Acts 17:16-34, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: THE PATH OF FAITH

The faith-filled prayer is a prayer of admonishment.  The prayer of faith invites God to be God, to be sovereign over a tumultuous time.

Dennis McDonald models this type of admonishment.  He was our church’s hospital chaplain for many years.  I was always struck by the transformation that came over him as he began to minister.  When he entered the hospital room, he went straight to work.  Dennis would anoint the sick person with oil and pray, “Lord, this is your servant, whom you love and whom we love.  Let your healing happen in this room.  Satan, you must leave.  You’re a liar, and your words have no merit.  This child is bought by God.  We pray in Jesus’ name, amen.”

This is the job of the church: to take struggling followers and lead them back to the path of faith.  And this is how happiness happens.

Acts 17:16-34

The longer Paul waited in Athens for Silas and Timothy, the angrier he got—all those idols! The city was a junkyard of idols.

17-18 He discussed it with the Jews and other like-minded people at their meeting place. And every day he went out on the streets and talked with anyone who happened along. He got to know some of the Epicurean and Stoic intellectuals pretty well through these conversations. Some of them dismissed him with sarcasm: “What an airhead!” But others, listening to him go on about Jesus and the resurrection, were intrigued: “That’s a new slant on the gods. Tell us more.”

19-21 These people got together and asked him to make a public presentation over at the Areopagus, where things were a little quieter. They said, “This is a new one on us. We’ve never heard anything quite like it. Where did you come up with this anyway? Explain it so we can understand.” Downtown Athens was a great place for gossip. There were always people hanging around, natives and tourists alike, waiting for the latest tidbit on most anything.

22-23 So Paul took his stand in the open space at the Areopagus and laid it out for them. “It is plain to see that you Athenians take your religion seriously. When I arrived here the other day, I was fascinated with all the shrines I came across. And then I found one inscribed, to the god nobody knows. I’m here to introduce you to this God so you can worship intelligently, know who you’re dealing with.

24-29 “The God who made the world and everything in it, this Master of sky and land, doesn’t live in custom-made shrines or need the human race to run errands for him, as if he couldn’t take care of himself. He makes the creatures; the creatures don’t make him. Starting from scratch, he made the entire human race and made the earth hospitable, with plenty of time and space for living so we could seek after God, and not just grope around in the dark but actually find him. He doesn’t play hide-and-seek with us. He’s not remote; he’s near. We live and move in him, can’t get away from him! One of your poets said it well: ‘We’re the God-created.’ Well, if we are the God-created, it doesn’t make a lot of sense to think we could hire a sculptor to chisel a god out of stone for us, does it?

30-31 “God overlooks it as long as you don’t know any better—but that time is past. The unknown is now known, and he’s calling for a radical life-change. He has set a day when the entire human race will be judged and everything set right. And he has already appointed the judge, confirming him before everyone by raising him from the dead.”

32-34 At the phrase “raising him from the dead,” the listeners split: Some laughed at him and walked off making jokes; others said, “Let’s do this again. We want to hear more.” But that was it for the day, and Paul left. There were still others, it turned out, who were convinced then and there, and stuck with Paul—among them Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris.

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Today's Scripture & Insight:
Ezekiel 2:4–3:

The people to whom I am sending you are obstinate and stubborn. Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign Lord says.’ 5 And whether they listen or fail to listen—for they are a rebellious people—they will know that a prophet has been among them. 6 And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. 7 You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. 8 But you, son of man, listen to what I say to you. Do not rebel like that rebellious people; open your mouth and eat what I give you.”

9 Then I looked, and I saw a hand stretched out to me. In it was a scroll, 10 which he unrolled before me. On both sides of it were written words of lament and mourning and woe.

3 And he said to me, “Son of man, eat what is before you, eat this scroll; then go and speak to the people of Israel.” 2 So I opened my mouth, and he gave me the scroll to eat.

3 Then he said to me, “Son of man, eat this scroll I am giving you and fill your stomach with it.” So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.

Insight
Ezekiel isn’t the only prophet instructed by God to eat “the scroll” of lament and judgment (2:9–3:3). The apostle John on Patmos Island was similarly ordered to eat a scroll. Because John prophesied bitter judgment and untold suffering for God’s people, the scroll “[turned his] stomach sour” (Revelation 10:9). And yet because it was God’s Word, it “tasted as sweet as honey in [his] mouth” (v. 10). This is the consistent testimony of people who love God: His Word is “more precious than gold, . . . sweeter than honey . . . from the honeycomb” (Psalm 19:10).

Truth: Bitter or Sweet?
So I ate it, and it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth. Ezekiel 3:3

I’d had the spot on my nose for the better part of a year when I went to the doctor. The biopsy results came back days later with words I didn’t want to hear: skin cancer. Though the cancer was operable and not life-threatening, it was a bitter pill to swallow.

God commanded Ezekiel to swallow a bitter pill—a scroll containing words of lament and woe (Ezekiel 2:10; 3:1–2). He was “to fill [his] stomach with it” and share the words with the people of Israel, whom God considered “obstinate and stubborn” (2:4). One would expect a scroll filled with correction to taste like a bitter pill. Yet Ezekiel describes it being “as sweet as honey” in his mouth (3:3).

Ezekiel seems to have acquired a taste for God’s correction. Instead of viewing His rebuke as something to avoid, Ezekiel recognized that what is good for the soul is “sweet.” God instructs and corrects us with lovingkindness, helping us live in a way that honors and pleases Him.

Some truths are bitter pills to swallow while others taste sweet. If we remember how much God loves us, His truth will taste more like honey. His words are given to us for our good, providing wisdom and strength to forgive others, refrain from gossip, and bear up under mistreatment. Help us, God, to recognize Your wisdom as the sweet counsel it truly is! By:  Kirsten Holmberg

Reflect & Pray
What truth has God shown you recently? Did you receive it as a bitter pill or sweet honey?

God, Your truth is sweet.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Thursday, October 17, 2019
The Key of the Greater Work

…I say to you, he who believes in Me,…greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. —John 14:12

Prayer does not equip us for greater works— prayer is the greater work. Yet we think of prayer as some commonsense exercise of our higher powers that simply prepares us for God’s work. In the teachings of Jesus Christ, prayer is the working of the miracle of redemption in me, which produces the miracle of redemption in others, through the power of God. The way fruit remains firm is through prayer, but remember that it is prayer based on the agony of Christ in redemption, not on my own agony. We must go to God as His child, because only a child gets his prayers answered; a “wise” man does not (see Matthew 11:25).

Prayer is the battle, and it makes no difference where you are. However God may engineer your circumstances, your duty is to pray. Never allow yourself this thought, “I am of no use where I am,” because you certainly cannot be used where you have not yet been placed. Wherever God has placed you and whatever your circumstances, you should pray, continually offering up prayers to Him. And He promises, “Whatever you ask in My name, that I will do…” (John 14:13). Yet we refuse to pray unless it thrills or excites us, which is the most intense form of spiritual selfishness. We must learn to work according to God’s direction, and He says to pray. “Pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:38).

There is nothing thrilling about a laboring person’s work, but it is the laboring person who makes the ideas of the genius possible. And it is the laboring saint who makes the ideas of his Master possible. When you labor at prayer, from God’s perspective there are always results. What an astonishment it will be to see, once the veil is finally lifted, all the souls that have been reaped by you, simply because you have been in the habit of taking your orders from Jesus Christ.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

The great word of Jesus to His disciples is Abandon. When God has brought us into the relationship of disciples, we have to venture on His word; trust entirely to Him and watch that when He brings us to the venture, we take it.
Studies in the Sermon on the Mount

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Thursday, October 17, 2019
Thanks. A Lot. - #8549

Our grandson wants to major in philosophy in college. A few days ago, we got to sample what kind of philosophy we might expect from his one-of-a-kind brain. It's not exactly Socrates. But it's interesting and within the reach of the common man. He received some gifts for graduation, and here's the philosophical gem he spoke to his mother: "You live. You die. And in the middle, you write thank you cards."

I'm Ron Hutchcrat and I want to have A Word With You today about "Thanks. A Lot."

Profound in its own way what he said. Then I got to thinking about what he said. And how, in a way, it is true. Or should be. Oh, not necessarily the cards. But the "thank yous." We're all like that infamous turtle on top of the fencepost. There's no way he could have gotten there on his own. Someone had to help him get there.

Woven generously through the tapestry of my life are those people who God has used to elevate my life. Like my Mom and Dad, who made me feel valued and who celebrated the gifts God has given me. Above all, my precious Karen. No man could have asked for a wife more loyal, more willing to love me in those times when honestly there wasn't much to love. And who faithfully was God's mirror to show me the me I didn't always want to see, so I could become more like Jesus.

I am - look, we all are - a river made up of hundreds of people who were the tributaries to make us what we are today. My "loyal like Mom" children and grandchildren, from whom I am constantly learning. Faithful friends, "cheerleaders," prayer warriors, pastors, youth leaders, loyal siblings, teachers - the more I think, the more I have to thank.

But have I? Before they're gone? A call, a note, a text, a card - maybe my thank you would be just the encouragement they need to get back in the ring for another round. Or to remind them that their life, in fact, has made a difference. In a sense, my whole life should be a walking, talking thank you card. The return on their investment in me. "To whom much is given, much is required" (Luke 12:48).

But no one has invested in me more than my Jesus. "He loved me," the Bible says, "and gave Himself for me" (Galatians 2:20). In the Bible's words, "You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price" (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). The shedding of holy blood. The thorns. The nails. The spear. And the unspeakable soul-agony of His Father turning His back on His Son so He would never have to turn His back on me.

And if that weren't enough, "Out of the fullness of His grace," the Bible says, "we have all received one blessing after another" (John 1:16). Every day - all through each day - there have been God-sightings if I have eyes to see them. The text that came just at the right time. The flowers beautifying the yard reminding me of the Artist who made them. The Scripture or the song that goes right to my need. Just waking up healthy, or just waking up.

Every day, is a "day the Lord has made" (Psalm 118:24). Not the weather. Not the doctor. Not the demands. Not the finances. The Lord. He designs each day as threads - some darker, some brighter - in this grand tapestry He is weaving in your life and mine.

So I get it. What David said. It's our word for today from the Word of God in Psalm 34:1, "I will praise the Lord at all times. I will constantly speak His praises." Yes, there is always something to trust Him for. But there's always something to thank Him for.

And the real "thank you card" is my life. I guess some thank you cards have legs to walk in His footsteps and hands to do what He would do in someone's life. And lips to tell the Hope Story of my life that only a Savior like Jesus could have written. A life lived as my "thank you" to Jesus is my little gift to Him for His incalculable gift to me.

The Bible reveals that heaven is filled with praises for the One who is called "the Lamb who was slain." So I might as well get used to living my thanks to Him. I guess you could call it heaven practice.

So, my philosopher grandson made me laugh at first with what he said, and now made me think. "We live. We die. And in between a thank you card" - called my life.