Scripture: Acts 28.  

OBSERVATION
(What is God saying here?)

Acts 28:25-27 (NLT)

25 And after they had argued back and forth among themselves, they left with this final word from Paul: “The Holy Spirit was right when he said to your ancestors through Isaiah the prophet, 26 ‘Go and say to this people: When you hear what I say, you will not understand. When you see what I do, you will not comprehend. 27 For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes— so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them.’

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

After being shipwrecked Paul went through several towns before he landed in Rome. Once there he was treated fairly, even to the extent that he was permitted to sit down and share with the people about Jesus Christ. A large gathering came to the place where Paul was staying and he shared the Word of God with them from morning until evening. As the crowd disbursed, some accepted what Paul taught but others did not, even after a time of arguing back and forth among themselves. At the conclusion, Paul shared the above words with them – a word passed down by the prophet Isaiah. In reading this, I believe that God spoke this word to Isaiah knowing that this would be the trend among the people of this earth through every generation. In fact, I see this so very prevalent today as we try to minister to folk in our communities, in our work places, and all those that we come into contact with. Hearts of folk that Jesus shed His blood for, sacrificed His own life for, choose to reject the life that He offers. We have become a very selfish, worldly people who questions everything related to the work of Christ. In fact, Satan has become successful in stirring up enough trouble in our churches that we become busy trying to settle the fires there and appease the people there, instead of using that time and effort in going out to minister to others. How disappointed God must be when He sees how complex we have made the very point of serving Him today, with the arguing over so many beliefs and understanding of His Word and how we separate ourselves from the various denominations because of those beliefs. It’s no wonder that we can’t reach the unsaved. Friends, it really is very simple – God loves us so much, and wants us to accept His love so badly, that He sacrificed His one and only Son so that we may simply accept Him and allow Him to love on us while walking this pathway of life, then when we are called away from this life, we can also look forward to spending eternity with the Father. Put all the other worldly religiosity aside and ready yourself for the ‘big day’, a day when you will meet your Maker!

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

Father, thank You for all that You have done to prepare the way for me, and others that believe in You, to be assured of our ‘big day’ with You, the day that we see You face to face. Of course, the bonus is in how precious Your love is to us while living here on this earth also. Thank You Jesus, for loving us enough to give up everything just for us. Please forgive me when I feel challenged to share Your love and this good news with others, and when I live in such a way that may cause them to doubt what I may say to them. Many of my family and friends still need to accept You as Lord of their lives, so I still have an awesome opportunity ahead. Please help me to make the very best use of my time and every opportunity to share Your love with them and the truth of Your saving grace with them.

 

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:
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