Devotional Acts Week 17

Acts: Safe in the Storm

August 26, 2012

Acts 27:21-26

Finally, Paul called the crew together and said, “Men, you should have listened to me in the first place and not left Crete. You would have avoided all this damage and loss.  But take courage! None of you will lose your lives, even though the ship will go down.  For last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me, and he said, ‘Don’t be afraid, Paul, for you will surely stand trial before Caesar! What’s more, God in his goodness has granted safety to everyone sailing with you.’  So take courage! For I believe God. It will be just as he said.  But we will be shipwrecked on an island.”

Paul finds himself on a boat headed to stand before the Roman emperor as a prisoner.  The journey is long and difficult.  Strong winds and storms plagued the ship throughout.  Paul takes this time to get to know the captain and crew on the ship.  To them he offers a warning of bad weather, which they do not listen too.  When Paul is proven right they are more willing to listen when he tells them they will be safe in the storm.  Sometimes being heard requires patience and grace. 

This was no small storm.  For 14 days the crew battled the sea and the storm.  They did not eat during that time.  They tossed cargo overboard.  At one point they thought to abandon ship and lowered lifeboats only to cut the boats free at Paul’s warning of trouble.  276 people ate one meal at Paul’s direction.  The next day they found land, cut their anchors, and headed to shore.  Along the way the boat gets stuck and breaks apart.  All 276 people made it to shore just as Paul had promised.  Considering the circumstances, this is a miracle.

The storm came, but it did not stop God’s purpose.  The storm lasted for a long time, but it did not stop God from keeping people safe.  The storm destroyed property, finances, and why physically difficult, but it did not destroy the people God was protecting.  God is always greater than the storm.  God will always be greater than the storm.  If all our attention is focused on the storm we won’t find safety.  When we focus on God in the midst of the storm we find safety and peace.

Each of us faces storms in life.  Perhaps some of us have been shipwrecked emotionally, financially, physically, or relationally.  We cannot deny the power of the storm.  But we can take courage.  God is with us in the storms of life.  God is greater than the storms of life.  God will bring us safely through.  What does taking courage look like for you today?

Acts Devotional Week 16

Acts: A Fearless Testimony

August 19, 2012

Acts 26:16-23

Now get to your feet! For I have appeared to you to appoint you as my servant and witness. You are to tell the world what you have seen and what I will show you in the future.  And I will rescue you from both your own people and the Gentiles. Yes, I am sending you to the Gentiles to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God. Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’  “And so, King Agrippa, I obeyed that vision from heaven.  I preached first to those in Damascus, then in Jerusalem and throughout all Judea, and also to the Gentiles, that all must repent of their sins and turn to God—and prove they have changed by the good things they do.  Some Jews arrested me in the Temple for preaching this, and they tried to kill me.  But God has protected me right up to this present time so I can testify to everyone, from the least to the greatest. I teach nothing except what the prophets and Moses said would happen— that the Messiah would suffer and be the first to rise from the dead, and in this way announce God’s light to Jews and Gentiles alike.”

Paul spends two years in prison for a crime that everybody agrees isn’t really a crime at all.  He uses every opportunity he gets to share the message of Christ.  The Roman leaders don’t know what to do with him.  If they release him, his Jewish enemies will kill him.  If they keep him, they knowingly imprison a man who has done nothing wrong.  So they decide to send him to Rome.  Before Paul leaves he meets King Agrippa.  Paul stands before the leaders of the local Jewish and Roman societies in chains and uses his time to share about what Christ did in his life.  He tells about the ministry Christ was doing through him.  He paints a picture of what the Christian life looks like.  His message is simple.  1. God calls all people.  2.  People are to repent or turn from an old (wrong) way of living to the new life Christ offers.  3.  Turn to God (make the active choice to make God central to life).  4.  Live a life worthy of God by making sure a person’s deeds match his beliefs.

Agrippa sees what Paul is doing.  Paul is trying to convert to Christianity these powerful leaders.  He is not shy about it.  They are shocked at his fearlessness.  They are also intrigued.  They did not accept Paul’s attempt, but they recognized him as innocent.  While they still sent Paul to Rome, Paul’s testimony made a lasting impact.  How shy are we about sharing our testimony?  How willing are we to speak of God in difficult situations or in places where such things may not be accepted?  What if we were as fearless as Paul?

Acts Devotional Week 15

Acts: Go, I Will Send You

August 12, 2012

Acts 22:14-22

Then he (Ananias) said (to Paul), ‘The God of our ancestors has chosen you to know his will, to see the Righteous One and to hear his own voice; for you will be his witness to all the world of what you have seen and heard.  And now why do you delay? Get up, be baptized, and have your sins washed away, calling on his name.’  “After I had returned to Jerusalem and while I was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw Jesus saying to me, ‘Hurry and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’  And I said, ‘Lord, they themselves know that in every synagogue I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you.  And while the blood of your witness Stephen was shed, I myself was standing by, approving and keeping the coats of those who killed him.’ Then he said to me, ‘Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.’ ” Up to this point they listened to him, but then they shouted, “Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live.”

 Paul has been rescued from the crowd that was trying to kill him.  He asks to speak to them.  He wants to share his message with people trying to kill him.  He is allowed this by the Roman soldiers.  He tells of his life, how he came to believe in Jesus Christ.  He speaks in a language that the crowd understands.  Paul makes clear who he is and what he believes.  Paul is called by God.  Paul is to be a witness of the saving work of Jesus Christ.  Paul is to be a disciple, baptized, forgiven, and living every day in the name of Jesus.

Yet Paul is not welcome.  The Holy Spirit even warned Paul that the message God had given him would not be accepted among the Jews and those in Jerusalem.  Paul resists this.  He wants to give the message to his people.  He thinks that the change they see in him will help them change and add emphasis to the message.  This was proven not to work.  Even Jesus was not accepted in his hometown.  Sometimes people see only what they want to see.  Sometimes we have a priceless gift to give to those we love that will not be accepted.  Unfortunately there is little we can do about it. 

The people hear Paul’s testimony and still refuse to listen.  When they rejected the message God had given Paul, Paul followed the leading of the Spirit and went to the Gentiles (not-Jews).  They heard the message and the work of God spread like fire.  In just a few short years faith in Jesus spread from a small group in Jerusalem to the “ends of the earth” with thousands of believers.  Still Paul is not accepted.  The crowds do not think he should be allowed to live. His greatest work for the Lord is seen as a crime.  Let us never be like these crowds.

Acts Devotional Week 14

Acts: Worship Interrupted

August 5, 2012

Acts 21:26-32

So Paul went to the Temple the next day with the other men. They had already started the purification ritual, so he publicly announced the date when their vows would end and sacrifices would be offered for each of them.  The seven days were almost ended when some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul in the Temple and roused a mob against him. They grabbed him, yelling, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who preaches against our people everywhere and tells everybody to disobey the Jewish laws. He speaks against the Temple—and even defiles this holy place by bringing in Gentiles.”  (For earlier that day they had seen him in the city with Trophimus, a Gentile from Ephesus, and they assumed Paul had taken him into the Temple.)  The whole city was rocked by these accusations, and a great riot followed. Paul was grabbed and dragged out of the Temple, and immediately the gates were closed behind him.  As they were trying to kill him, word reached the commander of the Roman regiment that all Jerusalem was in an uproar.  He immediately called out his soldiers and officers and ran down among the crowd. When the mob saw the commander and the troops coming, they stopped beating Paul.

 Paul has arrived in Jerusalem.  He has told others about what God has done.  They have received this news with praise.  They also face the reality that some fear and hate Paul. They accuse Paul of not following the Law of God.  They accuse Paul of not doing things right (as they understand what is right).  So Paul pays for the purification rights of four men and himself.  This is an act of devotion to God.  It is a time of serious contemplation and spiritual connection to God.  This is a time of sacrifice and worship.  It was definitely the “right” way to do things.

Near the end of this purification ritual some of those who opposed Paul saw him and raised a mob under false pretenses.  They didn’t even work hard to find a real reason to be upset, they just spouted off and started a riot.  Paul is taken out from his purification ritual of worship, cast out of the Temple, and his opponents began to beat him with the intent of killing him.  If not for Roman (non-believer) intervention Paul’s life would have ended right there.

Paul’s heartfelt and expressed desire was to follow God.  Paul was outnumbered and out-influenced.  He stood alone in a riot of righteous violence just because he followed God.  What happens when Christians loose site of God’s work?  What happens when our way becomes more “right” than God’s way?  What happens when accusation replaced love, grace, and understanding?