Saturday, July 14,
2012, 8:00 a.m. – The Lord woke me with the song “Jesus, Lead Me” playing in my mind, and then he put the song “He Touched My Mouth” into my mind.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Acts 14 (NIV 1984): http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts%2014&version=NIV1984.
Jesus, Lead Me / An Original Work / July 22, 2011
Jesus, lead me all the way.
Be my hope and be my stay.
Gently lead me where I should go,
So Your Spirit, I want to know.
Open up my heart to You.
Fill me with Your love and truth.
Make my heart want to obey.
Be my Lord today. Gently lead always.
Jesus, lover of my soul,
Cleanse my heart, and make me whole;
Be transformed in my heart today,
As I turn from my sin and pray.
Make Your will known to my heart.
May I not from You depart.
How I long to hear You now,
As I humbly bow. Jesus, hear me now.
Cause and Effect
As I read through Acts 14, I soon realized that the entire chapter
could be divided into three basic categories: 1) Action, 2) Results, and 3)
Response. In other words, a particular action or deed took place, there was one
or more results from that action, and then there was a response, by particular
individuals involved, to what had resulted from that specific action. So, the
approach I believe the Lord wants me to take with this chapter today is to look
at some of these actions, results and responses, and how they can apply to our
lives today.
“At Iconium Paul and
Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue. There they spoke so
effectively that a great number of Jews and Gentiles believed. But the Jews who
refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the
brothers. So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly
for the Lord, who confirmed the message of his grace by enabling them to do
miraculous signs and wonders. The people of the city were divided; some sided
with the Jews, others with the apostles. There was a plot afoot among the
Gentiles and Jews, together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.
But they found out about it and fled to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and
Derbe and to the surrounding country, where they continued to preach the good
news…”
The Action
Paul and Barnabas (at Iconium) went as usual into the Jewish
synagogue. They spoke the message of the gospel; the words of Christ so effectively.
The Result
A great number of Jews and Gentiles believed.
The Jews who refused to believe stirred up the Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the
apostles and/or the brothers (followers of Christ).
The Response
So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly for the Lord.
The Result
The people of the city were divided – some sided with the
Jews, others with the apostles. Some of the Jews and Gentiles, together with
their leaders, plotted to mistreat and
stone the apostles.
The Response
The apostles learned of the plot and fled to other cities,
where they continued to preach the
good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The Action
In Lystra Paul healed
a crippled man.
The Result
The man, who had been crippled from birth, jumped up and began to walk.
The people thought Paul and Barnabas were gods and they tried to worship them.
The Response
Paul and Barnabas tore their clothes in anguish and humbly announced that they were just men, not gods.
They were just servants of the Lord bringing the people the good news. Then
they told the people about how God testifies about himself and about his
kindness through what he created and through his provisions of rain and crops.
The people still wanted to sacrifice to them.
The Result
Some Jews won the people over to their side and against the
apostles. They stoned Paul and left
him for dead.
The Response
After the disciples had gathered around Paul, he got up and
went back into the city. The next day he went to another city, the apostles preached the good news of the gospel of
Jesus Christ.
The Result
A large number of disciples were won to faith in Jesus Christ.
The Response
They returned to
Lystra, where Paul had been stoned and left for dead, and also to Iconium, where the Jews had
poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against the apostles, and to Antioch.
There the apostles strengthened
the disciples of Christ and encouraged
them to remain true to the faith. They told them that we must go through
hardships to enter the kingdom of God.
Application to Today
Paul and Barnabas went inside the institution of Jewish
religion to share the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. For them, the
purpose was to reveal Jesus Christ to the Jewish people, and to prove from
scripture that Jesus Christ was their long-awaited Messiah. They spoke effectively,
because they were speaking in the power and witness of the Holy Spirit within
them. And, it was the Holy Spirit who moved people’s hearts to believe. Yet,
where the Spirit of God is moving, so is Satan working. Not everyone believed,
and those Jews who refused to believe were not content just with not believing
themselves. They had to take others down with them, so they poisoned the minds
of the Gentiles against the apostles. “So,” meaning “subsequently or
accordingly,” the apostles spent considerable time there speaking boldly for
the Lord. They were not intimidated by their opposition, but they were
encouraged by it to speak even more boldly for Jesus Christ. Amen!
So, the question begs to be asked: “Does the institutional
church of today need missionaries sent to it to preach to it the good news of
the gospel?” The answer is a resounding “YES!!” Many of today’s churches in
America are not preaching the gospel at all, or they have watered it down so
much to make it more acceptable to the world. So we, like the apostles, need to
take the truth of the gospel, not just to the world, but to the church. The
church in America, I am sad to say, overall, is likened to the church in
Laodicea, so it will take an act of God to move them to understand and to
follow the true gospel of salvation. Some will believe and will follow the
narrow way, yet many will stand in opposition to the true gospel being taught
in their churches and will teach a broad way to heaven, instead. So, if we have
been called of God to do this, we should anticipate that we will not only be
rejected, but that there will be those who will willfully poison others against
us, too, potentially. Yet, we should not let this discourage us, but we should
be encouraged to continue to speak boldly for the Lord, and to not be intimidated
into shrinking back by our opposition.
The people were divided and some Jews and Gentiles plotted
to mistreat and stone the apostles. So, the apostles picked up and went someplace
else where they continued to preach the good news. Sometimes the Lord says “Stay
and see the salvation of the Lord,” (see Ex. 14), and other times he says to
brush the dust off our feet and move on. It takes wisdom from above to know
when to stay and when to go, or when to return. Yet, the bottom line is that,
no matter where we are, we keep on keeping on in the faith and in our witness
for Jesus Christ. They were rejected one place, so they went to another, and
they continued. They did not give up, and they did not retreat from their
calling to share the good news. And, we need to follow their example by not
allowing opposition or rejection or even persecution to keep us from obeying
God in sharing the good news of Jesus Christ.
Then a crippled man was healed through their ministry and
the people tried to worship them as gods. I think all we have to do is to watch
religious TV or visit local churches or listen to how people talk about their
pastors or a TV evangelist or preacher and we can soon learn that people do
have a tendency to idolize preachers. Paul addressed this when he said to the
church in Corinth that they were behaving worldly, instead of spiritually,
because they were followers of men, and they put one man above another. Paul
said they were all the same, just servants through whom the people had come to
believe – “as the Lord has assigned to each his task.” One plants the seed,
another waters it, but it is God and His Spirit who makes the seed take root
and grow in a person’s heart. Whether we plant or water or whatever task God
has assigned us in the spreading of the gospel, we all have one purpose – to see
people come to Jesus Christ and to grow in him, and we all share together in
that work and purpose. So, we should never idolize any human being.
When idolized, the apostles had the appropriate response.
They immediately humbled themselves and exclaimed that they were just men. I
wish more ministers of the gospel would realize that and mean it. They gave God
the glory, for it was him working through them, and they were just servants
bringing the gospel message. And, that is how we should all respond should
anyone give us praise for what God is doing through us, and especially if we
are idolized by anyone. We should never take that honor upon ourselves.
They then took the occasion to preach to them the good news
of the gospel of Christ, letting them know the true meaning of the gospel. The Good News: The people must turn
from “these worthless things” (idolatry; sin) and turn to the living God. This
is the crux of the gospel (see Eph. 4:17-24; Luke 9:23-24). And, this is what
we should preach, too!
Yet, they faced opposition again. Some Jews won the people over
to their way of thinking and away from the true gospel. The people went quickly
from worshiping the apostles to stoning Paul and leaving him for dead. Remember
how the people one week were praising Jesus and were waving palm branches at
him and the next week they were shouting “Crucify him!”? Humans can quickly
change and can be easily persuaded if they are not rooted in the truth of God’s
word and are not sure of what they believe. So, it is important that we are
daily in the word, studying, practicing, obeying, and sharing its truths so
that when Satan throws his darts of doubt at us that we do not stumble in our
faith and waver back and forth by every wind of teaching and the cunning and
craftiness of men (Eph. 4).
The next day Paul went to another city and he continued to
preach the good news. I wonder how many of us would have given up in the first
round of the fight, and how many would have made it past round two. Every time
Paul got kicked and beaten down, he got back up and he kept doing what he knew
God had called him to do. Many people came to Jesus Christ because of the
apostles’ perseverance in not giving up. Much opposition arose, but this only
encouraged them all the more to keep doing the work God had called them to.
They even went back to these places and people where they had been mistreated
so that they could encourage and strengthen other followers of Christ in the
faith, so that they would not get discouraged and disheartened and give up.
Wow! That is dedication! They let them know that life with Jesus Christ will
mean hardship, discipline, rejection, persecution and perhaps they may even be
called upon to die for their testimony for Jesus Christ.
In all these persecutions the apostles did not waver in
unbelief or in their commitments to Jesus Christ and to the gospel of
salvation. May we, like them, persevere in our faith, in our commitments to
follow Jesus Christ wherever he leads us, in doing whatever he calls us to do, and
in our witness and testimony for Jesus Christ, no matter the opposition that we
might face along the way, because God will use the seed planted and he will
make it grow. We only need to obey his voice, do what he says, and allow him to
change our hearts and minds to be in conformity with his will and purposes for
our lives. He will do the rest.
He Touched My Mouth
/ An Original Work / June 13, 2012
Based off Isaiah 6:1-8; Jeremiah 1:4-9
Oh, I saw the Lord
Seated on His throne,
High and lifted up;
Holy is the Lord!
The earth is full
of His glory.
“Woe to me,” I cried,
“I’m of unclean lips.”
My Lord touched my
mouth
With His cleansing
pow’r;
Removed all my guilt,
Paid for by His blood.
He asked, “Whom shall I
send;
Who will go for us?”
I said, “Here am I.
Send me!”
Before I was born,
God set me apart;
He appointed me
To His servant be.
I said, “I don’t know
How to speak.
I am but a child.”
Then, the Lord
replied:
“Do not say to me,
‘I am but a child.’
You must go to all,
And do what I say.
Do not fear them,
For I’m with you.”
My Lord touched my
mouth;
Gave me words to say.
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