{"id":1746,"date":"2019-08-12T09:51:15","date_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1746"},"modified":"2019-08-12T09:51:15","modified_gmt":"2019-08-12T17:51:15","slug":"devotion-acts-148-20-a-truly-big-mistake-part-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1746","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 14:8-20 A Truly Big Mistake Part 4"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 14:8-20\u00a0<\/b>\u2013\u00a0<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/sup><\/b><\/span>In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth\u00a0and had never walked.\u00a09\u00a0He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed\u00a010\u00a0and called out, \u201cStand up on your feet!\u201d\u00a0At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.\u00a0 11\u00a0When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, \u201cThe gods have come down to us in human form!\u201d\u00a012\u00a0Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.\u00a013\u00a0The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.\u00a0 14\u00a0But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes\u00a0and rushed out into the crowd, shouting:\u00a015\u00a0\u201cFriends, why are you doing this? We too are only human,\u00a0like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things\u00a0to the living God,\u00a0who made the heavens and the earth\u00a0and the sea and everything in them.\u00a016\u00a0In the past, he let\u00a0all nations go their own way.\u00a017\u00a0Yet he has not left himself without testimony: He has shown kindness by giving you rain from heaven and crops in their seasons;\u00a0he provides you with plenty of food and fills your hearts with joy.\u201d\u00a018\u00a0Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them. 19\u00a0Then some Jews\u00a0came from Antioch and Iconium\u00a0and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul\u00a0and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.\u00a020\u00a0But after the disciples\u00a0had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.<\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cEven with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul and Barnabas were able to stop the sacrifices, but just barely.\u00a0\u00a0It shows how powerful a true miracle can be as a witness.\u00a0\u00a0Of course it needs to be clearly pointed out by the person through whom God does the miracle that all glory and praise goes to God. It must be pointed out very clearly!<\/p>\n

\u201cThen some Jews\u00a0came from Antioch and Iconium\u00a0and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul\u00a0and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Most of us have seen Western Movies where a vigilante group, filled with hate, pursued a person whom they thought was guilty, but was innocent.\u00a0\u00a0They sometimes caught up to that person and killed him without a trial.\u00a0\u00a0The similarity here seems too real and so sad.\u00a0\u00a0They had not convicted Paul in any court.\u00a0\u00a0They just did not like what He stood for and what He was saying so they were ready to kill him and anyone who was associated with him.\u00a0\u00a0So awful!\u00a0\u00a0Yet Family, let us confess that we have greater technology now, but mankind has not changed.\u00a0\u00a0We still want to hate, and even kill people because we don\u2019t like their opinions or beliefs.\u00a0\u00a0Most of us don\u2019t think that way, but we probably all have been filled, at one time or another, with extreme anger at another.\u00a0\u00a0We must beware of letting anger, and not love, fill our hearts.\u00a0\u00a0Read\u00a0Matthew 5:21-26<\/b>\u00a0what Jesus had to say about it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut after the disciples\u00a0had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Were the disciples praying for him and he was raised from the dead.\u00a0\u00a0Maybe, but not likely.\u00a0\u00a0V19<\/b>\u00a0does not state that Paul was dead, but that they thought he was dead.\u00a0\u00a0He was likely knocked out and hurt so badly that they thought he was dead.\u00a0\u00a0Whether he was dead or not, he certainly was revived and gained strength fast enough to walk into town.\u00a0\u00a0For Believers, that in itself was healing from God.\u00a0\u00a0To the skeptic, well, they are called skeptics for a reason.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s consider what just has happened.\u00a0\u00a0The Jews from Antioch and Iconium, and maybe some villagers (?) seized Paul, dragged him outside of town (Jewish law, pointing to them doing the stoning), stoned him so badly they thought they had killed him (which they had intended to do), and they left him there.\u00a0\u00a0Paul was revived and battered and bleeding and then did what?\u00a0\u00a0He got up and walked right back into the place where those who stoned him were.\u00a0\u00a0Wow, Paul did not quit easy!\u00a0\u00a0It is said that Paul was a short and possibly a slight man.\u00a0\u00a0Obviously He was, in the Lord, also a very brave one.\u00a0\u00a0Would we be so bold should something like that happen to us?<\/p>\n

\u201cThe next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul was brave, but He knew when it was time to leave.\u00a0\u00a0Since the people sided with the Jews (Jewish leaders) it was time to move on to the next town.\u00a0\u00a0It is worth noting that Paul was doing as he was led by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0He was doing what he had been called to do.\u00a0\u00a0Yet he was beaten and stoned.\u00a0\u00a0It is true that no one can take our lives while we are doing what the Lord has for us to do.\u00a0\u00a0But they can stone us and when our mission is completed, they may kill us.\u00a0\u00a0So hard times are not necessarily an indicator that the ministry should stop.\u00a0\u00a0It may mean it needs to move to another location, but does not mean it should stop.\u00a0\u00a0Let us persevere through hard times and great opposition, or little opposition, and do the work God has called us to do.\u00a0\u00a0Whatever we have to endure is nothing compared to what we have received through our Savior and Lord Jesus (Romans 8:18, Philippians 3:7-11<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Thank you Jesus!\u00a0\u00a0Praise 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 14:8-20\u00a0\u2013\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth\u00a0and had never walked.\u00a09\u00a0He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed\u00a010\u00a0and called out, \u201cStand up on your feet!\u201d\u00a0At that, the man jumped up and began to…<\/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":[82,101,94,1871,17,10],"class_list":["post-1746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-philippians","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746","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=1746"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1747,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1746\/revisions\/1747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}