Tag Archives: the book of Acts

July 5
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“After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. When he received these orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”  (Acts 16:23-25, NIV)

D. L. Moody (1837-1899), the noted 19th Century evangelist, said: “Out of 100 men, one will read the Bible, the other 99 will read the Christian.”

His words are as true today as when Moody spoke them more than 100 years ago; or as they were nearly 2,000 years ago when Paul and Silas were thrown — bloody and sore from a severe beating — into prison, and their feet were put into the stocks.  Theirs was a utterly miserable and hopeless situation, but Silas and Paul did not allow an adverse situation to provoke from them an adverse response.  They responded by praying and singing hymns to God!

Then, as now, the world watches the Christian in his or her adversity.  Will he curse or will he bless?   Will she complain or will she encourage?

As Moody said, only one person in 100 will have read the God’s word.   When the other 99 read you — the representative of God nearest to them — what do they learn?  – Luther

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July 2
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“Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work.  They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company.  Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord.”  (Acts 15:37-40, NIV)

Paul and Barnabas were a phenomenal team.  Together, by the power of God, they had performed miracles, cheated death, and seen hundreds — if not thousands — of people come to faith in Jesus as a direct result of their faithfulness to God.

In today’s scripture, we read about the end of that great team because of a personal disagreement.

It is helpful to note that they did not disagree over money; they did not disagree over who was the best or the biggest.  They did, however, disagree over whether to include in their work John Mark — who had deserted them.

They disagreed sharply — as competent people often do — but they did not prolong their disagreement.  They agreed to disagree; and parted company with the blessing of the church as they proceeded in their respective tasks.

As disciples, remember that although we may sometimes disagree with our brothers and sisters in Christ, but we should never allow our disagreements to stand in the way of loving them without reservation.

In such situations, remember the adage: “In the essentials, unity. In the non-essentials, liberty; and in all things, charity.”  – Luther

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June 29
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“Moses thought that his own people would realize that God was using him to rescue them, but they did not.”  (Acts 7:25, NIV)

It surprises us — as it did Moses — that others do not realize our status as God’s rescue agent.  From “the outside looking in,” we see situations differently than those in the crisis.

At such moments — when we are filled with enthusiasm, energy, and ardor — we need to guard against the temptation to become “tactical”; that is, to become more concerned about a particular, single battle than we are the entire war.  Many have lost wars despite having won most of the battles.  The key is to choose, and to fight, the right battles.

Above all, it is crucially important that we keep our ego in check.  The recognition and praise of others is a poor barometer (as we saw with Jesus on Palm Sunday when he entered Jerusalem to the praise of the people, only to hear many of those same voices call for His crucifixion a few days later).

Instead, work assiduously for the honor and the glory of our heavenly Father.  – Luther

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