Open Mind, Open Heart
Father, Your Word speaks to me loud and clear. May my ears – and most importantly, my heart – be receptive to You always. Amen.
Acts 16:11-15(<<click here to read the passage)
As we talked about yesterday, Paul had tried to go down several different paths as he began his second missionary journey and initially was pointed away from his chosen course. But then Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” v9 NLT And that’s where they went, following the Spirit’s direction.
I find it very interesting that although Paul’s vision featured a Macedonian man pleading for them to come, his first evangelistic contact was with a small group of women.
My Life Application Study Bible goes on to say: Paul never allowed gender or cultural boundaries to keep him from preaching the Good News. He preached to these women, and Lydia, an influential merchant, believed. This opened the way for ministry in that region. God often worked in and through women in the early church.
Jesus worked in the same frame of mind during His time of ministry amongst us. Now I realize that historically the Church has had a very distasteful reputation of exclusion and biased mindsets…on multiple fronts. It’s not changed a whole lot. But I would challenge us all, to think like Jesus.
Remember Jesus broke down all boundaries when He followed His Father’s leading. He made a conscientious decision to spend time with His Father, hence He readily received His Father’s guidance.
In our human mindsets, it is far too easy to judge and hold people at arm’s length. In doing so we hold them away from any ministry Jesus could extend to them through us. I would remind us all once again that Jesus never once laid out a “sinner” because of their sin. He loved. He healed. He touched. He extended grace, acceptance, and understanding.
Disease? It didn’t stop Him. Mental illness? It didn’t stop Him. Adulterous lifestyles? It didn’t stop Him. Someone totally controlled by demonic forces? It didn’t stop Him. Those controlled by greed and an overwhelming desire for wealth? It didn’t stop Him. He saw who He had created them to be, and He reached out.
How many do we label as “sinners”? And because of that, we hold back. I hope this doesn’t apply to a majority of us, but do we write people off because of…too many tattoos, wildly colored hair, they drink alcohol (not just too much but any at all), they smoke, they cuss, they party their free time away, they are far from sexually conservative – they may even step outside of what we would hold to be sexually acceptable behavior? And that’s a short list.
It may be tough, but can we be like Jesus and go into interactions and even relationships(!) with people with open minds and hearts? Can we dare accept them where there are, and as who they are, love them, and let Jesus work out the rest? That’s a tall order but, oh, what Jesus could do with us – and them! – if we just take those chances and follow His lead! Lord Jesus, may it be so!
May 23rd, 2022, Mon, 1:00 pm
“Which Way Did He Go, George? Which Way Did He Go?”
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
….with my whole heart, I will praise his holy name.
Let all that I am praise the Lord;
….may I never forget the good things he does for me. Psalm 103:1-2 NLT
Acts 16:6-10(<<click here to read the passage)
One of my joys growing up was cartoons. I enjoyed the old Warner Brothers Merrie Melodies. Of course, who of that time could forget Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, and all of their companions? As a read through today’s passage, I couldn’t help but be reminded of the phrase “Which way did he go, George? Which way did he go?”
Now I remembered the phrase and remembered the voice but couldn’t remember what character said it. I discovered that the character was the unwitting Willoughby the Dog (voiced by the legendary Mel Blanc!) and he was speaking with the notorious George the Fox. Willoughby was looking for the fox but was always tricked by the fox, inevitably leaping over a fence off a cliff.
Now you may be wondering why that phrase would remind me of today’s passage. In my mind, I changed it up to say, “Which way do I go, Lord? Which way do I go?”
Now the great thing about it is that God would never lead us astray. The Holy Spirit’s goal is to guide us. And part of that guidance isn’t just a matter of showing us what to do and where to go. Oftentimes, it is just as important to be shown what not to do and where not to go.
The New Living Translation says that Paul and Silas were prevented…from preaching the word in the province of Asia at that time. v6
In the very next verse, they headed north for the province of Bithynia, but again the Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go there. v7
Paul and Silas’ only desire was to be obedient to God’s direction. We aren’t really told how they knew they weren’t to go to those areas, but they did. In essence, they were crying out “Which way do I go, Lord? Which way do I go?” And the whole time He was steering them in the direction of His choosing.
Finally, Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia in northern Greece was standing there, pleading with him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us!” v9
God had shown them the way to go.
In our lives, there are multitudes of ways we can go and do. Our goal is to be attuned to the Holy Spirit’s leading.
My Life Application Study Bible gives some great advice.
To know God’s will does not mean we must hear his voice. He leads in different ways. When you are seeking God’s will, (1) make sure your plan is in harmony with God’s Word; (2) ask mature Christians for their advice; (3) check your own motives to see if you are seeking to do what you want or what you think God wants; (4) pray for God to open and close the doors as he desires.
May we clearly understand the direction we must go and once we know may we do so with all of our hearts. Amen.
May 22nd, 2022, Sun, 7:28 pm
Going Beyond the Call of Duty
Enter his gates with thanksgiving;
….go into his courts with praise.
….Give thanks to him and praise his name.
For the Lord is good.
….His unfailing love continues forever,
….and his faithfulness continues to each generation. Psalm 100:4-5 NLT
Acts 16:1-6(<<click here to read the passage)
I was a little tentative at first, but I’ve been delving into TikTok. Like all social media platforms, you have to be careful what you watch, because whatever you linger over, its algorithms will then send you more of similar nature.
I’ve been getting lots of music-oriented videos (surprised?) and quite a few faith-based videos – no surprise there either! I even archived a few because I really appreciated the thoughts shared.
One that I watched today featured a speaker who had ministered to Christian leaders in China. I have a general idea of what can happen to believers in China but in this short clip he shared quite a few things.
He opened by asking the 22 gathered to hear him speak, “If we get caught what will happen to me?” They replied, “Oh, you’ll get deported in 24 hours and we’ll go to prison for 3 years.” He was surprised and asked how many have been in prison for their faith. Out of 22, 18 raised their hands. He then asked them how many people total they oversaw in their underground small groups from all over the Hunan Province. After a bit of figuring, the number they gave him was astounding – a little over 20 million!
He shared a lot more but at the end he asked how he could pray for them. Because they are unable to worship openly with one another for fear of persecution they asked that he pray that they could be like those in America – “…pray that we can be just like you.” His reply, “I will not do that.” Big incredulous eyes looked at him and they asked, “But why?” He answered, “Because you guys rode a train for 13 hours to get here. In my country if you gotta drive for more than an hour, people don’t come. You sat on a wooden floor for three days. In my country if people have to sit more than forty minutes, they leave… In my country we have an average of 2 Bibles per family, we don’t read any of them. You hardly have any Bibles, and you memorize them from pieces of paper. I will not pray that you become like us, but I will pray that we become just like you.”
Very humbling, huh? Far too often we follow Jesus but only when it’s convenient, when it comfortably fits into our lives.
As I read today’s passage Timothy a young convert to the Way of Jesus, who happened to have a Jewish mother and a Greek father (we learn that from Paul’s epistles), did what many would have thought unthinkable. Church leadership had even said it wasn’t necessary. But Timothy agreed to undergo circumcision. “…he voluntarily did this to overcome any barriers to his witness for Christ. Sometimes we have to go beyond the call of duty in order to further the Kingdom of God.” *
Timothy did what needed to be done. Chinese believers do what needs to be done. What about us?
* Life Application Study Bible
May 19th, 2022, Thurs, 12:35 pm
Acts of Mercy Right Before My Eyes
What a pleasure today, Father, to transport some elementary multi-handicapped students for a fun getaway! May Your blessings be on them and their families. Amen.
********
A portion of my prayer during our services recently has been about expressing gratitude to God for all the many times He has intervened in our lives without us even knowing it. How many tragedies have we missed because we left a little later than we intended? How much pain have we sidestepped because something kept us from participating in something that we had intended on attending? We will probably never know.
On the other hand, how many times have God’s acts of mercy flashed right before your eyes? As the event passes, you can see with the utmost clarity that if things had gone just a little differently the results would have been catastrophic!
Well, that happened to me today!
I was on my high school / middle school run and was heading to my next stop. Ahead there was a curve with a line of trees bordering that partially obscured my line of sight. I caught a glimpse of flashing lights and immediately began to slow my bus down, thinking there was an emergency vehicle of some sort heading my way. Keep in mind that this is not a state highway but a county road. There is room to pass but not a whole lot of room for error.
As I continued to slow down a car came flying around the curve, the driver barely keeping it under control with two police vehicles in hot pursuit! By the time they flew by me, I was at a dead stop! The remaining students were like, “Whoa!” and they all jumped up to see the vehicles zoom over the hill behind us!
If I had been just a couple of seconds faster, I could almost guarantee that the white car, and probably the patrol vehicles, would have hit me head on.
If I had been a couple of minutes slower, they could easily have hit me before, during, or after the turnaround I had just done in a driveway over the hill that they zoomed over.
God was in charge! I have no doubts whatsoever! His hand was surely upon us all. I’m not sure they got him but, on my end, God miraculously intervened!
A couple of verses confirming God’s protection!
Though I am surrounded by troubles,
….you will protect me from the anger of my enemies.
You reach out your hand,
….and the power of your right hand saves me. Psalm 138:7 NLT
Don’t be afraid, for I am with you.
….Don’t be discouraged, for I am your God.
I will strengthen you and help you.
….I will hold you up with my victorious right hand. Isaiah 41:10 NLT
May 18th, 2022, Wed, 7:39 pm
Disagreement
It’s always good to have a productive day! Thank You, Father, for enabling me to keep on task. May I hear Your word clearly tonight and may I share what You want the world to see. Amen.
Acts 15:36-41(<<click here to read the passage)
Disagreements. We may disagree on how disagreements should take place, but we would all probably agree that disagreements are inevitable. On pretty much any level of life, disagreements are going to happen. Even if we say certain relationships don’t have disagreements, it’s probably more that one of the parties is so compliant that any disagreements they might have always fall in favor of the stronger personality of the two.
One interesting thing about Luke’s writing is that he doesn’t give his collection of history a spit polish shine that glosses over the ugly. Whatever happened, he told it like it was.
In today’s passage, controversy in an otherwise harmonious relationship comes to a head. The impactful ministry team of Barnabas and Paul comes to an impasse. It’s time for a “round two” of ministry and though they’ve worked together so well for years – literally – Barnabas is firm on bringing his cousin John Mark along for the journey, while Paul is equally as firm on not bringing him along.
I’m sure that Barnabas, always the encourager, felt that John Mark would make an excellent addition to their work spreading the Gospel. But Paul, and I’d say he was most definitely a man with a pragmatic mindset, felt that John Mark had deserted them once before and probably just felt that they needed someone more dependable.
There was a disagreement. And the only compromise they came to was for both of them to stand their ground. Neither yielded, but both stuck to their guns.
Verses 39-41 say,
Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus. Paul chose Silas, and…traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there. NLT
So how do we handle disagreements? Sometimes there just isn’t room on either side for giving in, so it may be necessary to part ways, each doing our own thing.
Were they in the wrong for handling things the way they did? Well, if God’s blessing on their efforts shows us how God felt about their separation, He just blessed both of them. The results of Paul’s continued ministry are visible throughout the majority of the New Testament. Barnabas’ results are less visible, but we can see by Paul’s reception of John Mark many years down the pike, that no grudges were held, and it seems though separated that they still held great respect for one another.
Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very helpful to me for the ministry. 2 Timothy 4:11 AMP
Sometimes in our humanity, things happen. But despite our brokenness, God works in and through us for His glory. May it always be so in our lives. Amen!
May 17th, 2022, Tues, 7:18 pm