I had a great weekend at my 51st high school reunion this past weekend. It was great to see friends who meant so much to me in my high school years and haven't lost their esteem in my thinking in our later years. No observations from me except that we have some great people that I have the opportunity to call friends and to laugh and remember (if we can) some of the fun facts from our high school days. Relationships are so important and lasting friendships are a blessing as we grow older, and hopefully wiser in our later years. The wisdom God has given me has been given through His Word, the Bible. The pure truth of God's Word eclipses any other wisdom from a lost and dying world. It is my desire to continue to find that truth and share it with all who read this blog. May God give me direction as I write and may what I write to glorify God in all instances.
Today's blog speaks to Acts 17 where, once again, Paul and Silas take the message of the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ to the church. For three weeks Paul shares the scripture and all that God did to give us the hope of resurrection. One truth Paul shared in his message, where Jesus rises from the dead seems to be a "sticking point" for some and they reject that teaching. Paul explained the prophecies and in his explanation he proved that Jesus must suffer and then rise from the dead to defeat death, hell, and the grave. Paul shares that Jesus is victorious so we can live in that victory as well. Paul does not hold back in telling them that Jesus is the Messiah!! Acts 17: 3 He explained the prophecies and proved that the Messiah must suffer and rise from the dead. He said, “This Jesus I’m telling you about is the Messiah.” 4 Some of the Jews who listened were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, along with many God-fearing Greek men and quite a few prominent women.
All is good right? Even though some accepted the message there was another response that showed that Paul's message was too close to home. Acts 17: 5 But some of the Jews were jealous, so they gathered some troublemakers from the marketplace to form a mob and start a riot. That is going to some high level of disagreement when you start a riot to refute it. Paul and Silas were staying at the home of a believer whose name was Jason and they were having church there at his home. The message of the gospel is very powerful and all Paul had to do was share it and God did the rest. But seeing the changed lives caused a great jealousy in some of those in power in the church and they became aggressive in their plans to quiet the message of the gospel. Here is what they did. Acts 17: They attacked the home of Jason, searching for Paul and Silas so they could drag them out to the crowd. 6 Not finding them there, they dragged out Jason and some of the other believers instead and took them before the city council. “Paul and Silas have caused trouble all over the world,” they shouted, “and now they are here disturbing our city, too.7 And Jason has welcomed them into his home. They are all guilty of treason against Caesar, for they profess allegiance to another king, named Jesus.”
What should have been a wonderful time of reaping for those who were realizing the truth of the gospel, turned into a time of jealousy by those who were doing nothing. That is how it works though. God blesses in a ministry and satan sends the boo birds to try and stop it. Jason welcomed Paul and Silas into his home, so they made him guilty by association. Tragic. The whole city was in an uproar so the following happened with Jason. Acts 17: 8 The people of the city, as well as the city council, were thrown into turmoil by these reports.9 So the officials forced Jason and the other believers to post bond, and then they released them
This is a great lesson about "being receptive" to the Word of God and not letting preconceived falsehoods we were taught keep us from getting a fresh new Word from the lord. We must have open and receptive minds and hearts when God shows us a good, truthful word from His Word. Sometimes we can be so steeped in our traditions that we give God the "cold shoulder" when He us trying to show us a deeper truth than what we thought we had. As scripture says about God, "deep calls to deep." If home is holding you back you might be at home in the wrong place and we need not deny God access into "all" our life. Are you an open vessel that is ready to be filled with God's truth? Then ask the Holy Spirit to fill you first and then you will be that kind of vessel.
Vesselogical Out,
David Warren
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