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Romans 1:16-17

For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, “The just shall live by faith.”

Encouraging Words

It is clear from the teachings throughout the scriptures and throughout the history of the church that the gospel of Christ is for everyone. There are no exclusions, no reasons for segregation, no opportunity to keep it for a select few. It is in this that we find our encouragement. We find our salvation from death in the gospel of Christ and power of God. This is why we are not ashamed to proclaim this gospel and this truth to everyone, all the time. Glory be to God!

Acts 28:30

Then Paul dwelt two whole years in his own rented house, and received all who came to him, preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence, no one forbidding him.

Personal Challenge

Sometimes our journey through life as a Christian hits a bumpy road. Actually, most of the Christian journey is a bumpy road because if we are truly following in the footsteps of Christ, we are walking counter to the things of the world, and the world hates us for it. But by the grace of our Lord, he continues to give us what we need to continually be preaching the kingdom of God and teaching the things which concern the Lord Jesus Christ with all confidence. Will we be tired? Yes? Will it be difficult? Yes! Will it be worth it? Absolutely! Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 21:13

Then Paul answered, “What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”

Personal Challenge

Sometimes we are fortunate enough to hear the voice of God leading us in the direction that He wants us to go. It is usually a very calm, faint whisper and will often point us to areas that we would have never thought about going to. As we begin to listen to that voice and follow its leading, we will begin to hear the louder voices of our friends and families telling us to stop and stay where we are. The question for each of us is, “Which voice will I listen to?”. This is an important part of our journey through life. God will never make us do anything. He has purposed to give us the free will to make and follow our own choices. The key is that we will also reap the consequences of those choices. The consequences will always be more heavenly if we choose to listen to His still, small voice. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner and help me to hear your voice!

Acts 20:29

For I know this, that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.

Personal Challenge

From the very beginning of the church, we have been warned of those who will try to turn the people to their way of thinking. In the first 700-800 years of the church we had many battles with heretical teachings that attempted to turn the people away from the truth. It was met head on by the early church fathers and councils to fight the onslaught. It is no different today. We are still fighting those heresies of the early days as well as new permutations. The difficulty that we face today is that there are so many groups, or faith practices, that proclaim Jesus as their Lord and yet also hold on to and teach heresies. We have become so divided and so independent that is hard to have a unified confrontation with these lies This is why we must be diligent to watch for the savage wolves amongst us and be willing to stand up to them. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!

Acts 17:28

for in Him we live and move and have our being, as also some of your own poets have said, ‘For we are also His offspring.’

Encouraging Words

Throughout the scriptures, both the Old Testament and the New, the followers of God are labelled, “His children.” In this passage, Paul is debating with the Athenians about their idol to the unknown God. They had a god for everything. Paul presents to them that there is only one God and that it is because of Him that we live and move and have our being. He also proclaims that because of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we are now adopted into the family of God and are His offspring. We are indeed, His children. Glory be to God!

Acts 17:6

But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some brethren to the rulers of the city, crying out, “These who have turned the world upside down have come here too.”

Personal Challenge

So, why were Jason and other brethren dragged before the rulers of the city? This happened in the city of Thessalonica. Paul and Silas had come here to stay with Jason and these other brethren in order to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ to this part of the world. The gospel was changing lives. The gospel was changing the world. Is that gospel any different than the gospel that we have to share today? No! We have the same gospel to share that Paul, Silas, and Jason had to share. So, what has changed? The messengers. If we desire to see our world turned upside down for Jesus then we need to embrace it and share it as the early church fathers did. We need to throw off the garments of this temporal world and put on the garments of Christ in order to be on fire for Him and change our world. Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner!

Acts 16:25

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

Personal Challenge

What do we typically do when life presses in on us and things are not going well? Do we get angry and push back? Do we get rude and obstinate and start attacking those around os? Do we get depressed and crawl into a dark place to hide from the world? Paul and Silas were having a pretty bad day. They had been thrown into jail for preaching the gospel of Jesus and bound in chains. The prospects did not look good. What did they do? They started praying and singing hymns. They were joyful for they were serving the risen Lord. What a vivid lesson for us to follow. Glory be to God!

Acts 8:30-31

So Philip ran to him, and heard him reading the prophet Isaiah, and said, “Do you understand what you are reading?”

And he said, “How can I, unless someone guides me?” And he asked Philip to come up and sit with him.

Personal Challenge

In this passage of Acts, we are told that Philip was approached by an angel and told to go to a certain place along the road out of Jerusalem. Philip immediately did what he was told without questioning it. He didn’t even question the fact that it was an angel the told him to do this. When he got there, the spirit within Philip spoke to him and told him to go up to a chariot that had a eunuch from Ethiopia in it. This man was a powerful man in the courts of the Ethiopian queen and a devout Jew who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the passover. This is where these two verses pick up the story. What we see here is that Philip was willing to listen to an angel of the Lord and do what he was told, He was in such a close relationship with his resurrected Lord that he could hear the Spirit speaking to him. And, he was willing and available to do what he was told to do. In the rest of the passage, Philip leads the eunuch to Jesus and baptizes him on the spot. Both Philip and the eunuch were available to be used by God. This very well could have been the man that took the Christian faith back to Ethiopia, which still has a strong Orthodox presence. Glory be to God. May we all learn to be available as Philip was. Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!