Acts 14:22 Confirming the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.
Morning Neighbuh! Morning! It’s another beautiful day mih Friends so rise and shine and greet it with a big, ‘Thank you Lord!’ and an ear splitting smile, for we know not what the Most High God Jehovah has planned for us today, but we’re sure that whatever it is, it will be interesting, though not necessarily fun or easy, and we’ll come out of it with flying colours, with the help of the same God, who never gives us more than we can handle and also provides the tools to handle it. Wow! Isn’t that a sentence worthy of Bruh Paul? (smile) Anyway Friends, we complain about our relatively easy lot, but can you imagine how we’d behave if we had to face some of the trials and tribulations Bruh Paul and some of the other Apostles faced? Most of us would have thrown in the towel very early on. Let’s just get a little history on the facts of Today’s Bit. Barnabas and Bruh Paul were out on a missionary journey. They stopped at Antioch and preached the Word of God so that many believed on Christ, especially the Gentiles, when he quoted Isaiah 49:6: ‘I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.’ (Acts 13:47-49) Now that was fairly easy, although they later got opposition from the orthodox Jews, who encouraged the rulers to expel them from the city. ‘But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.’ (Acts 13:51-52) Yes mih people, it’s interesting to note that the disciples did exactly as Jesus instructed: ‘And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house, or city, shake the dust off your feet.’ (Mat.10:14) And also; ‘Blessed are ye, when men revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (Mat.5:11-12) Oh my believing brethren, that’s a perfect example of following the plans and instructions our Saviour outlined for us! But do we do it consistently? Do we shake off the dust and rejoice when we’re ill-treated for Jesus’ sake? Some of the more mature might, but many others won’t cause it’s not an easy strategy to adopt, much less follow. Most of the time when we’re abused for the Lord’s sake we take umbrage and either get angry and want to fight back, or get sad and sorrowful and crawl home licking our wounds like a beaten dog. But Friends, it ought not to be so, and sadly we can only overcome that problem by being constantly abused in Christ’s name until we develop that thick skin which will allow us to just laugh it off and joyously continue witnessing in His name. Bruh Paul and Barnabas didn’t find it as easy though at Iconium, for the Jews really stirred up the people, and despite the brave, bold teaching of the pair, the city ended up divided; those that believed the Jews, and those who believed the Apostles. But then the Apostles heard of a plot to stone them, so they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyaconia, and preached the gospel very successfully. Hn! They were so successful that when Bruh Paul healed a lame man in Lystra, who had never walked in his life, the people cried out in their local dialect; ‘The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; (Zeus) and Paul, Mercurius, (Hermes) because he was the chief speaker.’ (Acts 14:11-12) Yes Friends, that’s what the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can do! It even made the priest who ran the temple of Jupiter in Lystra bring oxen and flowers to sacrifice to the brethren. That shook up Bruh Paul and Barnabas when they heard about it and they ran into the streets attempting to dissuade them from offering the sacrifice, tearing off their clothes and saying that they were ordinary men just like them, who were only telling them about the great God of Creation and Jesus, His Son, but they were not gods themselves. Even so, they had a hard time restraining the crowds from offering the sacrifices to them. Then wouldn’t you know it, some Jews came down from Antioch and Iconium and began to stir up trouble, eventually convincing the people to stone Bruh Paul, then drag him out of the city and leave him for dead. But Friends, the power of our God is unlimited and He never fails those who do His work. ‘Howbeit as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.’ (Acts 14:20) And to put the icing on the cake mih people, after Bruh Paul and Barnabas had a successful teaching stint in Derbe, they boldly returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch. Dust in deh face mih breddren! Showing them that they might beat their body, but certainly not their spirit. Oh Friends, that’s where Today’s Bit comes in. The misfortune of Bruh Paul and Barnabas and their Christ-like ‘never say die attitude, ‘Confirming (strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith…’ For as Bruh Paul wrote to Timothy: ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him, if we deny him, he also will deny us.’ (2 Tim.2:11-12) So we’ve got to stand real strong mih Friends, for ‘that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.’ And as Bruh Paul also said to Timothy; ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.’ (2 Tim.3:12,14) My Friends, I commend all these words of scripture to us too, as we walk the path assigned to us by Jesus and suffer for our beliefs. And please remember; ‘For all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Tim.3:16-17) I pray all this on our behalf, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Much LOVE mih people!—in struggle…to fight…to cry…to hurt…but never to say die…
Morning Neighbuh! Morning! It’s another beautiful day mih Friends so rise and shine and greet it with a big, ‘Thank you Lord!’ and an ear splitting smile, for we know not what the Most High God Jehovah has planned for us today, but we’re sure that whatever it is, it will be interesting, though not necessarily fun or easy, and we’ll come out of it with flying colours, with the help of the same God, who never gives us more than we can handle and also provides the tools to handle it. Wow! Isn’t that a sentence worthy of Bruh Paul? (smile) Anyway Friends, we complain about our relatively easy lot, but can you imagine how we’d behave if we had to face some of the trials and tribulations Bruh Paul and some of the other Apostles faced? Most of us would have thrown in the towel very early on. Let’s just get a little history on the facts of Today’s Bit. Barnabas and Bruh Paul were out on a missionary journey. They stopped at Antioch and preached the Word of God so that many believed on Christ, especially the Gentiles, when he quoted Isaiah 49:6: ‘I have set thee to be a light of the Gentiles, that thou shouldest be for salvation unto the ends of the earth. And when the Gentiles heard this, they were glad, and glorified the word of the Lord: and as many as were ordained to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was published throughout all the region.’ (Acts 13:47-49) Now that was fairly easy, although they later got opposition from the orthodox Jews, who encouraged the rulers to expel them from the city. ‘But they shook off the dust of their feet against them, and came unto Iconium. And the disciples were filled with joy, and with the Holy Ghost.’ (Acts 13:51-52) Yes mih people, it’s interesting to note that the disciples did exactly as Jesus instructed: ‘And whosoever shall not receive you, nor hear your words, when ye depart out of that house, or city, shake the dust off your feet.’ (Mat.10:14) And also; ‘Blessed are ye, when men revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.’ (Mat.5:11-12) Oh my believing brethren, that’s a perfect example of following the plans and instructions our Saviour outlined for us! But do we do it consistently? Do we shake off the dust and rejoice when we’re ill-treated for Jesus’ sake? Some of the more mature might, but many others won’t cause it’s not an easy strategy to adopt, much less follow. Most of the time when we’re abused for the Lord’s sake we take umbrage and either get angry and want to fight back, or get sad and sorrowful and crawl home licking our wounds like a beaten dog. But Friends, it ought not to be so, and sadly we can only overcome that problem by being constantly abused in Christ’s name until we develop that thick skin which will allow us to just laugh it off and joyously continue witnessing in His name. Bruh Paul and Barnabas didn’t find it as easy though at Iconium, for the Jews really stirred up the people, and despite the brave, bold teaching of the pair, the city ended up divided; those that believed the Jews, and those who believed the Apostles. But then the Apostles heard of a plot to stone them, so they fled to Lystra and Derbe, cities of Lyaconia, and preached the gospel very successfully. Hn! They were so successful that when Bruh Paul healed a lame man in Lystra, who had never walked in his life, the people cried out in their local dialect; ‘The gods are come down to us in the likeness of men. And they called Barnabas, Jupiter; (Zeus) and Paul, Mercurius, (Hermes) because he was the chief speaker.’ (Acts 14:11-12) Yes Friends, that’s what the power of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ can do! It even made the priest who ran the temple of Jupiter in Lystra bring oxen and flowers to sacrifice to the brethren. That shook up Bruh Paul and Barnabas when they heard about it and they ran into the streets attempting to dissuade them from offering the sacrifice, tearing off their clothes and saying that they were ordinary men just like them, who were only telling them about the great God of Creation and Jesus, His Son, but they were not gods themselves. Even so, they had a hard time restraining the crowds from offering the sacrifices to them. Then wouldn’t you know it, some Jews came down from Antioch and Iconium and began to stir up trouble, eventually convincing the people to stone Bruh Paul, then drag him out of the city and leave him for dead. But Friends, the power of our God is unlimited and He never fails those who do His work. ‘Howbeit as the disciples stood round about him, he rose up, and came into the city: and the next day he departed with Barnabas to Derbe.’ (Acts 14:20) And to put the icing on the cake mih people, after Bruh Paul and Barnabas had a successful teaching stint in Derbe, they boldly returned to Lystra and Iconium and Antioch. Dust in deh face mih breddren! Showing them that they might beat their body, but certainly not their spirit. Oh Friends, that’s where Today’s Bit comes in. The misfortune of Bruh Paul and Barnabas and their Christ-like ‘never say die attitude, ‘Confirming (strengthening) the souls of the disciples, and exhorting them to continue in the faith…’ For as Bruh Paul wrote to Timothy: ‘It is a faithful saying: For if we be dead with him, we shall also live with him. If we suffer, we shall also reign with him, if we deny him, he also will deny us.’ (2 Tim.2:11-12) So we’ve got to stand real strong mih Friends, for ‘that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God.’ And as Bruh Paul also said to Timothy; ‘Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution. But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them.’ (2 Tim.3:12,14) My Friends, I commend all these words of scripture to us too, as we walk the path assigned to us by Jesus and suffer for our beliefs. And please remember; ‘For all scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. That the man of God may be perfect; thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Tim.3:16-17) I pray all this on our behalf, in Jesus’ Name. Amen. Much LOVE mih people!—in struggle…to fight…to cry…to hurt…but never to say die…
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