{"id":1408,"date":"2019-01-22T09:36:53","date_gmt":"2019-01-22T17:36:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1408"},"modified":"2019-01-22T09:36:53","modified_gmt":"2019-01-22T17:36:53","slug":"devotion-acts-423-26-the-world-rages-while-we-rejoice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1408","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 4:23-26 The World Rages While We Rejoice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 4:23-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.<\/i><\/span>\u00a024\u00a0When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.\u00a0\u201cSovereign Lord,\u201d they said, \u201cYou made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.<\/span>\u00a025\u00a0You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: \u201c\u2018Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? 26\u00a0The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord<\/span>\u00a0and against His Anointed One.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOn their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.<\/i><\/span>\u201d\u00a0 After Peter and John were released they went back their own people.\u00a0 They went back to the family and friends who loved them, who also loved Jesus.\u00a0 They went back to the people who believed the same as them.\u00a0 As the saying goes \u201cBirds of a feather flock together.\u201d\u00a0 They went back to their family of God.\u00a0 Family, we all know many people, some are Believers and some are not.\u00a0 When God has done something great in our lives we want to share it with other Believers so that they can also be blessed and rejoice and praise God with us.\u00a0 If we run to those who do not believe, it is very likely they will not understand.\u00a0 (Though certainly we want to also share the things that God does with non-believers also.)\u00a0 Family who do we \u201chang out\u201d with.\u00a0 Who do we spend the most time with?\u00a0 Do we spend most of our time with non-believers, or with believers?\u00a0 Non-believers will not believe the miracle or understand the joy.\u00a0 Also, they don\u2019t have the ability to encourage us in the Lord.\u00a0 How can they give what they do not have?\u00a0 Yes, we love the non-believer, but only in the Believer is the Holy Spirit dwelling and moving through (Romans 8:9<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0 Love and visit with the non-believer.\u00a0\u00a0 Love and live with fellow Believers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.\u00a0\u201cSovereign Lord,\u201d they said, \u201cYou made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.<\/i><\/span>\u201d\u00a0 When we pray we should start off by considering who we are praying to (Matthew 6:9-10<\/b>).\u00a0 We must remember that He is the Creator of all things and that He is the Sovereign Lord over all.\u00a0 We do not pray to the open air.\u00a0 Our prayers have a real and divine target.\u00a0 We pray to God, praise God!\u00a0 We pray to God and we know that with God all things are possible (Mark 10:27<\/b>).\u00a0 If we want to have power of faith in our prayers, we must consider who we are praying to.\u00a0 Also, we should consider how many great things God has done in our lives.\u00a0 When we remember that we are praying to the only omnipotent God who has already lovingly answered so many prayers, we will pray for faith.\u00a0 It is with faith that we present our prayers to God (James 1:6-8<\/b>).<\/p>\n

\u201cYou spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of Your servant, our father David: \u201c\u2018Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain?<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 After the disciples of Jesus heard the testimony of Peter and John they, remembered scripture (Psalm 2:1-2<\/b>) and knowing that they were seeing the fulfillment of it, they praised God.\u00a0 Family, we cannot remember scripture if we have not read and studied it.\u00a0 If we have not read and studied the Word of God then we cannot recall what was never known by us.\u00a0 If we don\u2019t know the Word of God how will we know if it is being fulfilled?\u00a0 In our day scripture is being fulfilled in the news we hear and see.\u00a0 Some of it has to do with prophecies of the end times, and some of it has to do with the Truth of the Word.\u00a0 Consider how a growing percentage of the population of the world scoffs at the Word of God and considers it foolishness.\u00a0 Even as they do so they fulfill what God has stated two thousand years ago:\u00a0<\/span>\u201cAbove all, you must understand that in the last days\u00a0scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires.\u00a04\u00a0They will say, \u201cWhere is this \u2018coming\u2019 he promised?\u00a0Ever since our ancestors died, everything goes on as it has since the beginning of creation<\/i>.\u201d (2 Peter 3:3-4<\/b>)\u00a0 Read and study the Word because in it are the Words of Life.<\/p>\n

The disciples of Jesus were witnessing the fulfillment of this scripture.\u00a0 Both Jew and Gentile rose up against the sovereign will of God as fulfilled and seen in the person Jesus.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord<\/i><\/span>\u00a0and against His Anointed One.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Too often w<\/span>e think it is \u201call about\u201d us.\u00a0 To some degree it is, but ultimately it is all about our Father God and Lord Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0 The fight to destroy the name and person of Jesus continues.\u00a0 When we are threatened, hurt, and even killed, it is not mainly because of us.\u00a0 It is a stab at the heart of God and His sovereignty.\u00a0 It is an attempt by the evil one to yell his lie to the world that Jesus is not alive but that He is dead.\u00a0 And even if He is alive, the evil one wants the world to believe that He defeated Jesus the Savior of the world.\u00a0 The enemy claims he defeated Jesus and so Jesus is not master of all that is seen but that he is.\u00a0 The devil told Jesus to worship him and He would give the world to Jesus to rule over.\u00a0 Jesus rejected the devil and chased him away. (Matthew 4:8-11<\/b>)\u00a0 In His obedience to the Father, Jesus was proclaimed the eternal King of kings and Lord of lords.\u00a0 Jesus rules over all.\u00a0 Jesus knew who He was and who He is.\u00a0 Though the powers of the world rise against Him, they are all already defeated.\u00a0 Jesus has risen and has ascended and is coming back to rule and reign.\u00a0 That is one hundred percent certain.\u00a0 Just as all of scripture that was meant to be fulfilled to date has come true, so is that truth.\u00a0 Jesus is coming and Family, let\u2019s be found being faithful to Him!\u00a0 Oh, the love of God burns within.\u00a0 May the love of God be a fire that overflows us and sets the world on fire for Him!\u00a0 Whatever we must endure, may the name of God be praised and worshiped!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/p>\n

Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n

Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 4:23-26\u00a0–\u00a0On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.\u00a024\u00a0When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God.\u00a0\u201cSovereign Lord,\u201d they said, \u201cYou made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,1700,93,101,94,90,17,10],"class_list":["post-1408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-james","tag-mark","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-peter","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1408"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1409,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1408\/revisions\/1409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}