SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 7/31/2018
10:40 AM
My Worship Time Focus: Intro to
Acts 17:21-26
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
17:21-26
Message of the verses: “17 After we arrived in Jerusalem, the brethren received us
gladly. 18 And the following day Paul went in with us to James, and all the
elders were present.19 After he had greeted them, he began to relate one
by one the things which God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 20
And when they heard it they began glorifying God; and they said to him, "You
see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews of those who have
believed, and they are all zealous for the Law; 21 and they have been told
about you, that you are teaching all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to
forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children nor to walk
according to the customs. 22 “What, then, is to be done? They will
certainly hear that you have come. 23 “Therefore do this that we tell you. We
have four men who are under a vow; 24 take them and purify yourself along with
them, and pay their expenses so that they may shave their heads; and all will
know that there is nothing to the things which they have been told about you,
but that you yourself also walk orderly, keeping the Law. 25 “But concerning
the Gentiles who have believed, we wrote, having decided that they should
abstain from meat sacrificed to idols and from blood and from what is strangled
and from fornication." 26 Then Paul took the men, and the next day,
purifying himself along with them, went into the temple giving notice of the
completion of the days of purification, until the sacrifice was offered for
each one of them.”
We have
been following the Apostle Paul for some time, he is first mentioned when
Stephen was stoned in chapter 7 of Acts, but at that time he was a hater of the
church, trying to do much damage to the small infant church. What he did to the church in causing them to
spread out was actually what the Lord wanted to happen as He desired it to
begin in Jerusalem and then spread out into Judah and then begin to spread
around the world, so Paul in trying to destroy the church was actually
fulfilling what the Lord wanted to happen.
We have followed Paul from the time that he was saved on the road to
Damascus found in the ninth chapter of Acts, an event that would change the
history of the world. We saw him preach
in Damascus right after being saved proving that Jesus was the Jewish Messiah,
so much so that he had to flee for his life.
We saw him end up in the Antioch, the first place where believers were
called Christians, and was chosen by the Holy Spirit to go out into the known
world to spread the gospel on the first missionary journey, the first of
three. We saw him suffer much for the
cause of Christ. This humble, intelligent,
loving man did things for the cause of Christ that will never be done by one
man again as he through the power of the Holy Spirit, and the help of his
friends took the gospel to the ends of the known world.
Paul is in
the city of Jerusalem to take the long awaited offering that he had collected
painfully to the poor church in Jerusalem.
He takes up residence with a Hellenistic Jew named Mnason of Cyprus who
was a disciple of long standing. John
MacArthur suggests that this man was saved on the very first day of the church,
the Day of Pentecost, the birthday of the church. He speculates that Paul stayed with him since
he would not be as strict as the Jews who were raised in Jerusalem, and he also
suggest that perhaps it was Mnason who could have helped Luke get information
to write about the early church.
I have one
more thing to write about Paul, and that is something that gives me courage to
help spread the gospel in the way that the Lord allows me to do so. I have to say that I believe with all my
heart that God chose me before the foundation of the earth as a gift to His
Son, the Lord Jesus Christ as He did all who will come to know the Lord as
their Savior and Lord. I believe that it
was Paul who teaches this in his writings, and yet as some say of those of us
who believe this “why do you go out and spread the gospel since all who were
chosen will be saved?” My answer to that
lies in the life of the Apostle Paul who tirelessly spent his time going from
town to town, from country to country spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ to
seek out those whom the Lord chose before the earth was even made. If Paul who knew this truth probably better
than any human being suffered so much for the cause of Christ to spread the
gospel, then why would I not do the same in my work that the Lord has given me
to spread the gospel through the Spiritual Diaries that I write most every day,
and to be always ready to tell others that the Lord brings into my path about
how a person can change his or her eternal address from hell to heaven by
accepting the salvation that Jesus has provided when He willingly suffered and
died on the cross to pay for the sins of the world.
John
MacArthur concludes his introductory comments by writing “Paul’s arrival in
Jerusalem marked the end of his missionary journeys. He would soon be arrested and remain an ‘ambassador
in chains’ (Eph. 6:20) for the remainder of the period covered by Acts. This transitional passage depicts the apostle’s
fellowship with the Jerusalem church and the events leading to his arrest. To capture the features of this monumental
meeting, we may divide the text into three sections: communion, concern, and
compromise.”
Spiritual meaning for my life today: As
I look at the life of the Apostle Paul from the pages of the book of Acts I am
learning much on what a Christian should be, and so it is my desire, although I
struggle much, to follow what the Lord wants me to be to bring glory to my Lord
Jesus Christ.
My
Steps of Faith for Today: Continue to read and study the Word of God to
be able to help others advance in their walk with the Lord.
Answer to yesterday’s Bible question: “Mary” (Luke 10:39).
Today’s Bible question:
“Which book of the Bible begins with the word ‘Adam’?”
Answer in our next SD.
7/31/2018 11:24 AM
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