Today’s Podcast
Today’s Scriptures
Today’s Bible reading plans include:
Ready – Acts 26
Set – Psalms 22; Acts 26
Go! – Numbers 5-6; Psalms 22; Acts 26
Acts 26
Agrippa (to Paul): 1Go ahead. You may speak for yourself.Paul (extending his hand): 2 I am indeed fortunate to be standing before you, King Agrippa, to humbly defend myself against accusations from my Jewish opponents. 3 You are extraordinarily familiar with Jewish customs and controversies, so I beg your patience as I begin. 4 My way of life is well known to the whole Jewish community, how I have lived in the Jewish community abroad and in Jerusalem. 5 If they are willing to speak, they themselves will tell you something they have long known—that I was a member of the strictest sect of our religion and lived for many years as a Pharisee. 6 But now I am on trial here for this simple reason: I have hope. I have hope rooted in a promise God made to our ancestors. 7 All our twelve tribes have hope in this promise—they express their hope as they worship day and night. How strange it is, then, Your Excellency, that I am accused by the Jews of having hope! 8 Why would any of you think it is absurd to have hope that God raises the dead? 9 As you know, we’re talking specifically about Jesus of Nazareth. For a long time, I was convinced that I should work against that name. 10 I opposed it in Jerusalem. I received authorization from the chief priests to lock many of His followers in prison. When they were threatened with execution, I voted against them. 11 I would find them in synagogues across Jerusalem and try to force them to blaspheme. My fury drove me to pursue them to foreign cities as well.
12 On one occasion, I was traveling to Damascus, authorized and commissioned by the chief priests to find and imprison more of His followers. 13 It was about midday, Your Excellency, when I saw a light from heaven—brighter than the noonday sun—shining around my companions and me. 14 We all fell to the ground in fear, and I then heard a voice. The words were in Aramaic: “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? When you kick against the cattle prods, you’re only hurting yourself.” 15 I asked, “Lord, who are You?” and the Lord answered, “I am Jesus, the One you are persecuting. 16 Get up now, and stand upright on your feet. I have appeared to you for a reason. I am appointing you to serve Me. You are to tell My story and how you have now seen Me, and you are to continue to tell the story in the future. 17 I will rescue you from your Jewish opponents and from the outsiders—for it is to the outsiders I am sending you. 18 It will be your mission to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the kingdom of Satan to the kingdom of God. This is so that they may receive forgiveness of all their sins and have a place among those who are set apart for a holy purpose through having faith in Me.”
19 King Agrippa, I did not disobey this vision from heaven. 20 I began in Damascus, then continued in Jerusalem, then throughout the Judean countryside, then among the outsiders—telling everyone they must turn from their past and toward God and align their deeds and way of life with this new direction. 21 So then, this is my crime. This is why my Jewish opponents seized me that day in the temple and tried to kill me. 22 God has helped me right up to this very moment, so I can stand here telling my story to both the humble and the powerful alike. I only say what the prophets and Moses said would happen— 23 that the Anointed One must suffer, and then, by being the first to rise from the dead, He would proclaim light to both Jews and outsiders.
Festus (interrupting): 24 You’ve gone crazy, Paul! You’ve read one book too many and have gone insane!
Paul: 25 No, most excellent Festus, I am not insane. I am telling the sane and sober truth. 26 The king understands what I’m talking about, which is why I could speak so freely to him. None of these things have been covered up and hidden away in a corner, so I’m sure none of these things have escaped his notice. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know you must believe.
Agrippa: 28 Paul, have you so quickly moved on from defending yourself to trying to persuade me to become a Christian?
Paul: 29 Whether I have done so quickly or not, I pray to God that not only you but also everyone who is listening to me today might become what I am—minus these chains.
30 The king stood to leave at this point, along with Festus, Bernice, and all those who had been seated; 31 and as they left, everyone was saying the same thing: “This man isn’t doing anything deserving death—he shouldn’t even be in prison.”
Agrippa (to Festus): 32 This man could have been released completely if he had not appealed to the emperor.
Today’s Devotional
From today’s background scripture God might say:
When Paul met Me on the road to Damascus he thought his life would end. In those few moments of brilliant light, the voice from heaven, and he and his entourage fallen on their faces before Me, he knew My wrath was about to fall. But I had other plans for him. He would never have dreamed he would stand before proconsuls, governors, and kings. Yet here he is standing before King Agrippa giving his testimony of faith in Me, his risen Lord.
Many who follow Me find themselves in peculiar circumstances which they didn’t expect. I often prepare the way for encounters to happen so that My message can go out at just the right time to just the right people in just the right place. You see, I know who best can share the message of faith to those who seem hardened by sins effects. I know the best time to sow the seed that it might germinate in mens’ hearts and reap a harvest of believers. The question is, will you have the courage to speak for Me when the time comes as Paul did.
Paul stood before King Agrippa knowing the consequences. Agrippa could send him to Jerusalem to his death at the hands of the Jewish leaders who wanted him exterminated. He could hold him in Caesarea until a formal trial determined his fate and disregard his request to go to Rome. Or Agrippa could send him to Rome to the emperor’s court as Paul requested making this new religious order quite visible to the emperor’s throne.
What I want you to learn from Paul today is what Peter wrote in his first letter to the churches:
Don’t be intimidated, but exalt Him [Jesus] as Lord in your heart. Always be ready to offer a defense, humbly and respectfully, when someone asks why you live in hope. Keep your conscience clear so that those who ridicule your good conduct in the Anointed and say bad things about you will be put to shame.
You never know who I might want you to speak to and the influence you will have because of your testimony. So be ready. Don’t be intimidated. You are My child. The child of the King of kings and Lord of lords. Speak boldly in My name about the hope you carry in you because of your faith in Me. I will always be with you.
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved. In accordance with the requirements for FTC full disclosure, I may have affiliate relationships with some or all of the producers of the items mentioned in this post who may provide a small commission to me when purchased through this site.