Good morning to all on this 1st Sunday morning of 2014! Waine and I are in Kingston, Jamaica and as I write this blog entry my beloved is off playing golf and I am enjoying this morning in our "love nest" in a sleeveless shirt sitting in 75 degree weather. My devotion for the week has been to give thanks for all things and my outlook has improved greatly. Its great to give thanks and to witness the glory of God! There is record cold temperatures throughout the country and I am thanking God for the wonderful, warm weather on this little island that we love!
I am continuing my journey in Acts chapter 8 verses 1-40 "And Saul approved of their killing him (Stephen). On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria. Godly men buried Stephen and mourned deeply for him. But Saul began to destroy the church. Going from house to house, he dragged off both men and women and put them in prison. Those who had been scattered preached the word wherever they went. Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there. When the crowds heard Philip and saw the signs he performed, they all paid close attention to what he said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. So there was great joy in that city. Now for some time a man named Simon had practiced sorcery in the city and amazed all the people of Samaria. He boasted that he was someone great, and all the people, both high and low, gave him their attention and exclaimed, “This man is rightly called the Great Power of God.” They followed him because he had amazed them for a long time with his sorcery. But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw. When the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had accepted the Word of God, they sent Peter and John to Samaria. When they arrived, they prayed for the new believers there that they might receive the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit had not yet come on any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. Then Peter and John placed their hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit. When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.” Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that He may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.” Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.” After they had further proclaimed the Word of the Lord and testified about Jesus, Peter and John returned to Jerusalem, preaching the gospel in many Samaritan villages.
Now an angel of the Lord said to Philip, “Go south to the road—the desert road—that goes down from Jerusalem to Gaza.” So he started out, and on his way he met an Ethiopian eunuch, an important official in charge of all the treasury of the Kandake (which means “queen of the Ethiopians”). This man had gone to Jerusalem to worship, and on his way home was sitting in his chariot reading the Book of Isaiah the prophet. The Spirit told Philip, “Go to that chariot and stay near it.” Then Philip ran up to the chariot and heard the man reading Isaiah the prophet. “Do you understand what you are reading?” Philip asked. “How can I,” he said, “unless someone explains it to me?” So he invited Philip to come up and sit with him. This is the passage of Scripture the eunuch was reading: “He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth. In his humiliation he was deprived of justice.Who can speak of his descendants? For his life was taken from the earth.”The eunuch asked Philip, “Tell me, please, who is the prophet talking about, himself or someone else?” Then Philip began with that very passage of Scripture and told him the good news about Jesus. As they traveled along the road, they came to some water and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water. What can stand in the way of my being baptized?” And he gave orders to stop the chariot. Then both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water and Philip baptized him. When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord suddenly took Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him again, but went on his way rejoicing. Philip, however, appeared at Azotus and traveled about, preaching the gospel in all the towns until he reached Caesarea. " Amen and may God add a blessing to the reading and hearing of His Word.
All through the scriptures we encounter both true and false prophets. It was common that magicians could amaze people with tricks and feats. I know most of us believe that these accounts of people appearing and disappearing are not literal, but I believe in a Spirit world. Christ talked about it a lot. In the old testament God would talk with Satan all the time about the protection of His chosen. I believe in the "spiritual warfare" that Christ and the early church disciples talked about. I believe that what we see with our eyes is just a small portion of the LIFE that exists. I think the bigger part of our lives exists in the spiritual life that cannot be seen with our physical "eye" but can be "sensed" and felt in our souls. This is the essence of this chapter. The acts of the apostles as told in this chapter is in terms of the power of the Holy Spirit and also they meet Simon that channels the power of the dark spirits.
As Christians we are to arm ourselves daily with the whole armor of God. In Ephesians 6:10 we are told "Be strong in the Lord and in His mighty power. Put on the full armour of God so that you can take your stand against the devil's schemes. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. Therefore put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled round your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God." We are told to expect spiritual battles daily and how to overcome and be victorious!
We were having dinner with a friend last evening and this topic of conversation came up. I am a firm believer that our struggles are not just in the flesh. I believe that the bigger struggle is the spirit battles that assail us daily. That's why we are instructed on how to guard ourselves properly. Have you engaged in something you knew was inappropriate only to say "why did I do that" or "why was I so mean" or "why did I speak so harshly". These are the spirit battles we must guard against. Remember you cannot see Satan and his minions but they are there none the less so guard yourselves. Bless yourselves also. You have the power to do that as well. You can bless your life daily, Bless all of your endeavors. Bless everything you touch. The disciples did and we can do even greater things. We just have to believe. This is why I always end my Blog entries with" May the Lord bless you and keep you. May the Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace."
Stephanie
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