Yes, No…or Wait
Praise the Lord!
How joyful are those who fear the Lord
….and delight in obeying his commands. Psalm 112:1 NLT
Acts 24:1-27 (<<click here to read the passage)
Today we visited a favorite restaurant. They were busy, with only a couple of tables empty in their dining area and there was only one server for the whole room. She brought our drinks pretty quickly but getting our orders and food out to us took a little while.
One of the aftereffects of COVID is that many restaurants are understaffed. We’ve come to accept that and where in the past we may have gotten a little uptight about waiting, we were totally at ease with today’s situation. Our server did an amazing job keeping up with everyone –drinks were refilled, and we were well taken care of. (By the way, the food was hot and delicious!)
Many of us struggle with waiting. We get impatient. In some cases, we even get upset and we may even take our anger out on people who are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances.
Switching gears, how are we with God?
As a children’s pastor several years ago, we had evangelistic services for our kids, while the adults had theirs. The couple we had did a wonderful job – I remember commitments to Christ during that time! In one service they spoke about prayer. They said that God answers our prayers in one of three ways – YES, NO, or WAIT. That’s stuck in my head now for close to 25 years!
Paul had been through quite a bit. He was almost killed by an angry mob of his own people. And even after he was rescued by a Roman commander and his men, they still plotted to take his life! But God was there, for …the Lord appeared to Paul and said, “Be encouraged, Paul. Just as you have been a witness to me here in Jerusalem, you must preach the Good News in Rome as well.” Acts 23:11 NLT
A full escort took him to stand before the governor of Judea –a 60-mile journey. Shortly thereafter a delegation of Jewish leadership came with their accusations, yet nothing came of it. Felix, the governor, made no decisions regarding the allegations brought against Paul, but instead kept Paul in custody but… gave him some freedom and allowed his friends to visit him and take care of his needs. Acts 24:23 NLT
When all was said and done, Paul languished in custody for two years! He was supposed to go to Rome but instead, he got stuck in Caesarea Maritima – talk about a wait! Yet nothing is said about Paul growing impatient with the Lord’s timing. He was called regularly to speak before Felix and his wife and shared freely of Jesus and His work but, come on, two years?!
When we’re stuck and feel that God isn’t moving fast enough, what do we do? Do we get angry and lash out? Or with no clear “yes” or “no” as an answer to our prayers, do we patiently wait?
Lord Jesus, help us to keep our trust firmly placed in you. May our patience withstand what we see as an onslaught of time. May we cling to the promise that Paul himself shared in Romans 8:28,
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose. AMP
Amen!
Aug 7th, 2022, Sun, 8:47 pm
Above and Beyond
Fear of the Lord is the foundation of true wisdom.
….All who obey his commandments will grow in wisdom. Psalm 111:10 NLT
Acts 23:23-35 (<<click here to read the passage)
How many times do we try and put God in a box of our own creation? One way we do this is that when we try and tell God what we need, we tell Him how we would like Him to fulfill that need. As is far too often the case, we tend to think small. If we are living as children of the Creator of the universe, wouldn’t we be better off placing our need(s) before Him and then yielding ourselves to how God would deem fit to answer those prayers?
Our passage doesn’t speak of Paul making particular requests on how he got to Rome, but knowing of Paul’s relationship with the Lord, I’m sure he just yielded himself to however God would choose to get him there. And God came through in a mighty way!
God didn’t just send Paul off with staff in hand and a couple of companions. God knew of those bent on taking Paul’s life and made sure that on the first leg of his journey, he would travel protected and well-cared for – and that’s putting it mildly! He definitely went above and beyond in His care for His faithful servant!
All that the Roman commander knew of Paul was that he was a Roman citizen. He didn’t question the importance of getting him safely to the next level of governmental review. He pulled out all of the stops in doing so, and because the Jews were aggressively plotting to take his life, he did so with great expediency.
He called two of his centurions – officers who led 100 men each – and ordered them to take their men (200 soldiers), along with 200 spearmen and 70 mounted troops. to escort Paul safely to Governor Felix who ruled from Caesarea Maritima (Caesarea-on-the-Sea). [Jerusalem was the seat of Jewish government, but Caesarea was the Roman headquarters for the area* – known as Judea.]
The Roman commander provided Paul with an overabundance of protection, and he provided horses for Paul to ride as well! Before the Jewish leadership and plotters even knew what was going on, he had them on the road by 9:00 that evening. vs23-24 NLT
God knows our needs.
God knows all about those who stand in opposition against us.
We know that He encourages us to bring our needs to Him, but the question is do we trust God enough to take care of the details? Too often in our world we are micro-managed and we often micro-manage the situations around us – you know the “if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself” mentality!
God does not need micro-managed! Trust God to be God! He may call us to contribute but move forward in God’s great love and care. He can be trusted to go above and beyond!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 4th, 2022, Thurs, 6:57 pm
Going Hungry for Nothing!
He has paid a full ransom for his people.
….He has guaranteed his covenant with them forever.
….What a holy, awe-inspiring name he has! Psalm 111:9 NLT
Acts 23:12-22 (<<click here to read the passage)
As I began reading these verses, I just had to shake my head. Verse 12 reads,
The next morning a group of Jew got together and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul. NLT
Of course, I know what happens in Paul’s story, but the utter futility of these 40 men in thinking that they will be victorious. They don’t really know God or His ultimate plan at all, but even though they don’t know it, they are fighting against God. Oh, how soon we forget lessons learned!
We are almost to the end of Acts but very close to the beginning, when Peter and the other apostles, were arrested by the Sanhedrin for proclaiming the Gospel, a wise Pharisee [Gamaliel, Saul’s (Paul’s) mentor] stopped the council from killing them by saying,
“Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men. …Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” Acts 5:35, 38b-39 NIV
These 40 oath-takers starved themselves for absolutely no reason! Their goal was stopped dead in its tracks, for they were fighting against God!
A few years back, I quoted a portion of an article regarding the sovereignty of God. It’s a big concept to grasp and the definition I found did a great job of helping us understand it. Well-known pastor and author, Chip Ingram, puts it this way, “…the way I like to explain God’s sovereignty best is simply to say, ‘God is in control.’ There is absolutely nothing that happens in the universe that is outside of God’s influence and authority. As King of kings and Lord of lords, God has no limitations.” (from Christianity.com)
Paul himself, before he came into a saving relationship with Jesus, had learned that “kicking against the goads” achieved absolutely nothing! (Acts 26:14)
These 40 men, the Sanhedrin – all of them – were working so hard to have their way! But they were all doomed to fail! God. Is. Sovereign!
We have free will. We ultimately decide what we will do with our lives. We can go God’s way…or our way, but regardless, no amount of effort on our part can thwart God’s will. In this case, there is no power in numbers. Our stubbornness is exerted to no avail.
The plans of the wicked are easily sidestepped by God, as we will see as we continue our study in Acts 23.
Aug 2nd, 2022, Tues, 8:19 pm
Undercover
All [the Lord] does is just and good,
….and all his commandments are trustworthy.
They are forever true,
….to be obeyed faithfully and with integrity. Psalm 111:7-8 NLT
Acts 23:1-11 (<<click here to read the passage)
Over the years I’ve watched my share of police dramas. A common plot line is for an officer to go undercover. This trained professional infiltrates the bad guys’ workings and provides information to undermine their activities, unbeknownst to the bad guys. Only those closest to them know their true identity. The bad guys only think they know.
Those who desire to follow God must be very careful to live lives that reflect our relationship with Him. Some struggle with living that life. Sometimes new believers have a hard time letting go of their old habits. God understands and will help them overcome their issues with time, patience, and love.
The bad thing is that some have no real relationship with God but are in it for what they can get out of it. They may have started innocently enough, but power, money, or some other thing lured them away from a true relationship with God, into something that fulfilled their needs.
In today’s passage, Paul is defending himself before the high council – the Sanhedrin, the High Court of the Jewish faith. It was composed of both Sadducees and Pharisees. (Paul of course had been trained in the ways of the Pharisees and before his face-to-face encounter with Jesus, had been held in the highest regard by them.)
His opening statement was, “Brothers, I have always lived before God with a clear conscience!” v1b
The words were no sooner past his lips when Ananias the high priest commanded those close to Paul to slap him on the mouth. v2
Paul quickly retorted, “God will slap you, you corrupt hypocrite! What kind of judge are you to break the law yourself by ordering me struck like that?” v3 NLT
He didn’t realize it until someone near him told him that he was speaking to the high priest – the highest-ranking official of the high council. Paul was apologetic but what he had said was true!
Josephus, a respected first-century historian, described Ananias as profane, greedy, and hot-tempered. Paul’s outburst came as a result of the illegal command that Ananias had given. Ananias had violated Jewish law by assuming that Paul was guilty without a trial and ordering his punishment.*
The Law, which they all were duty bound to abide by (even high priests!), states in Deuteronomy 19:15,
“A single witness shall not appear in a trial against a man for any wrong or any sin which he has committed; [only] on the testimony or evidence of two or three witnesses shall a charge be confirmed. AMP
Ananias by historic record and by action had no true relationship with God. It was all about him. He was a child of the devil playing an undercover role of piety.
So where do we stand? It is of utmost importance that we love God with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength (Mark 12:30) and that even though we may fall in doing so, to never let that keep us down or allow us to slip back into old mindsets because it’s easier. Don’t play undercover!
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Aug 1st, 2022, Mon, 9:10 pm
Dogfighting Hummers
The shadows are lengthening as the day is coming to a close. Father, fill my heart with the words You have for me this day. Amen.
********
As I’ve mentioned before, we have a hummingbird feeder hanging in front of the bay window in our dining room. We see lots of hummingbirds. I believe that we are on the third batch of sugar water this year, and it is a pretty good-sized glass container.
There are six ports from which they can partake and there is plenty for all. But one thing that I’ve noticed, is that repeatedly two birds will fly up at the same time and 99% of the time they will not just calmly partake together. Inevitably they will square off against each other and one will chase the other off. It is a dogfight of hummers!
What’s crazy is, that the same thing far too often happens in churches!
We have a never-ending supply of sustenance. Whereas my hummingbird feeder only has six ports, Jesus, who Himself is the Bread of Life and Living Water is available 24/7/365 for anyone and everyone who would choose to partake. But unfortunately, there are some Christians who have this nasty attitude that screams, “Whoa, hold on there! You’re not like me! You don’t look like me. You don’t act like me. You don’t talk like me. This is my sustenance, and you’re not welcome here! Get outta here! Move it, bucko!” And off we chase them. It’s a dogfight of God’s children!
When I see two hummers glaring at each other, I cannot tell them apart. To me they look the same – they are simply two hummers! It is the same for us. God sees his children. There are subtle differences, but in His eyes, there are no differences – at least none that are of any consequence to God. He rejoices that we are there, come to partake.
An example: I recently heard a story regarding a totally white congregation that had a black minister appointed to serve as their pastor. They may not have come right out and rejected him to his face with the blatant truth of their reprehensible mindset but to them, he was not acceptable – he wasn’t like them! So, his time of service amongst them was cut short by their shortsightedness, self-righteousness, and outright bigotry, even though he was an excellent speaker and well-represented his Lord and Savior. It was totally unacceptable – not that he was their pastor but that they responded in such an unChristlike way!
The Apostle Paul proclaimed in Galatians 3:28,
There is [now no distinction in regard to salvation] neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you [who believe] are all one in Christ Jesus [no one can claim a spiritual superiority]. AMP
There is a beautiful hymn that we sing regularly – In Christ There Is No East or West. Here is a rendition of it as sung by the Virtual Choir of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church of New York City. The words are provided.
July 31st, 2022, Sun, 7:34 pm