. He is staying with Simon the Tanner, whose house is down by the sea.”
7-8 As soon as the angel was gone, Cornelius called two servants and one particularly devout soldier from the guard. He went over with them in great detail everything that had just happened, and then sent them off to Joppa.
9-13 The next day as the three travelers were approaching the town, Peter went out on the balcony to pray. It was about noon. Peter got hungry and started thinking about lunch. While lunch was being prepared, he fell into a trance. He saw the skies open up. Something that looked like a huge blanket lowered by ropes at its four corners settled on the ground. Every kind of animal and reptile and bird you could think of was on it. Then a voice came: “Go to it, Peter—kill and eat.”
14 Peter said, “Oh, no, Lord. I’ve never so much as tasted food that was not kosher.”
15 The voice came a second time: “If God says it’s okay, it’s okay.”
16 This happened three times, and then the blanket was pulled back up into the skies.
17-20 As Peter, puzzled, sat there trying to figure out what it all meant, the men sent by Cornelius showed up at Simon’s front door. They called in, asking if there was a Simon, also called Peter, staying there. Peter, lost in thought, didn’t hear them, so the Spirit whispered to him, “Three men are knocking at the door looking for you. Get down there and go with them. Don’t ask any questions. I sent them to get you.”
21 Peter went down and said to the men, “I think I’m the man you’re looking for. What’s up?”
22-23 They said, “Captain Cornelius, a God-fearing man well-known for his fair play—ask any Jew in this part of the country—was commanded by a holy angel to get you and bring you to his house so he could hear what you had to say.” Peter invited them in and made them feel at home.
God Plays No Favorites
23-26 The next morning he got up and went with them. Some of his friends from Joppa went along. A day later they entered Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had his relatives and close friends waiting with him. The minute Peter came through the door, Cornelius was up on his feet greeting him—and then down on his face worshiping him! Peter pulled him up and said, “None of that—I’m a man and only a man, no different from you.”
27-29 Talking things over, they went on into the house, where Cornelius introduced Peter to everyone who had come. Peter addressed them, “You know, I’m sure that this is highly irregular. Jews just don’t do this—visit and relax with people of another race. But God has just shown me that no race is better than any other. So the minute I was sent for, I came, no questions asked. But now I’d like to know why you sent for me.”
30-32 Cornelius said, “Four days ago at about this time, midafternoon, I was home praying. Suddenly there was a man right in front of me, flooding the room with light. He said, ‘Cornelius, your daily prayers and neighborly acts have brought you to God’s attention. I want you to send to Joppa to get Simon, the one they call Peter. He’s staying with Simon the Tanner down by the sea.’
33 “So I did it—I sent for you. And you’ve been good enough to come. And now we’re all here in God’s presence, ready to listen to whatever the Master put in your heart to tell us.”
34-36 Peter fairly exploded with his good news: “It’s God’s own truth, nothing could be plainer: God plays no favorites! It makes no difference who you are or where you’re from—if you want God and are ready to do as he says, the door is open. The Message he sent to the children of Israel—that through Jesus Christ everything is being put together again—well, he’s doing it everywhere, among everyone.
37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.
39-43 “And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross.But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn’t put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”
44-46 No sooner were these words out of Peter’s mouth than the Holy Spirit came on the listeners. The believing Jews who had come with Peter couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on “outsider” non-Jews, but there it was—they heard them speaking in tongues, heard them praising God.
46-48 Then Peter said, “Do I hear any objections to baptizing these friends with water? They’ve received the Holy Spirit exactly as we did.” Hearing no objections, he ordered that they be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.
Then they asked Peter to stay on for a few days.
Lord,
Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank you for your consistent teaching of who you are to all you created. Thank you, dear Jesus. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for correcting, nudging, helping, guiding and comforting me as you deem best for me at the right time and place.
When all is done in the name of Jesus, with compassion for wanting the God’s best for others, with a pure, driven heart to do what Jesus taught while being led by His Holy Spirit—Miracles happen. God acts in the lives whose hearts are completely His. God does great and mighty works in the lives who believe in Him heart, mind and soul. Focused hearts and minds are God’s tools through which He brings life. This is what is happening through a fully dedicated Peter.
I am asking myself, how dedicated am I? Do others believe in Jesus because of who we are and what we do in the Name of Jesus? How driven and compassionate are we? If we want God to act through us, and He still does, what is required of us? I am reminded of what God told Micah. God used Micah to explain to His people exactly what is required of us:
“O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.”
(Micah 6:8, NLT)
Peter, the one who was arrogant, impulsive, and shot from the hip before knowing and learning from Jesus is now the “rock” upon whom Jesus is building his church. Peter walks humbly with God because of Jesus in Him. God does amazing acts of mercy and grace through Peter. Peter gives all glory to God and points people to Jesus, His Master. Peter’s past selfish acts are gone so now God can act through him. Jesus changes everything. “When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master.”
ACTS—God Acts through His Disciples
Acts 9:32-43, The Message
Tabitha
32-35 Peter went off on a mission to visit all the churches. In the course of his travels he arrived in Lydda and met with the believers there. He came across a man—his name was Aeneas—who had been in bed eight years paralyzed. Peter said, “Aeneas, Jesus Christ heals you. Get up and make your bed!” And he did it—jumped right out of bed. Everybody who lived in Lydda and Sharon saw him walking around and woke up to the fact that God was alive and active among them.
36-37 Down the road a way in Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha, “Gazelle” in our language. She was well-known for doing good and helping out. During the time Peter was in the area she became sick and died. Her friends prepared her body for burial and put her in a cool room.
38-40 Some of the disciples had heard that Peter was visiting in nearby Lydda and sent two men to ask if he would be so kind as to come over. Peter got right up and went with them. They took him into the room where Tabitha’s body was laid out. Her old friends, most of them widows, were in the room mourning. They showed Peter pieces of clothing the Gazelle had made while she was with them. Peter put the widows all out of the room. He knelt and prayed. Then he spoke directly to the body: “Tabitha, get up.”
40-41 She opened her eyes. When she saw Peter, she sat up. He took her hand and helped her up. Then he called in the believers and widows, and presented her to them alive.
42-43 When this became known all over Joppa, many put their trust in the Master. Peter stayed on a long time in Joppa as a guest of Simon the Tanner.
THINK ABOUT IT
God is searching for those who hearts are completely His today…He always has and always will. AND He will always be with those who love and walk with Him.
“God is always on the alert, constantly on the lookout for people who are totally committed to him.” 2 Chronicles 16:9, The Message
How many hands are going up right now?
Lord,
Thank you for all you have done, are doing currently and all you will do in my life. Thank you for how you act through me. You are so amazing! All glory, honor and praise to you. May my life always point people to you.
If you work with any gathering or group of people, there will be one who seems different than the rest of the group. You know the one. Maybe you are the one. The one who is different is deemed a “basket case”, someone to stay away from, gossip about, while not listening to them. There is truth to what the basket case has done in their past that keeps you from going to near them. But then Jesus changes everything in the one. How is the changed life treated now? Pretty much the same, because we are “don’t believe it ‘til we see it” kind of people. We humanly judge and mistrust people by their past mistakes, not by their new transformational beginnings. We people are funny like that. Maybe we are all basket cases until Jesus comes along to change our minds, hearts and souls. Jesus changes everything.
Saul, known as the zealous persecutor of the new believers in Jesus, who held the coats of those who stoned the beloved Stephen, has been changed by Jesus Christ. Jesus met him on the way to inflicting more terrorism in Damascus. Jesus stopped him cold with blindness, but with keen hearing Jesus sent him to his knees with, “Saul, Saul, why do you persecute Me?” Jesus changed everything in Saul’s thinking and believing. This strong, driven, Jewish scholar who thought he was working for God, met His Son. The Son, Jesus changes everything.
God then acts through His Holy Spirit and sent Saul to be healed. The healing happened through the hands of the Spirit-led believer, Ananias. To be sure, Ananias was skeptic, no doubt, but Jesus changed him so he believed Jesus could change Saul, so he obeyed. Saul came right into the “enemy’s camp” of believers he was charged with persecuting! Instead, he found healing and salvation. Jesus changes everything.
But, because of Saul’s past life of being a warlord of sorts with his gang of thugs who maimed and threw believers into jail, the “church”, the group who had also been changed by Jesus, were apprehensive to take him in as one of their own. Can you blame them? But, Jesus changes everything! If it were not for Ananias, and later Barnabas, standing up for Saul, testifying about how Jesus changed Saul, he would not have a chance to fulfill his new mission to preach Jesus. Saul became a basket case.
The new believers were afraid of Saul because of his past but most soon warmed up to him because they began to see what Jesus saw in Saul—drive, passion for the mission, untiring tenacity, and a never quit attitude. Complacency was not in Saul’s vocabulary or DNA before or after salvation. Take note, Jesus used Saul’s same abilities for persecution and used them to point people to Him, Jesus, Savior and Lord. Yep, Jesus changes everything—even basket cases!
The heat was on in the community of believers. There was one group who refused to accept Saul and his preaching, even though the preaching was about the One who saved them! This group wanted to get rid of Saul as much as Saul, before Jesus, had wanted to get rid of them. So, in the dark of night, those who now loved Saul and believed in what Jesus had done in him, put him in a basket and lowered him over the wall of the city. This basket case was sent back to Jerusalem but the Hellenists didn’t believe the changes in Saul either. So, the disciples, led by God’s Holy Spirit, got him out of town and shipped this basket case off to Tarsus.
Yes, Friends, Jesus changes everything. This “basket case” become a missionary and a church planter, beginning in Tarsus where he was exiled! Everywhere Saul/Paul goes, Jesus is preached to Gentiles and Jews alike—which was the original commission as we recall from Jesus to his disciples…
“Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 19-20, NIV
We basket cases, saved by grace, will face opposition because of our past, our drive and our passion to preach only Jesus who changed everything about us. We need to remember, like Saul, what others think about us doesn’t ultimately matter. God sees the hearts of His created. We merely preach Jesus who saved us. We tell our testimony whether people believe it or not. We are not driven by fear but by the Name of Jesus who gives us fearless confidence. This is the secret, Saul/Paul will later write to the believers of new churches:
“God has given me the responsibility of serving his church by proclaiming his entire message to you. This message was kept secret for centuries and generations past, but now it has been revealed to God’s people. For God wanted them to know that the riches and glory of Christ are for you Gentiles, too. And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory.
So we tell others about Christ, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all the wisdom God has given us. We want to present them to God, perfect in their relationship to Christ. That’s why I work and struggle so hard, depending on Christ’s mighty power that works within me.” Colossians 1:25-29, NLT (Emphasis mine)
Saul, the basket case, became Paul, the Apostle. Same drive. Different mission. Jesus changes everything.
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 9:19-31, The Message
Plots Against Saul
19-21 Saul spent a few days getting acquainted with the Damascus disciples, but then went right to work, wasting no time, preaching in the meeting places that this Jesus was the Son of God. They were caught off guard by this and, not at all sure they could trust him, they kept saying, “Isn’t this the man who wreaked havoc in Jerusalem among the believers? And didn’t he come here to do the same thing—arrest us and drag us off to jail in Jerusalem for sentencing by the high priests?”
22 But their suspicions didn’t slow Saul down for even a minute. His momentum was up now and he plowed straight into the opposition, disarming the Damascus Jews and trying to show them that this Jesus was the Messiah.
23-25 After this had gone on quite a long time, some Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul got wind of it. They were watching the city gates around the clock so they could kill him. Then one night the disciples engineered his escape by lowering him over the wall in a basket.
26-27 Back in Jerusalem he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him. They didn’t trust him one bit. Then Barnabas took him under his wing. He introduced him to the apostles and stood up for him, told them how Saul had seen and spoken to the Master on the Damascus Road and how in Damascus itself he had laid his life on the line with his bold preaching in Jesus’ name.
28-30 After that he was accepted as one of them, going in and out of Jerusalem with no questions asked, uninhibited as he preached in the Master’s name. But then he ran afoul of a group called Hellenists—he had been engaged in a running argument with them—who plotted his murder. When his friends learned of the plot, they got him out of town, took him to Caesarea, and then shipped him off to Tarsus.
31 Things calmed down after that and the church had smooth sailing for a while. All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.
ONE LAST THOUGHT…
When we basket case believers follow the Holy Spirit of God and give all we have to Jesus, life changes for ALL of us. The closer we get to Jesus we cannot help but get closer to each other. It’s impossible not to—try it physically. Put someone in the middle of the room and tell others to put their hands on that person who represents Jesus. Then look around, you are closer to each other than ever before!
THIS is church growth! Read the last words of this passage again—slowly, prayerfully and thoughtfully… “All over the country—Judea, Samaria, Galilee—the church grew. They were permeated with a deep sense of reverence for God. The Holy Spirit was with them, strengthening them. They prospered wonderfully.”
Yes, Jesus changes everything. God acts through us. Everything grows!
Lord,
Thank you for saving my soul and changing my life and the lives around me.
In Jesus Name, For Your Glory, Amen. Yes, I believe.
I saw satan fall like lightning I saw darkness run for cover But the miracle that I just can’t get over My name is registered in heaven
I believe in signs and wonders I have resurrection power Still the miracle that I just can’t get over My name is registered in heaven My praise belongs to you forever
This is my testimony from death to life Cause grace rewrote my story, I’ll testify By Jesus Christ the Righteous I’m justified This is my testimony This is my testimony
Come together sons and daughters Bought with blood And washed in water Sing the praises of the Spirit Son and Father Our God will finish what He started Our God will finish what He started
If I’m not dead, You’re not done Greater things are still to come Oh I believe
This is my testimony from death to life Cause grace rewrote my story, I’ll testify By Jesus Christ the Righteous I’m justified This is my testimony This is my testimony
(Songwriters: Brandon Lake/Christopher Joel Brown/Steven Furtick/Tiffany Hammer)
This song of praise that testifies of a changed life plays in the background of our passage today. We now come back to Saul, the chief priests’ credentialed leader of terrorism. Remember Saul? Saul is the one who held the coats of the men who stoned Stephen, “a man full of God’s Holy Spirit” who helped the widows of the new church be helped. Saul, so intent on destroying, led other self-righteous terrorists in pulling these new believers in Jesus from their homes, beating them and throwing them into prison. Saul is out for blood. Once a terrorist tastes blood, they only want more. So Saul get permission and paperwork to go to Damascus from more blood!
Saul, this blood thirsty terrorist of all new believers in Jesus, is stopped cold right in the middle of his mayhem. He meets The Master, Jesus Christ. Jesus speaks directly to Saul, “Why do you persecute Me?” This question alone brings new perspective to Saul’s thinking. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words to his disciples, “Whatever you did to the least of these, you did for me…” (Matthew 25:40) in the parable of the sheep and goats. Direct correlation?
Saul, who zealously and relentlessly worked to stop the Jesus movement from spreading is literally brought to His knees in front of the Lamb of God whose shed blood saved the world from sin. He is humbled by blindness for three days. Saul no longer has a thirst for the blood of men, women and children who believe. Saul now has a new zeal for Christ, the One and Only who saved him by His blood and gave him new life!
It took three days of blindness so Saul could see clearly the new mission before him.
We can almost hear Saul singing, “This is My Testimony”—”Grace rewrote my story” …
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 9:1-19, The Message
The Blinding of Saul—Part One
1-2 All this time Saul was breathing down the necks of the Master’s disciples, out for the kill. He went to the Chief Priest and got arrest warrants to take to the meeting places in Damascus so that if he found anyone there belonging to the Way, whether men or women, he could arrest them and bring them to Jerusalem.
3-4 He set off. When he got to the outskirts of Damascus, he was suddenly dazed by a blinding flash of light. As he fell to the ground, he heard a voice: “Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me?”
5-6 He said, “Who are you, Master?”
“I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down. I want you to get up and enter the city. In the city you’ll be told what to do next.”
7-9 His companions stood there dumbstruck—they could hear the sound, but couldn’t see anyone—while Saul, picking himself up off the ground, found himself stone-blind. They had to take him by the hand and lead him into Damascus. He continued blind for three days. He ate nothing, drank nothing.
10 There was a disciple in Damascus by the name of Ananias. The Master spoke to him in a vision: “Ananias.”
“Yes, Master?” he answered.
11-12 “Get up and go over to Straight Avenue. Ask at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus. His name is Saul. He’s there praying. He has just had a dream in which he saw a man named Ananias enter the house and lay hands on him so he could see again.”
13-14 Ananias protested, “Master, you can’t be serious. Everybody’s talking about this man and the terrible things he’s been doing, his reign of terror against your people in Jerusalem! And now he’s shown up here with papers from the Chief Priest that give him license to do the same to us.”
15-16 But the Master said, “Don’t argue. Go! I have picked him as my personal representative to non-Jews and kings and Jews. And now I’m about to show him what he’s in for—the hard suffering that goes with this job.”
17-19 So Ananias went and found the house, placed his hands on blind Saul, and said, “Brother Saul, the Master sent me, the same Jesus you saw on your way here. He sent me so you could see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.” No sooner were the words out of his mouth than something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes—he could see again! He got to his feet, was baptized, and sat down with them to a hearty meal.
WHAT WE LEARN…
This is only the beginning of a hard, but heaven bound road for Saul. Saul’s whole being was changed by Jesus. Jesus changed his mind, his heart and filled his dark soul with His Light! Saul even gets a name change to Paul later in the story.
Don’t miss the continuing saga of the testimony of Saul to Paul. It is amazing to read about the acts of God and His Holy Spirit working through Paul, now a servant of Jesus Christ!
One of my favorite “testimony” scripture passages, knowing what we knew about Saul, written later by Paul to the church, is found in Philippians…
“The very credentials these people are waving around as something special, I’m tearing up and throwing out with the trash—along with everything else I used to take credit for. And why? Because of Christ. Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant—dog dung. I’ve dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn’t want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ—God’s righteousness.
I gave up all that inferior stuff so I could know Christ personally, experience his resurrection power, be a partner in his suffering, and go all the way with him to death itself. If there was any way to get in on the resurrection from the dead, I wanted to do it.
I’m not saying that I have this all together, that I have it made. But I am well on my way, reaching out for Christ, who has so wondrously reached out for me. Friends, don’t get me wrong: By no means do I count myself an expert in all of this, but I’ve got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I’m off and running, and I’m not turning back.” Philippians 3:7-14, The Message
“This is my testimony”, Paul shouts through the words! “And I’m not turning back!”
What is your testimony?
Lord,
You have changed me, rearranged me and loved me unconditionally through it all the seasons of my life. I’m not there yet, but I’m daily gaining ground. I’m not turning back, for life with you is life beyond my wildest dreams. There is no one like you, dear Jesus. Thank you for saving my soul and refusing to let me go.
Jesus saves. We do not. Jesus died for our sins, for all the sins of the world. We did not. Jesus defeated death and rose again to life forevermore. We have not—yet. Jesus is preparing our forever home for all who believe. Until Jesus comes back again to claim His own, God’s Son was given all authority to pass on His power to his disciples to tell His Story of Redemption as He commissioned them to GO and make disciples. And Jesus was with them in Spirit always. Jesus is with us now. Always.
Before we dive into our passage for today, let’s revisit the command and words of the great commission Jesus bestowed on his disciples before He ascended to heaven:
“Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:18-20
Philip was one of those disciples. An angel comes to Philip with God’s specific message of direction. What did Philip do? “He got up and went.” That is the life of a sold-out disciple whose mission is to help others find and follow Jesus. There is no bargaining with the angel, no questions asked, Philip just got up and went. Philip doesn’t even know who he is to meet but he does know he is willing, watching for opportunity and waiting for God’s timing.
God’s Holy Spirit, left as a gift as promised by Jesus, leads Philip to jump into the carriage of an Ethiopian who was reading from Isaiah. Friends, can you picture Philip running alongside the chariot, out of breath, but led by the Spirit to ask the man if he needs help understanding what he is reading? Maybe this was Philip’s way of getting the driver to slow the chariot down long enough to do what the Spirit told him to do. Either way, God led. Philip obeyed. Philip was INVITED into the chariot to explain the gospel of Jesus. God led. Philip obeyed. A new follower of Jesus now understood the Message, repented of his sins, was saved by grace and then baptized in the nearest stream. Now this new convert can go back to his home to go, tell and make more disciples of Jesus!
The great commission lived out in the life of a disciple, a follower, of Jesus Christ.
ACTS—God’s Acts through His Disciples
Acts 8:26-40, The Message
The Ethiopian Eunuch
26-28 Later God’s angel spoke to Philip: “At noon today I want you to walk over to that desolate road that goes from Jerusalem down to Gaza.” He got up and went. He met an Ethiopian eunuch coming down the road. The eunuch had been on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem and was returning to Ethiopia, where he was minister in charge of all the finances of Candace, queen of the Ethiopians. He was riding in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah.
29-30 The Spirit told Philip, “Climb into the chariot.” Running up alongside, Philip heard the eunuch reading Isaiah and asked, “Do you understand what you’re reading?”
31-33 He answered, “How can I without some help?” and invited Philip into the chariot with him. The passage he was reading was this:
As a sheep led to slaughter, and quiet as a lamb being sheared, He was silent, saying nothing. He was mocked and put down, never got a fair trial. But who now can count his kin since he’s been taken from the earth?
34-35 The eunuch said, “Tell me, who is the prophet talking about: himself or some other?” Philip grabbed his chance. Using this passage as his text, he preached Jesus to him.
36-39 As they continued down the road, they came to a stream of water. The eunuch said, “Here’s water. Why can’t I be baptized?” He ordered the chariot to stop. They both went down to the water, and Philip baptized him on the spot. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of God suddenly took Philip off, and that was the last the eunuch saw of him. But he didn’t mind. He had what he’d come for and went on down the road as happy as he could be.
40 Philip showed up in Azotus and continued north, preaching the Message in all the villages along that route until he arrived at Caesarea.
THINK ABOUT IT…
Life with Jesus is an adventure to be sure! The Spirit of God whisks Philip off to his next assignment, leaving a happy converted man who got what he came for—Jesus! It’s all about Jesus, not us. Obedience is easier when we realize it’s all about Jesus.
Willing, watching and waiting for God to act through us while He works in us will always be an adventure! Following Jesus is a life of no regret.
Lord,
There is no one like You. There is no one else I would rather be with, be led by and follow. We cherish all you do in us and how you act through us. We are grateful for your salvation. You turn our messes into messages that help others find and follow you. Your power is amazing! You work in ways that are beyond our wildest dreams. You provide opportunity to tell Your story. Then you give us the words to say humbly and honestly. It’s really not about us but our obedience to you. Life is all about you. Thank you for saving my soul and making me whole. Thank for growing my faith and hope on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness.
“I dare not trust the sweetest frame, But wholly lean on Jesus’ name.”
