July 14, 2006 - Psalms 10-12 and Acts 19:1-20
When we see the pride of unbelievers who stand against God, it is hard for us to know what God is doing. How can He let these people prosper? How can He allow them to persecute the believers and not stop them? How can He appear to not care about what they are doing against righteousness? The answer is that He does see and He will repay. (10:14) We must not let Satan fool us into thinking that God is not aware and that God is not working. He is always working. He knows everything, and He will bring justice to the unrighteous in the right time.
We must always remember that the Lord loves the righteous, but He hates the sins of the unrighteous, so He must punish them. He will punish them. (11:7) We can be confident in His love even though things seem to be declining, even though the foundations seem to be crumbling. (11:3) God will not allow things to get out of control. We can know that God will preserve the righteous in each generation. (12:7) Therefore, we should simply concentrate on trusting Him and not on the evil around us. We should stand against evil in the confidence that God will see us through.
Acts 19 is a good example of real world. Paul goes to Ephesus, while Apollos goes to help the church in Corinth. Paul starts with 12 new believers. He takes 3 months to disciple them and evangelize the people. After the 3 months, they kick him out of the synagogue, and they speak evil of Christianity. However, Paul has a 2 year ministry, and during those 2 years all of the province of Asia Minor comes to hear the Gospel. (v.10) What a victory for the Lord! Even though the unrighteous tried to stop them, they could not. Jesus is able to sustain and to move in power. Look at the miracles. (v.11-12) Notice how widely known Paul had become. The Word of the Lord prevailed and grew. That is what happened then, and the same thing can happen today, if we will faithfully follow our Lord, not in fear of the world, but in faith.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 13-15 and Acts 19:21-41.
We must always remember that the Lord loves the righteous, but He hates the sins of the unrighteous, so He must punish them. He will punish them. (11:7) We can be confident in His love even though things seem to be declining, even though the foundations seem to be crumbling. (11:3) God will not allow things to get out of control. We can know that God will preserve the righteous in each generation. (12:7) Therefore, we should simply concentrate on trusting Him and not on the evil around us. We should stand against evil in the confidence that God will see us through.
Acts 19 is a good example of real world. Paul goes to Ephesus, while Apollos goes to help the church in Corinth. Paul starts with 12 new believers. He takes 3 months to disciple them and evangelize the people. After the 3 months, they kick him out of the synagogue, and they speak evil of Christianity. However, Paul has a 2 year ministry, and during those 2 years all of the province of Asia Minor comes to hear the Gospel. (v.10) What a victory for the Lord! Even though the unrighteous tried to stop them, they could not. Jesus is able to sustain and to move in power. Look at the miracles. (v.11-12) Notice how widely known Paul had become. The Word of the Lord prevailed and grew. That is what happened then, and the same thing can happen today, if we will faithfully follow our Lord, not in fear of the world, but in faith.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Psalms 13-15 and Acts 19:21-41.