Acts 16 bible reading and devotionals.

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MaxLucado.com: One Scary Place

Here’s a test.   How far do you have to go to hear the reminder, “Be afraid?”

How near is your next, “You’re in trouble” memo? A flip of the newspaper page?  A turn of the radio dial?  A glance at the Internet?  According to the media the world is one scary place!

There’s a stampede of fear out there.  Let’s not get caught in it.  Let’s be among those who stay calm.  Acknowledge threats but refuse to be defined by them.  Let’s be numbered among those who hear a difference voice:  God’s!

Courage doesn’t panic, it prays.  Courage doesn’t bemoan, it believes.  Courage listens to the voice of God calling through Scripture,  “When reports come in of wars and rumored wars, keep your head and don’t panic.”

“Let not your heart be troubled.”

Trust these and other words from God.

Trust God and fear less!

 From Fearless

Acts 16:1-21
New International Version (NIV)
Timothy Joins Paul and Silas

16 Paul came to Derbe and then to Lystra, where a disciple named Timothy lived, whose mother was Jewish and a believer but whose father was a Greek. 2 The believers at Lystra and Iconium spoke well of him. 3 Paul wanted to take him along on the journey, so he circumcised him because of the Jews who lived in that area, for they all knew that his father was a Greek. 4 As they traveled from town to town, they delivered the decisions reached by the apostles and elders in Jerusalem for the people to obey. 5 So the churches were strengthened in the faith and grew daily in numbers.

Paul’s Vision of the Man of Macedonia

6 Paul and his companions traveled throughout the region of Phrygia and Galatia, having been kept by the Holy Spirit from preaching the word in the province of Asia. 7 When they came to the border of Mysia, they tried to enter Bithynia, but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to. 8 So they passed by Mysia and went down to Troas. 9 During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, “Come over to Macedonia and help us.” 10 After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them.

Lydia’s Conversion in Philippi

11 From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day we went on to Neapolis. 12 From there we traveled to Philippi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district[a] of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days.

13 On the Sabbath we went outside the city gate to the river, where we expected to find a place of prayer. We sat down and began to speak to the women who had gathered there. 14 One of those listening was a woman from the city of Thyatira named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth. She was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to respond to Paul’s message. 15 When she and the members of her household were baptized, she invited us to her home. “If you consider me a believer in the Lord,” she said, “come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.

Paul and Silas in Prison

16 Once when we were going to the place of prayer, we were met by a female slave who had a spirit by which she predicted the future. She earned a great deal of money for her owners by fortune-telling. 17 She followed Paul and the rest of us, shouting, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.” 18 She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her.

19 When her owners realized that their hope of making money was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace to face the authorities. 20 They brought them before the magistrates and said, “These men are Jews, and are throwing our city into an uproar 21 by advocating customs unlawful for us Romans to accept or practice.”


Our Daily Bread reading and devotion

Read: 1 Peter 3:8-12

Suffering for Doing Good

8 Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. 9 Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing. 10 For,

“Whoever would love life
    and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
    and their lips from deceitful speech.
11 They must turn from evil and do good;
    they must seek peace and pursue it.
12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous
    and his ears are attentive to their prayer,
but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil.”[a]

Winners And Losers

August 8, 2012 — by Dave Branon

In lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself. —Philippians 2:3

As the NFL playoff game ended and the Green Bay Packers celebrated their victory over the Chicago Bears, my daughter Lisa noticed that her little girl, 4-year-old Eliana, was crying. That seemed odd, since neither of Eliana’s parents particularly cared who won the game.

When Lisa asked Eliana why she was crying, she said, “I feel sorry for the Bears. They look so sad.”

Can we learn something from a preschooler about compassion? In a world where winning is so important and losers get rejected, forgotten, and maligned, we need this reminder: People need compassion. When we see others struggling with a loss are we willing to shed tears with them, put our arms around them, and offer to help?

A number of Scripture passages challenge us to treat others with compassion. Philippians 2:1-3 tells us to think of others above ourselves, looking out for their interests—not just ours. First Peter 3:8-12 reminds us that compassion means treating others “as brothers,” and Colossians 3:12-15 says that mercy, kindness, and humility are marks of those God has redeemed.

Look around you. See anyone going through a difficult loss? Go beyond feeling bad for them. Reach out with compassion and God’s love.

Lord, grant me a heart of compassion
So burdened for others’ needs,
That I will show them Your mercy
In attitudes, words, and deeds. —Fitzhugh
One measure of our likeness to Christ is our sensitivity to the suffering of others.



My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
August 8, 2012

Prayer in the Father’s Honor

. . . that Holy One who is to be born will be called the Son of God —Luke 1:35

If the Son of God has been born into my human flesh, then am I allowing His holy innocence, simplicity, and oneness with the Father the opportunity to exhibit itself in me? What was true of the Virgin Mary in the history of the Son of God’s birth on earth is true of every saint. God’s Son is born into me through the direct act of God; then I as His child must exercise the right of a child— the right of always being face to face with my Father through prayer. Do I find myself continually saying in amazement to the commonsense part of my life, “Why did you want me to turn here or to go over there? ’Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?’ ” (Luke 2:49). Whatever our circumstances may be, that holy, innocent, and eternal Child must be in contact with His Father.
Am I simple enough to identify myself with my Lord in this way? Is He having His wonderful way with me? Is God’s will being fulfilled in that His Son has been formed in me (see Galatians 4:19), or have I carefully pushed Him to one side? Oh, the noisy outcry of today! Why does everyone seem to be crying out so loudly? People today are crying out for the Son of God to be put to death. There is no room here for God’s Son right now— no room for quiet, holy fellowship and oneness with the Father.
Is the Son of God praying in me, bringing honor to the Father, or am I dictating my demands to Him? Is He ministering in me as He did in the time of His manhood here on earth? Is God’s Son in me going through His passion, suffering so that His own purposes might be fulfilled? The more a person knows of the inner life of God’s most mature saints, the more he sees what God’s purpose really is: to “. . . fill up in my flesh what is lacking in the afflictions of Christ . . .” (Colossians 1:24). And when we think of what it takes to “fill up,” there is always something yet to be done.


A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft

What They See Is What They Get - #6673

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

My friend, Steve, was recently named a finalist for one of America's most prestigious scholarships. It's for graduate students, and it's loaded with benefits. You notice I always hang around smart people, hoping that something will rub off on me. Well, anyway, some applicants were cut on the basis of their application. So they narrowed down the group and then they invited the survivors to a party where the number would be cut to a handful who would be interviewed.

Now, the party was an interesting elimination round, which by the way Steve survived. Apparently this round was based on appearances, because all the judges did was observe how the finalists were dressed, how they conversed, how they got along with people; and how they conducted themselves. And by morning, many more had been cut and they all received the news that they had been evaluated by appearance. Whew! Man! Well, we've all been judged by our appearance, haven't we?

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "What They See Is What They Get."

Now, our word for today from the Word of God comes from 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Now, thinking about those scholarship finalists that were judged based on appearances, you'd think that there might have been someone in the group that looked great and wasn't chosen. And maybe there was someone who didn't look great and was chosen. Judging by appearance may not always be accurate, but it's pretty common.

Well, You're being judged by how things look all the time, not necessarily by how things are, but how they look. That's why the Bible gives us this very challenging imperative, and it is our word for today from the Word of God, 1 Thessalonians 5:22. Pretty simple and to the point, "Avoid all appearances of evil." Don't even look like you're doing something wrong in other words.

Now, in Romans 14:16, it's sort of a companion statement where God says this, "Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil." In other words, I think God is saying here, "Care about how you look; not only by whether what you're doing is right, but also whether it looks right." See, our world casts a very critical and even cynical eye at Christians. You know that; looking for any excuse to conclude that Christ doesn't really make any difference so they don't have to take Him seriously. They'd love to find something that looks inconsistent and hypocritical.

I know I'm watched. That means I have to avoid any action that could be construed as wrong. As a married man that means avoiding being with a woman alone even in a public place. In an adulterous world, people will just quickly jump to the worst conclusion possible. Or those innocent flirtations that you don't mean anything by, but see, that's an appearance of evil.

It affects what Christian dating couples do, even in innocence. At our house as our kids were going through their teenage years, a couple just didn't spend extended times alone. Avoiding any appearance of cheating or dishonesty - that means I make the cabby fill out my receipt instead of handing it to me so I can fill in my own amount. That's what they're used to. This covers scores of everyday choices. You ask yourself, "How will this look?" You say, "Well, that's their problem." No, as Christ's ambassador, it's your problem. You are always on Candid Camera, watched by friends, watched by critics, our family, our coworkers, our neighbors, and even those you have no idea are watching you.

Right now, people are judging our Jesus by how it looks like we are living. So, don't just settle for what looks right, but for what looks like Jesus.