Acts___14

Scripture - What stood out to me?

Acts 14:19-20

19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. 20 But after the disciples had gathered around him, he got up and went back into the city. The next day he and Barnabas left for Derbe.

Observation - What does it say?

Previously in Iconium Paul and Barnabas learn of a plot to stone them and they flee to Lystra. Unfortunately the Iconium Jews find Paul in Lystra, incite the crowd against him, and stone him. 

Understanding - What does it mean?

We have been asked to read the book of acts with the lens of the Holy Spirit as our filter. So you might be wondering why I felt led to highlight these two verses when I clearly had some amazing other options to choose from in this chapter. My defense lies in this vision I had of Paul when I had finished re-reading chapter 14 five or six times.  I was asking God to highlight some areas for me and I was slowly awestruck. 

He was stoned. He was stoned and then he got up and went back into the city that stoned him. Wait he did what? And the next day he left to go preach in Derbe.

The lack of emotional and spiritual details during this moment in Paul’s life might seem discouraging. What was Paul thinking when he was stoned? What did the group of disciples do when they gathered around him? What was Paul’s spiritual state? Was he mad? Was he sad? These are all questions we might ask. I think that the lack of such details is exactly the point that the author and God is ultimately trying to make here.

Paul was stoned, nearly to death. The disciples responded by gathering around him. Perhaps a small miracle was performed by God. Perhaps not. What did Paul do next? He got up. The next day was business as usual. On to the next city to continue his God given mission. No fanfare. No sob story. Paul and Barnabas sum up their response in part of verse 22, ““We must go through many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,” they said.” 

I can’t stop seeing Paul shrouded in the Holy Spirit as these events unfold. As he was being stoned he was filled with it. As he was left for dead I see him shrouded still. I picture the disciples glowing as they gathered around him. I see him wrapped in the Spirit as he is revived. And I can’t help but picture him continuing to glow as he moves on to the next town. 

Life Application - How can I apply this today?

In Paul I see a man who was just so devoted to his mission in life. I see a man that constantly stayed connected to the Holy Spirit for as much as possible. That is what I want for my life. I don’t want the Holy Spirit once a week on Sundays or even twice a week. I want it all the time!

Father God, 

Please teach me Lord to live my life like Paul did. I feel like sometimes if a pebble is placed in my path I am grumbling and groaning. Instead would you teach me to live like a man always filled with the Holy Spirit every moment of every day for the rest of my life. For when the stones are thrown I want to simply get up and continue on like Paul did. For your glory. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Your Son,

Kenneth Lee

Proverbs__18

Scripture

Proverbs 18: 21

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

Observation

King Solomon continues his words of wisdom with highlighting the power of tongue. He speaks about knowledge and wisdom and tandem, however in talking about the tongue he gives practical ways to exercise both of these characteristics.

 

Understanding

You ever said something and then immediately regretted it? My dad says “well that didn’t go the way I thought” is going to be on his tombstone, but my mine will say “oops, didn’t mean it like that.” When we can just quickly apologize and move on, we don’t really hold ourselves to that high of a standard with our words. Because we convince ourselves that the issue is easily fixable, but in reality our words have the power of life and death as King Solomon points out. Think about it this way: if you said something to someone, that as its coming out you know you’ll regret, and then they keel over and die upon hearing it, you would most definitely watch your tongue.

I have been learning this process the difficult way in my workplace. What I say to one person is then disseminated to several other unintended ears and I then have to be held accountable for what I say (good or bad). So I recently have been speaking life to my workplace and my coworkers, I imagine I am giving them a boost of energy or happiness rather than them keeling over. Although small, our tongues have the power to alter the course of our destiny. In the right context this can transform people, neighborhoods, communities, cities, countries, and even the world. The tongue yields the most powerful and dangerous tool known to mankind: words. I implore youth consider this: do you use your words to kill or give life?

 

Life Application

The best place to start in filling your with life-giving words is actually knowing life-giving words. That begins with reading encouragement daily, and that begins in God’s Word. I also want to challenge you guys to speak life over places that you detest or don’t like at the moment, you’ll be surprised how your outcomes and outlooks shift when your words do.

Colossians 4:6

Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to respond to everyone.

Let’s be life-givers this week!

-Allison Khan

Proverbs___17

Scripture

Proverbs 17:12 NIV-

“Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.”

Observation-What does it say?

King Solomon continues with sharing his wisdom in Proverbs. “Solomon wrote it with his descendants and the young men in Israel in mind (biblestudy.org-Who wrote the book of Proverbs?).”

Understanding-What does it mean?

The Bible is serious about choosing the way of the wise instead of a fool. So serious in fact that it says it’s better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly. 

Have you ever heard the term, you don’t want to see mama bear come out? As a mom to 2 kids, the protective nature of a mother to her child is extreme and I didn’t understand that until I became a mother. I’m not proud of this, but I’ve lost self control and yelled at a couple people (in positions of authority) because I felt my kids were being wrongfully attacked. It's not wise to make a protective mama angry. 

My husband also used to work as a meter reader and he told me that the most vicious dogs were the female dogs who were protecting their pups. He would always have to find alternative ways to read those house meters because you were just asking to get bit if you entered their territory. 

As scary as a protective mama bear is, it’s not as scary as a fool bent on folly. For example, Scripture says that a fool gives full vent to his anger (Proverbs 29:11 NIV), so essentially, a fool’s anger is worse than a mama bear protecting her cubs. That same Scripture says that the WISE bring calm in the end. 

Life Application

Keep company with those who are wise, instead of those who continue to have a bent towards foolishness.

We must be careful with the company we keep and who we allow to influence our lives. Also, we must be aware of whether we are the ones acting like a fool. It's important to make the necessary changes and learn from our mistakes. We don’t want to be the person that the Bible instructs others to run from. 

Dear Lord, You appointed King Solomon to write the Proverbs to offer wise counsel, not foolish counsel. It is clear that You make many distinctions between wise and foolish choices and the consequences of each. I pray that we would always seek to live our lives wisely so that others would be drawn to You instead of away from You. Amen. 

-Michelle Gaddi