Acts 26:19-23<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cSo then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient\u00a0to the vision from heaven.\u00a020\u00a0First to those in Damascus,\u00a0then to those in Jerusalem\u00a0and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,\u00a0I preached that they should repent\u00a0and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.\u00a021\u00a0That is why some Jews seized me\u00a0in the temple courts and tried to kill me.\u00a022\u00a0But God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen\u2014\u00a023\u00a0that the Messiah would suffer\u00a0and, as the first to rise from the dead,\u00a0would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201c<\/span>So then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient\u00a0to the vision from heaven.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul proclaims in the negative what we can proclaim in the positive.\u00a0\u00a0Paul was obedient to what he received from Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0He did what he was called to do.\u00a0\u00a0For Paul, it is logical that he would obey what God Almighty, what the Risen Savior had said to him.\u00a0\u00a0Essentially Paul had said \u201cKing Agrippa, of course I was obedient to what Jesus who is in Heaven, who appeared and spoke to me.\u201d Jesus spoke, Paul listened and Paul obeyed.\u00a0\u00a0Of course he did.\u00a0\u00a0It is what Jesus expected of him and it is what Jesus expects of us.\u00a0\u00a0Paul heard, he obeyed the calling and he did so for the rest of life.\u00a0\u00a0When a baby is born it takes its first breath and continues to do so the rest of its life, or else it dies.\u00a0\u00a0It can do nothing different and still live.\u00a0\u00a0Paul became born again and took his first breath of living in the Spirit and Paul continued to live in the Spirit the rest of his life. (Philippians 1:21, Galatians 5:25<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0To live one must breathe.\u00a0\u00a0Born of the Spirit Paul continued to receive his breath and his life from the God by whom he had had spiritual life breathed into him.\u00a0\u00a0(Job 33:4, John 20:22<\/b>)<\/p>\n \u201cFirst to those in Damascus,\u00a0then to those in Jerusalem\u00a0and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,\u00a0I preached that they should repent\u00a0and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul, full of the Holy Spirit immediately began sharing the truth that he had received.\u00a0\u00a0He was first in Damascus, so in Damascus he shared.\u00a0\u00a0He went to Jerusalem and so in Jerusalem he shared.\u00a0\u00a0He preached to whoever would listen.\u00a0\u00a0He always started at the Temple and synagogues and then he preached to the Gentiles.\u00a0\u00a0Always to both, as God ordained him to do.<\/p>\n Paul did not hold back from preaching the unadulterated truth.\u00a0\u00a0Paul was not offended, but guided by the Holy Scriptures, by the teachings of Jesus, and by the unction of the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0Now-a-days there are plenty of people who will scratch the ears of people who don\u2019t want the truth. (2 Timothy 4:3-4<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0There are plenty of worldly philosophers, and also worldly preachers who claim to proclaim the truth, but who leave out the important part of the Gospel message, that to come to Jesus one must repent of a life of sin, which we all were immersed in the mire of.\u00a0\u00a0The whole ministry of John the Baptist was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0How did he do that, by telling people to repent and to be ready for the Messiah.\u00a0\u00a0(Luke 1:16-17, 3:8-9<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Pastor Jon Courson, in his life application commentary, states it this way \u201cNoah didn\u2019t stand on the steps of his ark and say, \u201cSomething good is about to happen to you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Amos was not confronted by priests who threatened to kill him because he was preaching \u201cI\u2019m okay, you\u2019re okay.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Jeremiah was not cast into the dungeon because he talked about the \u201cpower of possibility thinking.\u201d Daniel was not thrown to the lions for saying \u201cSmile, God loves you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0And John the Baptist wasn\u2019t beheaded for having a \u201cHonk if you love Jesus\u201d bumper sticker.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Family, in order for the whole Gospel to be taught then repentance from sin must be taught.\u00a0\u00a0A gospel without repentance is no gospel at all. (Galatians 1:6-9<\/b>)<\/p>\n \u201cThat is why some Jews seized me\u00a0in the temple courts and tried to kill me.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul is telling the King, the Governor and all those present that he was not arrested because he was guilty of purposely inciting a riot, or because of sedition, or even truly because of heresy.\u00a0\u00a0He was guilty of speaking out the true message of God that is revealed in the Old Testament scriptures.\u00a0\u00a0For this, for being called to do what the priests should have been doing, is why they want to kill him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut God has helped me to this very day; so I stand here and testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul gives full credit to God for rescuing him and preserving him even to that day.\u00a0\u00a0The commander, Claudius Lysias, would have protested that it was he who had rescued Paul.\u00a0\u00a0However Paul knew the deep and ultimate truth that it was God who used the commander to rescue him.\u00a0\u00a0Paul maintained a clear vision that blessings, provision and protection may be brought by birds, or saints, or heathens, but they are all instruments that God uses to bring about His will.\u00a0\u00a0Over my life, and more specifically in the recent past, many people had assisted us in many different ways.\u00a0\u00a0I always was grateful and thanked them, as I should have.\u00a0\u00a0However, let me clearly state that I know that always the ultimate benefactor was God.\u00a0\u00a0Always it was God who used whoever He may to bless us.\u00a0\u00a0So I appreciate the instruments of God\u2019s blessings, and God will reward them, but the highest praise is always reserved for God.<\/p>\n Jon Courson retells a story of a preacher named Frederic Nolan.\u00a0\u00a0Fifty men were chasing him through a hilly area of North Africa.\u00a0\u00a0Trapped in a canyon, he saw the mouth of\u00a0\u00a0a cave and scooted in.\u00a0\u00a0Lying at the back of the shallow cave, the exhausted Nolan thought that within ten minutes he would be discovered and killed.\u00a0\u00a0But as he lay there, a spider appeared and began to quickly weave a web over the cave\u2019s mouth.\u00a0\u00a0Twenty minutes later when Nolan\u2019s persecutors arrived, four or five guys stopped at the opening of the cave, saw the web, and said , \u201cHe\u2019s not in there.\u201d<\/p>\n And Frederic Nolan went on to record something wonderful in his journal.\u00a0\u00a0He wrote \u201cWhere God is, a spider web becomes a wall.\u00a0\u00a0But where God isn\u2019t, a wall is like a spider web.\u201d<\/p>\n Like Paul, Nolan knew it wasn\u2019t chance, or a spider who had saved him, it was God.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n Paul states to his august audience that he has said nothing that is not in the scriptures of the very people who want to kill him.\u00a0\u00a0They want to kill him for revealing to them what was in their scriptures but which God had not revealed until then.\u00a0\u00a0In fact, the deeper meaning of the truth they had held was revealed when the Word of God Jesus was presented to the world.\u00a0\u00a0He was, and is, the fulfillment of God\u2019s promises to them.<\/p>\n \u201c23\u00a0that the Messiah would suffer\u00a0and, as the first to rise from the dead,\u00a0would bring the message of light to his own people and to the Gentiles.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The scriptures told of the Messiah first coming as one who suffered for the sins of man, and therefore the Messiah offered peace with God as a gift, all these scriptures were and are available to read.\u00a0\u00a0For now the Jews are blinded, but they shall not always be.\u00a0\u00a0There is a coming a time, not too far away, when their eyes will be opened and one hundred forty thousand of them will mourn that their people killed the Messiah. They will become the most on fire group of believers in Christ that ever lived. (Revelation 7:1-8, 14:1-5<\/b>)<\/p>\n Family, God is sovereign in all things and at all times.\u00a0\u00a0We, knowing Him, trust Him through and in all things.\u00a0\u00a0Let us set aside everything unworthy and rely on Him whom we know.\u00a0\u00a0And knowing Him we trust Him in all things and in all ways.\u00a0\u00a0Therein is our peace.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God who is always able.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God who is completely trustworthy.\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!\u00a0\u00a0Yes praise God!<\/p>\n P<\/b><\/span>salm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/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.<\/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.<\/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 26:19-23\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cSo then, King Agrippa, I was not disobedient\u00a0to the vision from heaven.\u00a020\u00a0First to those in Damascus,\u00a0then to those in Jerusalem\u00a0and in all Judea, and then to the Gentiles,\u00a0I preached that they should repent\u00a0and turn to God and demonstrate their repentance by their deeds.\u00a021\u00a0That is why some Jews seized me\u00a0in the temple courts and tried…<\/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":[82,1969,1849,100,106,94,1874,1871,17,711,2036],"class_list":["post-2149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-galatians","tag-job","tag-john","tag-luke","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-philippians","tag-psalm","tag-revelation","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149","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=2149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2150,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2149\/revisions\/2150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}