Devotional Song: ... Go to this link … Please take the time to take in a video of the Maranatha Singers singing their poignant worship hymn … Open Our Eyes, Lord; … declaring the reality that all Christians should seek a Godly perspective on the world and the way we live.
Highlight Passage Acts 17: 16 [NKJV] …
16 Now while Paul waited for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him when he saw that the city was given over to idols.
============
Highlight Context - Acts 17: 16-34 [NKJV] … USE THIS LINK …
============
Reference Passage #1 - Matthew 14: 22-33 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK …
… Jesus knew that His Disciples needed a total change in perspective to see what real faith was all about … hence, He sent them out into a storm to let them see how their Messiah could command the waves and walk on water
Reference Passage #2 - Acts 9: 1-22 [NKJV] ... USE THIS LINK …
… God had to break Paul so that His future Apostle could see the real Jesus
My Journal for Today: Today’s Our Daily Bread devotional entry, authored by Randy Kilgore, took his readers (me included) to the scene in Athens (see the highlight passages linked above) where Paul noted that the Gentile intellectuals gathered on the Areopagus to see after new thoughts and ideas. I’ve been on that place in Athens where one can look up at the great Temple and look down into where the marketplace bustled with people.
Paul had observed that these Athenians used statues (i.e., idols) to depict their seeking after the image of God. So, the new Apostle Paul, probably remembering how God had given him (Paul) a whole new perspective in life (see Acts 9: 1-22 linked above), gave these seekers a new image of God; and it was a whole new way of looking at the truth. And as we read in the Acts 17 account, a number of these men had their eyes opened to see Jesus for Whom He really was.
Jesus, when He was leading His 12 select Disciples, in one of my favorite stories in the New Testament (see the Matthew 14: 22-33 link above), recognized that His inner twelve needed a change in perspective after they had seen Him feed the thousands on that hillside near Capernaum, So, the Lord sent them out on the sea where God’s Spirit incited a life-threatening storm; and when Jesus came out to the men in the boat, they saw Jesus as a “ghost,” but then they recognized Him for Whom He really was, … The Messiah walking on the water.
Sometimes in our lives we need a change in perspective to really see our Lord … or to see Him more clearly, as the Maranatha singers sing in the linked song above. I pray today that any reading here join me in praying for and seeking a clear view of our Savior and Deliverer today [see attached photo].
My Prayer for Today … O Lord, … Help me, … no, Lord, help all of us who love You, … to see You as You really are - our Messiah - our Redeemer - OUR LORD. … Amen
Blogger Note: Everyday during this year, my daily devotional blogs are influenced by the reading and study of the online devotional blog entitled Our Daily Bread, distributed online via email by RBC Ministries. If you GO TO THIS LINK on the date of my blog, you can read/study the ODB blogs; or you can subscribe to the blog via email at that site.
No comments:
Post a Comment