PT-3 "The Reason"

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 10/28/2017 9:49 AM

My Worship Time                                                                              Focus:  PT-3 “The Reason”

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 6:1-2, 4

            Message of the verses:  “1 Now at this time while the disciples were increasing in number, a complaint arose on the part of the Hellenistic Jews against the native Hebrews, because their widows were being overlooked in the daily serving of food. 2 So the twelve summoned the congregation of the disciples and said, "It is not desirable for us to neglect the word of God in order to serve tables… 4 “But we will devote ourselves to prayer and to the ministry of the word."”

            I have to say that there is much to look at in this section and we will not get through it this morning, but the main thing is to understand what the passage teaches us and not just run through it and miss things.

            We begin by looking at “Prayer and the ministry of God’s Word,” as found in verse six.  Now when I say that there is a lot more I am talking about the things that MacArthur writes in his commentary which is what we are following in these SD’s on Acts.

            Praying and the study of God’s Word are inseparably linked to each other.  When a pastor is following what the Bible speaks of, especially in the book of Ephesians which is a guide for us on how a church should operate we find that since the apostles are gone, and they have been gone for some 1900 years, that the Lord uses genuine born again pastors to teach us from His Word and so the genuine born again pastors when studying for a sermon will always bathe their preparation with prayer.  They must pray so that they can be a pure channel through which God’s truth can flow to his people he ministers to. 

            Who would come to your mind if asked who was the greatest proclaimer of God’s Word to ever live? and you cannot answer with Jesus.  The answer of course is the apostle Paul and he was a man devoted to prayer.  You will find many of his prayers in his letters as he generally prays for who he is writing to in the first part of his letters and then at the end he will give prayer requests to those he is writing to for his work and ministry, many times asking for prayer to better be equipped to spread the good news of the gospel.

            We will conclude this SD with the following quote from John MacArthur:  “The apostles’ pledge to devote themselves to their ministry set the pattern for all to follow.  The ministry demands total commitment, everything a man has to give.  There is no substitute for hard work and discipline.  A young man once said to the gifted expositor preacher of God’s Word Donald Grey Barnhouse, ‘I’d give the world to be able to teach the Bible like you.’   Looking him straight in the eye Dr. Barnhouse replied, ‘Good, because that’s exactly what it will cost you.’”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I certainly do not consider myself as a preacher of God’s Word as far as being a pastor, but perhaps God has given me the gift of teaching and so I believe that I  must ask the Lord to give me a great desire to look to Him in prayer before writing my Spiritual Diaries and teaching my Sunday school class.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  To be a better prayer warrior as I teach God’s Word to make sure that God will open my eyes to understand His Word so that I can pass it on to others.

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Matthias” (Acts 1:15-26).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who are the three persons of the Trinity?”

Answer in our next SD.

10/28/2017 10:12 AM