{"id":2007,"date":"2020-01-11T09:48:48","date_gmt":"2020-01-11T17:48:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2007"},"modified":"2020-01-11T09:48:48","modified_gmt":"2020-01-11T17:48:48","slug":"devotion-acts-2120-26-living-the-good-life-part-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/?p=2007","title":{"rendered":"Devotion Acts 21:20-26 Living The Good Life Part 1"},"content":{"rendered":"
Acts 21:20-26\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: \u201cYou see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous\u00a0for the law.\u00a021\u00a0They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses,\u00a0telling them not to circumcise their children\u00a0or live according to our customs.\u00a022\u00a0What shall we do? They will certainly hear that you have come,\u00a023\u00a0so do what we tell you. There are four men with us who have made a vow.\u00a024\u00a0Take these men, join in their purification rites\u00a0and pay their expenses, so that they can have their heads shaved.\u00a0Then everyone will know there is no truth in these reports about you, but that you yourself are living in obedience to the law.\u00a025\u00a0As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.\u201d\u00a0 26\u00a0The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.<\/i><\/div>\n

\u201c<\/span>When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: \u201cYou see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous\u00a0for the law.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0After hearing Paul tell them the great things that God was doing among the Gentiles, all those present at Jerusalem were overjoyed.\u00a0\u00a0They then blessed Paul by telling him that there were now many thousands of Jews who were now believers.\u00a0\u00a0And they also blessed him by telling Him that the many believers associated with the Jerusalem Church were \u201czealous for the law<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Now we notice that this was something held up as praiseworthy and no objection came from Paul.\u00a0\u00a0A common modern misconception of The Law is that it is bad, antiquated, or dead.\u00a0\u00a0It is not bad, it also is from the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0The Old Testament contains The Law, the promises, the prophecies and the history of how God created and dealt with mankind.\u00a0\u00a0Oh how sorely lacking would our knowledge of God be without it.\u00a0\u00a0The Law reveals the righteousness of God, the love and faithfulness of God, the mercy and grace of God, and the persistent, pressing and untiring Spirit of God that ever calls out to wayward souls and struggling sons and daughters.\u00a0\u00a0The Law reveals God.\u00a0\u00a0The Law is part of the Word of God.\u00a0\u00a0The Law reveals God and His ways to us through words and the culmination of The Law is the bodily presence of God that is Jesus, the Word of God (John 1:1-4<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Make no mistake that The Law is still good.\u00a0\u00a0Jesus did not come to end the law but to fulfill it (Matthew 5:17<\/b>).<\/p>\n

It is popular to say that Jesus is love.\u00a0\u00a0And it is true (1 John 4:7-8<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Yet we must remember that the God is also righteous, a holy God who does not sin (2 Corinthians 5:21, 1 John 3:5<\/b>)\u00a0<\/b>and does not excuse sin.\u00a0\u00a0Excusing sin is different than forgiving sin.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Jesus died for the forgiveness of sin (1 Timothy 1:15<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0He did not die to excuse sin.\u00a0\u00a0When people try to excuse their sin and then say something like \u201cWell, God knows my heart\u201d in a light and frivolous way, they err.\u00a0\u00a0Yes God knows our hearts better than we give Him credit for when we act or speak in such a way.\u00a0\u00a0Yes He knows our hearts and He knows when we say such things to excuse the evil we do so that we can keep doing it.\u00a0\u00a0God is not a doddering grandfather who dotes over his grandkids while excusing bad behavior as he says \u201cOh they\u2019re not bad kids.\u00a0\u00a0Sure they misbehave, but they have good hearts.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0God calls sin, sin.\u00a0\u00a0A \u201cgood heart\u201d does not excuse sin, the blood of Christ is not even meant to excuse sin. The blood of Christ is for the forgiveness of sin, and that only after one\u2019s heart breaks in repentance and fully yields to Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0There is no such thing as a good heart in one who willfully and persistently resists God.\u00a0\u00a0Family and Friends, the greatest sin on earth is not murder, or sexual sin, or robbery, or abusing a child.\u00a0\u00a0No, they greatest sin is refusing to yield to the Lord.\u00a0\u00a0All other sins a person can do and be forgiven by God through Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0However to die without Jesus as one\u2019s Savior and Lord is to have walked into eternity based on one\u2019s own goodness.\u00a0\u00a0That person struts this life\u2019s last steps with head held high and chest out, and then crosses the threshold from this life into eternity and, in the presence of God, is immediately humbled.\u00a0\u00a0Singers may sing that they did life \u201cMy Way\u201d but will, if they don\u2019t repent, eternally regret that they did not do it God\u2019s way.\u00a0\u00a0God\u2019s way is the only way and God\u2019s way is only coming to Him through Jesus (John 14:6<\/b>).<\/p>\n

Family, we come to Lord because we know that we have sinned.\u00a0\u00a0So first we learn The Law which reveals God (who is perfect and sinless) to us and the end of that work is shown in the ministry of the last Old Testament prophet, John the Baptist, whom Jesus said was the greatest man who had ever been born (Matthew 11:11<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0The theme of John\u2019s ministry, the last Old Testament Prophet, was \u201cRepent!\u201d\u00a0\u00a0So the Old Testament teaches us to repent and that we all must do if we are to live forever with God.\u00a0\u00a0The Old Testament contains \u201cThe Law\u201d in words and foretells of a time when the The Law will not be external words which man vainly strives to live up to, but will be alive in our hearts allowing The Law to be expressed by us by what becomes our very nature.<\/p>\n

The Law is good and we have it within us if we love and serve Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0So what is said of the Jerusalem disciples is right and proper.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Paul, never taught the death of The Law but the love of The Law.\u00a0\u00a0This pronouncement of the converts being zealous for the law blessed His heart and soul.\u00a0\u00a0Let us be likewise be zealous for the law.\u00a0\u00a0The Law that God has placed in our hearts so that we would become transformed to live and love like Jesus did.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is no higher calling than that.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God who has enabled us through 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

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 21:20-26\u00a0–\u00a0When they heard this, they praised God. Then they said to Paul: \u201cYou see, brother, how many thousands of Jews have believed, and all of them are zealous\u00a0for the law.\u00a021\u00a0They have been informed that you teach all the Jews who live among the Gentiles to turn away from Moses,\u00a0telling them not to circumcise their…<\/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":[82,129,100,101,94,1874,17,2036],"class_list":["post-2007","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-john","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007","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=2007"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2008,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2007\/revisions\/2008"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}