Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Have you ever been in a conversation where people were gossipping about someone and all of a sudden that person showed up? Awkward!
Scripture
Acts 9:4-6
The Lord: Saul, Saul, why are you attacking Me?
Saul: Lord, who are You?
Then he hears these words:
The Lord: I am Jesus. I am the One you are attacking. Get up. Enter the city. You will learn there what you are to do.
Devotional
It happens more often that people want to admit.
Sometimes it happens real time – person walks up behind and hears the conversation
Sometimes the person walks into the middle of the conversation and everyone gets quiet, they still know something is up
Sometimes the word just gets back and they know who said what
Relationships are destroyed as much as reputations are destroyed often by untruths
That’s what was happening in Paul’s life
Persecuting Christians
Telling the Jews things about them that were not true
Telling stories about Jesus that were not true
Spreading lies and rumors that despoiled Jesus’ reputation
Jesus stepped behind him one day to interrupt his conversation
Saul, why are you attacking Me?
What are you saying about Me?
What are you doing to My followers?
What have you been doing behind My back
Why don’t you say these things to My face
And you know when we get ourselves caught in those embarrassing situations where we know we’re gossiping and shouldn’t, there are always consequences
Paul got caught and was embarrassed by his wrong actions
Fortunately did something about it
Repented for his wrongdoing
Learned of the tasks Jesus had for him to do
Carried them out enthusiastically
Stopped persecuting and became the persecuted
Gained life and lost his
Became the most prolific writer in the new testament
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
Thanks for joining me today for “A Little Walk with God.” I’m your host Richard Agee.
Oh, what a tangled web we weave, when first we practice to deceive. It really is true. Best to never entangle yourself, just as Jesus taught us.
Scripture
John 18:23
Jesus: If I have spoken incorrectly, why don’t you point out the untruths that I speak? Why do you hit Me if what I have said is correct?
Devotional
Do you remember the game called gossip?
As many as are in the crowd, usually a dozen or more, sit in a circle
First person whispers something in the ear of the person next to them
The message is passed along around the circle
See just how accurate the story is at the end of the circle
Usually not very accurate
Gossip is a game but it’s worse in real life
Little fibs that are told to one person or another
Can’t remember what’s been told when it isn’t the truth
The fib changes from time to time because it was fabricated
Get caught in the lie and then reputation suffers as integrity is damaged
Jesus faced the high priest in trial
Teachings were public
Many probably recorded His teachings and took them back to the priests to argue about what He taught
Never could win the arguments against what He said
Always based in scripture which He knew better than they
Challenged their authority because of His knowledge and actions to back up His knowledge
Just look at My record
Show me where I’ve misspoken
Point out the untruths that I’ve told the crowds
Give an example of something I’ve taught that is contradictory to the scriptures
Give evidence that supports the need for punishment
None could be found
Even witnesses paid to lie could not hold up to cross examination by the high priest
Farce of a trial had to stand some scrutiny for Pilate to execute Jesus
Had to have some evidence and some reasonable facsimile of fairness
Nothing Jesus had said or taught could be used against Him
Everything Jesus said was true and right
Everything the prosecutors brought before the priests failed to meet the standards for any punishment, much less death
Jesus always shared truth
Many didn’t like what He said, but He gave them the truth
Today, many do not like what Christians say, but we must share the truth
Only the truth can free us from the guilt of sin
If you want to learn more about my church, you can find us at SAF.church. If you like the devotional, share it with someone. If you don’t, tell me. I hope you’ll join me again tomorrow for “A Little Walk with God.”
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 21:24-25 Jesus: I will answer your question if first you answer one of Mine: You saw John ritually cleansing people through baptism for the redemption of their sins. Did John’s cleansing come from heaven, or was he simply washing people of his own whim?
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
The chief priests and elders came to Jesus questioning His authority. Here He was doing miraculous things in the courts of the temple and they couldn’t believe He was doing them by the power of God. Jesus taught those who would listen the meaning of God’s word and showed them the fulfillment of prophecy through His actions and the chief priests and elders thought He must be working with Satan instead of the Almighty. The crowds were flocking to Jesus, so the chief priests and elders knew Jesus must be doing something wrong to attract so many people. They couldn’t get people to come to the temple in such droves, so Jesus must be in league with the devil to gathering such a throng around Him.
We would never do that, would we? We would never look at someone drawing such crowds in the name of God and say they were doing so by the power of Satan, would we? We would never accuse the miracle workers of slight of hand, trickery, and deceit to draw the crowds they do, would we? Hmmm!
When the disciples came to Jesus and wanted Him to stop those performing miracles in His name, He said to leave them alone. If they were doing so under false pretenses, at least His name was being lifted up. They would be judged by their actions, but His name would still be glorified by their actions if His name was used for the healing ministry they were doing. Hmmm! Do we condemn those who perform miracles in Jesus’ name, calling them charlatans, doing it only for the money?
I wonder what Jesus would say about our conversations today if He dropped into our churches and social groups and homes as we talked about our brothers and sisters. When we begin to belittle our fellow denominations or we start talking about the televangelists or we demean all faith healers when one or two are found to plant fake victims of disease or illness in the audience, are we doing what these chief priest and elders did?
I think we might be. I think Jesus might just ask us to answer a few questions that would cause us to stop us in our tracks, back away slowly with an embarrassed look on our face, and run back into our holes. You see, if people are doing good in Jesus’ name, it’s not our place to figure out their internal motive. If they are doing so for their personal gain, that’s for God to sort out. If they accept funds and use that money to satisfy their own greed and avarice, they will answer for it before God. We don’t need to worry about it.
But they might also be using all that money for the good of others. They might be pouring that money into other ministries and we really don’t know unless we are able to see the books and few of us have that access, do we. What we do know is that Jesus’ name is being lifted up and He is given credit for the healing, the ministry, the miracles that are taking place. And that’s what He wants. Those that are instruments of those actions will answer to God for the motive of their actions.
The same is true when we talk about each others denominations. Are the baptists right? Are the Methodists on the wrong track? Will the Presbyterians be at the head of the line in heaven? Will the Catholics be at the back of the line or the front? Are the Lutherans leading people the wrong direction? We talk about each other a lot. The truth is there is something right in all our doctrines and methods of governance. And the truth is there is something wrong in all our doctrines and methods of governance.
The right is that we all worship God and put our faith, trust, and hope in Jesus, His Son, who gave His life for our redemption. The wrong is we are all sinners and flawed because of it. Every one of our denominations grew out of discord with a parent denomination. God never intended denominations to happen within His church, but we began to have discord from the very beginnings of the church with the arguments about whether Gentiles should undergo the rite of circumcision when they became members of Christ’s body, the church.
Since that time, groups split from one denomination after another. The Catholic, universal church began, but the Orthodox church split from the universal church, then the Greek Orthodox saw they had it right so they split again. Luther came along to address the problem of indulgences levied by corrupt, greedy priests more interested in property than piety and the Protestant religion was born with the Lutheran church, then it split because of governance. Then it split because of doctrine questions, then it split over the treatment of segments of the population, then it split over the question of missions, then it split over… Now churches split over the color of carpet or where the keyboard sits on the platform.
Are we any different than those chief priests and elders asking about the authority of the other ministers around us? Think about it the next time you decide to have one of those ministers of denominations for lunch!
see the whole year’s plan [here](http://www.bible-reading.com/bible-plan.pdf)
Today’s Devotional
Matthew 12:25-28
Jesus knew what the Pharisees were thinking. Jesus: That would be like a father splitting his own household down the middle or a king cutting his kingdom in half—the household and the kingdom would fall apart. So, too, if Satan imbued people with the power to drive out demons, Satan’s kingdom would collapse. And you should think about this too: you have friends who drive out demons. If I am working as a tool of Beelzebul, whom are your people working for? When I come to you and drive out demons by the Spirit of your Father in heaven—for the glory of your Father in heaven—you should recognize and rejoice that the kingdom of God has come to you.
What do Jesus’ words mean for us today?
Have you ever been guilty of the Pharisees’ crime, trying to give credit to the wrong spiritual side? They tried to give credit to Satan for the work Jesus did. Particularly His work in driving out demons from the possessed. They just couldn’t come to grips with Jesus being the Son of God as many claimed. He kept fulfilling the prophecies they kept reading to the people. But surely, this carpenter’s son from Nazareth could not be the Messiah they looked for. Surely, the Messiah would come from the priestly line and would be born in their capital among the priests. After all, they were the leaders of Israel. Everyone expected their Messiah to come from the proud lineage of Levi.
So the Pharisees disregarded what they saw in front of them and declared Jesus’ miracles must be a product of Satan’s work. But they didn’t use their head and think it through. Just like we too often make rash statements without thinking them through. Jesus’ retort put them in their place, still they plotted to kill Him because He disrupted their system of religious rules. He made them introduce love and mercy and hope into their religious equation, characteristics they were not ready to adopt as the harbingers of justice, not mercy.
So what about you? I’m pretty sure you haven’t told anyone lately that their exorcism is done by means of Satan’s power. We don’t hear much about demon possession in our enlightened society today. But what about other things. Do you call other Christian faiths into question? Do you denounce your brothers and sisters in Christ because they worship in a different way than you? Do you hold Christians in other countries in a lesser light than those in your church or your denomination?
What do you action show that equate to same thing the Pharisees did with Jesus?
You might not even invoke Satan’s name when you degrade someone’s actions, but you denounce them as Christian because they don’t fit your mold, nonetheless. Isn’t that about the same thing? There are only two camps we can belong to after all. We can work for Christ or we can work for self and Satan. That’s it. Those are the only two choices. No others exist, so if we think people do something outside the will of God, then aren’t we saying they do them as part of Satan’s camp?
Jesus will determine if someone is doing things in His name out of selfish motive or for God’s glory, but that is not for us to decide. We cannot look at a person’s heart. So if someone is doing good things in Christ name, like Jesus told His disciples, let God have the glory. God will sort out the selfish from the unselfish, those who want rewards here versus those who only want glory for God. It should be a pretty simple solution for us. Just give God glory when we see someone working miracles in Christ’s name. Period.
I think in these days if we think about Jesus’ words, He would tell us to respect everyone who worships Him. He would tell us to be careful in condemning anyone who did things in His name. It’s His job to judge the good people do. Certainly, we know when bad behavior is taking place and His word tells us to police the members of His church to keep His name and reputation clean, but when His people perform good works in His name, we should be praising Him, not condemning them.
It is amazing how often we see that getting mixed up in our world. We talk about this church or that denomination. We hold this preacher in contempt or gossip about that worship leader. We thing poorly of this televangelist or assume everything that one does is fake. Can we just stop and give God the glory for what we see and let Him sort out the rest? Can we thank Him that someone is bold enough to proclaim His name and do something for Him that others can see?
Maybe we do something really remarkable this week and peek inside ourselves and ask ourselves why we are not boldly proclaiming His name to others. Maybe we can ask ourselves why we need to talk about those who do things whose validity we question and instead ask why we are not doing those things in Jesus’ name. Maybe we can begin to realize Jesus told us we would do more than He did when He went back to His Father. Then, just maybe we can start doing it instead of talking about others.
