God’s still in control and we can have fellowship even when Christians disagree

Acts 20:22-23 And now I am bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem. I don’t know what awaits me, except that the Holy Spirit tells me in city after city that jail and suffering lie ahead.

Acts 21:4 We went ashore, found the local believers, and stayed with them a week. These believers prophesied through the Holy Spirit that Paul should not go on to Jerusalem.

Acts 21:10-11 Several days later a man named Agabus, who also had the gift of prophecy, arrived from Judea. He came over, took Paul’s belt, and bound his own feet and hands with it. Then he said, “The Holy Spirit declarers, ‘So shall the owner of this belt be bound by the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem and turned over to the Gentiles.’”

It is interesting that I am reading these passages around the same time that my church morning devotions online have been going through the same passages. My church pastors interpreted this as the Holy Spirit compelling Paul to go to Jerusalem, which then brings up the problem that in the next chapter, the Holy Spirit sends several people to warn Paul not to go to Jerusalem.

My pastors follow the interpretation that the Holy Spirit may have informed those Christians that Paul would suffer if he goes to Jerusalem, but they jumped the gun and assumed that this was to tell Paul not to go.

However, I agree more with the interpretation that Paul was so burdened by the lostness of the majority of his fellow Jews that he felt compelled by his own spirit to go to Jerusalem, against the advice of the Holy Spirit. Especially since Acts 20:22 is Paul himself saying that he was bound by the spirit to go to Jerusalem, not that the Holy Spirit was actually binding him to go to Jerusalem, and Acts 21:4 says that the Holy Spirit was telling the Syrian Christians to tell Paul not to go to Jerusalem. (For a detailed explanation of this view, see http://www.jrtalks.com/acts/acts21v1to21.html)

God still permitted Paul to be pigheaded and go to Jerusalem, and indeed God still used what happened for the furtherance of the Gospel -- though, not as Paul had hoped, for the Jews of Judea, but for the Gentiles elsewhere, even as his prison epistles were written as a result.

Paul had a diffferent interpretation than Agabus, Luke, and the Syrian Christians. I have a different interpretation than my pastors. But both are still following the Lord, and still united in Christ.

So, regardless of either interpretation, God is in charge, and His plans are not thwarted by human misunderstanding or desires. So we can trust in Him for that.

Mundane faithfulness

2 Kings 5:13 But his officers tried to reason with him and said, “Sir, if the prophet had told you to do something very difficult, wouldn’t you have done it? So you should certainly obey him when he says simply, “Go and wash and be cured!”

For me, the application right now is the daily call to daily take up the cross and follow Jesus. The little “mundane” things we have to do every day to stay in His path. Nothing spectacular. But just to keep doing the next right thing.

When I’m weary, father, be my bridge over troubled water. In Jesus’ name, amen.

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I know this is not a Christian song, but most of the words seem to fit as if our Father in Heaven is saying this to us.

Wanting to receive something from God is not the same as repentance.

Scripture

The king cried out to the man of God, “Please ask Yahweh your God to restore my hand again!” So the man of God prayed to Yahweh, and the king’s hand was restored and he could move it again.

- 1 Kings 13:6

Observation

Jeroboam only partially repented, and it was momentary. He saw God’s power and feared for himself and his dynasty. But he didn’t really repent, for he didn’t turn back to Yahweh. He continued in his evil practices, and so God made sure to destroy his dynasty.

What a waste! God had promised him that He would give him 10 tribes, and would establish his dynasty if he continued following Yahweh. But he threw it all away, even after God sent a prophet from Judah to warn him and show him miraculous signs.

Wanting to receive something from God is not the same as repentance.

Prayer

I want Your blessings, but I gotta recognize that wanting to receive something from God is not the same as repentance. I need to truly repent, i.e. turn from my wicked ways to Your ways.

Through the storm

Scripture

Our God is in the heavens, and he does as he wishes

• Psalm 115:3

Wait

This would be really scary if we didn’t know God was good and loves us.

Observe

I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!” Lamentations 3:24

Couple this with the verse from the psalm and we can rest in Him.

Request

Even as we go through this difficult time, You are in control, O Lord. So I trust You to bring us through like You have done so many times before.

Dedicate

I will trust in You.

God overlooks our honest mistakes

Scripture

Solomon loved Yahweh, walking in the statutes of David his father: only he sacrificed and burnt incense in the high places.

• 1 Kings 3:3

Wait

God is merciful.

Observe

God saw Solomon’s heart, so although he worshiped at the high places, God still honoured what Solomon understood of following Yahweh and blessed him for asking for wisdom instead of wealth and power, and gave him wisdom, and wealth and power.

We all have an incomplete understanding of God and His principles, so we may have all sorts of side issues we’re wrong about. Sometimes we argue with other Christians about these differences -- pre-trib, post-trib, post-millennial, amillennial, baptising babies vs adults, the bread and wine being purely symbolic or being sacraments, etc. 

But in the end, God knows our hearts and will honour faith where He sees it.

Request

Father, thank You for Your great mercy, and that You overlook our faults. Thank You that You saved us. May I become more and more like Your Son. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Dedicate

I commit to following God as best as I know how, and to be open to His correction.

Consider the Cost

Scripture

If you want to be my disciple, you must, by comparison, hate everyone else – your father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters – yes, even your own life. Otherwise, you cannot be my disciple. And if you do not carry your own cross and follow me, you cannot be my disciple.

But don’t begin until you count the cost. For who would begin construction of a building without first calculating the cost to see if there is enough money to finish it? Otherwise, you might complete only the foundation before running out of money, and then everyone would laugh at you.

• Luke 14:26-29

Wait

Consider the cost of building a tower.

Observe

Grace is free, but it is not cheap. Jesus paid a high price for our salvation, and as a result of our salvation, we should be disciples and not just believers. This means that there is a cost – to obey is better than sacrifice, faith without works is dead.

If not, then we’ll find ourselves headed down the wrong path anyway – “There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.” "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.”

So we need to give our all to Jesus. No compromise, when it comes to following God.

Request

Father, this is a tall order. I do not have the wherewithal to do this. However, I can do everything through Christ, who gives me strength. So give me your strength, especially when the flesh is weak.

Dedicate

I present myself as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is my reasonable act of worship.

The love and mercy of God

Scripture

Though we are overwhelmed by our sins,

you forgive them all.

• Psalm 65:3

Wait

God loves us and is merciful.

Observe

While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He saved us though we rebelled agaist Him.

Request

In response to Your great love for us, may I live for You. Remind me of Your great mercy and love, O Lord, when I am tempted.

Dedicate

Lord, I need You, oh I need You

Every hour, I need You

My one defense, my righteousness

Oh God, how I need You