{"id":1736,"date":"2019-08-05T13:19:14","date_gmt":"2019-08-05T21:19:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1736"},"modified":"2019-08-05T13:19:14","modified_gmt":"2019-08-05T21:19:14","slug":"devotion-acts-141-7-to-stay-or-go","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1736","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 14:1-7 To Stay Or Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 14:1-7\u00a0<\/b>\u2013\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>At Iconium\u00a0Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.\u00a0There they spoke so effectively that a great number\u00a0of Jews and Greeks believed.\u00a02\u00a0But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.\u00a03\u00a0So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly\u00a0for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.\u00a04\u00a0The people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.\u00a05\u00a0There was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews,\u00a0together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.\u00a06\u00a0But they found out about it and fled\u00a0to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7\u00a0where they continued to preach\u00a0the gospel.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAt Iconium\u00a0Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.\u00a0There they spoke so effectively that a great number\u00a0of Jews and Greeks believed.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 As is the custom of Paul and Barnabas they first went to the Jewish synagogue to preach the Gospel.\u00a0 Remember that what their pattern was to go the synagogues to give proof from the scriptures that Jesus was the Messiah to all of Israel who would believe.\u00a0 First to the Jews and then to the Gentiles.\u00a0 As in Pisidian Antioch many people, Jew and Gentile, upon hearing the Gospel, embraced it, believed it, and were saved.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The implication here is that the Jews were gossiping and backstabbing Paul and Barnabas.\u00a0 They did not have the scriptures to argue their point so they poisoned the people behind the apostle\u2019s backs.\u00a0 Sound familiar.\u00a0\u00a0 In the Garden of Eden the devil did not confront God in front of Adam and Eve and accuse God of lying.\u00a0 No, he snuck around and poisoned the mind of Eve.\u00a0 Today it is too often the same.\u00a0 When the so called \u201cChristian cults\u201d bring forth their heretical teachings, they do not first come to Christian leaders to expound their \u201cnew and true doctrine\u201d but spread it first to their followers and those ignorant of the Word.\u00a0 They do not want to debate Christian scholars because they know there is no basis for the lies they spread.\u00a0 So what the Jews were doing and what those who spread heretical doctrine have in common is the devil is their source.\u00a0 Jesus said of the Jews who opposed Him \u201cJesus said to them,\u00a0\u201cIf God were your Father, you would love me,\u00a0for I have come here from God.\u00a0I have not come on my own;\u00a0God sent me. 43\u00a0Why is my language not clear to you? Because you are unable to hear what I say.\u00a044\u00a0You belong to your father, the devil,\u00a0and you want to carry out your father\u2019s desires.\u00a0He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.\u00a045\u00a0Yet because I tell the truth,\u00a0you do not believe me!\u00a046\u00a0Can any of you prove me guilty of sin? If I am telling the truth, why don\u2019t you believe me? 47\u00a0Whoever belongs to God hears what God says.\u00a0The reason you do not hear is that you do not belong to God.<\/i>\u201d (John 8:42-47<\/b>)\u00a0 The devil is a slanderer and gossiper who tells lies to people.\u00a0 If the masses hear the lie long enough they begin to believe them.\u00a0 Even now we see much evidence of him doing the same.\u00a0 Family, don\u2019t be deceived.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly\u00a0for the Lord, who confirmed the message of His grace by enabling them to perform signs and wonders.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 When we are called by God to do ministry all too often we quit when it gets hard. Either someone or some others tell us that it is a sign that God has not called us to the ministry, or the devil whispers that into our ear, so we quit.\u00a0 Yet we see that there are many instances when the Apostles and Disciples of that day were opposed, were threatened, beaten, stoned and killed.\u00a0 It did not mean that they had not been called from the Lord.\u00a0 Jesus said that we would face opposition and that we would be hated (John 15:18-21<\/b>).\u00a0 God loves us, the enemy hates us.\u00a0 We must remember that.\u00a0 And remember that greater is He that is in us than he who is in the world (1 John 4:4<\/b>).<\/p>\n

Here it positively states that God performed signs and miracles through them to verify the message they preached and that they were of God.\u00a0 Today God will still provide signs and miracles for honest believers, though the rebellious are less likely to see them.\u00a0 God still does miracles in the world today.\u00a0 Don\u2019t believe that God still works supernaturally?\u00a0 Read Lee Strobel\u2019s book Miracles.\u00a0 He is proven factual author and the book is worth reading for both the believer and the skeptic.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe people of the city were divided; some sided with the Jews, others with the apostles.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Then and now, some hear and believe and others reject the Word of God.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a plot afoot among both Gentiles and Jews,\u00a0together with their leaders, to mistreat them and stone them.\u00a06\u00a0But they found out about it and fled\u00a0to the Lycaonian cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country, 7\u00a0where they continued to preach\u00a0the gospel.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Sometimes we stay and continue to minister, and sometimes the ministry is done, whether we perceive that or not, and God moves us to something else.\u00a0 Solomon said \u201cThere is a season for everything, and a season for every activity under the heavens.<\/i>\u201d (Ecclesiastes 3:1<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Ecclesiastes 3:7b<\/b>\u00a0states there is \u201ca time to be silent and a time to speak.<\/i>\u201d We must be led by the Holy Spirit and we will find there is a time stay and work and a time to move on.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So the apostles moved on, but they did not stop.\u00a0 They went to the cities of Lystra and Derbe and to the surrounding country and they continued to preach the Gospel.\u00a0 Yes, they fled.\u00a0 But they fled from one city to continue in another.\u00a0 It was not surrendering, it was knowing that they had done what they could do and then continuing on to another place to continue their work, as led by the Spirit of God.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

We too must learn to discern when God is speaking and leading us so that we know where and when to go to be used of God.\u00a0 Who knows what wonderful beauty we may see the Lord do as we learn to do that\u00a0\u00a0 Praise our God!\u00a0 He wants to use us today.\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 14:1-7\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0At Iconium\u00a0Paul and Barnabas went as usual into the Jewish synagogue.\u00a0There they spoke so effectively that a great number\u00a0of Jews and Greeks believed.\u00a02\u00a0But the Jews who refused to believe stirred up the other Gentiles and poisoned their minds against the brothers.\u00a03\u00a0So Paul and Barnabas spent considerable time there, speaking boldly\u00a0for the Lord, who confirmed…<\/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":[82,89,100,94,17],"class_list":["post-1736","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-ecclesiastes","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736","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=1736"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1737,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1736\/revisions\/1737"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1736"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1736"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1736"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}