Good morning, Father God . . . As we pray through the New Testament, we come to... Good morning, Father God . . . As we pray through the New Testament, we come to Acts 15:22-16:10. With the early church leaders’ affirmation that people are saved by faith in Jesus, opposition is addressed, division is averted, the apostles Paul and Barnabas have clear direction on how to proceed in ministry. They return to their home church in Antioch, joined by two leading men from the Jerusalem church—Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas—who verify what was decided in the council at Jerusalem and greatly encourage the Antioch believers. After some time, the apostles become excited about a second journey; however, the fact that John Mark had unexpectedly abandoned them on their first missionary journey becomes a source of contention between Paul and Barnabas. Father God, You cause it to work out for the good (Romans 8:28), as Barnabas and Mark set out for Cyprus and Paul and Silas travel to Derbe and Lystra. Follow-up of the first missionary journey proceeds more quickly; Mark proves useful in ministry; and the apostles raise up new “lifelong laborers in the harvest” (as Jesus spoke of in Matthew 9:35-10:1). Indeed, Paul takes on Timothy and the physician Luke—who would pen a Gospel and write the book of Acts (notice the first-person narrative beginning in 16:10). Paul is in the perfect position to receive new marching orders: “And a vision appeared to Paul in the night: a man of Macedonia was standing there, urging him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us’ ” (16:8). Heavenly Father, may I be a faithful “laborer in the harvest.” Lead me, encourage my heart, enable me to bring people into Your family, build them up, send them out as fruitful laborers!ift.tt/VJjn2uActs 15:22-16:10 esvbible.org Then it seemed good to the apostles and the elders, with the whole church, to choose men from... VIEW IMAGE(if there is any)=>ift.tt/1oJdUCn [[MY REDEEMER LIVETH]]
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 10:58:27 +0000
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