{"id":1464,"date":"2019-03-01T11:56:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-01T19:56:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1464"},"modified":"2019-03-01T12:01:26","modified_gmt":"2019-03-01T20:01:26","slug":"devotion-acts-540-42-am-i-truly-a-soldier-for-christ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1464","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 5:40-42 Am I Truly A Soldier For Christ?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Acts 5:40-42\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged.\u00a0Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.\u00a0\u00a0<\/i><\/span>41\u00a0The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing\u00a0because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.42\u00a0Day after day, in the temple courts\u00a0and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news\u00a0that Jesus is the Messiah.\u00a0<\/i><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u201cHis speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged.\u00a0Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 I think that only the truly lovely Holy Spirit filled saint could have written\u00a0V40<\/b>.\u00a0 It is first written \u201cHis speech persuaded them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 It makes one want to jump up and shout \u201cHallelujah!\u201d these religious leaders listened to reason and are going to release the Apostles!\u00a0 The Apostles will be unharmed and okay.\u00a0 Then the sentence is completed and these men continued on as brutes.\u00a0 The released them, but first they flogged them.\u00a0 Family, this flogging was not a slap, punch, or a kick.\u00a0 This is the same type of punishment that Jesus received.\u00a0 The basic meaning of the word used her is to \u201cflay.\u201d\u00a0 To flay is to peel the skin off.\u00a0 To whip or beat someone in such a way that their flesh is peeled from their skin.\u00a0 Surely they were not peeled as profoundly as Jesus was, but these cold religious brutes (empty of the love of God, or for God) expressed their brand of kindness by ripping flesh and making blood flow from the Apostles.\u00a0 When the Apostles were released they were definitely not unharmed, but they were okay.\u00a0 Yes, their bodies were brutalized and they would bear the scars the rest of their lives but their hearts were happy, they felt great honor to suffer for the name of Jesus.\u00a0 They knew that people associated them as belonging to Jesus and they could not be more joyous whatever they had to endure!\u00a0 Body harmed, but better than okay.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing\u00a0because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 They rejoiced that they had suffered for the name of the one they love.\u00a0 And love, given by Jesus, nurtured by the Holy Spirit within, overflowing out of them to each other and to a lost world, was the only explanation for their joyous response.\u00a0 It was the love of the Father that flowed through Jesus and motivated Him to step down from His heavenly throne to suffer and die for us.\u00a0 It was the love of God for us that allowed it (John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8<\/b>).\u00a0 Only those who belong to Jesus (with the Holy Spirit within), those who love God more than anyone or anything else that exists, can have go through such extreme hardships for the name of Jesus and praise God for the honor of it.\u00a0 If anyone does not understand, then that person\u2019s relationship must be re-examined by them self.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDay after day, in the temple courts\u00a0and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news\u00a0that Jesus is the Messiah.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The threats and the beatings did not stop the Apostles and the disciples.\u00a0 They did not return to their former lives as the Sanhedrin had hoped, instead they continued on in the new lives that Jesus had given them.\u00a0 Their old lives were gone and they lived only for their life in Christ.\u00a0 They lived to do the works that God had prepared beforehand for them to do.\u00a0 (2 Corinthians 5:17, Ephesians 2:8<\/b>).\u00a0 Family, as ugly as what happened to them is, let us really consider it.\u00a0 How would we react?\u00a0 Would we give up our faith if we were flogged? \u00a0Not beaten as we think of it, but peeled alive. \u00a0Maybe it would only take the threat of being flogged?\u00a0 What else might cause us to shrink away and give up our walk with God?\u00a0 What might cause us to abandon Christ (though He never abandons us)?\u00a0 The Apostles were going to tell about Jesus regardless of the consequences.\u00a0 Are we quiet because the government tells us to be?\u00a0 Are we quiet because it is the company policy? Are we quiet for the sake of politeness of being politically correct?\u00a0 Do we silence our tongues at the altar of prosperity?\u00a0 The Apostles and early disciples could not be shut up.\u00a0 Are we shut up today?\u00a0 What shuts up you and me?\u00a0 Family, may we bold for Jesus.\u00a0 It is an eternal life and death battle for us and the world. Let us be loyal and loving children of God and brave and strong enough to hold onto the Truth of God and share it with all we can.\u00a0 Whatever the consequences, may we express our love for God and each other by being bold in His will.\u00a0 May we always, in all we say and do, praise and honor God (Colossians 3:17<\/b>)!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Am I A Soldier Of The Cross<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Sir Isaac Watts<\/span><\/p>\n

Am I a soldier of the cross,<\/span><\/p>\n

A follower of the Lamb,<\/span><\/p>\n

And shall I fear to own His cause,<\/span><\/p>\n

Or blush to speak His Name?<\/div>\n
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Must I be carried to the skies<\/span><\/p>\n

On flowery beds of ease,<\/span><\/p>\n

While others fought to win the prize,<\/span><\/p>\n

And sailed through bloody seas?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sure I must fight if I would reign;<\/span><\/p>\n

Increase my courage, Lord!<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll bear the toil, endure the pain,<\/span><\/p>\n

Supported by Thy Word.<\/span><\/div>\n
\u00a0<\/span><\/div>\n
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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<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 5:40-42\u00a0–\u00a0His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged.\u00a0Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go.\u00a0\u00a041\u00a0The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing\u00a0because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.42\u00a0Day after day, in the temple courts\u00a0and from house to house,…<\/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":[82,1863,129,1841,100,94,17,10],"class_list":["post-1464","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-colossians","tag-corinthians","tag-ephesians","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464","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=1464"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1466,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1464\/revisions\/1466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1464"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1464"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1464"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}