Wednesday Wake Up #32

The Accusers

There will be people in your life, when you are doing God's will, that will tell you that you are doing the wrong thing. They will tell you what they think and hold you accountable to their views that you do not subscribe to. Many of us will take these situations and get angry and want to defend ourselves. You don't have to do that. Doing so turns the focus from you doing God's will to protecting your image. If you are doing God's will then their attacks are irrelevant. 

Take Jesus for example. Have you read the story about the man with the withered hand in Luke 6:6-11? Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on a Sabbath and the Pharisees were waiting to see if he would heal the man in the synagogue that had a withered hand. They wanted to accuse him of not doing what was right according to the law as it is written, not in the spirit of the law. The Spirit is what leads you do what is right in God's name. The "rule" or "law" says one thing and the Spirit of the law is do things with love for God and then for others. The accusers will try to tell you to follow the law (don't work on the Sabbath) and ignore the Spirit of the law (do things that honor God at all times).

We read in Matthew 5:11 "Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account." That means it serves you well in God's eyes to do what is right in God's eyes as you withstand the accusers that tell you that you are not doing. When they tell you that you are wrong for something, look to God's will to validate what you do as the words of men will try to cut you down. 

 
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Acts 13: Paul, Barnabas and The Message

Paul, Barnabas and The Message

Exit Saul and enter Paul (Acts 13:9). Saul was his real name but in another language names are used sound similar and maybe even have a different meaning. We know that Paul had been one to commit evil acts against Christians, but in verse 4 Paul, Barnabas and John (who was assisting) were led by the Holy Spirit to proclaim the Word of God in the synagogues. They encountered a false prophet named Bar-Jesus who was cursed by Paul via the Holy Spirit and stricken with blindness (Acts 13:6-11). 

Paul and Barnabas (now without John who had gone back to Jerusalem) were sent a message in a synagogue on Sabbath day. The synagogue needed a word of encouragement. Paul stood up and gave a very quick yet detailed account of how Christ came to be but also not forgetting Moses and prophecies from the Old Testament about the life of Christ (Acts 13:13-47). Paul also informed people that through Christ we are forgiven from our sins and that the law of Moses could not forgive us of all of our sins (Acts 13:38-39). When the gentiles heard all of this they began rejoicing, but the religious leaders drove Paul and Barnabas out of their district once the leaders caught wind of the word of God spreading through out the region. But, the disciples "shook the dust off their feet" and were filled with the Holy Spirit and joy (Acts 13:48-52).

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