Acts 17 - 4.29.25

SCRIPTURE:  Acts 17:24-28a  "The God who made the world and everything in it is the Lord of heaven and earth and does not live in temples built by human hands.  And he is not served by human hands, as if he needed anything.  Rather, He Himself gives everyone life and breath and everything else.  From one man He made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and He marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.  God did this so that they would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him, though He is not far from any one of us.  For in Him we live and move and have our being." 

OBSERVATION:  The men of Athens were educated, and very religious, but they didn't know the One true God.  Paul had walked around and looked carefully at their objects of worship, and he found an altar with the inscription:  TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.  Realizing they were ignorant of the very thing they worshiped, he proclaimed Who God is, and what He had done for all mankind through His Son, Jesus.  He preached about Jesus' resurrection, and the importance of putting their faith in Him.  Paul also explained concepts such as the resurrection of the dead and salvation.  

Paul was a rabbi who had been taught by the finest scholar of his day.  He was well prepared to communicate what he had learned because he had spent much of his life reading and studying the Scriptures.  He emphasized that God is not a distant deity but the One who intimately interacts with His creation.  Paul conveyed that we only live because of God, and that we were created by the works of His own hands.  After Paul spoke, there was a number of people who became followers of him.

APPLICATION:  Paul was an excellent example of someone who took the time to prepare to share the gospel, and because he had spent so much of his life thinking and reasoning through the Scriptures, he was well equipped to answer their questions and arguments truthfully and constructively.  He had been allowed to speak on three successive Sabbaths, which indicates that he was well respected, and possibly eloquent in speech.  (I desire to have both of those attributes). 

PRAYER:   Lord, You are the One true God.   I worship You for Who You are and for all You have done.  In You I live and move and have my being.  I pray as Your offspring that I will continually allow Your Word to shape me, mold me, instruct me, motivate me, challenge me, and give me wise council.  I pray, like Paul, that I will allow Your Word to fill me and use me as I share it boldly with others.  Your Word is inspired and trustworthy, and I thank You that it is being used to equip me to live for you.  I pray Your Holy Spirit will help me to read, study, and memorize Your Word so that I am able to share it wisely, timely, and effectively.    

- Robin Orefice

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2 Chronicles 20 - 4.28.25