His Pleasure

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

HIS PLEASURE

Acts 23:1-11

23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!" 4 Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?" 5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) 9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night, the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." 

NIV

Because there are many truths within this narrative and we only touched on fulfilling our duty to God, we wanted to focus for just a moment on not speaking evil about the ruler of the people. Paul should not have spoken to the High Priest, and he recognized he was in error, so he stepped back, then went on about the resurrection. Interestingly, the Greek word translated as ruler has a direct meaning of a first in rank or power, such as a king, prince, chief, president, etc. If we attempt to apply this truth to our lives, then as believers, we will never speak evil about anyone who is first in rank, such as the president, still more importantly, God, because there is no one more first in rank than Him, but within the context, it refers to a human ruler or leader of people. When Paul mentioned that he was a Pharisee, a son of a Pharisee, and that he was on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead, it sparked a dispute. We know, as Paul did, that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection, but the Sadducees did not. How is it that there can be that much of a difference in beliefs among the same people whom God delivered their forefather out of Egypt, bringing them into this land of milk and honey? How can there be such a significant dispute over the resurrection of the dead? What did the Sadducees think happened after they died? Were they just dead, end-of-life dead, with nothing after death? If there are no angels or spirits, did they believe in God? All believers in Jesus also believe in the resurrection of the dead because Jesus told us it would happen. That brings us to ask, what is the purpose of our lives? If there is no resurrection, why do believers bother to try to live according to the truth of God? But there is a resurrection; however, the point of our lives is for the pleasure of God. He is pre-existent, before he created anything, he is. Jesus did not say that he was the I AM, or that he is, I AM, always was and will always be. He decided to create all that is created for his own pleasure, not that he needed to, but it just pleased him to create, and he made a man, a human in their image, and breathed life into Adam, or man, for his own pleasure. Have we lost sight of that truth, trying to live for our pleasure when the meaning of our lives is for the pleasure of God? His pleasure is to resurrect those of us who accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior, to live with him forever in the place Jesus prepared for us. That is His pleasure. 

Fulfilling Our Duty

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FULFILLING OUR DUTY

Acts 23:1-11

23:1 Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, "My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day." 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, "God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!" 4 Those who were standing near Paul said, "You dare to insult God's high priest?" 5 Paul replied, "Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: 'Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.'" 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, "My brothers, I am a Pharisee, the son of a Pharisee. I stand on trial because of my hope in the resurrection of the dead." 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8(The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all.) 9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. "We find nothing wrong with this man," they said. "What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?" 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks. 11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, "Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome." 

NIV

Should not that be our desire, to fulfill our duty to God in all good conscience to this day? Then the question is, what is our duty to God? That could be seen in two ways. First, our duty, generally speaking, as Christians or believers. Second, what is our duty as individual members of the community of faith or the body of Christ? As believers, do we fulfill the command of Jesus to love the Lord our God with all, which means not some, but all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, and do we love everyone else as we love ourselves? We know we can all get tied up with so many other rules and regulations about what we are not supposed to do, that we might be too distracted from what we are supposed to do, to fulfill our duty.  As individuals, we need to listen to the voice of the Spirit, or His inspiration. We might use the term "our calling" to describe how we fit into the temple of God as living stones. What is our particular function in the body of Christ? How do we serve others? What benefit do we have to the other members of the body of Christ? When we make that parallel between our bodies, the feet take us places, but the eyes allow us to see where we are going. The mouth tastes the goodness of food, but the hands are needed to bring the food to the mouth. On and on, we could see how each member of our body benefits the other members, and that is how we should be as one member of the body of Christ. This also bears out as the high priest ordered that Paul be struck on the mouth. They must have thought that the only way to fulfill their duty to God was to obey the law, which they were not doing. This should also serve as a lesson for us that we must not stand in judgment of others or how they are or are not fulfilling their duty to God. One thing we know is that we are to encourage each other. Because the Greek word parakaleoo, used as "encourage," has a deeper meaning of calling to one's side, inviting, exhorting, and admonishing, it can also be seen as comforting or encouraging in the sense of building another up and telling them about the benefit they have to others. It is more than the good deeds, but if, and that is a big word, we can love one another, then we would be fulfilling our duty to God. 

Knowing the Truth

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

KNOWING THE TRUTH

Acts 22:23-30

23 As they were shouting and throwing off their cloaks and flinging dust into the air, 24 the commander ordered Paul to be taken into the barracks. He directed that he be flogged and questioned in order to find out why the people were shouting at him like this. 25 As they stretched him out to flog him, Paul said to the centurion standing there, "Is it legal for you to flog a Roman citizen who hasn't even been found guilty?" 26 When the centurion heard this, he went to the commander and reported it. "What are you going to do?" he asked. "This man is a Roman citizen." 27 The commander went to Paul and asked, "Tell me, are you a Roman citizen?" "Yes, I am," he answered. 28 Then the commander said, "I had to pay a big price for my citizenship." "But I was born a citizen," Paul replied. 29 Those who were about to question him withdrew immediately. The commander himself was alarmed when he realized that he had put Paul, a Roman citizen, in chains. 30 The next day, since the commander wanted to find out exactly why Paul was being accused by the Jews, he released him and ordered the chief priests and all the Sanhedrin to assemble. Then he brought Paul and had him stand before them.

NIV

We have come to the place in the life of Paul that had been brought to a boil, so to speak. We do not understand why the Roman commander thought it was necessary to flog Paul, just because the crowd was yelling and shouting, "Rid the earth of him, his not fit to live." However, it is not legal to flog a Roman citizen without a proper trial. So now we are at the point where we will see the Roman commander take Paul to speak before the Sanhedrin, but for now, what do we learn for our lives from this situation with Paul and the Roman commander?  First, the angry mob of Jews did not have the full story, the full truth about Jesus, although Paul tried to explain Jesus to them. They were driven by either fear, because their way of life had been threatened, they were resisting change, or their hatred for the Gentiles, whom Paul went to, drove them to respond ungodly, whom they professed to worship. Second, the commander acted as he believed was justified, but he did not have the whole truth about Paul, including the fact that he was born a Roman citizen. Our lesson is about how we act, or respond to situations we face in life, including within the community of faith. Do we allow any anger to well up within us because someone said something we vehemently or fundamentally disagree with?  Do we respond or take action either toward or against someone, such as gossip about them, without knowing all the truth about them? In all reality, gossip is sort of a flogging without the whip, although the tongue is a form of whip. Everything about the situation Paul was in lacked the truth that Jesus taught about love. When we live within the command of Jesus, knowing the truth about loving God with all our heart, mind, soul, and body, and loving our neighbor, that is everyone, as we love ourselves, then all our actions and responses are driven by love, not anger. We must always live according to the truth. 

Sent

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

SENT

Acts 22:12-22

12 "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13 He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him. 14 "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name.' 17 "When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance 18 and saw the Lord speaking. 'Quick!' he said to me. 'Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.'  19 "'Lord,' I replied, 'these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.   20 And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.' 21 "Then the Lord said to me, 'Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" 22 The crowd listened to Paul until he said this. Then they raised their voices and shouted, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!"

NIV

After Paul finished his testimony about how Jesus intervened in his life and how he turned from persecuting the people of the Way to becoming one of them, he told the crowd, who had been very silent up to then, that God sent him to the Gentiles. That is when their hatred boiled up once again, shouting, "Rid the earth of him! He's not fit to live!" Something like this would never happen today, as we believers hold no hatred for the Gentiles, who in our day would be the non-believers, for in the truest sense of the word, we are all Gentiles, or non-Jews. However, in another sense, we are true Israel because we have circumcised hearts. In our world today, there are only two types of people: those with circumcised hearts and those with uncircumcised hearts. The Jews held such a hatred for the Gentiles because they thought God was only for them. He was the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Issac, their forefathers, and He performed miracles only for the Jews. He was their God and no one else's. Of course, we do not think that God is only on the side of us believers and that he would not do anything for those dreaded unbelievers. However, we were once among those dreaded unbelievers until Jesus intervened in our lives, as he did for Paul, changing us. We wonder why we do not show the love of Jesus to those whose hearts need to be changed, as much as we love other believers. We wonder why we only keep to ourselves, almost as if we lock ourselves inside the church, keeping the sinners locked out. Have we not been sent out to be a witness to the mighty acts of God and His free gift of salvation through Jesus? The Jews hated the Gentiles to the point that they considered them enemies, even enemies of God, just as they were told to drive them out of their lands. We are told to love our enemies, even those who have chosen to be enemies of God. He loves them just as much as he loves us, and he sent Jesus for them as he sent him for us. We are all the same, the creation of God. Let us be his servant, his witness to whoever he opens the door to. We need to be proclaiming his free gift, his grace, Jesus. We have been sent. 

Tell the Story

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

TELL THE STORY

Acts 22:1-11

2:1 "Brothers and fathers, listen now to my defense." 2 When they heard him speak to them in Aramaic, they became very quiet. Then Paul said: 3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished. 6 "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'  8 "'Who are you, Lord?' I asked. "'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me. 10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked. "'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.'  11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.

NIV

Paul now stands before those who wanted to kill him, but at present, he is under the protection of the commander of the Roman army and stands just outside the barracks. Paul told them of his previous life as a faithful Jew who hated the people of the Way and went after them to persecute them, but then he told them of his encounter with Jesus of Nazareth.  From all the accounts of his travels and his testimonies to all the Gentiles throughout Asia, Galatia, Corinth, Ephesus, Thessalonica, as well as all the other places he boldly spoke about Jesus, we know Paul was passionate in his faith in Jesus. Although this is just the beginning of his testimony before the people, we want to focus on the fact that Paul had an incredible testimony about his encounter with Jesus and wanted to share it with others. How do we relate to the encounter with Jesus? Have we had an encounter with Jesus that comes close to Paul's? Have we had any encounter with Jesus, or do we just call ourselves Christians and sort of live according to some of the scriptures, at least the ones we chose? Do we have a testimony about an encounter that changed our lives forever, as Paul's life was changed? How many times have we shared our encounter with Jesus? Do we share anything about Jesus with anyone? Speaking on a personal, or in the first person, I have had an encounter with Jesus, an overwhelming encounter, including a miracle that changed me forever, that turned my life completely around. Am I perfect? No, I will never be perfect until I reach my heavenly home. But the encounter brought me from that city of darkness and death, over the chasm, by the cross of Jesus, into the city of light and life. I love to tell the story of unseen things above, of Jesus and His glory, of Jesus and His love. Paul loved to tell the story, and we should all love to tell our story of our encounter with Jesus. 

From Chaos to Peace

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

FROM CHAOS TO PEACE

Acts 21:30-39

30 The whole city was aroused, and the people came running from all directions. Seizing Paul, they dragged him from the temple, and immediately the gates were shut. 31 While they were trying to kill him, news reached the commander of the Roman troops that the whole city of Jerusalem was in an uproar. 32 He at once took some officers and soldiers and ran down to the crowd. When the rioters saw the commander and his soldiers, they stopped beating Paul. 3 The commander came up and arrested him and ordered him to be bound with two chains. Then he asked who he was and what he had done. 34 Some in the crowd shouted one thing and some another, and since the commander could not get at the truth because of the uproar, he ordered that Paul be taken into the barracks. 35 When Paul reached the steps, the violence of the mob was so great he had to be carried by the soldiers. 36 The crowd that followed kept shouting, "Away with him!" 37 As the soldiers were about to take Paul into the barracks, he asked the commander, "May I say something to you?" "Do you speak Greek?" he replied. 38 "Aren't you the Egyptian who started a revolt and led four thousand terrorists out into the desert some time ago?" 39 Paul answered, "I am a Jew, from Tarsus in Cilicia, a citizen of no ordinary city. Please let me speak to the people." 0 Having received the commander's permission, Paul stood on the steps and motioned to the crowd. When they were all silent, he said to them in Aramaic:

NIV

With the whole city of Jerusalem in an uproar, with people running from all directions as they seized Paul and dragged him from the temple, its gates were shut. Why would the gates to the temple, dedicated to God, be shut? Was that closing off Paul from the temple, or an attempt to close in God, while they beat Paul, trying to kill him? These are Jews, who profess their obedience to the Lord God Almighty, the God of Abraham, Jacob, and Isaac, yet right there in front of the temple of God, they are wanting to kill a man. However, with the Roman commander and his soldiers intervening, they stopped beating Paul. He took him into custody, in chains, and brought him to the army barracks. Up till now, the Jews were out of control, maybe even thinking they were doing God a favor by killing Paul. But Paul was God's man; he had done what God wanted, as he was led by the Spirit, and now, after men wanted their way, it was time for the Spirit to take over and get things done his way. We notice that after Paul received permission to speak to the crowd, as he motioned to them, they were all silent, and he began to speak to them in Aramaic or Hebrew. What we learn is a lesson for all times. The Spirit leads the way, and God's will is always accomplished. When the Spirit speaks, or we could say, when God speaks, we should be like that crowd, silent. It may be that we spend too much time talking to God, asking him for what we want, and then spend too little time being silent, listening for his voice, his directions, his leading in our lives, his plan, his purpose for us. It is possible that when we shut the gate of our heart, shutting God out, so to speak, life might get a little chaotic, as we run in all directions, trying to do what we think is the right thing, but not knowing for sure, so we run in another direction, trying something else we think is right, but never finding it, unless we stop, remain silent, and listen for his voice, his leading and then we will be right where we are supposed to be, doing exactly what God desires us to do, then chaos is turned into peace. 

Attitude of Service

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

ATTITUDE OF SERVICE

Acts 21:26-29

26 The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them. 27 When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him, 28 shouting, "Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place." 29(They had previously seen Trophimus the Ephesian in the city with Paul and assumed that Paul had brought him into the temple area.)

NIV

There is nothing about the gospel in this narrative, but it does point out that the Jews wanted to live under the law, and if anyone, such as Paul, spoke out about Jesus and how he fulfilled the law, and established a new covenant, they would stamp on them. When those who are referred to as the Jews must have been the Pharisees, the chief priests, and the teachers of the law. Interestingly, they lived by the peoples tithes and offerings. Some may have generated income by providing legal counsel or charging fees for their services. Some could have been landowners, receiving income from renters. The point is, they may not have been so much concerned about the law as about their income being affected if the message Paul was spreading about Jesus became more popular and people stopped seeking out their services, or if their influence over the people diminished. Paul did not want to influence people to follow him, but to follow Jesus. How do we bring this into our lives, especially among the people of God? There is a difference between wanting influence over others and wanting to serve others. There are pastors, if we can use that term, who are silver-tongued purveyors of deception, seeking influence over people to receive a substantial income and live in luxury. But are they serving the people? Most pastors do receive an income from the church where they serve, but that is up to the people. Considering that Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers are gifts of the Spirit to the church, those who serve in any of those positions should serve as such. Of course, the guidance and influence come from the Holy Spirit, who is poured out on all who receive him. If we are going to influence anyone, it should always be in the direction of Jesus; however, rather than influence, encouragement, building up, and exhorting others to live as followers of Jesus, which would not be for personal gain or power, as it was for those Pharisees and teachers of the law. Those who have been called to serve God's people should have learned from Jesus to be gentle and humble of heart. Jesus said that he did not come to be served, but to serve. Let us all serve one another, having the attitude of service.