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October 19, 2019 - February 9, 2020
My friend, it’s time to move on. Seek a solution. Get help from someone else, if you must. But get on with it. Whatever it takes to be free, do that. Right now, I invite you to stand all alone at the foot of
the Cross, look up to Him, and deliberately release it all. See Him hanging there, bleeding and dying, and embrace His forgiveness, for you and for your enemy. By forgiving, you’re not condoning their sin. You’re simply leaving that to God.
That’s grace. And you can offer it to others because you don’...
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In the pages of Scripture, God has given us models—people, believe it or not, who are just like you and me, who, despite the odds, lived lives pleasing to Him. By faith. In obedience. With courage. Above the fray. They are people like Moses and Samuel, Esther and Ruth, Isaiah and John and, as we are discovering, Paul.
Impressed by his teachable spirit and love for God’s truth, Paul invited Timothy to join his team.
Paul saw sterling qualities in Timothy that eclipsed his youthful countenance: That did it – he recruited him on the spot.
WITHOUT EXPLAINING WHY, GOD SOMETIMES SAYS NO
the Scripture says, “They were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the word in Asia.”
Undaunted, they marched on to Bithynia. Again, without explanation, the door closed there as well.
Interestingly, Luke offers no insight into how the three men responded to the series of dead ends. It must have seemed strange. What we do know is that they continued despite them, directed by the Spirit of God.
Often God’s answer is a plain “No.” We don’t want to hear it, but it’s true.
Once in that westernmost city of Troas, something remarkable happened.
Paul had a vision. The record doesn’t say it also appeared to Silas. Apparently, only Paul saw the vision.
Maps help us turn names on a page into actual places on the globe.
The flashback made crystal clear the reason God brought them to Troas. It was all about a wider outreach.
It is clear to the close observer that it was at this juncture Dr. Luke, the writer of Acts, joined company with Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
CLOSED DOORS AND OPENED HEARTS
No one could have predicted that the foundation for one of the first century’s most strategic ministries would flow from the riverside conversion of a middleclass woman.
On one particular walk to the familiar site they encountered a demonized slave girl, who persisted in taunting them during many days that followed. Day after day, Paul somehow managed to ignore her vile ranting, until finally, he could take it no more.
Angered by their sudden economic downfall, the slave girl’s greedy masters roused the crowd to riot. Paul and Silas were immediately seized, viciously beaten with rods by lictors, and thrown deep into a Roman dungeon with their feet fastened in stocks.
Turmoil, difficulty, persecution, and hardship are not essential indicators of being out of God’s will.
When you travel as God would have you travel, like Paul, you’re sensitive to doors that open and at peace with doors that close.
No matter how gifted or charismatic or well-trained and experienced your Bible teacher or pastor may be, form the healthy habit of checking what is being said against the Scriptures.
The Scriptures are your measuring tool for making sure the teaching you receive is straight and true. Keep comparing.
If you can’t support it with the Scriptures, there’s something missing in the teaching. Don’t believe the teacher. If he or she contradicts the divine standard, you’re building on sand. Stay with the Scriptures. They remain your ultimate authority for faith and life.
Critics hate truth because it sets people free. Their hope, therefore, is to silence the message every way possible.
Western Christians have become a soft-bodied lot of folks. We look out for ourselves, our rights, and our conveniences. We have little tolerance for anything that interrupts a life of ease. Sacrifice rarely crosses our minds. When we’re called upon to consider paying a heavy price, we wince and stammer and politely excuse ourselves. Or we say we’ll help support those who are called to go.
By the time he arrives in Jerusalem, he has finished the third journey. Souls were saved. Churches were founded. Lives were transformed. Though arrested, beaten, persecuted, jailed, and slandered, Paul finished that course. He gives a glowing report of all that God had done to those assembled to greet him (20:17–25).
Not suprisingly, the Sanhedrin threw their heads back and howled. They caused such a commotion in opposition to his reports that the Roman authorities were called in to quell the uprising. Paul stands before Felix, Festus, and King Agrippa—all officials of the Roman government.
Paul remained in his chains. He’s sent as a prisoner aboard a merchant ship bound for Rome. Of all things, he gets shipwrecked (that’s Acts 20!) Graciously, the Lord spares his life and brings him safely to Rome.
There, while under house arrest, and chained to a Roman guard, he writes Philemon, Colossians, Ephesians, and Philippians. They’re called the “prison epistles.” They’re in your Bible, because Paul refused to quit. Obediently, he pressed on.
I observe four enduring principles that will help you maximize your effectiveness for Christ, wherever you may go.
1.When you travel, don’t go alone.
2.When you travel, don’t lose touch with home. Stay accountable.
You may consider keeping a journal.
A journal, not a diary. It’s not about what we’ve done, minute by minute,
day by day. That’s a diary.
Journals are written thoughts given to us by our Lord. How meaningful to those who follow in our footsteps! They are the lessons we’ve l...
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3.When you travel, don’t believe everything you hear
When you travel, occasionally you’ll meet folks who will almost worship you. (It happened to Paul.) Don’t let them. On the opposite extreme, others will reject and mistreat you. Don’t be derailed by naysayers.
4.When you travel, don’t become aloof.
Resist that sort of super-ficiality. Stay available. Stay real. People need a real, authentic you. Not perfect, authentic.
“Whether you are embarking on a grueling walking pilgrimage a thousand miles across Europe . . . setting off on a long-delayed journey to your ancestral roots, or
taking that first step on the long-spiritual journey . . . your journey is about to change you.”
No journey is more life changing than your inner spiritual journey back to the Cross.
In too many places, the church has become a local entertainment center attempting to rapture the attention of busy parishioners away from the glamour and clamor of society. The strategy often disintegrates into not getting too specific or pointed in our messages, lest our customers get offended and take their business elsewhere.
Sermonettes create Christianettes. That type of watered-down diet leads only to spiritual malnutrition, or worse, starvation. I should add, the cults have a field day when they come across starved sheep.
Luther’s dramatic conversion began a personal crusade of restoring the Scriptures as the ultimate authority in the life of every believer. Naturally, that emphasis found its way into Christian worship. Not surprisingly, the proclamation of the Word would become the central focus of the corporate worship experience.
Furthermore, the preaching of the Word is essential to establishing the life of spiritual freedom and grace. Strong preaching became the catalyst of true worship.
Luther’s passionate convictions on the primacy of Scripture in the life of the church alchemized into nine virtues which he charachterized as “good preaching.”
