okay well i think im kinda late in posting here but better late than never right? hahaha! anyways today i did quiet time on
Acts 15:22-35
The Council’s Letter to Gentile Believers
22Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers. 23With them they sent the following letter: The apostles and elders, your brothers, To the Gentile believers in Antioch, Syria and Cilicia: Greetings.24We have heard that some went out from us without our authorization and disturbed you, troubling your minds by what they said. 25So we all agreed to choose some men and send them to you with our dear friends Barnabas and Paul— 26men who have risked their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. 27Therefore we are sending Judas and Silas to confirm by word of mouth what we are writing. 28It seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us not to burden you with anything beyond the following requirements: 29You are to abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality. You will do well to avoid these things. Farewell.
30The men were sent off and went down to Antioch, where they gathered the church together and delivered the letter. 31The people read it and were glad for its encouraging message. 32Judas and Silas, who themselves were prophets, said much to encourage and strengthen the brothers. 33After spending some time there, they were sent off by the brothers with the blessing of peace to return to those who had sent them.[a] 35But Paul and Barnabas remained in Antioch, where they and many others taught and preached the word of the Lord.
1.As i was reading the first one God reminded me of how we/I live my life… cos if you read carefully it says that Paul and Barnabas, they risked their lives for God which means that they gave God their all and they were willing to put themselves out there for God and God blessed them by giving them leadership and the power of influence. They were able to preach the word cos they lived life for God, God saw it and God used them.
Then a questioned popped up in my head.
“What bout you, Scott? Have you been living life for God or yourself?”
You may think this is a easy question and the answer is obvious but think bout it. Carefully.
Many atimes we dont realise but we do do things our way and not God’s way. Why? Cos of our EGOS AND PRIDES.
You see we all have that monster inside of us called EGO. it needs/wants the attention and that attention makes us feel… secure? good? mighty?
But we all do not realise that if it weren’t for God we wouldn’t be where we are today.
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and
Acts 15:36-41
Disagreement Between Paul and Barnabas
36Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” 37Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, 38but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. 39They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, 40but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord. 41He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches.
Well the second part really got me thinking like in terms of like why did Paul not want to bring John(Mark) along, like i mean all he did was leave them for a while. but as i thought thru it, it suddenly dawned on me that if John did not leave Paul and Barnabas behind, then the work load would have been less on Paul and Barnabas. Moreover John decided to start this race with God and then he left God hanging while he left. But then you might ask why did Barnabas then choose to take John and go on? Well John was actually Barnabas’ relative so obviously Barnabas had to side with him. But Paul didn’t feel that way cos John abandoned them at the time where they were going to do something great and well i think Paul felt that John wasn’t worthy of carrying on the journey cos he was gonna reap something that he didn’t sow. Where as Silas went thru thick and thin.
Yup so there you go! heh! my first yo! haha=D