{"id":1733,"date":"2019-08-04T09:24:49","date_gmt":"2019-08-04T17:24:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1733"},"modified":"2019-08-04T09:24:49","modified_gmt":"2019-08-04T17:24:49","slug":"devotion-acts-1344-51-faithful-joyful-full-of-the-holy-spirit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1733","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 13:44-51 Faithful, Joyful, Full Of The Holy Spirit"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 13:44-51\u00a0<\/b>\u2013\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b>On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.<\/i><\/span>\u00a045\u00a0When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying\u00a0and heaped abuse\u00a0on him.\u00a0 46\u00a0Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: \u201cWe had to speak the word of God to you first.\u00a0Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.<\/span>\u00a047\u00a0For this is what the Lord has commanded us: \u201c\u2018I have made you\u00a0a light for the Gentiles, that you\u00a0may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.\u2019\u201d\u00a0 48\u00a0When the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord;\u00a0and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.\u00a0 49\u00a0The word of the Lord\u00a0spread through the whole region.50\u00a0But the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.<\/span>\u00a051\u00a0So they shook the dust off their feet\u00a0as a warning to them and went to Iconium.<\/span>\u00a052\u00a0And the disciples\u00a0were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cOn the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.<\/i><\/span>\u201d A very large crowd gathered on the next Sabbath to hear the Word of the Lord.\u00a0 The population in the area was estimated to be about fifty thousand people.\u00a0\u00a0 How large the crowd that came is not known, but it certainly large enough to draw the attention of all who were there.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Again we see the jealousy of the Jews and as jealousy is and does it is very ugly and brings about evil.\u00a0 Notice it does not say that because of what was being preached that the Jews became upset.\u00a0 They were upset because the crowds drawn to hear Paul and Barnabas preach were so awe-inspiring large.\u00a0 Again it was not the common Jew who was upset, but the leaders.\u00a0 The common Jew had no reason to be jealous.\u00a0 However the leaders were jealous because Paul and Barnabas were drawing the kind of crowds they wished that they could.\u00a0 Family, the sin of pride and resulting jealousy and fear of lack of position and status is not something only of the past.\u00a0 It is alive today even in our churches in the different positions of the church.\u00a0\u00a0 We all must be careful of pride and instead let love for God and each other rule.\u00a0 Pride should have no place in the church.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey began to contradict what Paul was saying\u00a0and heaped abuse\u00a0on him.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 When one is jealous or resentful or both then a reason to be so must be found.\u00a0 If one is afraid that another will make them seem insignificant or take their place then tearing down the other person is often what follows.\u00a0\u00a0 For those filled with pride their position matters more than following God.\u00a0 Pride is pernicious and burrowing and must be continuously guarded against in ourselves and in our churches.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThen Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: \u201cWe had to speak the word of God to you first.\u00a0Since you reject it and do not consider yourselves worthy of eternal life, we now turn to the Gentiles.<\/i><\/span>\u00a047\u00a0For this is what the Lord has commanded us: \u201c\u2018I have made you\u00a0a light for the Gentiles, that you\u00a0may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/i>\u00a0 The Word was first preached to the Jew as God ordained, but when the Jewish leadership rejected it and began to turn others against them then Paul and Barnabas would take the Word to the Gentiles.\u00a0 Yes, Paul was specifically called to preach to the Gentiles (Romans 11:13, Ephesians 3:8<\/b>) yet this should not have surprised him or any other Jew.\u00a0 After all, Israel had been called to teach all gentiles throughout the world about God (Isaiah 49:6<\/b>).\u00a0 Paul is merely called to do what the Jews should have been doing.\u00a0 God had prophesied that the Messiah, Jesus, would be rejected by His own people (Psalm 118:22-24<\/b>).\u00a0 So Paul lived out what he taught, that salvation first came to the Jew, and then to the Gentile (Romans 1:16<\/b>).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen the Gentiles heard this, they were glad and honored the word of the Lord;\u00a0and all who were appointed for eternal life believed.\u00a0 49\u00a0The word of the Lord\u00a0spread through the whole region.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The Jewish leaders were angry with what Paul and Barnabas were teaching, but the Gentiles rejoiced to know that God was bringing His salvation and Word to them.\u00a0 It was a very sad day for Israel who in large part rejected their Messiah, but it was a great day for the Gentiles, and most of us are Gentiles.\u00a0 As proof of God\u2019s call to preach to the Gentiles He blessed it and many throughout the region were saved.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It is said in\u00a0V48<\/b>\u00a0that \u201call who were appointed for eternal life believed<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 This is best explained by\u00a0Romans 8:29-30<\/b>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>For those God foreknew\u00a0He also predestined\u00a0to be conformed to the image of His Son,\u00a0that He might be the firstborn\u00a0among many brothers and sisters.\u00a030\u00a0And those He predestined,\u00a0He also called;\u00a0those He called, He also justified; those He justified, He also glorified.<\/i>\u201d Predestination to salvation from God is by our omniscient God who knew the hearts and minds of all of us before all of creation.\u00a0 He knew who would receive Him and who would not.\u00a0 We have free will (a big subject that cannot be covered today).\u00a0 Jesus did not come to condemn anybody, but to lift them out of a pre-existing condemned position to salvation (John 3:16-18<\/b>).\u00a0 It is through the foreknowledge of God that some are called and others are not.\u00a0 We know God is good and that He loves all of us, but we also know that most of all people throughout all of history will reject Him.\u00a0 God does not want anyone to perish (2 Peter 3:9<\/b>) and yet He has always known who would perish because they reject Him.\u00a0 Only God knows who will perish and who will not.\u00a0 This is the kind of judgement that we should not do, it is only God who is able to and who can judge the eternal position of a person\u2019s soul.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Jewish leaders incited the God-fearing women of high standing and the leading men of the city. They stirred up persecution against Paul and Barnabas, and expelled them from their region.<\/i><\/span>\u00a051\u00a0So they shook the dust off their feet\u00a0as a warning to them and went to Iconium.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The prideful inciting the prideful.\u00a0 The prideful fearing loss of position and control.<\/p>\n

Paul and Barnabas shook the dust off their feet.\u00a0 This was a Jewish tradition to shake the dust from the lands of people who don\u2019t love God from their feet.\u00a0 Like one wipes their feet before entering their home so that dirt from the outside is not tracked inside, that is what the Jews did after being in Gentile land.\u00a0 Jesus had told His disciples, concerning people who would not receive the Word that He had given them to share, in\u00a0Matthew 10:14<\/b>\u00a0\u201cIf anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Oh my, what that means for person who has rejected is terrifying.\u00a0 Praise God that His grace remains.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the disciples\u00a0were filled with joy and with the Holy Spirit.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0 One of the most often stated reasons for Christians not sharing is the fear or rejection and ridicule.\u00a0 Here Paul and Barnabas, though rejected by many and driven from the city, they were filled with joy and the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 They had fulfilled what they were sent to do, to preach the Word.\u00a0 They had been faithful to their calling.\u00a0 They had been faithful to the Lord.\u00a0 Results were not what drove them, love and faithfulness to their Lord did.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Again, why is it mentioned that they were filled with the Holy Spirit?\u00a0 Is it to remind us of the fact that they were Christians with the Holy Spirit within?\u00a0 No.\u00a0\u00a0 They had not depleted what cannot be depleted, the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0 They received a special presence and blessing from the Holy Spirit and their hearts was filled with joy.\u00a0 Thank God that the same blessing is available to all of us.\u00a0 We all need the refreshing as we wage the battle of faith.\u00a0 Praise our God who loves us so!\u00a0 Praise God!<\/span><\/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 13:44-51\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On the next Sabbath almost the whole city gathered to hear the word of the Lord.\u00a045\u00a0When the Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy. They began to contradict what Paul was saying\u00a0and heaped abuse\u00a0on him.\u00a0 46\u00a0Then Paul and Barnabas answered them boldly: \u201cWe had to speak the word of God to you…<\/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":[82,1841,103,100,101,94,90,2523,10],"class_list":["post-1733","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-ephesians","tag-isaiah","tag-john","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-peter","tag-psam","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733","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=1733"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1734,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1733\/revisions\/1734"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1733"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1733"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1733"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}