Take Courage

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

April 26, 2021

Take Courage

The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”

Acts 23:11

Read: Acts 23:1-11

Things got a bit testy when Paul was before the Sanhedrin. In all the commotion, three things caught my attention. First, I recalled the Parable of the Shrewd Manager (Luke 16) where “The master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly.” (v.8) I think the master may have commended Paul as well as he acted shrewdly to turn the Sanhedrin in on itself.

Secondly, once again God works all things together for His good as the Roman commander intervened and used his troop to secure Paul’s safety.

The third thing was the appearance of the Lord to Paul. When I was serving as a pastor, the verse quoted above was an inspiration for me to open every church meeting by giving those gathered together an opportunity to share how they were experiencing the Lord in their lives. Our faith teaches us that the Lord still appears to his followers, he still encourages, he still speaks to, and he still leads his followers. The leadership of the Lord is not just for those participating in clergy or lay leadership roles in the local church. If you are a follower of Jesus, then God is working in you.

“. . . for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.” (Philippians 2:13)

 

“. . . being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 1:6)

My Takeaway: I believe we will experience the Lord in our life if we are intentionally and purposefully seeking to fulfill God’s purpose for us. Thus, I need often to ask myself, “When was the last time I heard God speaking to me? Am I listening for His voice? Am I open to His appearance?” How about you?

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.