Week 49 Devotions

December 3 - - It is sad how religious ignorance and pride can cause a hatred so strong that people will do evil to one another. Paul was originally arrested because some Jews accused him of taking Gentiles into the Temple. Nobody had actually seen Paul do this, but they had seen Paul walking with a Gentile earlier in the day so they assumed Paul had taken this Gentile into the Temple (Acts 21:27-29). How true the saying, “we see what we want to see and hear what we want to hear.” Because some Jews already hated Paul, they assumed he had done something wrong that he really hadn’t. As a result, Paul almost lost his life when a mob overcome with anger tried to kill him (21:30-35). When Paul was allowed to speak to the crowd and explain who he was, they attentively listened until he told them the Lord had commanded him to, “Leave Jerusalem, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles!” (22:21). Again, because Jews hated the Gentiles so much, they went into a frenzy. With one voice, the whole crowd shouted, “Away with such a fellow! Kill him! He isn’t fit to live!” (22:22). When Paul was taken to the Jewish Sanhedrin, he was once again allowed to speak. Now, the Sanhedrin was composed of Pharisees who believed there is a resurrection of the dead and the Sadducees who did not share that belief. Knowing this, Paul identified himself as a Pharisee who was on trial because of his hope in the resurrection of the dead (23:6-10). The two sides began arguing, shouting, and even physically pulling on Paul so violently that a Roman officer had Paul removed from the proceedings to protect his life. Because of their so-called religious beliefs (which were in fact totally misguided), more than forty Jewish men bound themselves to an oath neither to eat or drink until they had killed Paul (23:12-22). It is one thing to feel so much hatred toward another person that we wish them dead, but it is an insult to God to actually attempt to kill someone else in the name of a person’s religion. The Bible is filled with plenty of warnings not to take the life of another human being in anger or for revenge (Genesis 4:3-12; Exodus 20:13; Matthew 5:21-26; 43-48; James 1:19&20). Having said all that, there is a time and a place, even for anger (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). But, our anger must be for the right reasons and channeled into the right actions. When our anger results in us doing things to others or saying things about others that are not right, we have sinned and scripture clearly forbids us from letting our anger result in sin (Ephesians 4:26). May we, as children of God, be compelled by God’s love for us to show God’s love to others (II Corinthians 5:14) as often as we possibly can and in as many ways as we possibly can. It is not always possible to live in peace with everyone because some people are so blinded by their anger and their ignorance they refuse to see or live in the truth. But, when possible, we should do our “part to live in peace with everyone” (Romans 12:17-21). December 6 - - Listen to Paul’s description of our spiritual position before we committed our lives to Jesus Christ. “Once you were dead, doomed forever because of your many sins. You used to live just like the rest of the world, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. All of us used to live that way, following the passions and desires of our evil nature. We were born with an evil nature, and we were under God’s anger just like everyone else” (Ephesians 2:1-3). “In those days you were living apart from Christ....you did not know the promises God had made......You lived in this world without God and without hope” (2:12). Here’s the good news: “But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so very much, that even while we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. It is only by God’s special favor that you have been saved.....God saved you by His special favor when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it” (2:4-9). A good friend lost her father, whom she said was not a regular church attender. Just a few days before he died, she asked him about his spiritual state and his belief in Jesus Christ. He responded that he did believe, but I sensed within her voice that she still wasn’t sure. I told her that whether we come to know the Lord early in life or later in life, we are all saved by God’s grace and nothing we have specifically done (Ephesians 2:4-9). Salvation isn’t a gift God gives only to those who live a righteous life. None of us can ever live up to God’s high and holy standards. We can’t possibly be good enough to earn our ticket to heaven. The Christmas season is a reminder that salvation is an undeserved gift from God no matter who we are or how good we may think we are. The good works we do, and the Christlike, unselfish life we should live, are not for the purpose of earning our salvation. None of us can ever be that good (Isaiah 64:6). Our righteous life is simply our way of saying, ‘thank you’ to God for the gift of salvation He has given us (Ephesians 2:10). The great bonus is that when we live according to the pattern Jesus set for us, we will discover that his way of living is not only the right way to live, but the only way to live (Romans 12:2). We are God’s masterpiece. His signature is all over us and He is changing our character on a daily basis to more resemble His (II Corinthians 3:18). Let us strive to do our Father proud in the way we bring glory to Him (John 17:1-5,13-19).