No Riots

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NO RIOTS

Acts 21:30-32

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.

NIV

Riots in the streets, people out of control because of a few who are using them for their own agenda. Sounds like what is going on in streets across our country today.  Murder was in their hearts and they were about to complete it until the police showed up. What is it that brings people to this kind of behavior? Why is it so easy to be aroused? Do we all have that capacity within? Certainly those people thought they were spiritual, or religious and their cause was just because they were told this Paul was preaching against the Law of Moses. But rather than behave like civilized individuals and speak to him, asking him to explain himself, they rioted, they behaved as if they did not have any sense of what is right and just. Do we have that kind of thinking about anyone? Perhaps we do not riot in the pews, but do we allow others to speak words that would arouse us against someone, or worse yet, to we speak words so as to arouse others against someone in order to justify our cause? Surely we do not riot physically as these men did, but do we riot spiritually? Do we have spiritual murder in our hearts? This certain is a life lesson in that we have to see we need to have love toward all men, all people, to love others as our self. How could we even consider a spiritual riot if we love those we would riot against? How could we even tolerate an uproar in the streets, in the pews? Instead of allowing such a behavior, we should be more like the commander in this sense, and put an end to any sort of riot. People who would riot should know and see that we will not join them, but will squelch should behavior. The lesson here is no rioting.  

No Stirring

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

NO STIRRING

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 goes the assumptions. People are always assuming as well as thinking the worse of people. But again it is back to someone threatening their traditional ideas about religion. And it is not bad enough they are upset about Paul, they have to attempt to stir up others over their issue with him. This is where it gets crazy. It is one thing to have hard feelings about a person, even if they are unfounded. But it is entirely a different situation when an attempt is made to bring others into the mix, others who really had nothing to do with our being upset about what someone has done. If we have a problem with a person, a problem with something either they have said, or done, or are doing, we should keep that problem between ourselves and them. We need to go directly to them and solve the controversy between us. But if we move about church trying to gain others to our cause for the sake of numbers, stirring up others against the one we have a problem with, we have done something bad. We certainly are not encouraging and building up others, as in all reality we are tearing them down, causing them to dislike a situation or a person, as well as anything we might tell about someone is nothing but pure gossip anyway and it could be nothing but an assumption on our part to start with.  We might even try to cloak our gossip or our attempts to gain support against a situation or a person, by making it a prayer request. We have to always be on guard against any conversation that would tear anyone down. We need to always be looking for ways to encourage and to build each other up. These men could not stand Paul because they did not like his message about Jesus being the Messiah. So they plotted to tear him down, to destroy his character and ultimately him. We need to be aware of what we say and do in regards to others, and specifically about those who we may disagree with. It is imperative we are not a person who stirs up others. 

Doing what is needed

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

DOING WHAT IS NEEDED

Acts 21:20-25

20 When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: "You see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous for the law. 21 They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or live according to our customs. 22 What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come, 23 so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow. 24 Take these men, join in their purification rites and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved. Then everybody will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law. 25 As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality."

NIV

We are at the beginning of the end which will last for several chapters but nevertheless this book is coming to a conclusion with Paul getting to Jerusalem. There is going to be much conversation, much anger by the Jews, still more travel, more opportunity for Paul to testify as to what happened to him and about Jesus, but now we should focus on this beginning. Certainly we see the Jews were more concerned about the law then about the truth. But in their defense, they believed they had the truth in the law. They put their faith in Moses as he was the one God gave the law to and thus they could not tolerate any teaching that would usurp the authority of Moses. The primary law which seems to be at the root of this anger is circumcision. We know that Paul wrote about this and that true Israel is made up of those people who are circumcised of the heart rather than of the flesh. Of course in our country many non-believers were circumcised as babies merely as what was considered then a health reason. Many of the men in the country had no choice in the matter, it was done to us, not to adhere to the Law of Moses but for supposed health reasons. Yet all of us do have the choice whether we want our heart circumcised.  Both men and women can choose this and thus be true Israel, and so fulfill prophesy, that all of Israel will be saved. But we still have to understand why Paul would consent to make an outward appearance of abiding by the Law of Moses. Well at least at this point his fellow believers, in fact it was James and the rest of the elders who wanted Paul to do this. Does this smack of hypocrisy? How can you live in Christ and live under the law? Did not Christ fulfill the law? Jesus did in fact live under the law, although he explained the truth of the law. So why was Paul being urged by the elders of the church, believers in Christ, baptized by the Spirit, to show the Jews he was in obedience to the law? Were they just trying to save him from harm? Was it just a ruse? Perhaps it was harmless, in that as God still allowed the Jews to practice the law he gave to Moses and did so until he saw fit for Jerusalem to be destroyed and thus their temple and all that law associated with it would be impossible to follow, so in order to show that Paul did not mean for men  to abandon the yoke if they chose to, as he had written before this time. He never insisted Jews leave the law, but that Jesus had fulfilled the law. So what do we learn? Perhaps it is not a good thing to speak openly about the traditions of church, or religion, and in fact, to participate to the point of acceptance so that our words of truth will not fall on deaf ears, but will be considered with weighty thought. Paul was being asked to appear as though he did not oppose the tradition or the law, in order that he might be able to speak more openly and not fear physical, but more importantly, spiritual opposition. If we openly oppose church traditions we may encounter great opposition, especially spiritual and that would be more harmful to those who oppose us then to ourselves. If our words can be considered, then their blood is on their own hands. But if we make ourselves out to be opposed to all they have believed, we will not be heard, and their blood may be on our hands. So as Paul, we need to do want is needed so we can be heard. 

Greeted warmoly

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

GREETED WARMLY

Acts 21:15-19

15 After this, we got ready and went up to Jerusalem. 16 Some of the disciples from Caesarea accompanied us and brought us to the home of Mnason, where we were to stay. He was a man from Cyprus and one of the early disciples. 17 When we arrived at Jerusalem, the brothers received us warmly. 18 The next day Paul and the rest of us went to see James, and all the elders were present. 19 Paul greeted them and reported in detail what God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry.

NIV

Certainly an account of where they went seems as though that is all there is, an account of where they went, but we are told that when they arrived the brothers greeted them warmly. That may seem to be obvious the believers would great other believers warmly, but in all reality that may not be the case in our post-modern church. In fact, we might even arrive at a church and not get greeted at all, or to make this personal, others might arrive at our church and we do not even greet them, much less warmly. Sure we have voluntaries to stand at the door and say hello to everyone who enters, which is mostly all the regular attenders. But in churches that have rather large congregations, the greeters cannot know everyone who attends and thus people unknown to the greeters enter, which could include someone new, a first time visitor. Yet the point here is that we, who are not greeters, stand around in our little clichés talking only to those in the group. Do we greet other believers warmly? Perhaps we do say hello, or how you doing, or hi, or maybe just smile and wave, but in all reality that is a rather cold, lack-luster greeting. Perhaps in our society that is all that is needed. Maybe people do not want to be bothered, they want that anonymity or do not like people to invade their personal space. Yet it would appear the lesson we should incorporate into our life is to greet others warmly, to embrace them, and make them feel as though we are glad to see them, that they are important and loved, which should be the way we actually feel, so our greeting is sincere. Paul told believers in both the letters to those in Corinth, to the believers in Thessalonica, and to those in Rome to greet each other with a holy kiss. That is four times in the New Testament we are admonished to greet each other with a holy kiss. That has to be more than just a smile and “how ya doing?”. 

Be Ready

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

BE READY

Acts 21:10-14

10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'" 12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14 When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."

NIV

We dealt with the conversation of Agabus already, but thought it would be a good idea to include this as we need to consider the response of the people and of Paul to what Agabus had prophesied. There are two completely different responses in that the people did not want Paul to have to contend with what was going to happen if he went to Jerusalem and then Paul’s. All these people were believers and yet they wanted Paul to avoid what was intended for him, by the Spirit, to experience. It is because of what Paul was going to experience he would be able to write many of the letters we have today. It be because Paul experienced what he did, we have life lessons to learn that we would not have had. But the other believers were like most of us, wanting to avoid, both for themselves, and for others, uncomfortable situations. But Paul only wanted to accomplish the task the Spirit had set out for him. So we have the same opportunity to have one of those two attitudes toward our life. We can desire to avoid or we can desire to comply. This is not to say the Spirit will ask us to endure hardship as he did with Paul, but the point is we need to follow the leading of the Spirit regardless of the circumstances he leads us to or rather through. He will not only lead us to an experience, but he will not ever forsake us, so he will lead us through it as well. Now it could be the Spirit might lead us through some wonderful experiences as well as some times of hardships, but the Spirit will always lead us and we should always be ready to fellow. These believers that wanted Paul not to go, simply did not have the mind of Christ. That might be a harsh comment, even critical but the fact is they were not spiritually where they should have been, as Paul was. His heart was breaking not because they were weeping for him, but because he knew they were spiritually weak and did not understand the importance or the gravity of the situation in that Paul was being lead of the Spirit and he was ready, as always, to follow. He had taught them all about that lifestyle, and here he saw how much they had not learned and thus his heart was breaking, not for himself but for them. One of our callings is to encourage one another and to say that which builds each other up. They were not doing that at all, but Paul continued to teach them in his response to them. He told them he was ready to not only be bound, but to die for the name of Jesus. Should our attitude be like those people, or like Paul? We know that answer and we need to be like Paul and be ready.

Open Yet Discerning

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

OPEN YET DISCERNING

Acts 21:10-11

10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jews of Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.'"

NIV

Here we see, as we have seen throughout much of the Old Testament, a prophet speaking to someone, or a group of people, something from the mouth of God. It is not as though the Holy Spirit has not spoken directly to Paul before, but here we see the Holy Spirit using Agabus to speak to Paul. This could be our lesson today. We might have had the Holy Spirit speak to us directly in days past, but we should be open to the fact God might decide to speak to us through another person. Now that is not to say that people who come up and tell us that God told them to tell us is always the truth. Here is where we must engage the Spirit ourselves and depend on him giving us discernment. What Agabus told Paul was consistent with all the times the Spirit had warned Paul about what he could expect to happen. This was not some message from out in left field, some off the wall, bizarre message that had little sense or any thread of consistency with the plan of God for Paul. If we have been sensing the Holy Spirit dealing with us as far as something we are to do, or someplace we are supposed to be, and someone approaches us, who knows nothing of our past experience with the Spirit, or his urging upon us, and tells us something which confirms in our hearts that which we already have a sense of, then we should pay attention to those words. But if someone tells us something they say the Spirit urged them to, and it has absolutely nothing to do with what we have been sensing the Spirit urging us, perhaps we should simple smile, but ignore anything that person has to say. The Spirit is not conflicted nor does he give conflicting messages. If it is one thing we can be certain of God is consistently consistent and he is constant. Yet we should not ignore all words spoken to us in the name of the Spirit. We cannot always put the Spirit in a box, insisting he only works or speaks to us in one way. We need to be open, yet discerning. 

Godly Parenting

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

GODLY PARENTING

Acts 21:7-9

7 We continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and stayed with them for a day. 8 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven. 9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.

NIV

Why do we want to know that Philip had four unmarried daughters who prophesied? Why do we need to know they were unmarried? First we should note this is Philip, the one who testified to the eunuch and was transported supernaturally by the Spirit. He must have settled in Caesarea and done very well for himself as being referred to as one of the seven and being an evangelist. We know that Paul told timothy in his letter to him that those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith. This surely must have applied to Philip. Also we might suspect the reason we are told his daughters prophesied is so we would remember the prophet Joel and his prophesy that God would “pour out his Spirit on all men people and your sons and daughters will prophesy”. What we might gain from all this is that Philip must have had a high degree of religion in his household, or we should say a great deal of faith in Christ was displayed in his household and that his daughters are evidence of that. Of course if we go back in this book of Acts we would also find that if Philip was one of the seven, he too would be like Stephen, a man full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom as this was the instructions of the Apostles to the people, to pick seven men from among them who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. Philip raised his daughters to be women of great faith and full of the Spirit, otherwise they would not be able to prophesy. This certainly is a lesson to all who are the head of their household. To lead their family in service to the Lord, to lead their family to be full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom. We do not know about Philip’s wife, in fact, she is not even mentioned but we have to assume she was a woman of faith as well and also had a great influence upon her daughters. This should serve as an example of Godly parenting.   

Listen to the Spirit

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

LISTEN TO THE SPIRIT

Acts 21:1-6

21:1 After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara. 2 We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail. 3 After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo. 4 Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem. 5 But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray. 6 After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

NIV.

We are back in the midst of another great traveling adventure which presents us with nothing much but a list of cities, yet if all scripture is God breathed we should find something here which serves to help us in our journey with him. What does stand out is the comment “through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem”. We are not told exactly who or which disciples were in Tyre, but they were there with their families. This was on the mainland North of Jerusalem, in fact is it modern day Lebanon. What the disciples were doing there is unclear, but the point is Paul and his companions found them in this city and decided to stay with them for seven days. Earlier we were told Paul was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible by Pentecost, so now he stays here seven days. Was the hurry over or did he figure his schedule would allow this time? Perhaps he was in need of some fellowship, or felt the disciples needed some encouragement. But back to the point of them urging him not to go on, through the Spirit. What does it look like to urge through the Spirit? Was it the Spirit which did not what Paul to go on? He has told those elders of the Church in Ephesus the Spirit was warning him that prison and hardship was waiting for him there, but that the Spirit was compelling him to go. Now we see these disciples through the Spirit urging him to not go. So which is it, was the Spirit conflicted? Do we have conflicting directions from the Spirit? On the surface it might appear so, but in fact it is the same message. The Spirit was once again warning Paul that prison and hardship was waiting for him in Jerusalem. This is the same message he has been telling Paul in every city. In Paul’s case, his life as a believer was not always a bed of roses, in fact he had some really rough times and he was going to have some even more difficult times ahead of him, yet he was compelled by the Spirit. Could this be another life lesson for us? Could we say that although we are led by the Spirit, we could face difficult times? Could we say that being a believer does not necessarily mean we will always have a great life, a blessed which is generally interpreted as one with good health, great income and a host of material goods? Paul certainly lived a blessed life, led by the Spirit, but his life was full  of difficult times. Was that just Paul. Are we different? Did God deal with Paul in a special way and that is not how he deals with us? Yet we could learn that is a possible direction God could led us? We need to at least be open to such a leading of the Spirit. That is not to say the Spirit would lead us exactly as he did Paul, but it is possible. We cannot ever put the Spirit in a box. Each one of us is an individual and the Spirit moves us as he will. It is not our will but his. The Spirit will prompt us as to where and when we should be and had how long. He may prompt us through others in order to verify in our hearts his leading, as he did with Paul through those disciples and in all the other cities, but he was still directly prompting Paul to go to Jerusalem. What we learn is to listen to the Spirit. 

Greived

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

GRIEVED

Acts 20:36-38

36 When he had said this, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. 37 They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. 38 What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.

NIV

Fellowship is a good thing. These elders were grieved they were not going to ever see Paul again. There must have been a great sense of kinship, of brotherly love between these men and Paul. He had not only shared the gospel with them, helped to them grow spiritually but also developed a close personal relationship with them. He was more than a traveling evangelist, he was a close friend. Here is where we should learn our life lesson. Can we be close friends with ever other believer? Should we have this type of bond with all other believers? It is fair to say that Paul did not have this type of relationship with all the believers in Ephesus, but only with these elders? Was it sort of a private club of pastors? Yet we can still say that we should have that type of relationships with some believers. It would be difficult to have that close of a bond with thousands of people, even hundreds, even fifty or forty, or thirty. But it is a lesson that we should have some people who we have that close of fellowship with that we would be grieved if we were never to see their faces again. That is to say we cannot be an island onto ourselves. We need friends, we need fellowship. Now that should be the key word for us, fellowship. It is certain by what Paul had told them, he spent his time with them talking about the things of God, about Jesus, about the Spirit, and how they should be living as believers. When we gather together with those we consider as friends, those whom we would be grieved if we never saw them again, are we talking about the things of God, about Jesus, about the Spirit and how we should all be living, or do we spend our time with small talk? If it is small talk then perhaps we really do not have any close relationships at all, but rather just a sort of acquaintance, knowing they name and a few personal things about each other. Maybe the reason these elders were so grieved was because Paul was not a man of small talk, but one of deep thought and concern for their spiritual well-being. He was a man who encouraged them to greatness of faith. He was a man who desired for them to know the truth, and to be strong enough in their faith and understanding of the truth to withstand the enemy of their souls. This is the type of relationships we should covet, finding those who care about us that much as well as caring about them that much. Who would we be grieved about if we never saw them again? Who would be grieved if they never saw us again?

Work

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

WORK

Acts 20:32-35

32 "Now I commit you to God and to the word of his grace, which can build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified. 33 I have not coveted anyone's silver or gold or clothing. 34 You yourselves know that these hands of mine have supplied my own needs and the needs of my companions. 35 In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.'"

NIV

Here is the proof that Paul supported both himself and his companions with the work of his own hands. Paul did not ever expect to get paid for preaching the gospel, especially by the people he was preaching to. Of course times have changed since then and we certainly pay those who not only preach to us, but all those who do anything at all in the church as a vocation. This does not include all of those who work for a living and volunteer in the church, but still somehow we have come to a place that is not supported by the scripture. Of course Paul wrote to Timothy that the elders who lead the church, especially those who preach are due double honor and that a laborer is due his reward. Many have taken this or interpreted this to imply we should pay our pastors twice as much as anyone else makes. But those Greek words can be used both as pay money and as give esteem or praise, to hold those who preach in the highest esteem. Not muzzling the ox while he trends out grain simply means not to hold those who preach in contempt or as Paul goes on, not to entertain an accusation against them unless you have several witnesses. He also tells the Thessalonians to hold those who lead them, the elders in the highest regard, but does not mention pay. This whole idea of paid staff has gotten way out of control, especially when those who preach the word live a far better lifestyle then many of those they preach to. Paul would never have allowed that which he made sure he did not do for the sake of the gospel. Paul did not consider preaching the gospel as qualifying as work to be paid for, as he made tents to sell, for his food. Although this sounds as a rant, there is a purpose as it still serves as a life lesson for all of us. We should work and support ourselves and our companions which in today’s meaning could well mean our families. There was not a welfare state in the time of Paul, although there was some people who were in need from time to time and the believers cared for those in need. But Paul also told those in Thessalonica they should live a quiet life and work with their own hands, and then later he even said in his second letter to them that if a man does not work he should not eat. He told them he gave them that example so again, Paul was consistent with that message and that he worked although he was an elder in all respects of the word to the church. We all should work, we all should be busy supporting our life with our own hands, and none of us should ever expect to be supported by the work of another man’s hands. All these words of Paul are the last established principles God is instilling in his people. There is no room for man to supersede that which God has established. Work with own hands and eat.  

On Guard

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

ON GUARD

Acts 20:25-31

25 "Now I know that none of you among whom I have gone about preaching the kingdom will ever see me again. 26 Therefore, I declare to you today that I am innocent of the blood of all men.   27 For I have not hesitated to proclaim to you the whole will of God. 28 Keep watch over yourselves and all the flock of which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers. Be shepherds of the church of God, which he bought with his own blood. 29 I know that after I leave, savage wolves will come in among you and will not spare the flock. 30 Even from your own number men will arise and distort the truth in order to draw away disciples after them. 31 So be on your guard! Remember that for three years I never stopped warning each of you night and day with tears.

NIV

Although Paul was specifically talking to the elders of the church in Ephesus, or what we would call today the Pastors or shepherds of the church, this is still a good lesson for all of us, especially those of us who are the head of our households. This can also apply to those who lead small groups, or bible studies, Sunday school classes or even have occasions to be able to preach from time to time. All of us have a certain responsibility for the spiritual welfare of those who hear our voice and see or watch our lives. We all need to be on guard against those who would be considered savage wolves who would decimate the flock. There were men in Paul’s time and there are certainly many today who would steal the flock and draw people onto themselves for the sake of fame and fortune. But there are also those who simply would like for people to believe them to be spiritual giants, or knowledgeable in biblical matters. Either case many have a distorted view of the gospel and are spreading something other than the truth. Although many would say there are numerous ways in which we can interpret the scriptures, which surely must be the cause for the huge number of different denominations, but the simple fact is there is but one God, One Son and he has but one truth and his Spirit will lead us into all that truth. Paul told them he declared the whole will of God to them, the whole truth. We have the whole truth, the whole will of God and we must make sure those who are entrusted in our care, are not drawn away by false teachers, false doctrine or erroneous interpretations. But that also implies we have an awesome responsibility to listen to the Spirit and thus know the truth, the whole will of God. We must always be on guard.  

A Purpose

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

A PURPOSE

Acts 20:22-24

22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

NIV

We dealt with being compelled by the Spirit so now we should focus on this concept of Paul’s considering his life worth nothing to him, if only he might finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus had given to him, which is of course, as he says, testifying to the gospel of God’s grace. How many of us would have that opinion of our lives? How many of us would consider our life worth nothing, if only we could finish the race and complete the task the Lord has given to us? First of all we would have to acknowledge that the Lord has given us a task. That of course would require that we actually think he has. So if and we have to assume the Lord has given to each one of us the task of testifying to the gospel of his grace, do we accept that task? And if we do accept it, do we live as if that is the one and single purpose of our life, and that we must finish the race and that our life is worth nothing unless we do? Do we live our lives mostly in pursuit of our own agenda and simply incorporate God in our lives or is God and his task for us our agenda and we incorporate our wants into that life? It would seem difficult to give up being self-centered to become God-centered yet that is what it appears Paul was and that we should be. Certainly Paul did other things than just testify. We know he worked to support himself so as not to be a burden on those he was bringing the good news to. He had to eat, take care of his clothing, find a place to live while he was in all those towns, do the ordinary tasks of living a human life, yet his attitude was that of finishing the race, doing what God had given him to do. He certainly could not be about that twenty-four seven, but that was his attitude, that was what his purpose was. So it is not as though we cannot work, and grocery shop, and take care of the material things God has provided us with, but we should understand that we have a calling, we have a purpose, we have a task that God has given to each of us, and we should have the attitude that our life really has no meaning, it has no worth unless we are completing that purpose, that task. If we do not have one specific task, we do have the purpose of bringing glory to God. That alone is a great task and we should be about our fathers business. Living with a purpose. 

Obedience

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

OBEDIENCE

Acts 20:22-24

22 "And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. 23 I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. 24 However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me — the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace.

NIV

There is so much here we might have to stay here for several days, so let us first consider being compelled by the Spirit. It would appear that Paul lived his life following the leading of the Spirit. That is to say, he did not necessarily go where he wanted to go, but went where the Spirit lead him. This is obviously a very important life lesson for us. It is imperative that we live in that same manner. We as human beings can make some awful decisions. We can decide to do something, or go somewhere that turns out to be a disaster at the least. But if we are listening, if we are open, the Spirit will compel us in the direction we should go, just as he did with Paul. We know this because this man has already experienced this more than once in his life, in fact, numerous times. The Spirit has compelled him as to where to live, and where to work over and over again, and it is right to expect this will continue to be the way of life.  We can make plans and plot out the course of our life, but here we see that Paul was simply compelled to go to Jerusalem and he did not know what would happen once he got there. Should we not live like that as well? Why do we think we have to decide every aspect of our lives before we do anything? Why should we try to design our future, planning all our options or considering all the scenarios?  If we are being compelled by the Spirit, that is all we really need to know. Can we at least discuss what the possibilities are? There may be times this could be appropriate, especially if we are not sure about the prompting of the Spirit, but when the Spirit compels we must follow. That old saying from a television show of the past, “Father knows best”, so when the Spirit says to do or go we know he knows what is best for our lives. Now of course he may say stay for I have sent you where you are. The point is we need to be wherever the Spirit has compelled us to be. We have to do whatever the Spirit compels us to do. The key word here is obedience. 

Helpful Words

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

HELPFUL WORDS

Acts 20:17-21

17 From Miletus, Paul sent to Ephesus for the elders of the church. 18 When they arrived, he said to them: "You know how I lived the whole time I was with you, from the first day I came into the province of Asia. 19 I served the Lord with great humility and with tears, although I was severely tested by the plots of the Jews. 20 You know that I have not hesitated to preach anything that would be helpful to you but have taught you publicly and from house to house. 21 I have declared to both Jews and Greeks that they must turn to God in repentance and have faith in our Lord Jesus.

NIV

We are coming to the close of the traveling adventures and now get one more glimpse into the heart of Paul. He tells the elders of the church how he did not hesitate to preach anything that would be helpful to them. This has to be our life lesson. When we are with fellow believers either in public or in our homes, our words should be those that are helpful to them. This has to imply that there should be no words that would be considered gossip, no words that would be considered as complaining about anything about the church, the pastor, or even other believers. Such words would certainly not be helpful for the listener of such words, but might rather be cause for dissention or dissatisfaction. Of course when believers gather we also spend time speaking of sports, the weather, sports figures, the latest whatever we have done or place we have gone, maybe even a little politics, or rather complaining about some politician, but it seems seldom do we spent much time speaking words that would be helpful to others. It is difficult to even imagine that Paul engaged in such meaningless conversations but was wholly focused on words that would be helpful to the spiritual birth and growth of others. Why shouldn’t we do the same? Why shouldn’t we spent our time with other believers focused on the word of God which helps people grow in their faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? We could also share what God has done in our lives, how he has healed us, provided for us, directed our paths, and ordered our footsteps. All such words would be helpful for others to grow in their faith. Of course all this should done with the quality we see Paul had, with great humility and with tears. This would certainly imply the lack of proud boasting of our knowledge of the word, or even our appearance of being that way. How we share our words of encouragement to help others should be done in humility, which implies a deep desire to benefit those who we speak with. But most of all we should be focused on words that are helpful.   

Expecting

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

EXPECTING

Acts 20:13-16

13 We went on ahead to the ship and sailed for Assos, where we were going to take Paul aboard. He had made this arrangement because he was going there on foot. 14 When he met us at Assos, we took him aboard and went on to Mitylene. 15 The next day we set sail from there and arrived off Kios. The day after that we crossed over to Samos, and on the following day arrived at Miletus. 16 Paul had decided to sail past Ephesus to avoid spending time in the province of Asia, for he was in a hurry to reach Jerusalem, if possible, by the day of Pentecost.

NIV

What do we do with this travel log of cities except the one comment about Paul’s chose to forego Asia in order to get to Jerusalem by the day of Pentecost? Of course there is a great significance about this day beyond the Jewish celebration of the feast of weeks, which it has been called. This day is the fiftieth day after Passover that God established as the day to bring grain offering, or first fruits of the harvest. The Greek word means fiftieth day. But it is unlikely Paul was wanting to make a grain offering, but rather wanting to take advantage of the large number of people from many regions who would be at Jerusalem for the feast. He was also well aware of the outpouring of the Spirit that one particular day of Pentecost and most likely was hoping to be able to preach the Gospel to many and most of all see a repeat of the outpouring of the Spirit. What a glorious event that would be if God decided to use that day of Pentecost as a day of outpouring of his Spirit. We do know, which we will see later, that Paul does not know what will happen to him there, but that he is compelled to preach the Gospel. We might learn, but that is sort of based on assuming he was hoping to see a repeat of the Spirit outpouring on the people, that man does look for rituals from what God does. Of course God did establish certain rituals for the people, such as Passover and the Day of Pentecost. There is something to be said about having a routine to follow. A sense of order is needed otherwise men left to his own might flounder aimlessly or create rituals of their own which have little meaning to God. So perhaps it is good to expect God to do in the present what he has done in the past. Perhaps it is a good thing that Paul expected the day of Pentecost to be a special event in the new church, as it was for the Jews. Have  we left that day behind in the post-modern church? Have we forgot to look for or expect the outpouring of the Spirit? Are we expecting to see the evidence of his outpouring? It surely seems Paul was anxious to see what was going to happen, are we? It would be a good thing if we were expecting the Spirit to pour out whenever we gather together. 

Living Faith

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

LIVING FAITH

Acts 20:7-12

7 On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight. 8 There were many lamps in the upstairs room where we were meeting. 9 Seated in a window was a young man named Eutychus, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead. 10 Paul went down, threw himself on the young man and put his arms around him. "Don't be alarmed," he said. "He's alive!" 11 Then he went upstairs again and broke bread and ate. After talking until daylight, he left. 12 The people took the young man home alive and were greatly comforted.

NIV

Alright then, we are here at church and the service lasted until midnight, no wait it lasted until dawn the next day. That is one long sermon, as it seems Paul never stopped talking, in fact one young man actually fell asleep in church and as a result fell three stories to the ground and thus being killed from the fall. But Paul was so full of faith he simply threw his arms around the young man and he came back to life. That is full of faith, full of the Holy Spirit and full of the power of God. It is not recorded for us if Paul actually said anything to the young man, or that simply by wrapping his arms around him God brought the man to life. We don’t know if Paul prayed, or invoked the name of Jesus, or what, all we know is he threw his arms around him. What do we learn from all this? It would appear God is or acts in spontaneous ways. That is to say there is no one formula needed for God to act. There is no set phrase we need to recite in order for God to answer. There is no particular method of prayer needed for God to act. But what certainly is needed is faith, or expectation that God will act, that it is a fact he will do it. It is certain Paul had absolutely no doubt in his mind. It would seem Paul did not think that God could do it, but will he? Paul was absolutely convinced God would bring this young man back to life. Although we most likely will never find ourselves in the situation Paul was in, we still have plenty of opportunity to believe and act on the fact God will do it. We do not know what scripture, if any, Paul was preaching from but we sure know his message was about Jesus and salvation and Christian living. He put his words into action and the people were greatly comforted. Should we do any less? Why shouldn’t we put our faith into action as Paul did? Once again, not so much as to bring someone back from the dead, but simply to believe God will do whatever it is that is needed to be done in order to show his power and might. Shouldn’t we live with that kind of faith? 

Encourage

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

ENCOURAGE

Acts 20:1-6

20:1 When the uproar had ended, Paul sent for the disciples and, after encouraging them, said good-by and set out for Macedonia. 2 He traveled through that area, speaking many words of encouragement to the people, and finally arrived in Greece, 3 where he stayed three months. Because the Jews made a plot against him just as he was about to sail for Syria, he decided to go back through Macedonia. 4 He was accompanied by Sopater son of Pyrrhus from Berea, Aristarchus and Secundus from Thessalonica, Gaius from Derbe, Timothy also, and Tychicus and Trophimus from the province of Asia. 5 These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. 6 But we sailed from Philippi after the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and five days later joined the others at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

NIV

Certainly a travel log in this portion of the book, as well as a rather extensive list of all the travelers. So what can we glean from this? The one point which seems to stand out is the fact that Paul encouraged them before he said good-by as well as he traveled through the area speaking many words of encouragement to the people. So the key word here in this section of the narrative in encourage, or encouragement. How often do we encourage our fellow believers? How often do we speak words of encouragement rather than other sorts of words?  How often do we here words of encouragement from our fellow believers? It seems all too often when we believers get together we either gossip about someone, or complain about something going on in the church, or talk about our own aches and pains, or whatever, but seldom do we here words of encouragement. Now of course rather than spend time complaining about how we seldom or never hear words of encouragement from others, we should be focused on the fact they seldom or never hear words of encouragement from us. This is something we need to be conscience of and more aware to do. We certainly have a whole bible full of material to encourage people about. If nothing else we can always tell others, that we praise God they are saved, that alone is encouraging. Yet that Greek word used here which is translated encourage is a form of the word used as the Comforter, the paracleat, the Holy Spirit or to exhort. This could also imply that we would or should be exhorting people to live a life closer to God, to continue in faith, to believe God more and more. But in some sense that is encouraging them to continue in their faith, encourage them to move forward with God, encourage them to be all that God would have them be. However, this might well mean that in order for us to encourage others we first must live out that which we encourage others to do. Maybe that is why we hear or speak little words of encouragement because none of us feel as if we are qualified to do so. But that would be wrong, or incorrect, or constipated thinking. We are all qualified as we all are washed in the blood of the lamb, and stand righteous in the sight of God. We all have the faith in Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior. We all have been given the Holy Spirit to guide us in all truth, as well as a host of gifts, fruit and armor to empower us to be all that we can be. So let us encourage each other. 

Sound Reasoning

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

SOUND REASONING

Acts 19:35-41

35 The city clerk quieted the crowd and said: "Men of Ephesus, doesn't all the world know that the city of Ephesus is the guardian of the temple of the great Artemis and of her image, which fell from heaven? 36 Therefore, since these facts are undeniable, you ought to be quiet and not do anything rash. 37 You have brought these men here, though they have neither robbed temples nor blasphemed our goddess. 38 If, then, Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen have a grievance against anybody, the courts are open and there are proconsuls. They can press charges. 39 If there is anything further you want to bring up, it must be settled in a legal assembly. 40 As it is, we are in danger of being charged with rioting because of today's events. In that case we would not be able to account for this commotion, since there is no reason for it." 41 After he had said this, he dismissed the assembly.

NIV

There doesn't seem to be anything in the narrative that could be used as a life lesson, other than one man of reason was able to put the crowd at rest, and cause it to dismiss, to forego its wrath, its anger, and for part of it, its unknown reason for rioting. If they were truly all upset about the disciples blaspheming Artemis this city clerk put that to rest with good reasoning. But the City Clerk was calling out specifically Demetrius and his fellow craftsmen who started all this commotion. Perhaps this is the life lesson. When we encounter a fellow believer who is causing commotion within the Body of Christ we need, with reason, in love, call them out and instruct them in the proper way to handle their grievance. If they have a justified reason for being upset over the way something is happening, they have a proper course of action to bring that to the attention of those who are the reason for their feelings. Of course we know that is to go directly to that person and with calm reason, and with love, discuss the problem which exists so as to resolve it in a Christ-like manner, so love may abound. We have to make sure that it is the course of action, should we have any issues within the Body of Christ and not be like Demetrius and insight a riot, cause dissention or encourage any ill-feelings within the Body of Christ. We use this term so as to not limit our responsibility to within one denomination or for that matter within a specific church. But the main point here is that not only should we not be the cause for such outbreak of dissention and perhaps in some sense a meaningless riot within the church, we should be as this city clerk and bring sound reason to the situation and calm the storm. This is the story of Jesus in the boat, He calmed the storm not only on the outside of the boat, but he calmed the storm within the hearts of the disciples that were with him, bringing peace and an assurance of his authority. We need to bring a peace and an assurance, not of our authority, but an assurance of the authority of Christ in whatever situation is occurring. Sound reasoning should always bring truth to the matter, especially when the reasoning is based on the word. It does no good to become emotionally intense matching the rage of the crowd, but quite sound reasoning wins the day. 

Know your Pupose

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

KNOW YOUR PURPOSE

Acts 19:32-34

32 The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Most of the people did not even know why they were there. 33 The Jews pushed Alexander to the front, and some of the crowd shouted instructions to him. He motioned for silence in order to make a defense before the people. 34 But when they realized he was a Jew, they all shouted in unison for about two hours: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!"

NIV

The key here is in the fact most of the people did not even know why they were there. The assembly was in confusion: Some were shouting one thing, some another. Crowd mentality is brutal in some sense as it only requires a few people to control the rest. We saw this in the supposed trial of Jesus before Pilate when a few Jews controlled the whole crowd. It is amazing how people can get involved in something they know nothing about, or why they are actually involved, other than belonging to something that is going on. This still applies today, and it is sad that people join whatever just to belong to something, even when they do not know why they are there. Hopefully the church is not like that. Hopefully those who join in know why they are there. Hopefully most people who attend church know they are there to worship God. We have to make sure that we are well aware that is our sole purpose of being where we are. We should not be concerned about whether others see that we are there or not, so they think either well or not so well about us. We should not be as concerned as to how we appear, as far as having the right style clothing or whatever so others will think well of us. We should not be concerned about what the church looks like, what others look like, what kind of this or that, as our purpose for being there is to worship God. But if we are distracted by, or our focus is in all that stuff, then perhaps we are much like that crowd that did not even know why they were there. We should know why we are a member of the crowd that shows up on Sunday morning. We should know exactly why we are there, to worship God, to bring glory to him. This is why we are taught to not say to the well-dressed man, come sit up front, and to the beggar dressed man go sit in that back on the floor. If we are focused on the crowd and how it looks we have lost our focus on our purpose for being there, to worship God. We must always know why we are there, always know our purpose is to worship God. 

Crowds

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

CROWDS

Acts 19:28-31

28 When they heard this, they were furious and began shouting: "Great is Artemis of the Ephesians!" 29 Soon the whole city was in an uproar. The people seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Paul's traveling companions from Macedonia, and rushed as one man into the theater. 30 Paul wanted to appear before the crowd, but the disciples would not let him. 31 Even some of the officials of the province, friends of Paul, sent him a message begging him not to venture into the theater.

NIV

One again we are in the middle of a rather lengthy narrative of what happened in Ephesus which started because of Demetrius being upset about his business being effected by Christianity. After his rant we see the people he was speaking to became furious. There got all work up over this, and as usual a crowd mentally is mostly all emotional and has little thoughtful content. We can see here how they were just a crowd, rushing these two traveling companions of Paul into the theater as if they were one. That is the crowd was acting as one man, one mind. But what can we learn from this? It would appear one truth we could take from this is to be an individual, not simply going along with the crowd because it is a crowd. That is to say just because a large number of people are like-minded does not mean their path is right. This crowd was using their supposed worship of Artemis to gather the following of the whole city when it was really about their income being affected by Christianity. If we are going to be followers of Jesus then we need to follow only Jesus. We should not allow the crowd to dictate what we believe. This might make a good case for anti-denominationalism. Perhaps denominations are nothing more than a crowd all worked up about their cause, their particular take on the scriptures, even to the point of many within the denomination, the crowd even knowing the fullness of that cause. They are simply being among the crowd mentality, chanting whatever the leaders chant. Crowds are not always right and we need to ensure we believe what we believe based solely on the scriptures as lead by the Spirit. We cannot believe what the crowd believes just because the crowd believes it. 

Reacting to God

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

REACTING TO GOD

Acts 19:21-27

21 After all this had happened, Paul decided to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. "After I have been there," he said, "I must visit Rome also." 22 He sent two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, to Macedonia, while he stayed in the province of Asia a little longer. 23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way. 24 A silversmith named Demetrius, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought in no little business for the craftsmen. 25 He called them together, along with the workmen in related trades, and said: "Men, you know we receive a good income from this business. 26 And you see and hear how this fellow Paul has convinced and led astray large numbers of people here in Ephesus and in practically the whole province of Asia. He says that man-made gods are no gods at all. 27 There is danger not only that our trade will lose its good name, but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis will be discredited, and the goddess herself, who is worshiped throughout the province of Asia and the world, will be robbed of her divine majesty."

NIV

It appears Christianity was disturbing business in the area, especially for those whose business was making idols from silver. It is not clear as to how many silversmiths there were in town, or other craftsman, or workers, perhaps of gold. There were also workers of related trades, perhaps stone masons or those who man sculptures from stone. But the point is that their business was of primary importance. Of course this Demetrius was a clever man even bringing in the idea of the goddess they made all their money from would be discredited and robbed of her divine majesty. Of course today the silversmiths continue to make money with crosses instead of symbols of Artemis. Some people will always find a way in business to turn a profit from some form of religion, not that it is bad, but that is just the facts. So what can we learn here? Certainly we could consider the point of not putting business before God. Or not putting any idols before God. These men considered their profit making more important than worshipping the true God which Paul was preaching. We should be careful not to fall into that trap, or vision of life. Yes, we need to work, that is a biblical principle. But to store up profit, for personal pleasures, trusting in that income for all the needs of life, both the present and the future seems to have the same kind of mindset as those craftsmen did. It would be interesting if all the related trades and professions that make their profit from Christianity were threatened by a new faith. One that did not need church buildings designed and built, with all the fixtures. All the bookstores, music makers, authors, cards, and related religious items, such as Christian jewelry, statues, etc. All the Christian recording artists and the companies who make their music into sellable forms. The number of professions and trades is too numerous to count which make their profit from Christianity. What if some new god were to arrive on the scene and all this business was in jeopardy? How would people react? We need to be careful not to become entrapped with that mentality. God has to be the most important aspect of our lives. God does not exist so we can make a living, we exist so we can bring glory to God. Does he provide us with income to live? Yes. But all we do, all we say, should be for the purpose of bringing glory to him. It is about how we react to God which matters the most. 

Real Power

DEVOTION

THE BOOK OF ACTS

REAL POWER

Acts 19:17-20

17 When this became known to the Jews and Greeks living in Ephesus, they were all seized with fear, and the name of the Lord Jesus was held in high honor. 18 Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. 19 A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly. When they calculated the value of the scrolls, the total came to fifty thousand drachmas.   20 In this way the word of the Lord spread widely and grew in power.

NIV

When the power of God is at work men cannot hide from him. Yet here we see the power of Satan at work beating a men so furiously they ran out in the street naked and bleeding. Although the demon of Satan meant this to show his power, it actually turned men to Christ. If people knew the destructive power of evil in their lives they too would run to Christ. We see here fear seized but the Jews and the Greeks, fear of the power of evil. They even burned their sorcery scrolls. Those who dabbled in the black arts, got rid of all the evidence of their association with them. How many articles that are associated with the black arts are in the homes of people today? We as believers have to make sure we have nothing that could be seen as items of evil practices if so we should burn them as well. We also should recognize the power of evil. Of course we have no need to be seize with fear because of Satan or his demons, as we have the Holy Spirit dwelling within in. The Lord will keep us and protect us from that kind of power, although it is possible God could use us as he did Job to prove to Satan how much we love him and would never forsake him, no matter what. But that still would not be the power of Satan unleashed as it was in this case before us and what it can be like for those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Yet the point here is that God is and always be the supreme power at work in his creation. Even the power of evil is used by him to draw people to himself. God and Satan are not two diametrically opposed equal forces at work. The power of Satan is limited and only allowed by God, and as we see here to seize people with fear so they run to Christ.  God could at any time, which he will at some point, crush evil once and for all, by throwing all evidence into the burning lake of sulfur. This act by these people of burning their scrolls of sorcery is a foreshadowing of that event. What we learn here is the real power is in the hand of the Lord.