The Word of God for wisdom:
Proverbs 17:6 (ESV)
6 Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
The Word of God for inspiration:
Psalm 132:1 (ESV)
1 Remember, O LORD, in David's favor, all the hardships he endured,
Psalm 132:17-18 (ESV)
17 There I will make a horn to sprout for David; I have prepared a lamp for my anointed.
18 His enemies I will clothe with shame, but on him his crown will shine."
The Word of God for encouragement:
Acts 9:30-31 (ESV)
30 And when the brothers learned this, they brought him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
My observation:
The selected passages from the Psalm and Acts come together to provide us with a very encouraging word for our edification today. The thought that lingers with me from the Psalm is that the Lord remembers and restores.
The thought that lingers with me from Acts is that the Lord gives his people rest and he replenishes. The Apostle Paul was facing the threat of death by the enemies of Paul because of his anointed and powerful preaching of the gospel of the risen Christ.
Paul was not the problem, his persecutors were the problem. However, the leaders in the church decided to send Paul back to his home town for a season of rest so that the Lord could replenish his strength.
None of us is so strong that we do not need periods of rest so that we can be refreshed for the spiritual warfare we face in doing the will and the work of the Lord. Acts 9:31,our focal passage, shows the wisdom of the actions of the brethren in sending Paul home.
In sports the coaches call timeouts, and the rules of the game have rest periods between quarters, and at halftime. God's people need to have times when they rest, regroup, and refresh. We need an Elim to go to.
Exodus 15:27 (ESV)
27 Then they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water and seventy palm trees, and they encamped there by the water.
My prayer:
Our Father in heaven, my dear Father, I praise and thank you that we serve a God who remembers and restores; a God who gives rest and replenishes his people.
Father God, I ask you to give your people rest and restore us so that our churches can be healthy and growing bodies. Amen.
Acts 9:31 (ESV)
31 So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace and was being built up. And walking in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied.
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8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."
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