A Noble Character

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

A NOBLE CHARACTER

Acts 17:10-15

10 As soon as it was night, the brothers sent Paul and Silas away to Berea. On arriving there, they went to the Jewish synagogue. 11 Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. 12 Many of the Jews believed, as did also a number of prominent Greek women and many Greek men. 13 When the Jews in Thessalonica learned that Paul was preaching the word of God at Berea, they went there too, agitating the crowds and stirring them up. 14 The brothers immediately sent Paul to the coast, but Silas and Timothy stayed at Berea. 15 The men who escorted Paul brought him to Athens and then left with instructions for Silas and Timothy to join him as soon as possible.

NIV

Why are we told that the Bearans were of a more noble character than the Thessalonians? Interestingly, the Greek word translated as "noble" is eugenes. This is the base of our English word for human genes, or our genetic makeup, which could be defined as our character. There is a distinct difference between our personality and our character, in that our personality is what we show others, or who we are when we are with people, but our character is who we are when we are alone. This is who the Bearans were, and their character shone through in their personality and how they received the message with eagerness and examined the scriptures for themselves to verify what Paul said was true. This is a genuine way to know in one's own heart the truth about Jesus and the free gift of God, eternal life. It is good to hear the message, but unless we do our own research, searching the scriptures, we would only have what could be considered as hearsay. Just because someone tells us something, it does not mean it is true. Of course, we would hope that someone called to preach or shepherd God's people would exercise due diligence in the word of God, encouraging and strengthening them in their faith in Jesus. Of course, there are also those silver-tongued purveyors of deception that we need to be careful not to be drawn into their false teaching, much like the Jews who came to Berea, trying to stir up trouble for Paul. They did not have noble character, and it showed in their efforts to agitate others against Paul and his message. When people are like that, agitated, angry, and protest against the truth, that is the time to shake the dust off our feet and leave town, as Paul was sent to the coast, for his own safety from the protestors. However, we should glean the truth about having a noble character and how our inner self, the self who loves the Lord with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, the real us, should shine through our personality, loving each other. Let us live with that noble character. 

Jealously

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

JEALOUSLY

Acts 17:1-9

17:1 When they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. 2 As his custom was, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, 3 explaining and proving that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. "This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ," he said. 4 Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and not a few prominent women. 5 But the Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd.   6 But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other brothers before the city officials, shouting: "These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, 7 and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar's decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus." 8 When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. 9 Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go.

NIV

Jealousy is not acceptable unless it is God's jealousy for his people. What we do not understand is why some Jews would be jealous of Paul and Silas because they were proving from the scriptures that Jesus was the Christ, or the Messiah. Were those jealous Jews ones who thought they had the power in the synagogue? Were they stirred up because Paul and Silas gained favor and their reasoning about Jesus turned Jews to join them, accepting Jesus as the Messiah? The worst of this whole narrative of the actions of the Jews in Thessalonica was that they were giving their allegiance to Caesar, or at least looked as if they were, to gain allies in their argument against Paul and Silas. However, their jealousy also made them liars. If we learn anything from this narrative, we should learn two truths. First, never allow ourselves to be silenced about speaking about Jesus to everyone we meet; in fact, we should be talking about Jesus first in the church, then in the marketplace. What we don't understand is that believers seem to want to talk about everything except Jesus. Secondly, we have no reason to be jealous of others, for we will all receive the same reward: eternal life. However, it is in this material and positional life where jealousy can rear its ugly head. Some have more possessions than others, and some are in a more powerful position, or seem to be, than others. It may appear that some are more liked, or that people form little cliques, which could cause jealousy among those left out. What it all comes down to is that jealousy is self-centeredness, and that causes conflict.  Let us always want to talk about Jesus; after all, we profess that we follow Jesus, rather than false gods. Let us rid ourselves of any or all jealousy, for we are all the same in the eyes of our Lord. 

What Must I Do to be Saved?

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WHAT MUST I DO TO BE SAVED?

Acts 16:29-40

29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He then brought them out and asked, "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?" 31 They replied, "Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved — you and your household." 32 Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. 33 At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. 34 The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God — he and his whole family. 35 When it was daylight, the magistrates sent their officers to the jailer with the order: "Release those men." 36 The jailer told Paul, "The magistrates have ordered that you and Silas be released. Now you can leave. Go in peace." 37 But Paul said to the officers: "They beat us publicly without a trial, even though we are Roman citizens, and threw us into prison. And now do they want to get rid of us quietly? No! Let them come themselves and escort us out." 38 The officers reported this to the magistrates, and when they heard that Paul and Silas were Roman citizens, they were alarmed.   39 They came to appease them and escorted them from the prison, requesting them to leave the city. 40 After Paul and Silas came out of the prison, they went to Lydia's house, where they met with the brothers and encouraged them. Then they left.

NIV

Leading up to this, we are told Paul and Silas were beaten and thrown in jail, and at midnight they were singing hymns and praising God, and the Lord caused a violent earthquake, and all the doors were thrown open, and their chains fell off, but they stayed there. Now, the jailer was assured he did not need to kill himself, came and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. The best question of all time is asked: "What must I do to be saved?" Of course, it took a mighty act of God to bring the jailer to his knees, seeking how he could be saved. What we should learn from this is that people do not come to repentance on their own, but only when they respond to the conviction of the Holy Spirit, or when they witness an act of God they cannot explain and acknowledge as the mighty hand of God. It might just take an internal earthquake to shake a person up enough to come to Jesus. It might take a mighty movement of the Spirit to loosen the chains that bind them, setting them free, so they can come to Jesus. But we know one thing for sure, God will do what God does best. We can testify, we can tell our story, we can praise Him, we can sing hymns and speak out boldly, but we will not convince anyone; however, when God's hand moves and the Spirit speaks into a person's heart, they have a choice to make. Ask what I must do to be saved, or tell him to leave me alone. We are so glad that we witnessed the mighty hand of God. We have witnessed a miracle that we cannot explain away, and so our only choice was to respond: "What must I do to be saved?" 

The Earthquake

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE EARTHQUAKE

Acts 16:19-28

19 When the owners of the slave girl realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, "These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice." 22 The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. 24 Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks. 25 About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. 26 Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody's chains came loose. 27 The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. 28 But Paul shouted, "Don't harm yourself! We are all here!"

NIV

Here is where that old truth about the love of money being the root of all evil is demonstrated. These men did not care about the girl, but only that their source of money was gone. Although their testimony about Paul and Silas was a lie, the people of the city, or we could say the people of the world, believed the lies and attacked Paul and Silas, beating them by the magistrate, who then threw them in prison. The world we live in would like nothing better than to imprison those who believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. This would not be a prison like Paul and Silas were in, like the inner cell, with our feet in stocks. However, they are happy to keep us within the prison of our churches; that way, we are kept separate, so we cannot influence their way of life. We know there are believers in other parts of the world who are being beaten, tortured, and even killed to silence their message. That would not work in our county, but there is still this hatred from the progressives, and closed ears and hearts by those who desire to live for their own pleasures. Most are content to keep us silent, but in our church prison, chaining our voices. However, even in the worst of circumstances, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns, and other prisoners were listening. Aren't the people of the world in their own prison of sin? Should they not hear us praying and singing hymns, or at least speaking boldly about Jesus wherever we go? While Paul and Silas were praying and singing, there was suddenly a violent earthquake, and the foundation of the prison was shaken, and all the doors flew open. We wonder in the world heard us praying and singing hymns, or at least speaking boldly about the message of salvation through faith in Jesus, that the Lord would cause a violent metaphorical earthquake in their lives, and the foundation of their prison would be shaken, and the doors of their hearts would be opened. Just a thought. Jesus has freed us from the prison we were in, the cell called death row. Others need to be freed, so let us boldly go forth, praying and singing hymns, so others can hear us, and let God cause the earthquake. 

Distractions

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

DISTRACTIONS

Acts 16:16-18

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 This girl followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, "These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved." 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so troubled that he turned around and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!" At that moment the spirit left her.

NIV

At first, this slave girl with the spirit by which she predicted the future would be good, although what spirit, other than God, knows the future? However, this spirit was not of God, for it was used to make money for her owners. It could be possible because Satan was once Lucifer and lived within the presence of God Most High, and may have been privy to some of what was to happen on earth. Lucifer would have known Jesus before He came to earth; in fact, he came to tempt him when Jesus was in human form. So then the spirit in the slave girl came from Satan, with some knowledge of things that would happen. Even though, by the spirit, the girl knew Paul and Silas were servants of the Most High God and kept shouting those words for days, it became a distraction from Paul's message about salvation through faith in Jesus. We wonder if there are distractions today from the message of salvation through faith in Jesus. There is no doubt that distractions exist in the world; in fact, there is open opposition to faith in Jesus. Do distractions exist within the church? Certainly, there would be no evil spirits bestowing gifts on believers, but could we be distracted by religious or man-made traditions? Paul turned and cast that spirit out of the slave girl in the name of Jesus, and at that very moment, it left her. Trouble for Paul and the others would follow, but the point is that the name of Jesus has power over all spirits of distraction. Evil will always attempt to persuade believers to look to themselves, to their works, or to their traditions instead of the truth that we are saved by grace and grace alone. Evil will always attempt to distract believers with pride in their spiritual greatness. We must be vigilant against those spirits of distraction that could show up attempting to cause discontent, dissension, division, or pridefulness. Sure, we can get involved in many things, even our occupations,  in general life itself, without becoming distracted in spiritual matters. However, when it comes to our spirit, nothing can overshadow having faith in Jesus. We must be willing to cast out anything that distracts from faith in Jesus alone. 

He Opens Hearts

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

HE OPENS HEARTS

Acts 16:11-15

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days. 13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul's message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. "If you consider me a believer in the Lord," she said, "come and stay at my house." And she persuaded us.

NIV

We have a short travel log that takes them to Phillipi, a Roman colony, meaning it was under Roman control. From what we know, it had a significant Greek population and Jewish residents. We are not told that Paul and Silas went to any synagogue; instead, they went outside the city gates, near a river, to pray. This could be our first clue about prayer. It is good to find a place to pray, to get alone. Although there were two, they would still have wanted a quiet, still, solitary place to pray. How can we pray if we are getting distracted by all the things around us? However, it appears they did not find that solitary place, but instead found women who had gathered there. We are now introduced to Lydia, who was a worshipper of God. What we know from the text is that although she worshipped God, she had no knowledge about Jesus, and the free gift of salvation through him. The key to her accepting Paul's message about Jesus was that the Lord opened her heart to respond.  This key is everything, as a person with a closed heart will not listen or hear the truth about Jesus, and they will not willingly open their own unbelieving hearts. This is the work of the Lord, as he can open a person's heart. Indeed, the Lord will not force himself on people, but he can open their hearts, soften their hard hearts, so they might respond to the truth about Jesus, the free gift of God. This may be one of those things that is impossible with men, to open their own hearts, but all things are possible with God. The question is whether we can pray for God to open someone's heart. However, that is not what Paul did; he merely told the women about the message concerning Jesus, and God did the rest regarding Lydia's heart. There is another truth that applies to us: as soon as she believed, she wanted to be baptized. In Essence, that is part of following Jesus. Lydia opened her home to Paul and Silas, which we think meant she wanted to hear more about Jesus. Let us learn these lessons and make sure we find a solitary place for prayer, just tell the message, and let God open hearts. 

The Spirit Leads We Follow

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

THE SPIRIT LEADS WE FOLLOW

Acts 16:6-10

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

NIV

This is what it means to be led by the Spirit. No, do not go there, stop, not there either, but I will show you where to go. That is this narrative in a nutshell. Being led by the Spirit is the way of life for any believer, yet we wonder how much we listen and follow His leading. We know His leading is important in spiritual matters, as to where we are supposed to be preaching the gospel message, or at least where we are supposed to gather together with other believers. What church should we be in? What should we be doing to serve the Lord? But that also means where we should not be, or what we should not be doing in an area of service. Paul was restricted from going into the province of Asia. We are not told whether he asked the Spirit why, but we know he was obedient and did not enter either Asia or Bithynia, yet the Spirit gave him a clear sign that he was supposed to go to Macedonia. Could we also know just where we are supposed to be, as to what city we should live in, or where is the home the Spirit directed us to? If we are being led by the Spirit, then every aspect of our lives should come under obedience to Him. How can we decide where to go and what to do? If we were making our own decisions, we would be operating in the flesh, which is both weak and corruptible, so we would make mistakes in our choices. That is not to say we cannot choose the clothes we wear, or what food to buy, or what color to paint, or any of those small things in life we may need. But it is our lives themselves that must come under the leadership of the Spirit. Where doesn't He want us to be, what doesn't He want us to do? Where does He want us? What does He want us to do? This is all about following where the Spirit leads.