Category: Bible (Page 365 of 419)

So warned Paul to members of a string of churches in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey). I’m amazed Paul preached any sermon at all to these folks. For only a short time before…

Paul and Barnabus rode a bucking bronco of ministry through Lystra. Initially, Paul healed a man crippled from birth. This launched the crowd into hysteria, believing gods walked in their midst. Deciding Barnabus was Zeus and Paul was Hermes, the priest of the temple fetched bulls to sacrifice in their honor.

Paul and Barnabus rushed forward in dismay. They urged the crowd to understand who was human (Paul, Barnabus and everyone else), and who was God (the living one who made the heavens, and the earth, and the sea, etc.).

Disappointed, the crowd swayed toward the arguments of a group of Jewish opponents of the Christian faith. Super upset that these guys weren’t really gods, but only healing crippled people, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of town, leaving him for dead.

Somehow Paul survived and went back into town. Gutsy move.

Later Paul preached his sermon to those new believers – we must suffer many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.

Like Paul and Barnabus, I suffer hardships as I walk through trials and challenges in my life and my faith. That said, I’ve never faced a crowd throwing rocks at my head.

For that matter, I hope I don’t ever face a crowd who thinks I’m a god – I’m afraid I’d give in and go with the flow…

Acts 12 in week eighteen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Sacha T’Sas

Michal, the first wife of David and a daughter of King Saul, lived a complicated life, especially during the time her father repeatedly tried to kill her husband. In one close call, Michal helped David escape his assassins by lowering him down through a window, then covered for him as he escaped.

David wrote Psalm 59 in response to the incident. Notice his description of the men who pursued him, They return at evening, snarling like dogs and prowl about the city. They wander about for food and howl if not satisfied. These men killed without remorse. Michal placed herself between wolves and husband.

David wrote after his escape, You, Lord, are my fortress, my God on whom I can rely. With no where to run, including his own home, The Lord remained David’s only hiding place.

David prayed the Lord would bring these evil men low, not just for his deliverance, but also that it will be known to the ends of the earth that God rules over Jacob. No way would I have been thinking about the ends of the earth at that moment, except to escape there. But that’s how a man after God’s own heart prayed during this crisis.

David and Michal’s marriage faded. Poor Michal, torn between powerful men. But in this situation, she acted with calmness and bravery to save her husband, the future king of her nation.

1 Samuel 19 & Psalm 59 in week eighteen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by TOGHRUL ISMAYILOV

After Peter miraculously walked out of prison, led by an angel, he headed over to a prayer meeting. He planned to show up as an answer to the fervent prayers going up on his behalf.

When Peter knocked at the gate, a young girl named Rhoda came to answer. She recognized Peter’s voice, but got so excited she left him there without opening the door and ran back inside to tell everyone!

No one believed her when she announced Peter stood at the gate. Everyone knew Herod locked Peter deep in his dungeon, from which no one escaped, and few emerged alive. Their friend and fellow disciple, James, died a few days before, martyred at the orders of Herod. Fear surged through the house and infused their prayers.

But Peter kept knocking, so they checked out this apparition at the gate. In an instant, everyone believed Rhoda, and finally the gate opened for Peter.

One of the things I love about reading through the Bible are the specific names of people mentioned. Luke considered Rhoda, a servant girl, important enough to include alongside Peter and James and Herod the king. Luke likely knew Rhoda, and obviously valued her role in this story.

I find these small asides deeply encouraging. It reminds me that everyone is important enough to have our name mentioned, that the Lord knows all of us intimately, even to the hairs on our heads.

You and I are known and valued by the Lord. Rhoda, the enthusiastic gatekeeper, announces that good news. Will I believe her?

Acts 12 in week seventeen of reading the Bible cover to cover

Photo by Ronit Shaked

King Herod wished to make good with the religious leaders, so he began arresting and persecuting Christians. He seized Peter and handed him to the jailers, planning to keep him in prison until he proved useful. At the same time he beheaded James, the brother of John.

James was the first martyr of the original disciples of Jesus.

But not the last.

The other James, the brother of Jesus, was stoned to death. Thomas was killed by spears while carrying the gospel to India. Peter himself was crucified in Rome, upside down, because he felt unworthy to die in the same manner as Jesus.

And so it went for the original members of Jesus’s posse. Only John survived into old age. Each of these disciples went willingly to their deaths proclaiming their faith in the resurrection and the need for everyone, everywhere, to follow Jesus. Strong evidence for the truth of the Bible’s claims.

Today, people still die for the faith. Nothing has changed in that arena. Then again, nothing has changed with Jesus, either. Join me in praying for the brave men and women around the world who, this very morning, follow Jesus in the face of severe persecution.

Acts 12 in week seventeen of reading the Bible cover to cover