Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Acts 14:8-20
Set – Leviticus 6; Acts 14
Go! – Leviticus 4-6; Acts 14
Gen
8 In Lystra they met a man who had been crippled since birth; his feet were completely useless. 9 He listened to Paul speak, and Paul could see in this man’s face that he had faith to be healed.Paul (shouting): 10 Stand up on your own two feet, man!
The man jumped up and walked! 11 When the crowds saw this, they started shouting in Lycaonian.
Crowd: The gods have come down to us! They’ve come in human form!
12 They decided that Barnabas was Zeus and Paul was Hermes (since he was the main speaker). 13 Before they knew it, the priest of Zeus, whose temple was prominent in that city, came to the city gates with oxen and garlands of flowers so the Lycaonians could offer sacrifices in worship to Paul and Barnabas! 14 When they heard of this, Paul and Barnabas were beside themselves with frustration—they ripped their tunics as an expression of disapproval and rushed out into the crowd.
Paul and Barnabas (shouting): 15 Friends! No! No! Don’t do this! We’re just humans like all of you! We’re not here to be worshiped! We’re here to bring you good news—good news that you should turn from these worthless forms of worship and instead serve the living God, the God who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that they contain. 16 Through all previous generations, God has allowed all the nations to follow their own customs and religions, 17 but even then God revealed Himself by doing good to you—giving you rain for your crops and fruitful harvests season after season, filling your stomachs with food and your hearts with joy.
18 In spite of these words, they were barely able to keep the crowds from making sacrifices to them.
19 Then unbelieving Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and incited the crowds against the Lord’s emissaries. The crowds turned on Paul, stoned him, dragged him out of the city, and left him there, thinking he was dead. 20 As the disciples gathered around him, he suddenly rose to his feet and returned to the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
You might think I would be enamored by the story of the lame man walking again. I’m not. I made his feet, after all. It’s not so hard for Me to fix them to demonstrate My power. But that’s not what I’m all about in this world. Fixing sick bodies isn’t My purpose as God. I do it sometimes, but that’s not what I want to do for you. Your bodies are just dust that will one day decay back into the dust from which I created you. That’s not the part of this story that I want you to remember today.
I don’t even want you to focus on Paul and Barnabas being treated like gods and so many turning toward them because of the miraculous things they did on My behalf that day. They had a tremendous opportunity to exploit the scene for their gain but didn’t because they knew the source of their power. Paul and Barnabas gave the credit for the healing to Me because they understood their mission and the healing brought an opportunity to share the news about My sacrifice and My power and the hope I give people.
I don’t even want you to remember the way I sustained Paul during and after his stoning. He suffered because of Me, but I rescued him from death. His mission wasn’t finished yet and I wasn’t ready for him to die. The crowd thought him dead as they dragged his torn, bloody body out of the city, when they stoned him. They tossed his broken heap of flesh in the city dump as if he were a discarded piece of trash. I restored him and his disciples walked with him back to Lystra before he and Barnabas left for Derbe the next day.
What I want you to focus on today is the story of the Jews that came from Antioch and Iconium to stir up trouble. These “religious” men took it upon themselves to incite men and women they knew believed in pagan gods to stone a man they knew believed in Me. Paul used the same scriptures these pious men used, but refused to really read and study. These men loved their position, power, and prestige more than they loved the truth, more than they loved me. So they closed their eyes to My Word.
Paul hadn’t written his letters yet. He used the Law I had given Moses to explain the good news about My Son. He used the Songs, the Wisdom Books, and the Prophets to share My plan of salvation through the perfect sacrifice of the God-Man, My Son, Jesus. He used the same scriptures My Son used. He used the same scriptures the rabbis used. He used the same scriptures these trouble-makers used.
Here’s the problem the “religious” can get into that I want you to hear clearly. Even Satan can use the same scriptures Jesus used to try and prove a point. Remember the temptations Luke takes about with My Son in the wilderness? Satan tried to use My words to trap Him, but he only used part of My scriptures without using the whole context, nature, and plan contained in it.
You see, you can prove or disprove anything if you use only pieces of My Word. If you close your mind and refuse to My Spirit talking to you through My Word, you will become just like those trouble-makers that tried to kill My servant, Paul. But when you read My Word with open hearts and let My Spirit speak to you, you will find hope and grace and mercy and forgiveness in those words I’ve given you.
But like the unbelieving who came from Antioch and Iconium and like Paul and Barnabas. You have a choice to make. You can choose to believe My Son is the Messiah, God Incarnate. Me in the flesh, come to redeem you. Or you can refuse to believe and become the trouble-maker like you read about in My Word. It’s still your choice. I want you to make the right one, but I won’t make it for you.
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