The Witness

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS OF THE APOSLTLES

THE WITNESS

Acts 1:6-11

6 So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."  9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11 "Men of Galilee," they said, "why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven."

NIV

There are several truths in this exchange between Jesus and his disciples and then between the disciples and two angels. Jesus had told them to wait, that in a few days they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit, just like John baptized with water. We should have noted in the previous verses, the parallel Jesus used between John baptizing with water and the baptism with the Spirit. When we were baptized in water, we were totally emersed in the water. This is how it is when we are baptized with the Spirit,  we are completely emersed with and by Him. It is also interesting that after spending three years with Jesus, hearing him teach, preach, perform healings and miracles and being told what was  going to happen, and then watch it happen, they still had not gotten the truth deep down within them. They still asked if this was the time he would restore the kingdom to Israel. Is this the time he would overthrow Rome, destroy the Roman army, kick them out of Israel and set up his throne in Jerusalem. One day that is going to happen, but it is not for any of us humans to know when. However, we do have a commission from Jesus, a mission to be about doing. This truth he told to his disciples applies to all of us who learn from Jesus. For the Greek word translated as disciple means to be a learner, therefore, we are his disciples and we receive power when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, and we are to be witnesses to the ends of the earth. Although it is good some are called to be missionaries to some of the ends of the earth and we support a portion of their expenses, that does not relieve us from being witnesses about Jesus because we happen to live at one of the ends of the earth. That brings up the question as to how do we witness. It cannot be by just being a good person, or going to church. If we use our lives as a witness, then we must reflect the glory of God, so others can see His Glory shining out from us. But the idea of being a witness, as witness in a courtroom, is to testify what we have heard, seen, and what has happened to us. That requires us to speak up, use our voice to tell the story about Jesus. There just isn’t any other way around that truth about being a witness. We will leave this exchange with the angels for later, because this truth about being His learner, His disciple means we need to be the witness.  

 

Releasing Power

 DEVOTION

THE ACTS  OF THE APOSTLES

RELEASING POWER

Acts 1:1-5

1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: "Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit." 

NIV

He is alive, and if any should ever doubt, they only have to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal the truth to them. The proof that Jesus was resurrected in bodily form is in the record that Luke puts forth. Jesus appeared to many over a period of forty days. That is just the facts, but the wonder of His resurrection gives us assurance we too will be resurrected in bodily form on that last day. We are also confident that we will not remain with our lifeless bodies, for we know that we are not just a body, but a spirit who lives within this physical form, and when it is laid to rest, we will have left it to join our Lord in some spiritual sense. However, that is not the end, because Jesus left his body behind, yet came back to it through the power of God, to have his body resurrected in a new glorified condition. We will see that record will reflect this truth when he appears or seemingly walks through a locked door to speak with his disciples in that upper room. Jesus is alive and we will also be alive, even though this body  dies. Yet, the story is not just about a resurrection, although that is a wonderful truth to keep deep within our hearts and minds, the story of also about being baptized with the Holy Spirit. We will see how this happened for the disciples in the next chapter of the record Luke wrote, but at this point we must believe there is a baptism we need to undergo other then the one with water. This was an event in time that happened to the disciples, a moment when fire came from heaven and the Spirit descended  upon them, taking up residence within them, gifting them with power. There is no question that if we want to have eternal life we must accept Jesus as our Lord and Savior. The Lord makes that clear through the Apostle Paul in the letter to the Romans. If we confess with our mouths ”Jesus is Lord”  and believe in our hearts that God raised him from the dead, we will be saved. But that is not the end of the story in the life of a believer. We are saved, we will have eternal life, but during the days of this life, we need the power of God in our lives. This is when we are baptized with the Holy Spirit, another moment in time, just as the moment we were baptized with water. Jesus promised, and he always fulfilled his promise that he would baptize us with the Holy Spirit. We know there is evidence of this baptism because the Spirit witnesses to our spirit and manifests his gifts and fruit in our lives. The question we must all ask ourselves is if we see those evidences within ourselves. There could be two reason we do not see those evidences. One is we have never been baptized with the Holy Spirit. Secondly, we have been baptized, but we have decided to quench the Spirit, not yielding to Him. Having been saved and baptized with the Holy Spirit, let’s release His power. 

Man of God

 DEVOTION

2^nd  KINGS

MAN OF GOD

2 Kings 1:1-10

1:1 After Ahab's death, Moab rebelled against Israel. 2 Now Ahaziah had fallen through the lattice of his upper room in Samaria and injured himself. So he sent messengers, saying to them, "Go and consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron, to see if I will recover from this injury." 3 But the angel of the LORD said to Elijah the Tishbite, "Go up and meet the messengers of the king of Samaria and ask them, 'Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are going off to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron?' 4 Therefore this is what the LORD says: 'You will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!'" So Elijah went. 5 When the messengers returned to the king, he asked them, "Why have you come back?" 6 "A man came to meet us," they replied. "And he said to us, 'Go back to the king who sent you and tell him, "This is what the LORD says: Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending men to consult Baal-Zebub, the god of Ekron? Therefore you will not leave the bed you are lying on. You will certainly die!" '"  7 The king asked them, "What kind of man was it who came to meet you and told you this?" 8 They replied, "He was a man with a garment of hair and with a leather belt around his waist." The king said, "That was Elijah the Tishbite." 9 Then he sent to Elijah a captain with his company of fifty men. The captain went up to Elijah, who was sitting on the top of a hill, and said to him, "Man of God, the king says, 'Come down!'" 10 Elijah answered the captain, "If I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men!" Then fire fell from heaven and consumed the captain and his men.

NIV

Why do men think there is no God in Israel? It must be the same reason people today think there is no God. Why would Ahaziah, the king of Israel send his men to consult a god that is blind, deaf and mute? Of course, it is possible that Baal-Zebub, could been under the power of Satan, for he is referred to in the New Testament as Beelzebub. However, in the context, this Baal-Zebub was supposed to be the fly god, one who would drive away flies. But, that had to be only in the mind of men, for this Baal-Zebub is not a god, but a figment of man’s imagination, or making. We would never worship anything we could make, for that would be totally against our faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior. It might be bad enough that we could become prideful, boastful or puffed up because of what we make or do. This fits into the story about Elijah who spoke the word of the LORD, but then went and sat on a hill. Ahaziah knew it was Elijah because his men described what Elijah was wearing, and he sent a caption and fifty men to ask Elijah to come down and go to the king. When the caption called Elijah, man of God, it was all over for the caption and his man. We see the power of God consume all those men. When the fire of God fell upon them, they were not just killed, but consumed. The Hebrew word means to be totally burned up, to be consumed by fire, as in cremated, except in this case, not any ashes were left. We will see this happen again, but what we want to focus on is the power of the LORD God Almighty. Just as the fire of the LORD consume the sacrifice, the altar of stones, all the water, and mud, leaving nothing but a dry hole in the ground, the LORD’s fire consumed those men. It is good that we have accepted His grace and do not have to fear being consumed by fire. The prophets speak of a consuming fire, and in the revelation given to John an angel speaks of the consuming fire of God. His power is so much more then we can imagine, we wonder why we do not avail ourselves of His power more than we do. All Elijah had to say, “if I am a man of God, may fire come down from heaven and consume you and your fifty men.” Down came the fire and consumed them. Are we not people of God? Could we not say “if I am a person of God, a man or woman of God, then let God demonstrate His power, pour out his healing power?” What we noticed was that Elijah did not include, “If it is your will,” but simply let them know the power of the Almighty God as the fire fell upon them. Let us know His power, let us speak His truth with confidence, but most of let us be a man of God. 

Good Intentions

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

GOOD INTENTIONS

1 Kings 22:41-53

41 Jehoshaphat son of Asa became king of Judah in the fourth year of Ahab king of Israel. 42 Jehoshaphat was thirty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-five years. His mother's name was Azubah daughter of Shilhi. 43 In everything he walked in the ways of his father Asa and did not stray from them; he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The high places, however, were not removed, and the people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. 44 Jehoshaphat was also at peace with the king of Israel. 45 As for the other events of Jehoshaphat's reign, the things he achieved and his military exploits, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Judah? 46 He rid the land of the rest of the male shrine prostitutes who remained there even after the reign of his father Asa. 47 There was then no king in Edom; a deputy ruled. 48 Now Jehoshaphat built a fleet of trading ships to go to Ophir for gold, but they never set sail — they were wrecked at Ezion Geber. 49 At that time Ahaziah son of Ahab said to Jehoshaphat, "Let my men sail with your men," but Jehoshaphat refused. 50 Then Jehoshaphat rested with his fathers and was buried with them in the city of David his father. And Jehoram his son succeeded him. 51 Ahaziah son of Ahab became king of Israel in Samaria in the seventeenth year of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, and he reigned over Israel two years. 52 He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, because he walked in the ways of his father and mother and in the ways of Jeroboam son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. 53 He served and worshiped Baal and provoked the LORD, the God of Israel, to anger, just as his father had done.

NIV

Two kings, two ways of life, one did right in the eyes of the LORD, one did evil in the eyes of the LORD. Interestingly, Jehoshaphat who did right in the eyes of the LORD stopped or rid the land of male shrine prostitutes but did not remove the high places. Was he not completely sold out to the ways of the LORD? Why did he allow those high places to stay? The people continued to offer sacrifices and burn incense there. The question is who were they offering sacrifices to? We cannot be sure if these high places were for the worship of Baal or for the LORD.  The same event recorded in Chronicles indicates he did remove them, or at least it was his desire to do so, but he failed. It is not uncommon for anyone who lives to please the Lord to desire to do what is right in His eyes, but also to fail on occasion. However, that is not to say that good intentions are enough. One old English proverb of exact original is unknown, states the road to hell is paved with good intentions. The other king, Ahaziah son of Ahab did not even try to live in a manner to please the LORD, instead he did evil in the sight of the LORD and caused Israel to sin. Ahaziah worshipped Baal, a false god who had no eyes to see his evil, no ears to hear his evil and no mouth to speak against his evil. However, he did provoke the LORD God Almighty who has eyes to see, hears to hear and a mouth to speak. It is always a bad choice to choose the wrong side to live on. Why serve something that is deaf, mute and blind when we have the Lord? We wonder if we believers could get distracted by material things, that are deaf,  mute and blind, and become too invested in them, or place too much value on them, that we are almost close to serving them, or worshipping them. It is not that we forsake our Lord, but is it possible we are trying to serve two masters? Jehoshaphat tried to live doing right in the eyes of the LORD, but he left those high places. If we love the Lord with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, then we cannot have any high places, or other things that we offer sacrifices to. Because we are supposed to offer ourselves as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, then the question is whether we offer ourselves to other things, considering them too important, becoming too invested in something other then our Lord. We wonder if even when we do good things for others, are we looking for their praise or the praise of our Lord? Sometimes the line can get blurred, but let us consider what is doing good in the eyes of the Lord, not just good intentions. 

Choose Wisely

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

CHOOSE WISELY 

1 Kings 22:26-40

26 The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son 27 and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'" 28 Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!" 29 So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah went up to Ramoth Gilead. 30 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "I will enter the battle in disguise, but you wear your royal robes." So the king of Israel disguised himself and went into battle. 31 Now the king of Aram had ordered his thirty-two chariot commanders, "Do not fight with anyone, small or great, except the king of Israel." 32 When the chariot commanders saw Jehoshaphat, they thought, "Surely this is the king of Israel." So they turned to attack him, but when Jehoshaphat cried out, 33 the chariot commanders saw that he was not the king of Israel and stopped pursuing him. 34 But someone drew his bow at random and hit the king of Israel between the sections of his armor. The king told his chariot driver, "Wheel around and get me out of the fighting. I've been wounded." 35 All day long the battle raged, and the king was propped up in his chariot facing the Arameans. The blood from his wound ran onto the floor of the chariot, and that evening he died. 36 As the sun was setting, a cry spread through the army: "Every man to his town; everyone to his land!" 37 So the king died and was brought to Samaria, and they buried him there. 38 They washed the chariot at a pool in Samaria (where the prostitutes bathed), and the dogs licked up his blood, as the word of the LORD had declared. 39 As for the other events of Ahab's reign, including all he did, the palace he built and inlaid with ivory, and the cities he fortified, are they not written in the book of the annals of the kings of Israel? 40 Ahab rested with his fathers. And Ahaziah his son succeeded him as king.

NIV

Everyone has two choices in life, even those who are supposed to be the people of God, or God’s chosen people. Ahab had reigned for twenty-two years, but he choose to do evil in the sight of God. His wife, Jezebel had the man who owned that vineyard, killed just so Ahab could take possession of it. He heard the word of the LORD from the prophet Micaiah about the people having no master. That could be interpreted as Ahab would die, or that he had lead Israel away from God, their true LORD and Master. Even after Micaiah told Ahab that he would not return safely, he still went to war against the forces of Aram. This is the confidence of a prophet of God, one who is inspired, when he told Ahab that if he does return safely then the LORD had not spoken through him. One of the truths we should take note of is to always make the right choice, and the only way to do that is to have the right information. The only way to know what is right is to seek the counsel from the Lord. But that is not the real problem, as Ahab had the right information, as he sought the word of the LORD through a prophet, but then he ignored the word of the LORD and decided to follow his own choice and that cost him his life. Is that not the way of life for all believers? We can seek the counsel of our Lord, perhaps not through a prophet, but then maybe we could hear the word through someone, like a prophet, apostle, evangelist, or a pastor and teacher. They all are gifts to the church at large for the express reason to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the whole body of Christ may be built up until we all reach the unity in the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God,  and becoming mature, meaning we are to attain the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. We also have the Spirit dwelling within us, who speaks to our hearts, who gives us the counsel of God, if we listen.  However, even having all that advantage as a believer, we each must make a choice. Follow the word of the Lord, or follow our own decisions. It is right that we follow the advice of the Lord, follow His counsel it will lead us to life. If we choice our own counsel, we can be sure it will lead us away from life and onto death, just as it did for Ahab. Let us be able to hear the word of the Lord. Let us be about listening to the word of the Lord, and let us be those who choose to follow the word of the Lord. Let us choose wisely. 

 

Hear the Word of the Lord

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

HEAR THE WORD OF THE LORD

1 Kings 22:19-28

19 Micaiah continued, "Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne with all the host of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left. 20 And the LORD said, 'Who will entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead and going to his death there?' "One suggested this, and another that. 21 Finally, a spirit came forward, stood before the LORD and said, 'I will entice him.' 22 " 'By what means?' the LORD asked. " 'I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets,' he said. " 'You will succeed in enticing him,' said the LORD. 'Go and do it.' 23 "So now the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouths of all these prophets of yours. The LORD has decreed disaster for you." 24 Then Zedekiah son of Kenaanah went up and slapped Micaiah in the face. "Which way did the spirit from the LORD go when he went from me to speak to you?" he asked. 25 Micaiah replied, "You will find out on the day you go to hide in an inner room." 26 The king of Israel then ordered, "Take Micaiah and send him back to Amon the ruler of the city and to Joash the king's son 27 and say, 'This is what the king says: Put this fellow in prison and give him nothing but bread and water until I return safely.'" 28 Micaiah declared, "If you ever return safely, the LORD has not spoken through me." Then he added, "Mark my words, all you people!"

NIV

After the four hundred prophets were inspired by a spirit sent from the LORD to entice Ahab into attacking Ramoth Gilead, there stood one prophet alone who spoke truth of God or for God. Micaiah stated the truth and told them, Hear the word of the LORD.” Micaiah saw this vision, inspired to see the LORD on his throne, with all the host of heaven standing around him to his right and left. There are so many truths within this passage to focus our attention on. First, the LORD is upon His throne in heaven, wherever that is right now. He sent a spirit to do His bidding, to entice Ahab to go to war. However, this spirit was sent to be a lying spirit through those four hundred prophets. But Micaiah spoke the truth, and it cost him first a slap in the face and, second, imprisonment with only bread and water until the king of Israel returned safely, which he would not, as we will see later. The one truth we want to focus on is about hearing the word of the Lord. In our culture today, there are so many voices, some of which are extremely loud. Everyone is screaming for attention. Even within the church, we have a multitude of voices, some of them with sweet words, some are nothing more than silver-tongued purveyors of deception. It is unfortunate that some who profess to be believers love to have their ears tickled by lies, even some of the elect will be deceived. Jesus warned about being deceived by false prophets, or men who speak lies, and that even the elect could be deceived if that is possible. What we want to hear is the word of the Lord. There are words of the Lord that are blessings in our lives, words that inspire us, that lift us up. Some words correct us, rebuke us, teach us, and train us in righteousness. Sometimes we only want to hear the good things of God, as King Ahab wanted to hear from that lying spirit through those four hundred prophets. He knew that was one prophet who would speak the truth, but he hated him because he never prophesied anything good about him, only bad. Isn’t that what we want to hear, only the good? We should not be deceived by those who speak only the good things of God, because we need to hear correction at times. We need to hear instructions, even hear a rebuke, if we have been thinking wrongly. What we want is to hear the word of the Lord. 

Importance

 DEVOTION

1^ST KINGS

IMPORTANCE

1 Kings 22:9-18

9 So the king of Israel called one of his officials and said, "Bring Micaiah son of Imlah at once." 10 Dressed in their royal robes, the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat king of Judah were sitting on their thrones at the threshing floor by the entrance of the gate of Samaria, with all the prophets prophesying before them. 11 Now Zedekiah son of Kenaanah had made iron horns and he declared, "This is what the LORD says: 'With these you will gore the Arameans until they are destroyed.'" 2 All the other prophets were prophesying the same thing. "Attack Ramoth Gilead and be victorious," they said, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." 3 The messenger who had gone to summon Micaiah said to him, "Look, as one man the other prophets are predicting success for the king. Let your word agree with theirs, and speak favorably." 14 But Micaiah said, "As surely as the LORD lives, I can tell him only what the LORD tells me." 15 When he arrived, the king asked him, "Micaiah, shall we go to war against Ramoth Gilead, or shall I refrain?" "Attack and be victorious," he answered, "for the LORD will give it into the king's hand." 6 The king said to him, "How many times must I make you swear to tell me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?" 17 Then Micaiah answered, "I saw all Israel scattered on the hills like sheep without a shepherd, and the LORD said, 'These people have no master. Let each one go home in peace.'" 18 The king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, "Didn't I tell you that he never prophesies anything good about me, but only bad?"

NIV

From four hundred so-called prophets to one man who is the prophet of the LORD may be our story here. However, there are two other stories we should focus on. One of these truths is the two kings sitting on their thrones dressed in their royal robes. Isn’t that just what kings are supposed to do? Although we have not come to the truthful prophecy of Micaiah, which includes seeing the LORD sitting on His throne, men make their own thrones, setting themselves high to be lifted up by other men and to be important. Do we think too much of ourselves than we should? Do we think we are important? There are so many ways in this world to make ourselves important. We cannot imagine enough wealth to wear clothes and jewelry that cost as much as our home, but some people do, looking so important. Others may feel that their degrees make them important. The position in life may also make someone feel important. However, Jesus, being God, or the Son of God, Son of man, the Messiah, our  Lord and Savior, did not come to sit upon a throne in His royal robes, to be served, but He came to serve. Again, learning from Him, we are to be gentle and humble of heart. The second truth to consider is what Micaiah told the messenger that he could only speak what the LORD told him. We might think that could only apply to those who have been called to preach the word of God, but that would be wrong thinking. The Spirit gives His gifts to whoever He chooses and when He chooses to manifest them. Those gifts that would be considered speaking only what the Lord tells us are the word of knowledge, the word of wisdom, and the gift of prophecy. We may also be prompted to use the gift of healing or do miracles. The point is that we should not even attempt to wield the power of man, or the importance of man is from the mind of man, but rather, as we humble ourselves before the Lord, lifting Him up, exalting His name, He will lift us up. He is the one who needs to break us, mold us, fill us, and use us for His divine purpose. If He wants to lift us up, that is up to Him. Of course, we want to do good things for our Lord, but even that is one of the Spirit's gifts, called the gift of helps. It should never be about what we think makes us important, even to the kingdom of God. It is about serving His divine purpose for our lives, doing what He says we should do. Our lives should always be about seeking the counsel of the Lord and speaking only what He speaks to us, and never thinking we are so important or a person of importance.