Wednesday, December 22, 2010

ACTS & ROMANS

Today is Wednesday and I'm looking forward to meeting with God's people one last time before Christmas!  What a blessing that will be to see the good people I attend Church with.  I'm reading in Acts and Romans, but I got several thoughts within the first two chapters I started reading in Acts, so I will just share them and not get into the many notes in Romans.  Here we go:
1) IF GOD WILL- In Acts 18:21, it says:  "But bade them farewell, saying, I must by all means keep this feast that cometh in Jerusalem:  but I will return again unto you, if God will.  And he sailed from Ephesus."  Notice these verses too:  1 Corinthians 4:19 "But I will come to you shortly, if the Lord will, and will know, not the speech of them which are puffed up, but the power."  and:  James 4:15 "For that ye ought to say, If the Lord will, we shall live, and do this, or that."  The apostles, Paul and James, knew that they were not to presume upon God's Will.  They knew everything hinged upon God's Will.  God has a will for our lives.  God has a plan He is working out in our lives, in our families, in our church, in our community, in our town, in our city, in our county, in our state, in our region of the country, in our nation, in our hemisphere, in our world, in our universe..... He has a plan and our lives fit perfectly into it.  If God will ought to be a regular part of our conversations.  Anything that has to do with our plans for our lives ought to be tempered with:  If God will.
2) WHY?  Acts 19:9 says:  "But when divers wee hardened, and believed not, but spake evil of that way before the multitude, he departed from them, and separated the disciples, disputing daily in the school of one Tyrannus."  Why would anyone speak evil of that way?  "That way" was a way of speaking of Christianity. Why would anyone speak evil of Christ and His followers?  Well, because if they can minimize Christianity, then they think that will make them feel better about themselves.  They put down one to build up their own lives.  But, this never works!  You see, even without the presence of Christians, their sin would still weigh them down.  Their conscious would still be ladened down with guilt.  They would still be without hope, and alienated from God.  As Christians, we should expect that if they attacked Christians and Christianity two thousand years ago.... they will today as well.  Just expect it but don't let it trouble you.  Just keep going on for God and in the end.... they will see Him in whom they have not believed.  What a day that will be!
3) TWO YEARS.... WOW!  What an amazing thing is stated in Acts 19:10.  (I didn't get far in the Bible before I saw these thoughts right off.)  "And this continued by the space of two years; so that all they which dwelt in Asia heard the word of the LORD Jesus, both Jews and Greeks."  Can you imagine that in just two years, everyone in Asia was exposed to the Gospel?  Wow!  What a blessing!  What a challenge for the rest of us!  They did so much in such little time.  What a huge task and yet what a determined group of Christians they were.  Oh that we too could take up such a hugh challenge someday.  May God help us!
Well so much for today.  Have a great and blessed day!  Pastor Mike Mutchler
 
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