Obey God Or Man

In Acts 5, things weren't going too well for the apostles. After performing miracles, casting out demons, and healing many, the apostles were tossed in jail by the Sadducees, who were jealous of what they were doing. An angel opened the doors of the jail for them, and they were back teaching in the temple courts once again, but this only served to enrage the Sadducee high priests, who soon had them appear before the Sanhedrin, which was the supreme Jewish court, consisting of 70-100 men.

The high priest said, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in (the name of Jesus)! Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood!"

It was clearly a tense moment for Peter and the apostles. They had already been tossed in prison, and now the Sanhedrin were coming down hard on them again. They were facing a hostile crowd that hated their message and wanted them not just imprisoned, but put to death. It would have been easy for the apostles to throw in the towel at that point, to quit in order to save themselves from certain death.

But instead, Peter and the apostles gave this reply in Acts 5:29, "We must obey God rather than men!"

One sentence. Seven words. A ton of impact. The Sanhedrin flogged the apostles and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus anymore, but the apostles just returned to the temple courts and kept teaching and proclaiming the good news.

Who are you obeying? God or men? It's so easy for us to obey men instead of God. We get caught up in the pressures of the world, be they financial or professional or relational or educational or religious, and we find ourselves caving in to what men want, instead of being obedient to God.

Peter and the apostles were ready to be obedient to God, instead of men, even unto death. If we truly consider ourselves to be Christ followers, then we must have the same attitude and determination.

Your Own Poets

In Acts 17, we find Paul in Athens, talking with the Jews and God-fearing Greeks and the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers about Jesus Christ and the resurrection. These were tough conversations for Paul, filled with argument, debate, dispute, and challenge by the learned philosophers in the marketplace there.

Paul also spoke at Mars Hill, and the people there considered his teachings to be "strange ideas to our ears." Paul never gave up, even in the face of relentless questioning and argument. He noted how they were religious people, and used that idea to teach them more about the God who made the world and everything in it. Paul also spoke about repentance and judgment and justice and salvation.

One of the most important things that Paul said to them can be found in Acts 17:28, when he says, "For in (God) we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, 'We are his offspring.'"

Paul hooked many of them with that statement. Paul was able to use the words of their own, respected, secular poets to help lead the people of Athens to God. Acts 17:34 tells us that a number of men and women became followers that day.

We can do the same thing to reach the world today. Secular culture should not be something we fear, but rather something we leverage to reach others with the good news of Jesus Christ. In our church, we have used songs by U2, the Beatles, Hoobastank, Bobby McFerrin, Daniel Powter, and others to reach people for Christ. Paul did it then, we do it now, and you can do it, too. Don't fear secular culture. Paul didn't, and neither should you. Instead of fearing it, use it to reach others for Jesus Christ. It worked for Paul in Athens, and it will work for you, too, wherever you are in the world today.

Fruit

Whenever I am in Florida, I love to drive by the vast orange groves there. The biggest and best groves burst forth with orange fruit, color, and aroma. It is a great sensory treat. You can literally taste the juicy oranges in your mouth just by driving through the bright, beautiful groves there.

In John 15:8 (NLT), Jesus tells us, "My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to my Father."

How much fruit are you producing today? Are you bringing great glory to God? Does your orchard consist of just a couple of scrawny trees or vines, producing a puny crop of dried-out fruit? Or is it more like a bright, bountiful orange grove, producing bushel after bushel of plump, bright, juicy, ready-to-burst, colorful fruit, ready to nourish the world? What does your orchard, your grove, your garden look like?

Jesus is telling us that God wants us to be fruitful. God wants us not just to produce fruit, but to produce a lot of it. What are you doing to accomplish that?

Too many Christians are too satisfied with a puny crop of fruit. But that's not what God is looking for from you. God wants you to produce a bumper crop of fruit, not just a couple of shriveled-up pieces. Who are you loving, serving, and witnessing to - today - in order to accomplish this?

Be fruitful. Produce more fruit than you do now. You will be helping more people, and God will be glorified by your fruitfulness.

Refuge

Psalm 118:8 is the verse that is in the exact center of the Bible. It says, "It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in human beings."

What a fantastic verse. Short, succinct, on-target, to-the-point. Too bad it's so difficult for us to follow it.

Why is that? Why do we have such a hard time trusting God instead of humans, be they other people or ourselves? It's because we have a sin nature, and we often think that we are strong enough, smart enough, and capable enough to confront whatever challenge awaits us. And that's where we get ourselves into trouble.

Earlier this week we wrote about letting God do the fighting for us. Well, we need to let Him do the guiding for us, too. Taking refuge in God - and His plans and directions for our lives - will always work out better than taking the advice of the smartest human being that you know. Humans are ... human. God is ... God. Where you place your trust will make all the difference in your life.

Focus and Distraction

In the sixth chapter of the book of Nehemiah, we find Nehemiah working on the wall in Jerusalem which he was reconstructing. He was making a lot of good progress, and all that remained was to set the doors in the gates.

But Nehemiah's enemies were not happy about the wall reconstruction project. They didn't like what Nehemiah was doing. They were miffed that he was on the verge of completing the job. All of their past threats and negative activities against Nehemiah had failed. But they decided to give it one final shot. They asked Nehemiah to come down from the wall to meet with them, although they really planned to kill him. But Nehemiah received divine discernment about their plans, and he rejected their offer to meet. In Nehemiah 6:2-3, Nehemiah says, "They were scheming to harm me; so I sent messengers to them with this reply: I am carrying on a great project and cannot go down. Why should the work stop while I leave it and go down to you?"

Nehemiah was wise to their plan. He wasn't distracted by his enemies. He stayed focused on accomplishing what God wanted him to do.

It's the same for us. Our enemies - beginning with the devil - will try to distract us, threaten us, harass us, rough us up, and in any other way try to get us to fail in what God wants us to do. The attacks will be fast and furious at times. But we must keep our focus on the job at hand, and not be distracted by the enemy and his tactics.

God has a great project for you to do, just as with Nehemiah. Don't stop your work. Don't be distracted by the enemy. Finish the job. Stay focused. It worked for Nehemiah, and it will work for you, too.

Fight Night

It's a little hard to imagine God lacing up a pair of boxing gloves, adjusting His trunks, putting in His mouthpiece, sparring, shadow boxing, and then heading into the ring to go a few rounds.

But that's just what He does. For us.

In Exodus 14 we find Moses and the Israelites up to their eyeballs in problems. They were being chased by Pharaoh's army, and found themselves trapped as they camped by the sea.

As Pharaoh and his 600 raging chariots and horses approached, the Israelites panicked. "What have you done to us by bringing us out of Egypt?" they cried to Moses. "It would have been better for us to serve the Egyptians than to die in the desert!"

But God was lacing up his gloves.

In Exodus 14:14, Moses tells the panic-stricken Israelites, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still."

And soon enough, God delivered the knockout punch, allowing the Israelites to cross the Red Sea, while all of Pharaoh's army, chariots, and horses were swept under the waves.

What is the fight that you face today? Are your eyes blackened, your lips bloody, your ribs broken, and your knees set to buckle? Are you ready to throw in the towel? Instead, unlace your gloves and hand them over to God. Let Him do the fighting for you, just as he did for Moses and the Israelites. When you try to fight on your own, you lose. When God fights for you, you win.

Be still and let God fight for you. After all, He's undefeated.

We're Back!

JC247 is re-igniting after a lengthy absence!

We're starting up again with all-new devotional thoughts to motivate you, inspire you, impact you, and help you reach your God-potential.

In Psalm 145:5, David praises God and says, "I will meditate on your wonderful works." In Matthew 11:29, Jesus says, "Learn from me." In 1 Corinthians 1:25, Paul says, "The foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength."

That is what we are here to do. To meditate on God's wonderful works. To learn from Jesus. To lean on God's wisdom and rely on His strength. That's the purpose of JC247.

It's good to be back!