The Word of God for wisdom:
Proverbs 18:19 (NLT)
19 An offended friend is harder to win back than a fortified city. Arguments separate friends like a gate locked with bars.
The Word of God for inspiration:
Psalm 5:3 (NLT)
3 Listen to my voice in the morning, LORD. Each morning I bring my requests to you and wait expectantly.
The Word of God for encouragement:
Acts 25:13-16 (HCSB)
13 After some days had passed, King Agrippa and Bernice arrived in Caesarea and paid a courtesy call on Festus.
14 Since they stayed there many days, Festus presented Paul's case to the king, saying, "There's a man who was left as a prisoner by Felix.
15 When I was in Jerusalem, the chief priests and the elders of the Jews presented their case and asked for a judgment against him.
16 I answered them that it's not the Romans' custom to give any man up before the accused confronts the accusers face to face and has an opportunity to give a defense concerning the charges.
My observation:
If you think the politics are bad today, you need to take a closer look at what the Apostle Paul had to go through in his day. He had to deal with crooked religious leaders, and with crooked government leaders. You have to scratch your head and wonder if anything good can come out of this perilous situation that Paul finds himself in the midst of.
The reality is that God does not clean up all of the messes that his people get involved in a tidy manner. In this world life is hard, and in many cases it is not fair or just. Paul did not get justice from the religious leaders or from the government leaders.
However, Paul was not without help or without hope. The Lord was in charge and in control of Paul, and of those he had to deal with. Although many of the things that Paul experienced were not pleasurable, they were purposeful.
What was Paul's crime?
Acts 25:18-19 (HCSB)
18 Concerning him, the accusers stood up and brought no charge of the sort I was expecting.
19 Instead they had some disagreements with him about their own religion and about a certain Jesus, a dead man Paul claimed to be alive.
Paul may not have understood why all of those things were happening to him, but his faith in the Lord remained firm, and Paul remained faithful. You are in good hands when you place yourself in the hands of the Lord, and not man.
The Lord's servants live on the promises of God, and God is faithful to keep his promises. Consider these promises that the Lord made to Paul. Then observe how God fulfilled those promises in the midst of the rough waters that Paul had to sail through because of the false accusations against him by the religious leaders. When the storm is over you always learn something new about God.
Acts 9:15 (HCSB)
15 But the Lord said to him, "Go! For this man is My chosen instrument to take My name to Gentiles, kings, and the Israelites.
Acts 23:11 (HCSB)
11 The following night, the Lord stood by him and said, "Have courage! For as you have testified about Me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome."
My prayer:
Father God, my dear Father, I am encouraged that even in the hard times we experience in life, that your people can find consolation in knowing that you are with us. Father, I thank you for always being near us, and for never forsaking us.
Father, I have hope in knowing that you are working in the midst of our storms in a purposeful way, and that when your work is complete, we will have the peace of God in our life. Amen.
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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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