S. O. A. P.
Here’s Your 90 second AM Devotional!
S-cripture:
Acts 17:2
As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures.
O-bservation:
When St. Paul arrived in Thessalonica to preach the gospel for the first time, he went on the Sabbath day to preach the good news about Jesus. He did this three Sabbaths in a row.
A-pplication:
This passage tells us that it was Paul’s custom to do this in every city he travelled to. He was a learned and skilled Rabbi. So for him to speak in a Jewish synagogue was normal and very much accepted by Jewish people, even though he was a “Jesus Follower.” The way Paul the Apostle spread the good news was to do what he knew to do, which was to start by speaking in the synagogue. That was the meeting place. Because he did, Jewish people would follow Jesus and then the doors would open for people of all religious traditions to be saved. Maybe you haven’t turned the world upside down for Jesus yet, but if you’ll “Keep Doing What You Know To Do” eventually good things will happen.
P-rayer:
Dear Jesus,
Today, with Your help, I’m going to “Keep Doing What I Know To Do” in faith, believing that a miracle is right around the corner. Amen
Comment (1)
This really spoke to me. I am a counselor in a hospital psych ward and have opportunity to speak gospel truth and life into the minds of my teenage patients considering suicide. Call it the temple of failure and fear. Many of them are unbelievers who are victims of abuse from religious parents and want nothing to do with Jesus.
What God has allowed me to do is use whatever talent and skill he has afforded me to break through the barriers erected by religious dogma and emotional resistance to faith by targeting the rational sensibilities in the frontal regions of their brains. I often see the light flickering in the eyes of my patients when their argument for science becomes more tenuous to wrap their heads around than the sensibility of faith in a creator who made them and loves them like a son or daughter.
When the light comes on and shines brightly it is awesome to experience with them. It then makes the most sense to take suicide off the table as the lone intervention for their pain and consider more rational strategies to manage their anxiety and depression empowered by the renewing of their minds.
These patients of mine don’t believe in Santa Claus either, but if Santa landed on the roof again and again and blessed them every time, they would certainly believe.
Life with God in relationship with his son makes the most sense.