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Acts 13:45 But when the Jews saw the multitudes, they were filled with envy; and contradicting and blaspheming, they opposed the things spoken by Paul.
How many of you belong to a church which is overflowing with people? Most of us probably do not belong to such churches…
If you belong to a small church struggling to keep going then you may well be in the majority!
Be careful not to change the rules to suit yourself because in doing so you may well be fighting against God!
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Acts 13:44 On the next Sabbath almost the whole city came together to hear the word of God.
This is what it is all about! How wonderful it would be to see the majority of people from your town or city all going to church every week!
God wants each one of us, no matter where we are from or what status we hold in society, to come to Him and enjoy the life He has promised for us.
In order to do that each one of us has to hear the word of God so we can know how to get the life He has promised us.
Share the gospel with those around you.
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Acts 13:42 So when the Jews went out of the synagogue, the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the next Sabbath.
The first place Paul and Barnabas preached was in the synagogue for the Jews because that is what was probably expected of them.
The people obviously came out of the synagogue talking about everything which had been said and the Gentiles wanted to hear all about this truth because they were normally left out of things!
Jesus did not say the disciples had to go to all the Jews only and tell them the truth. He did not say discriminate so we have a pure race. Jesus said go out into all the world and preach the gospel.
That is why Paul and Barnabas went out to all people!
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Acts 13:32 And we declare to you glad tidings—that promise which was made to the fathers.
This plan was not something hatched up on the spur of the moment as Jesus was caught by the authorities; this is something which had been promised a long time ago.
God showed the people there was hope. God did as much as anyone would expect to show people they had hope in Him…
And yet when God does things for us and with us we continue to have doubts just as the people did back then… even as Jesus life unfolded before their very eyes!
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Acts 13:30 But God raised Him from the dead.
I don’t think there are too many more important words in our bibles than these! God raised up Jesus from the dead to defeat death and sin once and for all!
This was God’s plan. He had to watch Jesus go through so much as a human, the suffering, both physical and otherwise just because of what was coming next.
But His plan did not end at the sacrifice on the cross, His plan included raising up Jesus back to heavenly realms to show we have a future with Him too!
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Acts 13:29 Now when they had fulfilled all that was written concerning Him, they took Him down from the tree and laid Him in a tomb.
God had the plan. He told people about it through the prophets and kings. People believed it would happen…
But when it happened right in front of their eyes they did not want to believe it!
We see many things happen because God is still doing many things in our world, and yet we chose to not believe because it seems easier to ignore the truth.
Step up, step forward and embrace the truth and all that goes with it; this is the life God wants us to live!
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Acts 13:27 For those who dwell in Jerusalem, and their rulers, because they did not know Him, nor even the voices of the Prophets which are read every Sabbath, have fulfilled them in condemning Him.
It is easy to look back on something which has happened and say that we would have done it differently because we know how it happened.
The Jews had continued to read the scriptures, study them and pass them down through generations; and yet they still got it wrong.
We will get things wrong in our lives, but it is what we do afterward to correct things which is going to count.
Don’t be left with people telling you how you should have done it, change what you are doing now…
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Acts 13:16 Then Paul stood up, and motioning with his hand said, “Men of Israel, and you who fear God, listen:
God wants us to tell other people what we know. He does not ask us to teach people every single details about Him or even Israel’s history, just what we know.
Paul had a good understanding about the history of the people, about the scriptures, the prophets and kings and now about Jesus and the fulfilment of all of those stories.
So that is what he recounts here, in simple terms to allow the people around him to understand Jesus.
Share what you know to allow people to understand a bit more about what they are seeking for.
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Acts 13:4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
You are not going to be sent out by a person to go and do God’s will; it is God who will separate you from the crowd through the Holy Spirit and send your out.
What use would we be in the world alone where the evil one has his ways? We need God with us every step of the way. We need the Holy Spirit’s guidance continually.
Trusting in God means relying on His word and depending on the Holy Spirit for daily guidance and strength.
Don’t try go it alone when God has already given you a companion!
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Acts 13:3 Then, having fasted and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away.
The early Christians were doing what they could to follow Christ and His ways. They had listened to and learned from Jesus their teacher and Messiah.
Now they were acting out the teachings in the ways of Christ. Simply telling someone to go out and do things because it seems like a good idea may not be what Christ wants.
In order to put aside our selfish ambitions we have to stop and listen to God; often that will entail us doing a bit more praying and listening but also putting aside our earthly pleasures to focus on God’s will instead of our own.
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Acts 12:22 And the people kept shouting, “The voice of a god and not of a man!”
Herod met a very strange end to his life; not one we would have expected and certainly not one he saw coming!
God had given him every chance to turn away from the self-glorifying position he had elevated himself into and to give glory to God, but he never took that up.
Instead he continued to do things as he saw fit, rule as he wanted and even judge others as he saw fit; he took other peoples’ lives because he wanted to!
God is watching over us and He continues to warn us to do what is righteous; we need to listen!
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Acts 12:15 But they said to her, “You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So they said, “It is his angel.”
If we are not going to believe in the impossible then we will probably always turn our backs on the impossible.
God had sent an angel to get Peter out of the prison and he was now standing at the back gate of the house people were praying in so he could be released.
They did not seem to expect Peter to be released… If we do pray, then we should expect to hear results from our prayers otherwise we are not displaying faith in God.
Don’t just say you have faith in Christ, believe and trust in that faith; believe and trust and expect results!
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Acts 12:14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter stood before the gate.
What is your reaction when God answers your prayers? Do you do silly things because you are so happy?
Rhoda was so happy to hear Peter’s voice she ran back inside before even opening the gate, forcing him to wait outside before anyone else came.
Getting together with people and setting time aside to pray together is not just what God asks us to do but very profitable; we are able to encourage each other as we see prayers answered!
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Acts 12:7 Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, “Arise quickly!” And his chains fell off his hands.
Even though Herod was about to let Peter out of prison, God wanted to make a point and sent the angel to release him before anyone had time to get him out.
God’s timing is perfect. It was not just to show Herod nothing is impossible with God, but to show the people who were praying for him that God was in control too.
Just because things seem impossible, don’t give up on the prayers. God is our God of miracles, then and now. Believe in Him and trust in Him, always.
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Acts 12:1 Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church.
Many people in positions of authority do things because they see their popularity change at those times. Authority and greed do tend to change people without warning!
Herod started harassing the Christians and even killed James the brother of John. When he saw the Jews were pleased, he continued to harass them further, putting Peter in prison.
Don’t be put off by what the world does because God sees everything and continues to allow things to happen for a reason; He sees the bigger picture, trust Him.
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Acts 11:28 Then one of them, named Agabus, stood up and showed by the Spirit that there was going to be a great famine throughout all the world, which also happened in the days of Claudius Caesar.
I find it very interesting a prophet was named at this time since many believe prophets were only around before Christ to give a way for the people to hear from God.
God continues to speak to people through various means and wants His message and warnings to be told to others; we just have to be careful to make sure they are prophets from God.
He has warned us there will be plenty of people coming forward pretending to be from God; we have to make up our minds who is real. Trust God to guide you.
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Acts 11:23 When he came and had seen the grace of God, he was glad, and encouraged them all that with purpose of heart they should continue with the Lord.
You can see where God is working and you can see where people are following Christ; there is a big difference in attitude, appearance and general demeanour of the people.
We are called to be effective witnesses for others; but this requires us being effective followers and disciples of Christ. It is then that people will see the difference for themselves.
It is then that people will follow with their hearts just as we do. Give it all to Christ from deep in your heart today.
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Acts 11:16 Then I remembered the word of the Lord, how He said, ‘John indeed baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit.’
The difference between being baptized with water and baptized with the Holy Spirit is one we should be reminding people of, just as Peter was reminding the disciple here.
Baptizing with water is a sign of the inner baptism which should be taking place; the real act of giving your life to Christ and being re-born free from your sins.
Remember it was Christ who gave His life for us and we are the ones who choose to follow in His footsteps, though He does not call us to give our physical lives, just to show others we are willing.
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Acts 11:3 saying, “You went in to uncircumcised men and ate with them!”
Just because those around you try to tell you who you should be mixing with does not mean that is what is required by God.
Listen carefully to God to see where He wants you to be. Don’t reject things just because the people close to you say so.
Peter listened to God and obeyed Him. The people around Him could not believe what he was doing until they listened to Peter explain how God was guiding him.
God will always give you the words to explain things; trust Him.
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Acts 10:45 And those of the circumcision who believed were astonished, as many as came with Peter, because the gift of the Holy Spirit had been poured out on the Gentiles also.
It is God’s decision as to whom He gives the Holy Spirit to; not ours. We need to be willing to take the gospel out to everyone we meet and not just those we choose.
God will then see what is in their hearts and will bless who He wants to bless.
I can imagine how the Jews felt at the time knowing God had chosen them and yet now was giving others the Holy Spirit.
Allow God to choose whom He wants to choose.