S. O. A. P.

Here’s Your 90 second AM Devotional!

S-cripture:

Acts 25:19

Instead, they had some points of dispute with him about their own religion and about a dead man named Jesus who Paul claimed was alive.

O-bservation:

Leaders of the Sanhedrin had threatened to kill Paul, so he claimed his Roman citizenship and was transferred to Caesarea to appeal his case to King Agrippa. When Felix, the governor, introduced Paul to the King he said that in the initial hearing the normal charges weren’t brought up against Paul by his accusers, only the discussion about “A Dead Man Named Jesus,” who Paul claimed was alive.

A-pplication:

As I read this story this AM, I thought to myself that not much has changed for “Jesus Followers.” The world acknowledges that Jesus lived on earth, but the belief that He resurrected from the dead is still a huge debate. It’s not enough that Jesus was a Jew. It’s not enough that His disciples were all Jewish. It’s not enough that the chief propagator of the Gospel immediately after Jesus ascended into heaven was Paul, a Jew. Somehow Jewish people join every other religion on earth to say, “All those Christians ever talk about is ‘A Dead Man Named Jesus.’” But every person on the planet—including the Jewish, Buddhist, or Islamic—who has ever come to faith in Jesus says “HE IS ALIVE.”  If the world can keep Jesus dead, they can stay in their own man-made graves of desperation, where they feel comfortable. However, once you admit “He Is Alive,” you yourself can finally, really live!

P-rayer:

Dear Jesus,

I’m happy this AM that I know You are ALIVE! Because of that, I too have life. Amen