A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:75 Even while we serve the LORD we walk with filthy feet, the LORD is righteous to bring discipline into our way. Like the apostle Peter we need to let Jesus wash our feet from time to time, otherwise we have no part in His ministry.                  John 13:6-10

Good Morning

When a sailor reports to his first submarine he has enough knowledge about submarine duty to earn the title given to him by graduating Submarine School. The designation attached to his rate, if he were a Third Class Quarter-Master would look like this; QM3(su). Before completing Submarine School he would wear the rating, QM3. The (su) stands for “Submarines Unqualified” The QM3 has one year from the time he reports on board his first submarine to become qualified, or to change the designation from (su) to (ss). Along with what the sailor has learned from submarine school, the on the job training on the submarine and the final testing by qualified men on the submarine the sailor will be justified to wear silver dolphins. It is hard work, most make it, but not all people who try do. To be qualified or justified for eternity with God is just the opposite. The work of being with God in eternity is already completed, Jesus is the end the Law for righteousness to all who believe. Romans 10:4 There is no work, no study, no long nights trying to learn by hands on training. Jesus has completed all the necessary work for you. When you believe this truth, God will give you the gift of salvation. Ephesians 2:8-9. Before knowing this truth the Word of God calls you an “unbeliever” 1 Corinthians 6:6. So salvation then is qualified or justified at the point of changing your mind from unbelief to belief. This is what the word repentance is all about. Unbelief is a system of dead works that mankind does. Belief is accepting by faith the once for all completed work by Jesus Christ. Hebrews 4:1-8. Many fail to believe, thus they remain unqualified or unjustified and only a few have faith to enter His rest.

Acts 24

Due to having to re-certify for EMS, Acts 23:24-30 is repeated. We will start fresh in Chapter 24 on Monday, March 02, 2009.

Acts 23:24-30 Claudius sends the apostle to the governor; Felix. He states that he came to Paul's rescue because he had heard that the man was a Roman. Lier, lier, pants on fire. Claudius did not find this out until he was about to have Paul scourged. For career minded people a little lie here or there is normal. In today's world it is always the easiest thing to do. As long as you have the cart and the horse, it does not matter whether the horse is in the front or the back as long as it is believable.

Acts 23:31-34 Paul's journey to Caesarea was uneventful, the only question that Felix is requiring is that of Paul's citizenship and birth place. Tarsus, of Cilicia – Roman occupied or controlled land about three hundred miles North from where Felix is in Caesarea. The Roman barracks at Antripatris is but a small trip to Caesarea and being satisfied with this information, Felix went back to bed.

Acts 23:35 Herod's headquarters, or Herod's Palace. This is the very place that Felix was living in Herod's Palace. The Praetorium is one of the outer buildings on the palace compound. Could have been a holding place for prisoners who's cases were waiting to be heard, or it could have been a reasonable accommodation setup for people who had business or appointments with Felix. Matthew Henry's commentary states that God always provides the best accommodations for persecuted saints.

A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:74 Knowing God and knowing the people of God is a most blessed experience one can have this side of eternity. When there is involvement with the Word of God, there will be biblical Fear of God and we will be Spiritually equipped to be have gladness of heart collectively.

Good Morning

Folks, are you anxiously awaiting for Jesus Christ to return? Do you look for Him daily? Do you question His return? Or, worse – do you even care? We all have busy schedules, kids to school, careers to control, jobs to find, places to travel, the list of things are endless. We just don't have time to be looking for Jesus and as a result we look for churches that are soft on the gospel, soft on teaching and soft on looking for His imminent return. I call these churches “Churches of the comfortable gospel” They talk about Jesus, sing about Jesus, encourage one another in Jesus and a host of other biblical traits about Jesus, but these churches never focus on Justification, Sanctification or Glorification. Oh! Don't take me wrong here, justification and sanctification are talked about, but not taught. The one main ingredient left out is, “glorification”. Basically, this is looking for Jesus and looking for Jesus includes prophesy. These churches can be readily identified, they are mega in size, people flock to them because there is no threatening in-depth study that hold the congregation accountable for the future. Notice what the bible clearly says in: Titus 2:11-15 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...” You can read the following two verses on your own. It is the grace of God that trains us in justification, sanctification and glorification.

Acts 23

Acts 23:24-30 Claudius sends the apostle to the governor; Felix. He states that he came to Paul's rescue because he had heard that the man was a Roman. Lier, lier, pants on fire. Claudius did not find this out until he was about to have Paul scourged. For career minded people a little lie here or there is normal. In today's world it is always the easiest thing to do. As long as you have the cart and the horse, it does not matter whether the horse is in the front or the back as long as it is believable.

Acts 23:31-34 Paul's journey to Caesarea was uneventful, the only question that Felix is requiring is that of Paul's citizenship and birth place. Tarsus, of Cilicia – Roman occupied or controlled land about three hundred miles North from where Felix is in Caesarea. The Roman barracks at Antripatris is but a small trip to Caesarea and being satisfied with this information, Felix went back to bed.

Acts 23:35 Herod's headquarters, or Herod's Palace. This is the very place that Felix was living in Herod's Palace. The Praetorium is one of the outer buildings on the palace compound. Could have been a holding place for prisoners who's cases were waiting to be heard, or it could have been a reasonable accommodation setup for people who had business or appointments with Felix. Matthew Henry's commentary states that God always provides the best accommodations for persecuted saints.

A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:73 Many people struggle with knowing that they are fashioned by the Hand of God. I wonder? Could it be that they fail at some point to asked Him for the wisdom and understanding to learn of His wholesome commandments that govern Creation!

Good Morning

Louis Chevrolet, born on Christmas Day in Switzerland in 1878, he died in 1941 at his home in Detroit on June 6^th. He was an inventor even as a child, inventing a wine pump. Later he invented a machine that made tires. He manufactured bicycles, even put motors on them but never produced them for sale. A man by the name of Harley Davidson noticed what Louis was doing and you know the rest of that story. Louis put a motor on a boat and made it work with a propeller on the end of the shaft. Mr. Chevrolet did not follow through with this invention, but Mr. Evinrude did. After Louis Chevrolet got into the automobile industry in 1911 he got involved with a man by the name of Billy Durant who had just lost control of the General Motors Corporation. Three years later, Louis would walk away from his Chevrolet Company as Mr. Durant gained control. Then, Billy Durant temporally regained control of GM and when he did he brought the Chevrolet car company with him. Before Mr. Chevrolet's death, he had been working in an auto repair shop as a mechanic. His accomplishments are beyond reproach, a great man, inventor, race car driver, engineer and designer. Ecclesiastes 9:11 “I returned and saw under the sun that – The race is not to the swift, Nor the battle to the strong, Nor bread to the wise, Nor riches to men of understanding, Nor favor to men of skill. The race, the battle, the bread, the riches and the favor all belongs to God, who abides above the sun. Our earthly eyes cannot see above the sun, but our soul is equipped with eyes to see the Son. Only; justification and sanctification through the blood of Christ will give our soul the 20/20 vision to see the glorification that awaits all of those who call upon the name of the LORD to be saved. Romans 10:8-13.

Acts 23

Acts 23:1-10 I should take a lesson here about striking out at people before all of the facts are in. When I read this, I think that the apostle was perfectly in the right to respond to being slapped. But, Paul quickly acknowledges his wrong and reconciles in verse 5. Paul then notices an avenue of escape, he perceives that the council is divided with Pharisees and Sadducees and with a quick comment about the resurrection of the dead, dissension gathers over the two belief systems and the Roman commander and soldiers grab hold of Paul and take him to safety.

Acts 23:11-22 Paul had always wanted to go to Rome; Acts 19:21 and Romans 1:7-11, here in Acts the LORD Jesus confirms that Paul will go to Rome. This is a great encouragement to the apostle as it will carry him through some very tough events that are life-threatening to say the least. The first of which are men who vow to kill him. Nephews are great, they always protect your backside, they are good golfers too.

Acts 23:23-24 I want to take some time with the verses following these. Paul is sent for safety sake to Felix the governor. In this section though we see something interesting about the writer Luke, a gentile. He describes the time of Paul's departure as the third hour of the night. (Midnight) but he uses the Jewish timetable which is broken down into 8 equal parts. The first watch; sunset to 9 pm. The second watch; 9 to midnight The third; 12 to 3am. The fourth 3 to 6am. The fifth; 6 to 9am. The sixth; 9 to noon. The seventh; 12 to 3pm and the eighth; 3 to sunset. Hope I got that right!

A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:72 “O for a thousand tongues to sing; My Great Redeemers Praise This is far better for us than all the silver and gold available on earth. Psalm 19:7 The law of the LORD is perfect, more perfect even that refined gold. Psalm 19:10

Good Morning

Biological and chemical war. Over time ruthless men and women, guided by Satan have developed these agents of war to destroy life. And, we say to ourself when these things are brought to mind; like now. Oh!, Satan! Does he even exist?. So what is the point of bringing it up? Or, I don't want to hear this; it is too scary for my ears? Chemical warfare goes on daily, produced by dealers of abortion and drugs and alcohol, and it is mostly legal under most laws of the world. “Now that's scary!” All of us are seeing the increase of biological conditions that seem at times to be on the verge of a worldwide epidemic proportion. So, worldwide chemical and biological conditions do exist and we live in the middle of it – all day long. We produce it, we buy it, we live it! And God calls it SIN. God on the other hand, lives in a world that is set apart from these horrible conditions. He is not willing for any of us to perish in these conditions and has purposed a plan for all of us to be rescued through the blood of His Son – Jesus Christ. The past couple of days encouraged us to look at being justified and redeemed by His blood. Today we will look at being sanctified by His blood. Our blood is full of these devilish conditions of war. The blood of Jesus Christ is pure (no sin), we need this sanctifying and cleansing power to wash away the effects of daily life. Redemption, justification and sanctification are the ongoing process of salvation by grace through faith. Without God, working through the blood of Christ to cleanse our heart, there would be no hope. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 By the way! All of the sins listed in this portion of scripture can be tied or linked to biological and chemical spiritual warfare.

Acts 21 - 22

Acts 21:37-40 A case of mistaken identity? No, the commander did not know who he had in custody and I believe he was only interested at this point in his career. It would have been a big feather in his cap so to speak if Paul had turned out to be a real “public enemy.” The apostle spoke Greek and Hebrew and we see the evidence of this in these verses. Tarsus, a city of Greek origin really was not insignificant as Paul suggests here. Given permission, Paul begins in Hebrew to his audience.

Acts 22:1-21 The testimony of Paul's conversion to Christ. What he was before Christ, what happened to him in the process of meeting Christ, what he must do and suffer for Christ, where he must go for Christ. All of this came upon Paul in a matter of days. If, you have been saved, then you know like the apostle those early days of conversion. The joy, the light, the direction and the purpose of God filled your heart and now like the apostle – you have a testimony. Oh saint! What are you waiting for?

Acts 22: 22-30 Want to see the enemy shrink back and melt? Paul has said somewhere that he is all things to all people, this is not because Paul was wise, crafty, sly or ignorant of the world around him. It was because God gave grace to the apostle to have a testimony of being rescued from the spiritual warfare of life that we all face before meeting our Savior. The apostle made a difference in Christianity because he used the testimony God gave him and the power of the Holy Spirit in Him did the rest. Like Paul, if you are saved have a testimony. We should seek to remember this the next time we run into someone that God sends our way. It may only take two minutes of your time, but it can mean an eternity to those who hear it.

A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:71 Many are the plans of a mans heart, but it is God who directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9 Affliction is a major tool in the hands of God, so we might as well stop complaining, repent and start anew; by following the statutes of the LORD!

Good Morning

Take the life cycle of a submarine for an example; Average twenty-five years of service to the country and during that time the vessel travels several thousands of miles, maybe a million miles or more. The accomplishments are many. Battle ribbons, accommodations and accolades from political officials both at home and abroad. The boat has a fine reputation, one that makes you proud to have served with the others who crossed the gang plank and played some role in the ship's exemplary history. The men who served are the average guy you see on the street every day. Full of faults that make up the world around us. They have drinking problems, marriage problems, family problems, legal problems and a host of other issues that if exposed would melt away the gold and silver accomplishments of the ship's wonderful history. The ship will remain in the hall's of fame because in the eyes of nation it is “justified” to be there and has gained a permanent recognition in history. When our soul is before the judgment seat of Christ, it will be our standing in Christ that protects us from, the drinking problem, marriage problem, family problem, legal problem and the host of other issues that try the hearts of mankind daily. Yesterday we looked at being redeemed by the blood of Christ, today we are looking at being justified by the blood of Christ. If you are not redeemed, then you are not justified and if you are not justified, then you are not saved by the blood of the Lamb. There are a couple of other applications of the blood of Christ to look at over the next couple of days. This is setting us up for a study of the book of Romans when we have completed the book of Acts.

Acts 21

Acts 21:15-22 Paul and his disciples arrive in Jerusalem. I always anticipated the best of things when I came home from a long journey, only to find out that the washing machine is broke, the car needs an overhaul and the children are extremely disobedient. Immediately on his arrival Paul is confronted with the problem of legalism and grace. This is one of the major battles of church history today, some are over zealous in one way or the other and it always causes confusion, disappointment and division.

Acts 21:23-25 The recorded Word of God is for us to live and learn and to be always on the alert. Verse 20 states that thousands of Jews have believed (saved) but that they are zealous for the Law of Moses. Saved men and women often caused the persecutions that came upon the apostle. Paul even states before legal council that they have a zeal for God according to the Law, but not according to grace in Acts 2:3. When there is strife within the church, it will soon bleed into the public eye. Later it will be the unbelieving Sanhedrin who take over as Paul's accusers.

Acts 21:26-36 Many of us have not involved ourselves with mobs and riots, but I am sure that there are a few readers here that have as many were young adults in the sixties. What we see on the television looks bad, but if you are there, it is very bad. Being tossed to and fro, getting hit and not knowing who hit you. Talking that sounds more like the roar of a lion that communication. The established religion standing tough against the persecuted way of following Christ. Folks, let us not be foolish thinkers here. There is coming a day soon, when this nation will fight that battle. If you are still “vertical” then, you will be in the battle on one side of grace or the other.