October 13 Daily Devotional Acts 24:16 - HOW’S YOUR CONSCIENCE TODAY? One more standard of excellence I’ve established in my life is found in today’s verse. I encourage you to establish it in your life as well. When Paul was talking to his disciples, he told them that he had a conscience void of offense before God and men. What does that mean, and what would that mean for you and I today? For Paul, it was a statement of triumph in the face of everything Satan had tried against him. No matter what difficulties, trials, persecutions and hardships the enemy threw against Paul, he always obeyed God, and told people the truth, whether they liked it or not, or received it or not. And, for us today, we must be able to make the same kind of statement about having a “clear” conscience. Do you obey God and tell people the truth about salvation, even if all of hell stands against you? Even if people reject your attempts to witness to them, do you still maintain an obedient attitude towards God, and do or say anything He asks of you? This is what Paul was talking about. Now like I’ve been saying, these are GOALS, so that doesn’t mean we hit a home run everyday for God. Over the years, there have been many times when I’ve failed God, and disobeyed when it came time to share the gospel. But, with God’s help, by establishing this as a goal to shoot for, I’m looking to improve my “batting average”, so to speak, so that more and more, my conscience remains free and clear before God and men. Even if those I preach to reject the message, at least I know in my own heart I did what God asked me to do, and that’s a peace which nothing else can produce! Remember this, my friend. You’re not responsible for saving anybody. Jesus took care of that through His death and resurrection, more than 2,000 years ago. Our job is to proclaim that fact, and nothing else. Once we do our part, we leave the rest up to God, and its then between Him and those we’ve been witnessing to. So if they reject you, they’re really rejecting Jesus, so don’t let their reaction or response affect you one way or the other. Just tell them, and that’s it. They may love you for sharing Jesus with them, but they may not. They may hate you for it, but that’s something that just comes with the assignment. Its part of our job as Christians - to share the gospel and inform people of what awaits them if they get saved, and what’s waiting for them if they don’t. Getting back to Paul for a moment, if you read Acts, you’ll see how challenging his life and ministry was. Everywhere he went, the devil stirred up the people against him; trying to discourage him, destroy him, kill him, arrest him, torture him, or all of the above. But no matter what he faced, he kept telling people about Jesus. So when he reached the end of his life, he could say what he said. His conscience was clear. He could stand before God with confidence, knowing he had done all he could to preach the gospel as commanded. I want to stand before God with that same inner peace and confidence. It’s a goal of mine - a personal standard of excellence I’ve set for myself. I encourage you to set the same kind of goal in your life too. Tell people about Jesus, wherever and whenever you’re told to. After that, the response is of no consequence. You’ve done your part, and that will give you the conscience void of offense before God, and men.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 11:30:00 +0000
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