Good morning. And Paul was with them, moving about freely in
Jerusalem, speaking out boldly in the name of the Lord. He was talking and
arguing with the Hellenistic (Greek speaking) Jews; but they were attempting to
put him to death. Sometimes people have a violent reaction when they are
confronted with truth that goes against things they have believed all their
lives. But when the brethren learned of it, they brought him down to Caesarea
and sent him away to Tarsus. So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and
Samaria enjoyed peace, being built up; and going on in the fear the Lord and in
the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they continued to increase. The last sentence
makes you wonder did they send Paul away to protect him or so that he would
stop stirring up trouble where they lived? Now that Paul is out of the scene,
the book of Acts shifts emphasis. As Peter was traveling throughout all those
regions, he came down to the saints who lived at Lydda. There he found a man
who had been bedridden eight years, for he was paralyzed. Jesus Christ heals
you; get up and make your bed. Immediately he got up. It seems strange that
Peter would tell him to make his bed. I don’t know why; but it is possible that
as long as the bed was unmade it indicated the possibility that the paralysis
could return, and he could go back and lay down. All those who lived in the
area saw him, and they turned to the Lord. Besides bringing healing to
believers, miracles also opened the door for people to come to the Lord. Father
help this to be a life-changing day for the reader. Bring miracles to him/her
and his/her family.
Merry Christmas!
Good morning, and Merry Christmas! We are going to digress and look at the first Christmas. This was something that had been foretold centuries before; and yet people still did not understand what was going to happen. They were thinking that the Messiah was going to come as an adult and was going to re-establish the nation of Israel above all other nations. They were not expecting Him to come as a baby, supposedly born to a carpenter and placed in a manger. Many things had to happen at precisely the right time. You had to have the right person to be His mother and the right person to be His supposed father. You had to have a reason for them to be in Bethlehem on the night He was born – the census. It had to be when shepherds would be in the field near Bethlehem watching their flocks. And just at the right time – an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before the shepherds, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened. And the angel said to them...
Comments
Post a Comment