Peter and the other Believers with him couldn’t dispute what they witnessed in the house of Cornelius. The Holy Spirit was super-naturally poured out on the Gentiles while Peter was still mid-sentence, telling them about Jesus. Now Peter could have questioned this…”But Lord, these people are very different from us! We don’t have anything in common with them. They’re a different race and culture from us! Are You sure You know what You’re doing?” Sometimes, as fellow-Believers, we can find ourselves asking the same questions of those we find different from us. Yes, we may not share a lot…but we do have a common denominator…faith in Jesus Christ. Together we are one Body…one Church…united in our trust of our Savior…joined together eternally by our faith.
Tag: daily encouraging devotion
Jeremiah 14:10 ” This is what the Lord says about this people: ‘They greatly love to wander; they do not restrain their feet. So the Lord does not accept them; He will now remember their wickedness and punish them for their sins.’ “
The Prophet Jeremiah’s message was primarily one of judgement upon Judah for their shameful and persistent sins. They seemingly lacked the desire or even control to stop straying from God’s law. The world today still wanders from God…aimlessly roaming, running after whatever has their attention…following a harmful path that can only lead to death and destruction.
I Corinthians 1:25 “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength.”
II Corinthians 13:4 tells us that Christ was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by God’s power. Man looks at the cross and see humiliation, shame, and scorn. They see Jesus powerless as He hangs there dying, seemingly unable to change His situation. But the world can’t comprehend that it was Jesus’ decision to be there. Just as the world can’t comprehend how three days later He rose from the dead. What the world sees as stupid…Believers see as salvation.
Isaiah 51:7 ” Hear Me, you who know what is right, you people who have My laws in your hearts: Do not fear the reproach of men or be terrified by their insults.”
The world doesn’t understand the trust Christians have in Jesus Christ…to them it is utter craziness. They view Christians as weak-willed people using religion as a crutch. So why wouldn’t the world mock us? It’s at that point though we have to make a decision of whether to allow the insults to discourage us or not. Elsewhere in Isaiah it says, “Because the Sovereign Lord helps me, I will not be disgraced. Therefore have I set my face like flint, and I know I will not be put to shame.” (Isaiah 50:7). Any and all fear can be faced with trust in the Lord.
Galatians 2:13 ” The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray.”
No matter how spiritually strong we are, anyone of us can stray from the will of God. Here Simon Peter, nicknamed the Rock, of which Jesus had said, “You are Peter, and on this rock I will build My church,” caved under man’s pressure. Peter had been fellowshipping with Christian Gentiles until a group of Jews showed up and started pressuring him to stop. He was afraid that his reputation and standing might be questioned…fearful of what they might think of him…so he separated himself from the Gentiles…taking everyone with him, including Barnabas. Isaiah 51:12-13 asks this question, “Who are you that you fear mortal men, the sons of men, who are but grass, that you forget the Lord your Maker?” It’s a dangerous slippery slope when we start fearing man rather than God…afraid of what people may think of us rather than doing God’s will. Peer pressure can be tremendous, for we all want to fit in and be liked…but when it causes us to deviate from God’s plan…it effects everyone around us.
Numbers 24:12-13 ” Balaam answered Balak, ‘Did I not tell the messangers you sent me, even if Balak gave me his palace filled with silver and gold, I could not do anything of my own accord, good or bad, to go beyond the command of the Lord – and I must say only what the Lord says?’ “
The king of the Moabites, Balak, had attempted to hire Balaam, (a soothsayer who used divination and sorcery for personal gain), to pronounce a curse on the tribes of Israel. But every time Balaam tried, out came a blessing instead. Try as he might, Balaam was forced to conform to God’s will and he realized that nothing he did would change that…no matter how much King Balak offered him. We may think evil is running amuck on the earth…unimpeded by anything. But God is still in control, ruling and reigning over every situation, every detail, every person.
Galatians 2:20 ” The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me.”
Jesus loves you. He knew your name before the beginning of time. He saw your tiny frame being formed in your mother’s womb and loved you even more. If you had been the only person on the face of the earth…He would of still handed over His life as a sacrifice for you…that’s how precious you are to Him. I know it’s humanly impossible to fathom the love Jesus has for us…for it’s beyond our comprehension. But Jesus loves you with a love that will never end…never give up…never forsake.
I Chronicles 4:10 ” Jabez cried out to the God of Israel, ‘Oh, that You would bless me and enlarge my territory! Let Your hand be with me, and keep me from harm so that I will be free from pain.’ And God granted his request.”
What Jabez prayed was pretty simple and straightforward. He asked for divine guidance, protection, and for the Lord to expand his circle of influence around him. And guess what? God gave it to him! Don’t ever think that God is too busy with the breaking news of the day to listen to your prayers…He’s not. Your prayers are equally as important to Him as anything happening in the world today. And remember, there’s tremendous potential power within a simple heartfelt prayer.
John 21:1-3 ” Afterward Jesus appeared again to His disciples, by the Sea of Tiberias. It happened this way: Simon Peter, Thomas, Nathanael from Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two other disciples were together. ‘I’m going out to fish,’ Simon Peter told them, and they said, ‘We’ll go with you.’ So they went out and got into the boat, but that night they caught nothing.”
The disciples were being tested and challenged in their faith…Jesus was no longer at their side instructing them, and they were now being forced to depend on what they had learned . Even though Jesus had told them to,” stay in Jerusalem and wait for the gift My Father promised.” (Acts 1:4) Simon Peter reverted back to what he knew and felt confident and comfortable in…fishing. We always need to be careful when we go back to things of the past. And we need to be ever questioning our motives for it. Is it out of laziness, or insecurity, or consolation that we revert back to past things? One of my very favorite quotes from Oswald Chambers in his Devotional book, My Utmost for His Highest is, “Beware of paying attention or going back to what you once were, when God wants you to be something that you have never been.”
Psalm 112:7-8 ” He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is secure, he will have no fear; in the end he will look in triumph on his foe.”
You will not be able to go through this world without receiving bad news…for loved ones die, accidents happen, and cancer rears its ugly head. So it’s not if bad news will happen, but rather when it will hit us without warning. It’s at that moment we have to make a conscious decision…who and what will I trust in. Will I take this news that’s causing me pain and unhappiness and allow it to control every part of me…or will I stand firm in the confidence of knowing God is in complete control of the situation? Leaning on the Lord is not a sign of weakness…relying on Him for strength and peace is not copping out from reality. Bad news will affect us all…but if our trust is in the Lord, we have the certainty of His firm foundation of love and hope under-girding our shaking bodies.
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