Scripture: Acts 18.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Acts 18:4-6 (NLT)

4 Each Sabbath found Paul at the synagogue, trying to convince the Jews and Greeks alike.

5 And after Silas and Timothy came down from Macedonia, Paul spent all his time preaching the word. He testified to the Jews that Jesus was the Messiah. 6 But when they opposed and insulted him, Paul shook the dust from his clothes and said, “Your blood is upon your own heads—I am innocent. From now on I will go preach to the Gentiles.”

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

I believe that when we seek to convince, or persuade someone about something, it is a lot more passionate than merely mentioning something in passing. For example, I might lecture my child all day about how they should be careful to look both ways before crossing the road, but if I am watching when they attempt to cross the road and I see an oncoming truck speeding down the road, I will have a whole lot more passion about running out to protect them, or shouting to them to run rather than play around. The urgency will be there to convince them, or persuade them to hurry. In reading verse 4 I got that picture about the passion of Paul’s preaching. I believe that he was truly frustrated with their unbelief and he was giving his every effort to convince them otherwise, in other words, it appears like he was giving about 150%. My, if only we had that kind of passion when we teach a class of young ones that we want to know better, or the older ones who have chosen to follow the ways of this wicked world instead of the Savior that gave His all for us. And what about those that think they are safe, because they come from a heritage of Christian pastors or leaders, these are extremely hard to convince, because they believe that just like dad was saved and went to heaven, so will they. Bottom line is that if we went behind the pulpit, or if we went into a Sunday School class with a heart to ‘convince’ rather than out of a feeling of following a written script so that we could get the job over with, and move on to the next job, perhaps we could see more souls won for the Lord every week. What if we took that on as our personal motto each day, to convince the lost that cross our paths that they really need to know the Savior that is Lord of our lives? Wow, there will be a great revival in the land!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Father You know better than we ourselves, how content we have become to just do our job and move on to the next thing. You know how content we have become with ourselves, and how uncaring we have become about those friends that cross our path and do not know You. Yes, they are about to walk a dangerous road with the risk of oncoming traffic, and we let them go ahead, many times without even a warning. I know that You are a patient God, but Lord Jesus, please help me/us to stop procrastinating and accepting the norm from these friends. We know the impending danger, please give us the guts, the enthusiasm about our own faith, the urgency to convince or persuade them so that they may safely walk this path down here with all confidence, knowing that on that day when You call them home to be with You, that there will be no doubt about their eternal destiny.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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Scripture: Acts 17.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Acts 17:11-12 (NLT)

11 And the people of Berea were more open-minded than those in Thessalonica, and they listened eagerly to Paul’s message. They searched the Scriptures day after day to see if Paul and Silas were teaching the truth. 12 As a result, many Jews believed, as did many of the prominent Greek women and men.

APPLICATION
(How Can I apply what God is saying here to my circumstances today?)

Many would naturally say that in going to church they expect to hear the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, because if there is one place where they should expect to receive the unadulterated Word of God, is the church. Generally, this is the truth friend, but as children of God we have an obligation to be deep in the Word ourselves so that as it is explained we can truly follow what God is saying to us. Proving what the preacher is saying is very much in order. Following in the Word helps us to stay focused on what is being taught, and it helps us to understand how to study our Bibles. I heard a preacher say one time that he was questioned by a saint who persistently followed in her Bible. He found where he had not given the full and accurate intent of the passage to the people and that correction was necessary. The next Sunday he re-preached the same sermon, but this time with the corrections in place. Jesus is the only perfect One there ever was, and since He is not the one delivering the sermon, we must pray for, and test the spoken Word to support and make sure that it is delivered in accordance with the Bible. Make it a point to take your tools with you when you go to worship – take your favorite Bible. Open it when the pastor is ready to deliver his sermon and follow along while all the verses are being referred to. Chat with the pastor about anything you didn’t understand or couldn’t follow. This will encourage him to know that you care enough to follow, and want to learn. This will help your pastor to feel accountable to not only God, but to his flock, because he knows that they are following along and helping him make sure that he gets it right. Verse 12 says that as a result of the people truly understanding the Word of God, many were saved. Praise be to God!

PRAYER
(With God’s help, what am I going to do differently today because He said it?)

Lord, Your Word is very plain and often You repeat the important things that You want us to learn. Please help me to always have a desire for studying Your Word, for it contains truth and direction and wisdom to help me in my daily walk. Please help me to be consistent in following along as Your Word is taught and/or preached and help me to understand all the truths being proclaimed. Thank You for Paul and Silas, and thank You for the preachers and teachers that I am blessed to sit under. Please continue to bless Your servants that proclaim Your Word. May it never fall on deaf ears, but rather have an eternal impact on those that hear, believe, accept and are obedient to its truths.

 

àWords underlined may be a hyperlink to a song that God laid on my heart while sharing this devotional this morning. Click it and be blessed by the song, like I was when I listened to it! …… I would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to pray with you about a need in your life that may, or may not have been highlighted by this Nugget today. Why not drop me a note and tell me about it? You may email me at:
nuggetsfromgodsword@yahoo.com.
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