A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:86 There are roughly seven hundred commandments given to Moses by God. It is an interesting thought that even in wrongful persecution, God's Law is there to help! Crying out to claim a Commandment is the same as believing God's seven thousand Promises!

Good Morning

In my early days as a sailor I was stationed in Newport, Rhode Island. The ship I was on was moored to one of the two piers there. A forecast of a hurricane heading toward New England caused all the ships docked in Newport to leave port and find anchoring in the Narragansett Bay. By the time we reached the area of anchorage the winds had picked up and I was assigned to one of the whale boats. My task was called, “Bow Hook” and it meant that I would take this long pole with a small hook on the end of it and reach out to grab hold of the anchor buoy and then hold the buoy to the boat while others jumped from the boat to the buoy. The task was nearly impossible and having no experience at doing this made it even more impossible. Sort of like; “Big Buoy” vs “Little Hook” and of course the big bully, I mean; buoy, seemed to be winning the battle. One sailor broke his arm and another was banged up when the buoy pulled away from the boat and then slammed back into it. Eventually, we were able to to secure the ship to the buoy. When we returned to the ship our bumps and bruises were tended to and for a full day we rode out the storm. This was my very first exposure to the dangers of weather and my very first taste of a fear that things could get out of control and life could end. I was nineteen years old and scared and that was forty nine years ago. Wow!

Acts 27

Acts 27:39-40 For me to read these passages is so real and exciting, observation of the surroundings of the bay and the beach. The decisions of the officers and men of the ship to put the ship aground. This is sailor stuff and I feel right in the middle of it. It really is an awesome blessing since I can almost hear the commands. The anchors will not be needed again for this ship so cast them off. Loosen up the rudder ropes and hoist the mainsail and head for shore.

Acts 27:41 Well not everything goes as planned, there is a reef in the path of the ship. The scripture says that it is a point where two seas come together, the Mediterranean and Adriatic Seas and Italy separates the two seas from each other and Malta is one of the outer Islands below Sicily and Italy to the South. We do not hear much about Malta, but it does have it's own Navy and because of it's location has seen it's share of storms and many wrecked ships.

Acts 27:42-44 It is not outside military thinking to kill off the prisoners. It is common practice to take the lives of prisoners when the dangers of keeping them interfere with the lives of others. All armies practice this when the fear of escaping prisoners or other circumstances interfere with keeping everyone safe. After observing the apostle Paul these few days, the Centurion Commander determines that Paul is full of integrity and compassion for the lives of all the men on board. He sees that Paul has more of an interest in the survival of his men and the crew of the ship then his own personal safety as a prisoner. It is Paul who writes to the Philippians to esteem others better than himself. Philippians 2:1-4. Knows full will that a good witness of God's power is better than life. We can learn a lot from this man Paul. Much of the New Testament was written by him, a study of his epistles is like searching through a pile of silver and gold.