Jumping Toward Safety

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

JUMPING TOWARD SAFETY

Acts 27:39-44

39 When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach, where they decided to run the ship aground if they could. 40 Cutting loose the anchors, they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach. 41 But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. 42 The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. 43 But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. 44 The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.

NIV

On the surface, this is a record of the attempt to run the ship aground and the subsequent breaking apart of the ship, with all souls making it to shore safely. However, there is an underlying parallel or a metaphor of life in the sea of sin. We could try to sail the open sea of life, but as the 276 souls aboard the ship discovered, storms can take life in a completely opposite direction from the course planned. The Lord had assured Paul that all aboard the ship would be saved, and that is exactly what happened when the ship hit that sandbar, and the stern began to break up as it was being pounded by the surf. Some were able to swim; others used pieces of the broken-up ship to float to the shore, yet all souls were saved. There could be times when it seems our lives are simply being pushed around by some storm, taking us off the course we had planned. But the Lord needed us to run aground, hit a sandbar, and break us apart so that we could swim toward his safety. It might also be possible that although we have already declared ourselves to be Christians and are attempting to live by some standard we believe is scriptural, we could be drifting off course. We have the correct compass for our lives, and we have the Lord standing at the rudder ready to take us on the right course, or path he has planned out for us, but we might want to take hold of that rudder and try to sail our course. That might be when the Lord intervenes with a storm to drive us off our course toward the place he has prepared for us to land safely.  Those onboard the ship, when daybreak came, did not recognize the land. They were headed into an unknown shore. When the light of Jesus came into our lives, we recognized his light, but at the same time, we were sure of where we were headed. Still, it seems we could get distracted by other places along the way, and that is when the Lord needs to take charge of the rudder and steer us to the open shore of heaven. We can hoist the sails, but let us leave the rudder of our lives in the hands of the Lord.  In another sense, we might have to jump ship that we want to steer, and swim to the safety of the shore with Jesus, so that we are jumping toward safety.                                      

Lighten the Load

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

LIGHTEN THE LOAD

Acts 27:33-38

33 Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food — you haven't eaten anything. 34 Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." 35 After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. 36 They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves. 37 Altogether there were 276 of us on board. 38 When they had eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.

NIV

Paul encourages the others on onboard to eat so they will survive, assuring them that not one of them will lose a single hair from their head. That is quite a statement of faith, yet was it faith, or was it straight from the mouth of God? Paul also demonstrated his faith in the Almighty God of heaven and earth when he took the bread and gave thanks to God in front of all 276 souls  onboard. That is reminiscent of when Jesus took the bread and broke it, giving thanks to God before he gave it to his disciples to eat. Nevertheless, here is a prisoner of the Roman guards, leading the way in giving thanks to God and encouraging them all that they will be saved.  It did not matter his place in the world, his position in life, where he was, or what circumstances he found himself in; he was going to serve his Lord and speak up for God. Here is where we should enter this conversation and always be an encourager to others, assuring them of God's power to save them and that they will not lose a single hair from their heads. Of course, we do lose some hair as we get a little older, but the metaphor holds true. When we are resurrected, we will be in all the fullest glory of the representation of Jesus. That is, we will be in a completely glorified form, able to leap buildings in a single bound, or, rather, be able to travel at the speed of thought. At least something like that, for Jesus, in his glorified form, appeared in a locked room. Whatever form we are in, we will not have lost a single hair on our heads; we will be saved. As the crew began to prepare for the ship to run aground, they lightened it further by throwing all the grain overboard. This would have meant the ship would be higher in the water and possibly make it farther to a place of safety. We wonder if we can use that as an example of how we should throw some things into the sea. Have we tossed those attitudes that weigh us down? Have we thrown bitterness, unforgiveness, criticism, ill or hurt feelings, envy, jealousy, pride, boastfulness, anger, or a host of other attitudes or feelings overboard to lighten our lives so we can reach the place of safety? We know it is God who saves us, but at the same time, the Lord desires that we rid ourselves of what weighs us down. He sent the Spirit to help us lighten the load. 

Who's Got The Plan?

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WHO'S GOT THE PLAN

Acts 27:27-32

27 On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land. 28 They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet deep. 29 Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight. 30 In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. 31 Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." 32 So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.

NIV

The men of the ship, most likely the sailors or crew, tried to do everything they knew to save themselves from what they thought was an impending disaster. We cannot imagine spending 14 days pounded by a storm at sea. According to the following text, there were 276 souls onboard. Because they dropped four anchors from the stern, combined with the number of souls, we think the ship was rather large. However, our story comes from what Paul told the centurion. Human effort alone would have caused them great harm, for unless those men stayed with the ship, the rest onboard could not be saved. When the angel of the Lord informed Paul of God's plan of saving all the men on the ship, in fact, not a hair on their heads would be harmed, that meant all who were on board. That meant a unified belief in the plan told to Paul, who was nothing but a prisoner, yet the only spokesperson for God. How was it that the others listened, especially the centurion, to a prisoner? What did Paul know about sailing, or how to manage a ship on the high seas, and in a storm? Yet he seemed to be in charge of everyone's safety on the ship. However, he was the only one who had heard from God. Here is where we take our clue for this life in the community of faith. We might think that it is our efforts that keep a church afloat, or, for that matter, cause it to grow. Sure, we need to maintain the building where we meet, but that is not the church. We are the church, and our safety depends solely on God; therefore, we should all be onboard with God's plan. When we try to save ourselves by either dropping anchors or making an effort to get to a lifeboat of our own making, we stand in danger of causing ourselves great harm. The centurion ordered his soldiers to cut the ropes that held the lifeboat, and that is what we need to do. We should cut all ties to self-effort and place our complete trust in God's plan.  We might make our plans, but God orders our footsteps; therefore, let us keep step with the Lord as he calls out the cadence. Who's got the plan?

Whose I Am

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WHOSE I AM

Acts 27:21-26

21 After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. 22 But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. 23 Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me 24 and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' 25 So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. 26 Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

NIV

In the middle of one of the most difficult times in the lives of all the sailors, the pilot, and the owner who lost all his cargo, his potential profits, and now the ship has been tossed so much that it appears it will break up and they will all be left to drown out at sea, Paul tells them to keep up their courage. He told them God would save them all. It was an angel of the Lord who assured Paul of the graciousness of God, that he gave Paul all the lives who sailed with him. Paul was assured that it would happen just as he had been told because he had faith in God. This is where we enter this narrative, or learn how our lives are because of God's generosity. He gave Paul all the lives who sailed with him, but from a personal perspective, because God is generous, he gave us life. When we consider how he displayed his displeasure with all the people on earth during the time of Noah, wiping them all from the face of the earth, except Noah and his family, it is amazing to consider that he did not want us to perish, but to have everlasting life. From exacting such justice on the wickedness of mankind, to sending Jesus to pay the price for our wickedness, or sin, so that we would not be wiped off the face of the earth, but would be forgiven, as he gives us eternal life. Although it is still true that he will judge all people, and he will serve justice on those who refused his generosity, his free gift of salvation through Jesus, and they will be tossed into the sea. Still, not the type of sea the ship Paul was on, this sea they will be tossed into is the sea of burning sulfur, which is the second death. However, we can take courage; in fact, we can keep up our courage because God has graciously saved us and given us life. We will be resurrected to live forever in the presence of God, whose we are, and whom we serve because we have been told so, and we believe, we have faith in God that everything will happen just as he told us it would. It is true because we love each other, we have faith, and hope in each other, yet because of our imperfections, we fail each other. God never fails us; he is always faithful to his own word, and he said he loves us. We can profess when it comes to God, whose we are, whom we serve, He has been generous to us. 

Jesus is our Lifeboat

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

JESUS IS OUR LIFEBOAT

Acts 27:13-20

13 When a gentle south wind began to blow, they thought they had obtained what they wanted; so they weighed anchor and sailed along the shore of Crete. 14 Before very long, a wind of hurricane force, called the "northeaster," swept down from the island. 15 The ship was caught by the storm and could not head into the wind; so we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 As we passed to the lee of a small island called Cauda, we were hardly able to make the lifeboat secure. 17 When the men had hoisted it aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbars of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven along. 18 We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. 19 On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.

NIV

Just when things were looking good, the gentle south wind gave them what they were looking for, or they thought they had obtained what they wanted, but what they thought and what happened are two opposite things. They were not prepared for the violent storm that was descending upon them. It came without warning as it swept down from the island. They did whatever they thought would keep the ship afloat and able to make it through the storm. They even gave up their precious cargo and all the extra furniture or extra tacking in an attempt to save themselves from perishing. They were hardly able to secure the lifeboat, hoisting it aboard. From that record, it appears ships of that day dragged a lifeboat behind the main ship. But it was not going to save them from the following text, we know the ship ran aground; however, because of God, all lives were saved. There may be storms that come into our lives; they can appear without warning. It is possible that when we think we have obtained what we wanted, a storm shows up and tosses us about. That may not always be the case, but it could happen. When that storm tries to drown us, we might attempt to save ourselves somehow, doing whatever we can to overcome it, attempting to throw all the extra stuff overboard, ridding ourselves of something. Still, the reality is that our only salvation comes from the Lord. When they had tried everything to survive the storm, failing, they finally gave up all hope of being saved. We wonder whether we believe that our being saved depends on what we do to overcome life's storms. What we know is that we can never give up all hope of being saved, for our salvation was not secured by our doing anything, or even by throwing all things overboard, ridding ourselves of things, attitudes, or behaviors, but by Jesus and Him alone. All our hope is in Jesus. Whatever we have in an attempt to travel over the seas of life isn't enough to reach our destination. Our only lifeboat is Jesus. We are secure in Jesus. 

Whose Advice

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

WHOSE ADVICE

Acts 27:1-12

27:1 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul, allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs. 4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea. 9 Much time had been lost, and sailing had already become dangerous because by now it was after the Fast. So Paul warned them, 10 "Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." 11 But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship. 12 Since the harbor was unsuitable to winter in, the majority decided that we should sail on, hoping to reach Phoenix and winter there. This was a harbor in Crete, facing both southwest and northwest.

NIV

The voyage to Rome has begun, which will lead to much trouble for all aboard the ship. First, as before, we have a travel log of the course the ship traveled. It would make sense that a ship of those days would need to put into port every so often to restore some supplies, such as food and water. Because of some of the comments about the winds, they were aboard a typical wooden ship with anywhere from one to three masts full of sails. The process of tacking against the wind was not easy, and at times it seemed they had no choice in which direction the ship would go. What can we observe and learn from this portion of the trip to Rome? The warning from Paul may have come from his own sailing experience during his various missionary trips, but from the following text, we are certain his warning was inspired by the Lord, perhaps through an angel of God or a vision. However, the men of the ship, the pilot, and the owner felt they knew best, although their reasoning was driven by profits rather than common sense, or taking the advice of a passenger in chains. What we know is that our advice should always be from the Lord, rather than from the world. We should not be driven by personal gain, but by what the Lord inspires us to do. Do we make mistakes? Of course, we are not perfect. We may also have come up against opposing winds, so to speak, experiencing difficult times on our journey through life. They could not find a safe harbor to winter in, so they kept struggling, which would cause them exactly what Paul warned them about: loss of cargo and ship. However, we know our only safe harbor is in our Lord and Savior, Jesus. Why would we want to go on and struggle through on our own when we have a safe harbor? They did not heed the warning and decided they should sail on. We cannot refuse the directions of the Lord and decide on our own to sail on, to make our own decisions. From the next portions of this narrative of their travels, we know they will experience great loss of cargo and ship. When we try to live by our choices, we might experience loss in some way, but when we sail according to the direction of the Lord, we will always find a good place, a safe harbor. The main point is: whom do we listen to, whose advice do we take, men's or God's? 

Metamorphosis

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

METAMORPHOSIS

 

Acts 26:19-32

19 "So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient to the vision from heaven. 20 First to those in Damascus, then to those in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and to the Gentiles also, I preached that they should repent and turn to God and prove their repentance by their deeds. 21 That is why the Jews seized me in the temple courts and tried to kill me. 22 But I have had God's help to this very day, and so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Christ would suffer and, as the first to rise from the dead, would proclaim light to his own people and to the Gentiles." 24 At this point Festus interrupted Paul's defense. "You are out of your mind, Paul!" he shouted. "Your great learning is driving you insane." 25 "I am not insane, most excellent Festus," Paul replied. "What I am saying is true and reasonable. 26 The king is familiar with these things, and I can speak freely to him. I am convinced that none of this has escaped his notice, because it was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you do." 28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, "Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?" 29 Paul replied, "Short time or long — I pray God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains." 30 The king rose, and with him the governor and Bernice and those sitting with them. 31 They left the room, and while talking with one another, they said, "This man is not doing anything that deserves death or imprisonment." 32 Agrippa said to Festus, "This man could have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar."

NIV

Paul had finished his testimony, at which point Governor Festus shouted at Paul, charging that he was out of his mind and that his great learning had driven him insane. It is remarkable how the world, or the people of the world who pursue knowledge, who believe the more degrees one has, the more prestigious one is, think that a Christian who has learned the truth is insane. But that is not the narrative that has the greatest impact on our lives. Paul gives the credit to God that he was able to stand before Governor Festus, King Agrippa, Bernice, and any of the people in the court and testify about repenting and turning to God, with the fact that the prophets and Moses spoke about Jesus suffering and being the first to rise from the dead. That is where we come into this story. First, we have repented, which the Greek word used here is metanoeo, which is where we get the word metamorphosis, to go through a change, but in the context, it means to have a change in the way we think. Interestingly, that must apply to every person who turns to God or professes to be a Christian, a believer, or a follower of Jesus. It is not our human nature at birth to believe in Jesus. Still, at some point in our lives, whether that is in our early or later years of life, we must go through this change of mind, this metanoeo, repentance, turning to God, and prove that we have changed the way we think by our works, or the way we behave, how we act towards others. We wonder how, once we have gone through the metamorphosis in our thinking, we change the way we think from being self-reliant, self-centered, self-exalting to being reliant on God, centering our lives on God, and exalting God, we could go back to the self-centered life. Yet we wonder whether we still think about ourselves too much, which might indicate that we have not fully repented or changed the way we think. However, there is this other truth that Jesus is the first to be raised from the dead, which means there are going to be a second, third, and so on up to thousands or millions who will be raised from the dead, including the righteous and the wicked, to stand before God. However, to be among the ones to enter into his rest, we must have gone through a metamorphosis.