Acts 26, Bible Reading and Daily Devotionals

Max Lucado Daily: CATALOG GOD’S GOODNESS

Short memories harden the heart so make careful note of God’s blessings! Declare with David, “I will daily add praise to praise. I’ll write the book on your righteousness, talk up your salvation the lifelong day, and never run out of good things to write or say” (Psalm 71:14-15 MSG).

Catalog God’s goodnesses. Meditate on them. He has led you and earned your trust. Remember what he’s done for you. And acknowledge what you have done against God. The scripture says, “If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts” (1 John 1:10).  Sin-hoarding stiffens us. Confession softens us. Is your heart hard? Take it to the Father. You’re only a prayer away from tenderness. You live in a hard world but you don’t have to live with a hard heart!

Acts 26

“I Couldn’t Just Walk Away”

 Agrippa spoke directly to Paul: “Go ahead—tell us about yourself.”

Paul took the stand and told his story. “I can’t think of anyone, King Agrippa, before whom I’d rather be answering all these Jewish accusations than you, knowing how well you are acquainted with Jewish ways and all our family quarrels.

4-8 “From the time of my youth, my life has been lived among my own people in Jerusalem. Practically every Jew in town who watched me grow up—and if they were willing to stick their necks out they’d tell you in person—knows that I lived as a strict Pharisee, the most demanding branch of our religion. It’s because I believed it and took it seriously, committed myself heart and soul to what God promised my ancestors—the identical hope, mind you, that the twelve tribes have lived for night and day all these centuries—it’s because I have held on to this tested and tried hope that I’m being called on the carpet by the Jews. They should be the ones standing trial here, not me! For the life of me, I can’t see why it’s a criminal offense to believe that God raises the dead.

9-11 “I admit that I didn’t always hold to this position. For a time I thought it was my duty to oppose this Jesus of Nazareth with all my might. Backed with the full authority of the high priests, I threw these believers—I had no idea they were God’s people!—into the Jerusalem jail right and left, and whenever it came to a vote, I voted for their execution. I stormed through their meeting places, bullying them into cursing Jesus, a one-man terror obsessed with obliterating these people. And then I started on the towns outside Jerusalem.

12-14 “One day on my way to Damascus, armed as always with papers from the high priests authorizing my action, right in the middle of the day a blaze of light, light outshining the sun, poured out of the sky on me and my companions. Oh, King, it was so bright! We fell flat on our faces. Then I heard a voice in Hebrew: ‘Saul, Saul, why are you out to get me? Why do you insist on going against the grain?’

15-16 “I said, ‘Who are you, Master?’

“The voice answered, ‘I am Jesus, the One you’re hunting down like an animal. But now, up on your feet—I have a job for you. I’ve handpicked you to be a servant and witness to what’s happened today, and to what I am going to show you.

17-18 “‘I’m sending you off to open the eyes of the outsiders so they can see the difference between dark and light, and choose light, see the difference between Satan and God, and choose God. I’m sending you off to present my offer of sins forgiven, and a place in the family, inviting them into the company of those who begin real living by believing in me.’

19-20 “What could I do, King Agrippa? I couldn’t just walk away from a vision like that! I became an obedient believer on the spot. I started preaching this life-change—this radical turn to God and everything it meant in everyday life—right there in Damascus, went on to Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside, and from there to the whole world.

21-23 “It’s because of this ‘whole world’ dimension that the Jews grabbed me in the Temple that day and tried to kill me. They want to keep God for themselves. But God has stood by me, just as he promised, and I’m standing here saying what I’ve been saying to anyone, whether king or child, who will listen. And everything I’m saying is completely in line with what the prophets and Moses said would happen: One, the Messiah must die; two, raised from the dead, he would be the first rays of God’s daylight shining on people far and near, people both godless and God-fearing.”

24 That was too much for Festus. He interrupted with a shout: “Paul, you’re crazy! You’ve read too many books, spent too much time staring off into space! Get a grip on yourself, get back in the real world!”

25-27 But Paul stood his ground. “With all respect, Festus, Your Honor, I’m not crazy. I’m both accurate and sane in what I’m saying. The king knows what I’m talking about. I’m sure that nothing of what I’ve said sounds crazy to him. He’s known all about it for a long time. You must realize that this wasn’t done behind the scenes. You believe the prophets, don’t you, King Agrippa? Don’t answer that—I know you believe.”

28 But Agrippa did answer: “Keep this up much longer and you’ll make a Christian out of me!”

29 Paul, still in chains, said, “That’s what I’m praying for, whether now or later, and not only you but everyone listening today, to become like me—except, of course, for this prison jewelry!”

30-31 The king and the governor, along with Bernice and their advisors, got up and went into the next room to talk over what they had heard. They quickly agreed on Paul’s innocence, saying, “There’s nothing in this man deserving prison, let alone death.”

32 Agrippa told Festus, “He could be set free right now if he hadn’t requested the hearing before Caesar.”

Our Daily Bread reading and devotion   
Friday, August 07, 2020
Today's Scripture & Insight:
John 11:21–36

 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

35 Jesus wept.

36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

Insight
When Martha said her brother Lazarus “will rise again in the resurrection at the last day” (John 11:24), she was echoing the Jewish hope of the afterlife. The resurrection of the dead was an ancient Jewish belief (Job 19:26–27). They believed there would be a future day when the “multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (Daniel 12:2; see also Isaiah 26:19; John 5:28–29). However, when Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23), He wasn’t merely referring to the future resurrection hope but promising a more immediate resurrection of Lazarus (vv. 40–44).

Letting Go
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants. Psalm 116:15

“Your father is actively dying,” said the hospice nurse. “Actively dying” refers to the final phase of the dying process and was a new term to me, one that felt strangely like traveling down a lonely one-way street. On my dad’s last day, not knowing if he could still hear us, my sister and I sat by his bed. We kissed the top of his beautiful bald head. We whispered God’s promises to him. We sang “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” and quoted the 23rd Psalm. We told him we loved him and thanked him for being our dad. We knew his heart longed to be with Jesus, and we told him he could go. Speaking those words was the first painful step in letting go. A few minutes later, our dad was joyously welcomed into his eternal home.

The final release of a loved one is painful. Even Jesus’ tears flowed when His good friend Lazarus died (John 11:35). But because of God’s promises, we have hope beyond physical death. Psalm 116:15 says that God’s “faithful servants”—those who belong to Him—are “precious” to Him. Though they die, they’ll be alive again.

Jesus promises, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die” (John 11:25–26). What comfort it brings to know we’ll be in God’s presence forever. By:  Cindy Hess Kasper

Reflect & Pray
What did Jesus accomplish by His death on the cross? How does His sacrifice affect every person who has ever lived?

Precious Father, thank You for the promise of eternal life in Your presence.

For help in dealing with loss, read Life After Loss at discoveryseries.org/cb131.

My Utmost for His Highest, by Oswald Chambers
Friday, August 07, 2020
Prayer in the Father’s House

…they found Him in the temple….And He said to them, "…Did you not know that I must be about My Father’s business?" —Luke 2:46, 49

Our Lord’s childhood was not immaturity waiting to grow into manhood— His childhood is an eternal fact. Am I a holy, innocent child of God as a result of my identification with my Lord and Savior? Do I look at my life as being in my Father’s house? Is the Son of God living in His Father’s house within me?

The only abiding reality is God Himself, and His order comes to me moment by moment. Am I continually in touch with the reality of God, or do I pray only when things have gone wrong— when there is some disturbance in my life? I must learn to identify myself closely with my Lord in ways of holy fellowship and oneness that some of us have not yet even begun to learn. “…I must be about My Father’s business”— and I must learn to live every moment of my life in my Father’s house.

Think about your own circumstances. Are you so closely identified with the Lord’s life that you are simply a child of God, continually talking to Him and realizing that everything comes from His hands? Is the eternal Child in you living in His Father’s house? Is the grace of His ministering life being worked out through you in your home, your business, and in your circle of friends? Have you been wondering why you are going through certain circumstances? In fact, it is not that you have to go through them. It is because of your relationship with the Son of God who comes, through the providential will of His Father, into your life. You must allow Him to have His way with you, staying in perfect oneness with Him.

The life of your Lord is to become your vital, simple life, and the way He worked and lived among people while here on earth must be the way He works and lives in you.

WISDOM FROM OSWALD CHAMBERS

There is nothing, naturally speaking, that makes us lose heart quicker than decay—the decay of bodily beauty, of natural life, of friendship, of associations, all these things make a man lose heart; but Paul says when we are trusting in Jesus Christ these things do not find us discouraged, light comes through them.
The Place of Help

Bible in a Year: Psalms 72-73; Romans 9:1-15

A Word with You, by Ron Hutchcraft
Friday, August 07, 2020
Why Going to Heaven Is So Easy - And So Hard - #8760

Children can be so refreshing. They tell it like it is, and they often see it like it is better than we grownups do. Our little granddaughter was asking questions about Jesus for several months. One thing her parents had repeatedly explained to her was how Jesus cleans our hearts from the sins that we've done. Because she was young, Mom and Dad didn't push her; they just responded to her natural questions. Well, eventually, she told her daddy that she was, in her words, "afraid of sin." That's not a bad thing to be afraid of. The next day she said, "Daddy, I want to ask Jesus in my heart." And in her simple, childlike way, that's exactly what she did. Not long afterwards, she joyfully told my wife, "Grandma, I have Jesus in my heart." Grandma told her that was a happy thing. Then Grandma began to talk about how Mommy has Jesus in her heart, and Daddy has Jesus in his heart, her Grandma and Granddad, and her aunt and uncle. Suddenly she began to shake her head. She said, "No, no, no! Only children have Jesus!"

I'm Ron Hutchcraft and I want to have A Word With You today about "Why Going to Heaven Is So Easy - And So Hard."

I'm grateful that Jesus made it clear that He's for everyone, old and young and everyone in between. But there's something Jesus did say about belonging to Him that actually validates some of the spirit of our little granddaughter's insight. His words, recorded in Matthew 18:2-3, our word for today from the Word of God, give to us so-smart grownups something to think about.

The Bible says, "He called a little child and made him stand among them. And He said, 'I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.'" Wow! Now when Jesus makes something a requirement for going to heaven when we die, you need to pay attention. We need to try to understand what He's saying.

Instead of children having to be grownup to begin a relationship with Jesus, we grownups have to become like little children. What does that mean? A little child instinctively knows he needs someone bigger. A child looks for the hand of someone bigger, the help of someone bigger, the direction of someone bigger. And a child operates on the basis of simply trusting that someone bigger who loves them. They'll trustingly go wherever that person takes them, trustingly believe whatever that person tells them. And it is that kind of total trust and total dependency on Jesus Christ that gets you into "the kingdom of heaven."

John 3:16, one of the foundation verses of the Bible, says "whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." And that means abandoning any other hope of having your sins forgiven because only Jesus died to pay for them. But that's a problem for us grownup people. Our pride keeps us from admitting that all our goodness is useless as currency to get us into heaven. If your goodness was enough, Jesus would have never gone through the agony of that cross. And over the years we learn "un-trust," because of how humans are. So we'll agree with Jesus, but we won't throw ourselves on Jesus as our only hope. The reason it's so easy to go to heaven is also the reason it's so hard...you just put all your trust in Jesus.

Often, in His love, God will send or allow a situation that's totally beyond our control. He'll allow us to hit a wall so we will realize what children realize so instinctively. We desperately need someone bigger. We need heaven's Prince who died in our place. The question is not, "Do you agree with Jesus?" or "Do you like Jesus?" Have you ever grabbed Jesus with both your hands as your only hope of getting right with God? That's the question. If not, in Jesus' words, "you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

Today, you can change that, and in so doing change where you will spend eternity. It's a matter of reaching up for Jesus' hands with the simple trust of a little child reaching for the hand of his Daddy. I'd love to help you take that step if that's what you want to do. And there's a simple explanation of how to begin with Jesus at our website. It's ANewStory.com. Please get there today.

Isn't it time to look at Jesus and say, "I can't, You can, and I'm Yours?" When you do, you are finally safe all the way from here to heaven.