Today’s Verse – John 7:30-31
[When Jesus was teaching in the temple courts, the people rejected his teaching, and] they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come. Still, many in the crowd put their faith in him. They said, “When the Christ comes, will he do more miraculous signs than this man?” —John 7:30-31 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… The enemies of Jesus tried repeatedly to seize him. Yet the Gospel of John reminds us again and again that no one could seize Jesus until he offered himself to them at the right time according to God’s plan. Jesus followed God’s timetable just as carefully as he obeyed his Father’s will. So, we can know with absolute assurance that when Jesus died, he did so to redeem us and obey his Father’s will. The LORD did not die because he was powerless to defend himself. Jesus’ death was voluntary, a sacrifice, a triumph of his obedience to his Father’s will over his own will for preservation. Yes, wicked people were responsible, but his death was also the plan of God to redeem us! Jesus obeyed, and we are saved! He offered himself as a sacrifice at the right time, God’s time, so we could be adopted into the Father’s family and be freed of our bondage to sin, death, hell, and the evil one! My Prayer… LORD Jesus, I thank you for honoring our Father and being obedient to him and his timing in your life. Thank you for choosing to die for me and redeem me from my sin. Thank you, dear Father, for such an incredible display of love and mercy that cost you so much. Please give me a more profound sense of my worth and significance to you, because I know the great price you paid to redeem and adopt me. In Jesus’ holy name I pray. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Scour Away the Filth
Note from Jesus Dear Faithful Follower, Even when Paul first worked with the Corinthians, he sought to help them turn from the unbridled immorality that was a part of their city’s culture. This lifestyle change was a predictable challenge that My new disciples faced in most places (1 Thessalonians 1:8-10; 1 Thessalonians 4:1-12). The grip of their immoral past was hard to break. Many activities in Corinth were tied to the worship of idols and the pervasive paganism of the city. The Corinthians encountered cultic prostitution at the pagan temples. Meat bought in their city market was first sacrificed to the idols before being available for sale. Pagan celebrations involving sexual immorality and drunkenness were connected to feasts and trade guild meetings. Pagan celebrations and sacrifices went with athletic contests and theater productions. Paul tried to teach these new Christians that their lives were to be holy. Their lives were to be lived in total dedication to honor Us — Father, Son, and Spirit. This sense of holy purpose meant their bodies were sacred and should be used to glorify Us (1 Corinthians 6:18-20). Paul had repeatedly taught them, both when physically present and through letters, about their need to practice holiness in all things. This teaching meant getting away and staying far away from sexual immorality, idolatry, and paganism. In Paul’s letter that you know as 1 Corinthians, he referred to a previous letter to the Corinthian Christians and his earlier teaching about avoiding immorality (1 Corinthians 5:9). That previous teaching was very similar to what you find in a passage from 2 Corinthians included in the verses below. As you read these verses, try to think through the implications of Paul’s teachings for you in your culture. How will you apply these teachings to your world so saturated in sexual immorality, false religions, greed, and materialism? How are you going to live as My holy person in your immoral culture and influence that culture for good? How are you going to influence your culture while not letting the bad parts of your culture influence you? As you live and serve Me in the culture around you, what are the limits of Christian fellowship? These are hard questions. Rather than answer these questions for you, I am asking you to wrestle with them as you follow Me. I want your heart to belong to Me. If your heart belongs to Me, you will work through these questions seeking to honor Me with a holy life that demonstrates My compassionate concern for the lost. Think through what Paul wrote and see how his teachings apply to you. When you read his teachings this way, you will have more empathy for the Corinthians. You will get a clearer understanding of the challenges they faced in their day if they obeyed Paul’s teaching. You will also be better prepared to face similar challenges in your day. Verses to Live How are you going to impact your culture with My character and compassion without getting entangled and soiled with its immorality? In the verses below, you find two readings from Paul’s letters to the Corinthians. The first passage is one verse from 1 Corinthians and refers to what Paul taught in a previous letter that he wrote the Christians in Corinth. The second section is from 2 Corinthians and addresses the same matters as referenced in the first passage. The final short paragraph is Paul’s exhortation to the people based on what he had written in the previous verses. This part is at the heart of what I want you to incorporate into your life. In the letter I wrote to you previously, I made it clear that you are not to band together with those who have embraced immoral lives. (1 Corinthians 5:9) Don’t develop partnerships with those who are not followers of Jesus’ teachings. For what real connection can exist between righteousness and rebellion? How can light participate in darkness? What harmony can exist between the Anointed and Satan? Do the faithful and the faithless have anything in common? Can the temple of God find common ground with idols? Don’t you see that we house the temple of the living God within us? Remember when He said, “I will make My home with them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they will be My people. “So then turn away from them, turn away and leave without looking back,” says the Lord. “Stay away from anything unclean, anything impure, and I will welcome you. “And I will be for you as a father, and you will be for Me as sons and daughters,” says the Lord Almighty! Because we have these promises, dearly loved ones, out of respect for God we should scour the filth from our flesh and spirit and move toward perfect beauty and holiness. (2 Corinthians 6:14-18; 2 Corinthians 7:1) Response in Prayer Father, make me Yours completely. Set me apart from those who do not know You. I want to display Your grace to others and live Your holiness before them. May my whole spirit, soul, and body be kept free from any sort of sin as I await the glorious coming of My Lord and Savior Jesus, the Anointed. You, O God, are faithful. I know that You can be trusted to make this happen in me to Your glory. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen. This prayer is adapted from Paul’s prayer for the Thessalonians in 1 Thessalonians 5:23-24. ‘A Year with Jesus’ is written by Phil Ware. © 1998-2024, Heartlight, Inc. ‘A Year with Jesus‘ is part of the Heartlight Network.All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Voice™. © 2008 by Ecclesia Bible Society. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Today’s Verse – 2 Samuel 7:29
[King David was humbled that God had chosen him, and his “house,” his descendants, to be on the throne forever. So, David responded:] “Now be pleased to bless the house of your servant, that it may continue forever in your sight; for you, O Sovereign LORD, have spoken, and with your blessing the house of your servant will be blessed forever.” —2 Samuel 7:29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… God had blessed King David incredibly. God had taken him from a despised little brother and shepherd boy who became a great warrior and Israel’s King. David went from an errand boy to a war hero, from a small nowhere town to become the leader of a great empire. David’s concern, however, was that God would remain close to him and his descendants, upholding the promises he had made to David. More than any other discovery in his amazing life, David had learned that the future, that every battle, and that any real hope, lies in the presence of the LORD God of Israel with him and his descendants. When God speaks, he keeps his word. When God acts, he redeems, delivers, and brings victories. So, David asked God to do what God longs to do: bless his people and keep his promises. Which reminds us that he can do the same with us! My Prayer… Trustworthy and honorable God, our Father who has sustained and blessed us, thank you for your presence in our lives and your promises for our future. Bring us into your presence with great joy, just as you promised, so that we can dwell in your house forever. In Jesus’ name, we pray with anticipation. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
My Precious Temple!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, As Paul used his letter to address the rivalries and divisions among My followers in Corinth, he pointed to four truths that I want you to remember. You find these truths in the verses for today. The fourth one is most sobering and important. Please take it — and take all of them — to heart. Here are the four truths for today. First, division and rivalries in a group of My disciples show My people are living by their worldly instincts rather than being led by the Holy Spirit. No matter how mature My followers claim to be, division shows that they are seeking their importance from the same things as worldly people who “live by the standards of this rebellious and broken world.” Second, claiming to be part of an important group in My movement doesn’t make a person any more important than other believers. Those groups whose leaders are well known are not more important than groups whose leaders are unknown. The greatest in My Kingdom will always be a servant. Don’t ever judge people’s value as My followers by their leaders, their founders, or their group’s reputation. Third, the Father will judge everyone’s work when I return. My disciples must refrain from trying to do the Father’s job. If someone bases his or her ministry on Me and the truth about Me, then you can know that person is truly seeking to be My servant. Furthermore, you shouldn’t try to put a value on one of My servants by comparing that servant to another one of My servants. Fourth, when people gather together into a church family, they are precious for at least two reasons: They are not only My bodily presence in the world, but they are also a holy temple where We — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — live. Everyone who is a part of a congregation was bought at the price of My life. Each has a special relationship with Us. Together, even with each one’s flaws, each is a sacred place where We dwell. So anyone who destroys the unity of Our precious people and our spiritual family will face destruction for what he or she has done. My church, My bodily presence in the world, and My people are that precious to Me. Verses to Live Paul’s words below are his plea for the Corinthians not to allow any division to continue and destroy the temple of God. These are strong, but needed words both in his day and in your day as well. My brothers and sisters, I cannot address you as people who walk by the Spirit; I have to speak to you as people who tend to think in merely human terms, as spiritual infants in the Anointed One. I nursed you with milk, as a mother would feed her baby, because you were not, and still are not, developed enough to digest complex spiritual food. And here’s why: you are still living in the flesh, not in the Spirit. How do I know? Are you fighting with one another? Are you comparing yourselves to others and becoming consumed with jealousy? Then it sounds like you are living in the flesh, no different from the rest who live by the standards of this rebellious and broken world. If one of you is saying, “I am with Paul,” and the other says, “I am with Apollos,” aren’t you like everybody else? So who is Apollos really? Or Paul for that matter? We are only servants, agents who led you to faith, and the Lord commissioned each of us to do a particular job. My job was to plant the seed, and Apollos was called to water it. Any growth comes from God, so the ones who water and plant have nothing to brag about. God, Who causes the growth, is the only One Who matters. The one who plants is no greater than the one who waters; both will be rewarded based on their work. We are gardeners and field workers laboring with God. You are the vineyard, the garden, the house where God dwells. Like a skilled architect and master builder, I laid a foundation based upon God’s grace given to me. Now others will come along to build on the foundation. Each serves in a different way and is to build upon it with great care. There is, in fact, only one foundation, and no one can lay any foundation other than Jesus the Anointed. As others build on the foundation (whether with gold, silver, gemstones, wood, hay, or straw), the quality of each person’s work will be revealed in time as it is tested by fire. If a man’s work stands the test of fire, he will be rewarded. If a man’s work is consumed by the fire, his reward will be lost but he will be spared, rescued from the fire. Don’t you understand that together you form a temple to the living God and His Spirit lives among you? If someone comes along to corrupt, vandalize, and destroy the temple of God, you can be sure that God will see to it that he meets destruction because the temple of God is sacred. You, together, are His temple. (1 Corinthians 3:1-17) Response in Prayer O Father, I remember Jesus’ prayers on the night He was betrayed. He prayed, “Abba Father, … I want Your will to be done, not Mine.” He also prayed this prayer for us: “I pray that they will all be one … so that the world will believe You sent Me.” What His prayers tell me, dear Father, is that I must seek Your will above my own will. I must seek to maintain unity in Your spiritual family so we can demonstrate Your love in sending Jesus. So I ask, dear Father, for strength to do both. I want to do Your will no matter the cost. I long to help our
Today’s Verse – Matthew 7:28-29
When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law. —Matthew 7:28-29 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… Unlike the teachers of his day, Jesus didn’t have to shore up his teaching with obscure quotes from past teachers and well-known rabbis. Jesus, the very Word of God (John 1:1-18), spoke the words of God. He did and said what the Father willed. His life and his words had the ring of authenticity. The gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John) want to spark an awareness in us of Jesus’ power and authority so that through the ages, they still invite us to embrace his truth and follow him as our LORD. This Jesus, our Teacher and Savior, is so much more than another great teacher, extraordinary prophet, or wise sage. His words are powerful. His teachings are authoritative. His life is breathtaking. His love is beyond compare. So, dear friend of Jesus, his will must be our passion! My Prayer… Holy God, thank you for speaking through your prophets and the holy Scriptures. But, dear Father, I praise you for speaking your most complete and perfect message in Jesus. As I see the character of his life, I am drawn to you. As I hear the authenticity in his words and see them demonstrated in his sacrificial life, I seek to obey him and follow him as his disciple. Thank you for sending Jesus to be my teacher, my guide, my LORD, and my Savior. I pray this in his name, Jesus the Messiah and Son of God. Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
Bragging Rights?
Note from Jesus Dear Child of the Father, The Corinthian disciples had forgotten what made them special. Some were arguing that their group of believers was more important than another group of believers. Some were celebrating their status during communion while others were being overlooked. They were bragging about their spiritual gifts while using them to try to impress others. Some were even claiming to follow different people rather than Me. Everywhere you look in the early Corinthian church, you will find fractures, rivalries, differences, and arguments over who or what was most important. Even worse, they boasted in these differences! Paul spoke directly to the Corinthians about their sin. He reminded them that few of them came from families of position or status: By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right? By earthly measures, they had little or no status. So why in the world would they fuss and fight over status? Why would they divide My body over such earthly, temporal and trivial matters? Why would they divide My people over egos and pettiness? When people feel insignificant and unsure of their status, they look to false standards to make them feel important. They boast in what is really superficial, temporary, and unimportant. You can find this sad reality in Corinth during Paul’s day, and you can find it in your own day. The Corinthian disciples to whom Paul wrote had forgotten Who I was when I came to the earth. They lost sight of what I had done to make them children of the Father, the King of glory. They ignored the lofty status that I put aside when I was born into the world to die to redeem them (Philippians 2:5-11). They ignored what I taught: that the greatest in the Father’s kingdom and in My family is actually the person willing to serve. Those who exalt themselves will be humbled (Matthew 23:11-12). The Corinthian disciples forgot that I came to serve and to give My life to ransom them from sin and that I called them to be sacrificial and serve others (Mark 10:42-45; John 13:12-17). Paul wanted them, and I want you, to know that real greatness is found in being “united with Jesus the Anointed” — united with Me — in serving others. You are My disciples. You are to follow My example. You are to trust your glory to My grace. You are to serve each other just as I served and gave Myself for you. I AM the source of your life, significance, identity, and status. I AM your “wisdom.” Your “righteousness and holiness and redemption” are found in Me. Don’t boast in what you have accomplished. Don’t swell with pride because of your seemingly superior background. Don’t boast in what you can do that another can’t do. Realize that your life, your future, and the glory in which you will share all come from being identified with Me and being a part of My family. You cannot disregard someone else in My family. You cannot elevate yourself above someone else in My family. When you elevate yourself above others, you disregard Me and all that I demonstrated! Verses to Live As My disciple, think of what you have because of Me. Remember all the blessings and privileges that are yours because of My sacrifice. You received all of these by grace. You received none of these by birthright or rank in social circles. So let your boasting be in My grace and sacrifice. Do not boast in what you can do or from where you have come. Boasting causes division. Boasting creates rivalries. Boasting causes messes like the Corinthians had made. Read the verses below and take them to heart. They are true not just for the Corinthian disciples; they are also true for you. Look carefully at your call, brothers and sisters. By human standards, not many of you are deemed to be wise. Not many are considered powerful. Not many of you come from royalty, right? But celebrate this: God selected the world’s foolish to bring shame upon those who think they are wise; likewise, He selected the world’s weak to bring disgrace upon those who think they are strong. God selected the common and the castoff, whatever lacks status, so He could invalidate the claims of those who think those things are significant. So it makes no sense for any person to boast in God’s presence. Instead, credit God with your new situation: you are united with Jesus the Anointed. He is God’s wisdom for us and more. He is our righteousness and holiness and redemption. As the Scripture says: “If someone wants to boast, he should boast in the Lord.” (1 Corinthians 1:26-31) Don’t let anyone deceive himself. If any one of you thinks he is wise in matters pertaining to this world, he is going to be really disappointed. In fact, one must be deemed a fool by worldly standards in order to become truly wise because the wisdom of this rebellious and broken world looks like foolishness when put next to God. So it stands in Scripture, “He catches the wise in their deceitful plotting.” And the Scriptures add, “The Lord knows the highest thoughts of the wise, and they are worthless.” So there is no reason for anyone to boast in human leaders. You already have it all. So whether it is Paul, Apollos, Cephas, the world, life or death, the present or the future — it all belongs to you. You belong to the Anointed One, and the Anointed One belongs to God. (1 Corinthians 3:18-23) Response in Prayer Father in heaven, I know that my insecurities can lead me to chase the wrong things as the source of my significance. I recognize that in Jesus I am Your child. I am a child of the King of glory. Forgive me for my lack
Today’s Verse – John 7:27
[Some in the questioning crowd, said the following about Jesus:] “But we know where this man is from; when the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from.” —John 7:27 Thoughts on Today’s Verse… God in human flesh is how John described Jesus as he began his gospel (John 1:14-18). Jesus was God’s ultimate message and revelation of God himself in human form (Hebrews 1:1-3). Jesus’ incarnation is a mystery that neither the crowds in his day nor we in our day can fully fathom. This truth is beyond our human experience and limited knowledge of eternal reality. So, we shouldn’t be surprised when Jesus’ critics quickly characterized him as someone who could not be Messiah because they thought they knew where he was from — Nazareth when Jesus was born in Bethlehem. He existed as God and with God before time as we know it began. The crowds were wrong about his origin and so many other things. Dear friend in Christ, Jesus exhausts our imagination and overflows our cup of wonder as we seek to understand all he is as our Savior, Christ the LORD! So, come and let’s adore and praise him for all he is, even what we cannot yet understand of his glory! My Prayer… O LORD, forgive me for my limited vision of Jesus’ glory. Please enable my heart’s ability to find wonder, joy, grace, exhilaration, glory, and awe in my Savior’s power, grace, sacrifice, victory, and love. To you, Father, and to the Christ, be all the glory and honor that my heart can muster and my voice can proclaim. Through the intercession of the Holy Spirit and in the authority of Jesus’ name, I offer you my praise! Amen. All scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
The Father’s Faithfulness Is Greater Than My Disciples’ Failures
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved of the Father, While Paul was in Ephesus, he wrote a letter to the Corinthians to follow-up on his time in Corinth. Your book of 1 Corinthians is actually his second letter to them (1 Corinthians 5:9). The new believers in Corinth were in a seaport city on a narrow strip of land with water on two sides. A major highway ran through their city. This strategic location is a powerful reminder of the important influence I wanted My disciples to have in Corinth. Although they were surrounded by immorality, My new disciples were strategically located in a place to impact the world of commerce, travel, and religion with the truth of My gospel. Becoming a disciple in such a place was far easier than living as a disciple on a daily basis. Strong forces pulled on My followers. City life in Corinth included all sorts of distractions. Unrestrained immorality and materialism were accepted as the normal way of life. Corrupt religious practices, cult prostitution, religious enthusiasm, rivalry over social status, passionate individualism, battles over gender superiority, racial prejudice, bigotry, and genuine poverty filled Corinth’s streets. You won’t have to dig very far into Paul’s letters to the Corinthians to discover that My new followers in Corinth struggled with each of these challenges. One of the qualities about 1 and 2 Corinthians that makes these letters so important for you today is that My disciples in Corinth had many problems that are also typical of your time. As you read through Paul’s letters to the Corinthians, you might wonder how this fragile and diverse set of house churches could survive. They had rivalries over which group was most acceptable and important. Conflicts and disrespect between men and women impacted their worship and daily lives. Incest and other forms of sexual immorality marred the character of these people who were seeking to make Me their Lord. Lawsuits between members tore at the fabric of their unity. Disregard of poor members by the rich members during their love feast meal destroyed the character of what was supposed to be Holy Communion. Some were getting drunk and gorging on food while others were being totally left out of the fellowship. Petty rivalries over spiritual gifts caused arguments over who was most spiritual. Some had even lost faith in My resurrection. The result was a large pagan city with several house churches of believers who felt that they had little in common with each other except that they called on My name and called themselves My followers. Today, however, I want you to notice the way the apostle Paul began this letter. Examine particularly the highlighted parts of the scripture below. First, remember that every person born of water and spirit (John 3:3-7; Titus 3:3-7; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11) has a special relationship with Me. The new believers lived in a region torn by division, corrupted by immorality, and lost in darkness. Those around them had lost hope in the future and so they lived for the moment. Particularly in this kind of world, everyone who is My follower must be regarded as especially precious, even if that person has forgotten part of the truth or has never fully understood the truth. Remember my parable of the shepherd who went in search of his lost sheep (Matthew 18:10-14; Luke 15:4-7) and other similar parables (e.g., Luke 15:8-32) that talk about My desire to reclaim those who are Mine. The Corinthian house churches struggled with division and immorality. Paul knew all about their problems. Their problems created great anguish and concern in his heart for them. He had invested over two years of his life in converting and discipling them. He knew how fragile their fellowship was. He was fully aware of how far their daily lives were from the high calling that I had for them. Nevertheless — and please hear this beloved — each of My disciples, no matter how flawed, was still precious to Paul and each is always precious to Me. There were still reasons to rejoice in these people who gave up so much to follow Me. Paul still had great reasons to give thanks for them and to continue to pray for them. Also, notice the undergirding faith that gave Paul hope. He believed that something good could come out of the messes the Corinthians had made of their lives and their fellowship. Paul believed that the future of their fellowship was not bound by their current failures but rooted in the Father’s faithfulness. Let the words found in the central part of the verses below remind you of a truth that you must never forget: He [God the Father] will preserve you; and on that day, He will consider you faultless. Count on this: God is faithful and in His faithfulness called you out into an intimate relationship with His Son, our Lord Jesus the Anointed [Me]. Verses to Live Paul was not blind to the problems that existed among My people in Corinth. However, he did not let his disappointment due to their flaws and failures distract him from My disciples’ importance to Me. He didn’t forget My power at work within these new disciples to make all things new. Paul acknowledged the divisions in My Corinthian disciples shortly after affirming how precious they were to him. His words of affirmation come first as he declared his confidence in Our ability to be faithful and to bring them to be with Us. So don’t forget to rejoice over those who have come to Me. Don’t forget Paul’s example of working with the Corinthians, and believe that We can do more than human eyes can see and human hearts can imagine (Ephesians 3:14-21)! Paul, called out by God’s will to be an emissary for Jesus the Anointed, along with brother Sosthenes, to God’s church gathering in the city of Corinth. As people who are united with Jesus, the Anointed One, you have been
Ephesus!
Note from Jesus Dear Beloved, In today’s reading, you will find Paul arriving in Ephesus. Ephesus was a remarkable and important city in Paul’s world. But the people of Ephesus needed My power and My grace. In Paul’s time, Ephesus was one of the four largest cities in the Mediterranean region, which were Rome, Ephesus, Antioch of Syria, and Alexandria in Egypt. Along with Jerusalem (the center of Judaism), Luke emphasized the first three of these cities as he wrote the book of Acts. Ephesus was a large, multi-cultural, busy city, a major banking center, a town with a harbor and on major trade routes, and a city full of crime. Ephesus was rampant with sexual perversion. It was deeply impacted by a fascination with all sorts of superstitions, demonic religions, black magic, and mystery cults. You can probably imagine similar cities in your day. Ephesus was a place of financial power with an interest in spiritual power. What you see in Luke’s account is reflected in Paul’s words to these same believers several years later: Finally, brothers and sisters, draw your strength and might from God. Put on the full armor of God to protect yourselves from the devil and his evil schemes. We’re not waging war against enemies of flesh and blood alone. No, this fight is against tyrants, against authorities, against supernatural powers and demon princes that slither in the darkness of this world, and against wicked spiritual armies that lurk about in heavenly places. (Ephesians 6:10-12) Luke carefully frames Paul’s visit to Ephesus with an emphasis on the Holy Spirit. At the beginning, he records Paul’s asking: “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers?” At the end, Luke wrote: The Holy Spirit confirmed that he should first travel through Macedonia and Achaia and then return to Jerusalem. Luke’s account makes clear what Paul emphasized while he was in Ephesus. While there are many demonic powers and religions that touch your world, there is only one true and living God. That true and living God is known as YAHWEH — YHWH in Hebrew — Father, Son, and Spirit. We are above all other spiritual powers and are directly involved in the lives of all those who belong to Us. We live in them through the presence of the Holy Spirit Who is in them and guides them. I revealed YHWH through My time on earth. You can find life in YHWH through Me. No person and not even another spirit can control the power of YHWH. In the middle of Luke’s account, he showed us an example of the world of the occult and demonic spirits. I love the way Luke described an encounter with an evil spirit and finished with this summary: Everyone was shocked and realized that the name of Jesus was indeed powerful and praiseworthy. … Again, word spread, and the message of the Lord overcame resistance and spread powerfully. Paul will have more interaction with the people and the evil spiritual powers in Ephesus on a return trip to Ephesus and will also run into problems caused by people from Ephesus in a later trip to Jerusalem. For now, you just need to realize that a spiritual battle for the eternal destinies of the people of Ephesus and Asia Minor had begun in earnest. Ephesus was a place that would oppose Me with evil spiritual power and evil determination. Nevertheless, My messengers were not afraid to speak the truth of the Father’s grace, My power, and the Holy Spirit’s guiding care in this place that desperately needed it. Verses to Live All who belong to the Father and who are My true disciples are filled, empowered, and led by the Holy Spirit. You will need this power as you face the times in which you now live. But remember, “[T]he Spirit Who lives in you is greater than the spirit who lives in the world” (1 John 4:4 NLT). These words were written by John years later to Christians in Asia Minor where Ephesus was located! Paul would say it this way in his letter to the Ephesians: All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ. (Ephesians 1:3 NLT) So as you read, recognize you are entering the world of spiritual warfare; but don’t be afraid! I have overcome! While Apollos was in Corinth, Paul’s overland journey brought him back to Ephesus. He encountered a group of about a dozen disciples there. Paul: Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you became believers? John’s Disciples: We’ve never heard about the Holy Spirit. Paul: Well then, what kind of ceremonial washing through baptism did you receive? John’s Disciples: We received the ritual cleansing of baptism that John taught. Paul: John taught the truth — that people should be baptized with renewed thinking and turn toward God. But he also taught that the people should believe in the One Whose way he was preparing, that is, Jesus the Anointed. As soon as they heard this, they were baptized, this time in the name of our Lord Jesus. When Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came upon them in the same way the original disciples experienced at Pentecost: they spoke in tongues and prophesied. For three months, Paul continued his standard practice: he went week by week to the synagogue, speaking with great confidence, arguing with great persuasiveness, proclaiming the kingdom of God. Once again, some members of the synagogue refused to believe and insulted the Way publicly before the whole synagogue community. Paul withdrew and took those with him who had become disciples. For the next two years, he used the public lecture hall of Tyrannus, presenting the Word of the Lord every day, debating with all who would come. As a result, everyone in the region, whether Jews or Greeks, heard the message. Meanwhile, God did
Interconnected!
Note from Jesus Dear Follower, I challenged My apostles before My ascension to make faith in Me a worldwide movement of grace and discipleship offered to all people (Matthew 28:18-20). They were to begin where they were. They were to share grace with their people and reach their region. Then they were to impact the world with My good news and a life of discipleship (Acts 1:8). This sharing is what the apostles did in Jerusalem and Judea in the early days of My church, as recorded in the book of Acts. Then with the martyrdom of Stephen, some of My followers were scattered out from Jerusalem and Judea and went into Samaria and even to more-Gentile regions (Acts 8:1-4; Acts 11:19-21). On their first missionary journey, Paul and Barnabas followed a similar pattern in each city by teaching first in Jewish synagogues and then also going to Gentiles (Acts 13:1-8; Acts 13:44-46). In today’s verses, you read about the interconnectedness of the ancient world. You can see how My early disciples spread the word, strengthened churches, and grew My movement. Paul, Peter, and Barnabas were great missionaries, disciple-makers, and church planters. Many other people also were instrumental in helping to grow the church. In today’s verses, you meet Aquila and his wife Priscilla (also sometimes called Prisca). They were a great team. They were devoted to bringing people to faith in Me. They were upper middle-class merchants who took the gospel with them wherever they went in their business travels. They opened their homes as the places for My disciples to meet in three cities — Corinth, Ephesus, and Rome (Acts 18:1-3; 1 Corinthians 16:19; 2 Timothy 4:19; Romans 16:3). You also meet Apollos, who traveled widely and was a great public speaker and a scholar of the Hebrew Scriptures — the Law, Writings, and Prophets. Aquila, Priscilla, and Apollos are examples of the many people throughout the ages who have shared My story of grace as they traveled. For each of them, his or her job was a calling. It was a way to spread My message to all with whom they came in contact. They sought out groups of believers and strengthened them. They shared news of what was happening with My disciples in other places in the world. They led others to follow Me. They offered their time and their homes for believers to meet, eat, and worship together. Their faith was not just something they had in their heads or believed in their hearts, but it permeated every aspect of their lives. In today’s verses, you will notice that Paul travels through significant portions of the northern and northeastern Mediterranean region. He goes through Greece, Macedonia, the Roman province of Asia, Galatia, Syria, and Judea. He goes back and strengthens struggling churches. He encourages new believers. He confirms leaders in the churches he had previously planted. He carries news about what is happening in My family in other parts of the world. However, Paul was not alone in doing these things. Others are not named in the Bible but were like Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos. Through the efforts of all of these disciples, the good news about Me spread all over the world. I used the folks you know well, like Paul, Peter, and Barnabas. I also used those you know less well, like Priscilla, Aquila, and Apollos, and some folks not mentioned by name. What I began with a small group in Galilee has impacted the whole world. You are testimony that this process didn’t end in the first century. This process is still effective. This process is still part of My plan! So, based on what you read today, I want to place a few things on your heart. First, don’t be afraid to travel and go to new places in the world. Yes, travel can be tiring and sometimes even dangerous. However, you are My disciple. You are a citizen of the kingdom of heaven. Your mission field is as close as your next door neighbor and as far away as someone from another culture on the other side of your world. Second, when you travel remember that you go as My representative. Whether your travel is for vacation, business, pleasure, or intentional mission, you are My messenger. No matter who pays for your travel, you are sent by Me, to represent Me, and to share My grace! Third, use your travel as a time to connect to other believers. Do not take a vacation from fellowship and worship. Bring a word of grace from the people with whom you normally fellowship. Give the believers you meet encouragement. Offer a blessing in My name to their church family and their worship gathering, no matter how large or small. Enjoy the blessing of being family with people you don’t yet know, but with whom you will share eternity! Fourth, as you travel, I will place people in your path who are seeking to find what you have found in Me. If you listen to hear the hearts of these people you meet, the Spirit will help you and empower you. One of the benefits of your going to other places is to be available to these people. Some you meet will be asking to find hope, seeking to discover Me, and knocking on the door of heaven needing grace (Matthew 7:7-8). Fifth, when you go, be respectful of those you meet. They know their culture and how to reach people in their culture better than you do. But, if you find yourself compelled to correct something, make sure you do it tenderly and privately after you have invested yourself in their family of faith and the community they are trying to reach. Priscilla and Aquila are great examples of this principle, especially in how they corrected Apollos: “They took him aside and in private explained the way of God to him more accurately and fully.” Your life is more interconnected to the