Monday 20 Oct 2014

October 20: Acts 15:18-21

Key Verse: Acts 15:18
Known to God from eternity are all His works.

Devotion:
When the disciples had to face up to the Jerusalem Council about the work they were doing they did so knowing that what they were doing came from God. None of us like to face a grilling from the authorities but when we do we should make sure that what we are doing comes from God otherwise we will be facing an uncertain future. I do not like to be questioned about my faith and about the work that I do, but I do have to face it from time to time just as the disciples did.

Jesus does not call us to be sheep who will blindly follow others because that is what has been written down by someone. Jesus calls us to be sheep who will follow Him, our Good Shepherd. Following the law of the land and following Christ do not necessarily meet up. Man has corrupted some laws and some of those are the laws that God set up in the beginning. Just because lots of men have chosen to follow the new laws set up by man does not make them right! We need to check with God and make sure that we are following His will and not our own will.

When God calls you forward to go up against the laws set up by man you can bet that there will be a very long queue of people willing to have a go at you because you dare to show up the people who wrote down the laws. Paul found this out very quickly as he went out to invite the Gentiles to come to know Christ. The Jews were trying to protect their ways and part of that was the thoughts that they were the only chosen race. Well, they got the chosen race part right, but they missed the prophets message that the Gentiles were going to be saved as well.

When we step forward for God we must be prepared to have to face opposition because we are stepping forward into the enemy’s territory. We will face people who assume that they know better because they have been told by other people. If we are not careful we will fall into that same bracket. If we simply go about telling others what we have heard, we may be telling them pure fiction; so stepping back from time to time and making sure that we have learned correctly from God and not from man is sensible and required. God wants us to be faithful followers and not faithless sheep.

Points to Ponder:
Are you reading your bible?

Are you listening to God?