Acts 27:27-44<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic\u00a0Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.\u00a028\u00a0They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet\u00a0deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet\u00a0deep.\u00a029\u00a0Fearing that we would be dashed against the rocks, they dropped four anchors from the stern and prayed for daylight.\u00a030\u00a0In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat\u00a0down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow.\u00a031\u00a0Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, \u201cUnless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved.\u201d\u00a032\u00a0So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it drift away.\u00a0 33\u00a0Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. \u201cFor the last fourteen days,\u201d he said,\u00a0\u201cyou have been in constant suspense and have gone without food\u2014you\u00a0haven\u2019t eaten anything.\u00a034\u00a0Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive.\u00a0Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head.\u201d\u00a035\u00a0After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it\u00a0and began to eat.\u00a036\u00a0They were all encouraged\u00a0and ate some food themselves.\u00a037\u00a0Altogether there were 276 of us on board.\u00a038\u00a0When they had\u00a0eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.\u00a0 39\u00a0When daylight came, they did not recognize the land, but they saw a bay with a sandy beach,\u00a0where they decided to run the ship aground if they could.\u00a040\u00a0Cutting loose the anchors,\u00a0they left them in the sea and at the same time untied the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and made for the beach.\u00a041\u00a0But the ship struck a sandbar and ran aground. The bow stuck fast and would not move, and the stern was broken to pieces by the pounding of the surf. 42\u00a0The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping.\u00a043\u00a0But the centurion wanted to spare Paul\u2019s life\u00a0and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land.\u00a044\u00a0The rest were to get there on planks or on other pieces of the ship.\u00a0In this way everyone reached land safely.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cAfter he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it\u00a0and began to eat.\u00a036\u00a0They were all encouraged\u00a0and ate some food themselves.\u00a037\u00a0Altogether there were 276 of us on board.\u00a038\u00a0When they had\u00a0eaten as much as they wanted, they lightened the ship by throwing the grain into the sea.<\/i>\u201d \u00a0Family, this is how we should respond to non-believers, to saints who are shipwrecking their faith, and even to our kids.\u00a0 Paul gave them the message from the Lord.\u00a0 He told them what they needed to do.\u00a0 First, repent and change so that they do what they know they should be doing.\u00a0 Then, upon turning toward The Way, we should encourage them to enjoy the freedom, the liberty, and the many blessings that come to those who love the Lord.\u00a0 They needed encouragement and they needed food.\u00a0 When one of us slips up we need to be encouraged to start to do what we know is right.\u00a0 Sometimes it takes a stronger, but true warning.\u00a0 Other times a gentler hand.\u00a0 This can depend on the wrong action, or upon the heart of the person.\u00a0 We remember that first and foremost the Holy Spirit is at work.\u00a0 We are merely the rainbow reminding them of God\u2019s promises.\u00a0 But always, we react with truth, love and encouragement.\u00a0 The end goal is always for a turning from error to Truth.\u00a0 If our hand is too heavy for the situation or person, we may lose their desire to hear anything we have to say.\u00a0 The good thing about children is that, they forgive our mistakes.\u00a0 When dealing with their error, let\u2019s be the same to them.<\/p>\n
After eating to full satisfaction, they were encouraged, and likely believing the message from God that Paul had given them (that none would die) and so they threw the rest of the grain into sea.\u00a0 Family, that is faith in action!\u00a0 If God said they would all live, then they would all live.\u00a0 So they did what they knew best to do in their situation by lightening the ship. Isn\u2019t that what God calls us to?\u00a0 We are to first have faith in God, to absolutely, completely, without-a-doubt believe God, even over our own thoughts (Most of all?).\u00a0 Then we do what we know to do best and trust that God will bless our efforts.\u00a0 Family, through all circumstances, at all times, let\u2019s absolutely believe God, let\u2019s throw overboard the security blankets (idols) we cling to and instead trust God.\u00a0 He is good.\u00a0 He loves us.\u00a0 He is able in all and through all.\u00a0 Let us push into God who is pulling us in.\u00a0 Be at peace.\u00a0 Let joy flow.\u00a0 Let love flow.\u00a0 Be happy, our God loves us!\u00a0 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 27:27-44\u00a0–\u00a0On the fourteenth night we were still being driven across the Adriatic\u00a0Sea, when about midnight the sailors sensed they were approaching land.\u00a028\u00a0They took soundings and found that the water was a hundred and twenty feet\u00a0deep. A short time later they took soundings again and found it was ninety feet\u00a0deep.\u00a029\u00a0Fearing that we would be dashed…<\/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":[82,94,1874,17],"class_list":["post-2226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226","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=2226"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2227,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2226\/revisions\/2227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}