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Good Shepherd Lutheran Church Today's Frontline Devotion Monday, February 16, 2004 Keep Up Your Courage! |
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FRONTLINE DEVOTION FOR MONDAY, FEBRUARY 16, 2004, by Fritz Foltz
Bible text:
Acts 23:11-35
Ever since Paul arrived in Jerusalem he had trouble, a lot of trouble. At first
the Christian leaders tried to put him in his place. They embarrassed him by
more or less forcing him to undergo a Jewish purification ritual. Then
they sent his congregations a letter telling them to start living kosher,
something Paul taught was not necessary. All of this was to convince the Jews he
respected their customs. It did not work. Even as he was engaged in the
purification ritual, the Jews dragged him out of the temple and began beating
him to death. He ended up arrested by the Romans and narrowly avoided a public
flogging. His attempt to defend himself only made matters worse. Although the
Sadducees and Pharisees could not agree with each other’s ideas, they did
agree they wanted Paul dead. So he remained in prison.
After all this, Paul had to be praying for things to calm down. Instead he got a
word from God, “Keep up your courage! There is more to come! I want you in
Rome!”
Our lesson said almost immediately 40 Jewish fanatics took a vow they would not
eat until they killed Paul. They arranged a plot to fool the Romans into
thinking they were ready to give Paul another hearing. As the soldiers would
bring Paul for this pretended truce, the 40 would lay in ambush to kill him.
Probably every one of us can remember some similar, even if not so dangerous,
situation. We were just about at the end of our strength because of family,
health, school, or employment troubles. We began to think things had to get
better. Instead we were handed more. Sometimes we seemed to get a message from
God, “Keep up your courage! There is more to come! “
All of this has been made more dangerous even in our day, because terrorists
also have made vows to kill our kind of people. They, too, have used immoral
means to achieve their ends, claiming they are serving God. We, like Paul, ask how
people could hate us so much. That seems to be one of the most puzzling
questions people ask today: “How can people hate us so much?”
We have to remember that God’s message is not only “Keep up your courage!”
It also speaks of God having further plans for us. I do not think that means he
is causing our troubles. Instead it means he can make something of them that
will promote his will in the future. We must allow God to make something of our
situation, confident that the future is his and; because it is his, it is also
ours.
Let us pray: Father, grant us the courage we need in this world, the courage to
follow you whatever our situation. Grant us always the hope that knows you can
overcome evil in the future and in our present lives. End the violence. Bring
people together in peace and love. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen
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All are welcome to join and share in our Devotional Ministry on the "Frontlines" of the world. Frontline Devotions are sent via email daily. Sign up by clicking on the box to the left. Pastor Dave welcomes feedback. Contact him at pastordave@goodshepherdonline.org. |
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