Thursday Devotional - Purposeful Power

Speaking of power, we lost power and internet for over 30 hours last Wednesday evening and all day Thursday, so sorry I couldn’t access or post this devotional!

We often have lots of questions why God allows certain things to happen. He is so powerful and could prevent and stop so many things, but He often doesn’t. We don’t see the big picture.

In Paul’s case, God continued to let him remain in prison unjustly. Yet, it was part of God’s purposes to have Paul preach the gospel to high officials in Caesarea and eventually in Rome (Acts 23:11 the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”)

By the time we get to Acts 26, Paul had already spoken to the Jewish crowd, the Jewish leaders, High Priests, Govenor Felix, Govenor Festus and all the people around them. Now, Paul gets the opportunity to speak to King Agrippa, his wife and high-ranking officers.

Acts 26:1-8    Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.”

So Paul motioned with his hand and began his defense: 2 “King Agrippa, I consider myself fortunate to stand before you today as I make my defense against all the accusations of the Jews, 3 and especially so because you are well acquainted with all the Jewish customs and controversies. Therefore, I beg you to listen to me patiently.

4 “The Jewish people all know the way I have lived ever since I was a child, from the beginning of my life in my own country, and also in Jerusalem. 5 They have known me for a long time and can testify, if they are willing, that I conformed to the strictest sect of our religion, living as a Pharisee. 6 And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our ancestors that I am on trial today. 7 This is the promise our twelve tribes are hoping to see fulfilled as they earnestly serve God day and night. King Agrippa, it is because of this hope that these Jews are accusing me. 8 Why should any of you consider it incredible that God raises the dead?

If God is powerful enough to raise Jesus from the dead, then He is powerful enough to do anything. He is watching over us. He will powerfully accomplish His purposes in our lives. It may not go as we planned, but as He planned! Like Paul, you and I can trust His purposeful power. How will you and I do that this week?

  

Alice

For Forgiveness Sake

If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.  1 John 8-9

Sometimes, it is better to forgive than to forget.  Those were words that haunted me the other day.  I got into a debate where I was falsely accused of something that I did not say.  The discussion was spirted, and my answers were both pointed and direct.  However, one person did not accuse me, but I added them to the debate as if they did.  It was wrong.  I was wrong.  After thinking about it, God just kept wearing on me that I had left something open that needed to be closed.  The next day, I gave in, and apologized.  I admitted that I needed to set a better example as a Christian, and that was on me.  It was amazing how gracious others were in my asking for forgiveness, and it was more uplifting than the previous discussion we had had.  It reminded me of a key part of the Lord’s Prayer, which simply says, “and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us.”  It was a stunning how the simple act of asking for forgiveness can be a greater act of love than we realize.

God’s grace is one of His greatest acts of love.  In these times of strife and conflict, one of the things that I have noticed is that we often fail to for lack of better term ‘stand down.’  Our need to be right has become paramount, and there is no room for backing down.  This can be destructive when we are so willing to stand on what we believe that we do not see when we say something that is truly harmful and wrong.  Just this past weekend, a well renowned pastor made a controversial statement about slavery putting it into the context of something positive.  His heart was in the right place, and it made for an interesting point.  But it failed by ignoring the greater evil of it.  He followed up by giving a heartfelt apology that was readily accepted by many black people who understood the love he had shown for others previously.  That along with my own experience revealed a couple of things.  First if we love Christ, we are given an opportunity to ask for forgiveness.  A forgiving heart is one that is honest, sincere easily noticeable either through a person’s history or the words used.  In either case, it reveals a level of God’s heart within them.  Second, we are shown love if we are brave enough to right our wrongs.  The verse today is a reminder of God’s mercy on us should we be vulnerable to simply own up to wrongdoings.  It ends up being more rewarding for it often mends our own brokenness.

Grace is a wonderful thing!  In reading the book of Romans, Paul spoke frequently and lovingly of it writing, “Even so, I have been bold enough to write about some of these points, knowing that all you need is this reminder. For by God’s grace, I am a special messenger from Christ Jesus to you Gentiles. I bring you the Good News so that I might present you as an acceptable offering to God, made holy by the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:15-16).  Finally, there is no better example of the power of His grace than that of the adulterer brought before Jesus.  When no one cast a stone, the exchange between Him and her is often the part of our narrative when faced with our own sinful nature:

Then Jesus stood up again and said to the woman, “Where are your accusers? Didn’t even one of them condemn you?”

“No, Lord,” she said.

And Jesus said, “Neither do I. Go and sin no more.”  John 8:10-11

Let us kneel before Jesus like she did willing to accept guilt for our wrongs and be both reinvigorated and inspired by His grace.  What sin is wearing on your mind and heart today?  How can assurance of God’s grace uplift you?  My prayer is that we acknowledge our own imperfections and simply ask for forgiveness sake.  Amen.