{"id":1921,"date":"2019-11-17T07:06:16","date_gmt":"2019-11-17T15:06:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1921"},"modified":"2019-11-17T07:06:16","modified_gmt":"2019-11-17T15:06:16","slug":"devotion-acts-1823-28-burning-passion","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=1921","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 18:23-28 Burning Passion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Acts 18:23-28<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia\u00a0and Phrygia,\u00a0strengthening all the disciples.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/i>24\u00a0Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos,\u00a0a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.\u00a0He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.<\/i><\/span>\u00a025\u00a0He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor\u00a0and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.<\/span>\u00a026\u00a0He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila\u00a0heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.\u00a0 27\u00a0When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia,\u00a0the brothers and sisters\u00a0encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.<\/span>\u00a028\u00a0For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures\u00a0that Jesus was the Messiah.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia\u00a0and Phrygia,\u00a0strengthening all the disciples.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul certainly lived out what he wrote to us in\u00a0Romans 12:11<\/b>\u00a0\u201c<\/span>Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus called us to zealous in\u00a0Revelation 3:19<\/b>.\u00a0\u00a0This zealousness is a driven passion, something that burns within and is every day fueled to rise higher and never be squelched.\u00a0\u00a0Paul burned to do the will of God.\u00a0\u00a0For those of us who are married we remember what it was like when we first met and fell in love with our spouse.\u00a0\u00a0The thoughts of them were with us day and night.\u00a0\u00a0We loved to delight them and confess our love to them.\u00a0\u00a0We were consumed with thoughts of them and love for them.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0How much greater should our love and zeal be for Jesus our Savior who not only saves us, but saves those whom we love?\u00a0\u00a0It is easy to believe that even between Paul\u2019s missionary journeys, while he was to be resting, that his mind longed for the next mission the Lord was to send him on.<\/p>\n

\u201c24\u00a0Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos,\u00a0a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.\u00a0He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.<\/i><\/span>\u00a025\u00a0He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor\u00a0and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Apollos was a Jew from Alexandria the political and capital city of Egypt.\u00a0\u00a0Besides Rome, the most important city in the ancient world.\u00a0\u00a0It was a city of education and boasted the world\u2019s largest library with seven thousand Greek Texts.\u00a0\u00a0The Septuagint books from Genesis to Deuteronomy were translated in Alexandria during the third century BC.\u00a0\u00a0A person of learning from Alexandria received respect as a person with a doctorate degree from the most prestigious colleges of today might receive.\u00a0\u00a0Apollos was learned in the scriptures and he also, similar to Paul, burned with the desire to grow in Christ and to teach others.\u00a0\u00a0It is thought he was taught about Jesus in Egypt and the Word here says that he taught accurately about Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0However, he had only been baptized as John the Baptist had taught, he was lacking the baptism that Jesus taught (Matthew 28:19<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Though Apollos was a disciple of Jesus and could teach the Messiah of the Old Testament was Jesus, he lacked knowledge of Jesus\u2019 life on earth and His teachings.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Some think that He did not have the Spirit of God within.\u00a0\u00a0That is plainly in error.\u00a0\u00a0He had repented as John taught and was loving and serving Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0This man was a servant of Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Since all who have given their lives to Jesus have the Holy Spirit within, Apollos certainly did.\u00a0\u00a0Did he still need to learn and grow?\u00a0\u00a0Of course!\u00a0\u00a0Which of us don\u2019t also still need to learn and grow?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHe began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila\u00a0heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Priscila and Aquila heard him teaching Jesus in the synagogue.\u00a0\u00a0He was strong in the Word and gave convincing arguments that Jesus indeed was Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0Priscilla and Aquila brought him to their home and helped him fill in the gaps.\u00a0\u00a0Can you imagine how excited all three of them must have been?\u00a0\u00a0What Priscilla and Aquila did with Apollos brings to mind discipleship and small groups.\u00a0\u00a0They remain vital for the health of the church.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Let us sharpen each other and help each other grow (Proverbs 27:17<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0If anyone is not in a small bible study group, and lives in the South Bay in Los Angeles, please let me know.\u00a0\u00a0Let\u2019s get you plugged in!\u00a0\u00a0You won\u2019t regret it.\u00a0\u00a0If you don\u2019t live close by me, please find a group of other believers who are plugged into the Word and are thriving in a small group. We are made to encourage and edify each other.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Apollos wanted to go to Achaia,\u00a0the brothers and sisters\u00a0encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. When he arrived, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed.<\/i><\/span>\u00a028\u00a0For he vigorously refuted his Jewish opponents in public debate, proving from the Scriptures\u00a0that Jesus was the Messiah.<\/span><\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Apollos became a powerful witness and apologist used by the Lord. He, like Paul, was bold to enter the synagogues and contest with the rabbi\u2019s concerning the validity of Jesus as Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0The Word here says that he proved to them, using their scriptures, that Jesus was Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0Another hero of the Word! Praise God!<\/span><\/p>\n

Family I pray that all of us would so zealous, so bold and confident in our trust of God, as to share with anyone who will listen, the love of God that is found only through Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Since we love God and have His love within, we should long to share Jesus, to explain the plan of salvation to all people.\u00a0\u00a0May we, who have the same Holy Spirit within us as was within Jesus, Paul and Apollo, be fervent and zealous to share the Gospel with all.\u00a0\u00a0In that, we please our Lord.\u00a0\u00a0Praise 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

Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Acts 18:23-28\u00a0–\u00a0After spending some time in Antioch, Paul set out from there and traveled from place to place throughout the region of Galatia\u00a0and Phrygia,\u00a0strengthening all the disciples.\u00a0\u00a024\u00a0Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos,\u00a0a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus.\u00a0He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures.\u00a025\u00a0He had been instructed in the way of…<\/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":[82,101,94,1874,88,17,711,10],"class_list":["post-1921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-proverbs","tag-psalm","tag-revelation","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921","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=1921"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1922,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1921\/revisions\/1922"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}