Talk to Your Tears

 Devotional by John Piper

Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy! He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him. (Psalm 126:5–6)

There is nothing sad about sowing seed. It takes no more work than reaping. The days can be beautiful. There can be great hope of harvest.

Yet the psalm speaks of sowing “in tears.” It says that someone “goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing.” So, why are they weeping?

I think the reason is not that sowing is sad, or that sowing is hard. I think the reason has nothing to do with sowing. Sowing is simply the work that has to be done, even when there are things in life that make us cry.

The crops won’t wait while we finish our grief or solve all our problems. If we are going to eat next winter, we must get out in the field and sow the seed, whether we are crying or not.

If you do that, the promise of the psalm is that you will “reap with shouts of joy.” You will “come home with shouts of joy, bringing [your] sheaves with [you].” Not because the tears of sowing produce the joy of reaping, but because the sheer sowing produces the reaping, and you need to remember this even when your tears tempt you to give up sowing.

So, here’s the lesson: When there are simple, straightforward jobs to be done, and you are full of sadness, and tears are flowing easily, go ahead and do the jobs with tears. Be realistic. Say to your tears, “Tears, I feel you. You make me want to quit life. But there is a field to be sown (dishes to be washed, car to be fixed, sermon to be written).”

Then say, on the basis of God’s word, “Tears, I know that you will not stay forever. The very fact that I just do my work (tears and all) will in the end bring a harvest of blessing. So, go ahead and flow if you must. But I believe — though I do not yet see it or feel it fully — I believe that the simple work of my sowing will bring sheaves of harvest. And my tears will be turned to joy.”

Joy in the Pain

 My neighbor’s mother lost her husband, his dad, 17 years ago.  She seems to miss him today as much as she did when it happened.  Unfortunately, his mother’s health has declined now to where she is in constant pain and it has been this way for many years.  Yet she is always able to smile, to have conversation, and try to be somewhat active.  In fact, she has maintained a daily devotion for over 20 years and sends it out to many people. My neighbor said this of her, “She has been able to find and maintain joy in the Lord while not being always happy from Dad’s death and her physical pain.”

This is an incredible accomplishment.  In fact, I would put it very near to the tippy top of accomplishments in life. 

I don’t meet enough people who have found this.  Most people descend into a form of personal destruction.  Abusing alcohol seems to be a method for a lot of people I know who are in pain, whether it is emotional or physical.  One person who also lost her husband descended through substance abuse from playing tennis to barely able to walk.  Another has a liver that is almost gone; one bad infection and he will probably die.  Yet another mixes too much alcohol with anxiety and sleeping pills almost every night.  These are just a few examples, I know many more.  All of these people were active social productive members of society.  The suffering that happens in life is too much for them for the time-being.

Being able to find the personal touch of God daily, to confirm your knowledge of His presence hourly, to dwell every minute confidently aware of Him, is a wisdom that few can obtain.  It is other worldly.  Yet it should be the goal for everyone. 

Paul wrote in Galatians, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.”  This can certainly be applied to our will for our life versus God’s will, but it can also be applied to our suffering.  We let our suffering die in its control of us just as the Lord suffered and was crucified.  I shall let my suffering go and seek to dwell always with God. 

C.S. Lewis told us that we have this desire to be happy because we were made for another world, a better world, and we want to get back there.  We crave depth and meaning and this world doesn’t satisfy that, but adds suffering as a bonus.  When Jesus was transfigured, he was met with two people who had been dead for a very long time.  They had to have been in heaven.  So, Jesus was in this world and heaven at the same time.  This means that we are able to experience heaven even now because heaven is being in the presence of God.  Our desire for more is met in our moments of the personal experience of dwelling with God, Jesus, His Spirit.

Desiring to dwell with God with our life as much as we can do it leads us to that place where we can be joyful in His presence even in the midst of this world’s suffering.  This should be our goal. 

Hope and Purpose

Without hope there isn’t much purpose in living. 

In today’s world, it is easy to lose hope.  People are actively working to take away liberty.  They want to tell you where you can go, how you should go, what you can do, how you should do it, what you can eat, how to act in public, how far apart to stand from others, what you should wear.  They are destroying the ability to work hard, earn your living and succeed.    

It’s easy to lose hope when the church, who is supposed to be a reflection of God, follows the social directions of this world.  They act as the world does and do not stand on the truths of God.  They are looking for ways to cancel those who desire to follow the moral authority of the one true living Lord.  One that values all life: the unborn, the living, and the nearly dead.  One that values His guidance on how to live and what is righteous.  “They” of society and “they” of the church are often indistinguishable from one another.

It’s easy to lose hope when the religion of society is their political party and it is not based on God. Or when the religion of society is based on what a person believes makes them happy and that is more important than anything else.

Hope is very important.  It becomes a purpose.  When a person with a serious health condition goes to a Doctor, a good Doctor not only has to describe the method of treatment, but sell hope to the patient.  That hope for a cure or in the prevention of continued degradation is extremely important in the effectiveness of the treatment.

Whom have I in heaven but You? And earth has nothing I desire besides You. – Psalm 73:25

Imagine if there was someone who only wanted your best.  That you could trust them completely never to not want your best.  They would never turn on you.  This is very difficult for anyone who has lived around people for any length of time to imagine.  I used to think this was my Mama.  I used to say, “No matter how bad I screw up my life or how bad life kicks me down, it’s okay because I can always go home and I know my Mama loves me.”  Until she did some things not bourn out of love.  Everyone will turn on you and let you down.  Every single person you know.  Yet, Jesus, the physical manifestation of God, will not.  He always only wants your best.  It was unfair of me to have that attitude with regard to my Mother.  She could never live up to something only God can do.

When you accomplish something good or a good thing befalls upon you, God is not envious or jealous.  You can share your excitement with God and not be concerned about His true depth of excitement.  When you are down and struggling and the winds are against you, you can be confident that He is with you and not in any way feeling schadenfreude (the feeling of joy when harm or damage happens to another).  In fact, He wants you to rely on Him and He will hold you and carry you through those times.

So, what is there on this earth outside of God?  He alone is my hope.  Everything and everyone else is a disappointment in some way.  

Is there a heaven without God?  He alone is my hope.  He alone holds the future beyond this world.

The only hope in life is in God.  The purpose of life is in God and in nothing else. 

Where is Life?

 ¹³ Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

¹⁴ For God will bring every deed into judgment, including every hidden thing, whether it is good or evil. – Ecclesiastes 12:13-14

In the Lord of the Rings, Frodo says to Sam: "No taste of food, no feel of water, no sound of wind, no memory of tree or grass or flower, no image of moon or star are left of me."  It is there that Frodo says he is "at the end of all things."  There, at the end of it all, once you’ve experienced a great deal of life and you realize that existence is suffering - everyone suffers, existence is sin - everyone sins, you find that the spark dulls; the brightness fades; the desire is losing purpose.  

You find yourself asking: What is left?  And why?  Is there anything worth the effort anymore?

God is left and He has always been and will always be.  He was before you and He will be after you.  He has not dulled, nor is He less bright, nor is He without deep desire and purpose.  Life is in the everlasting Lord and in nothing else.  He alone is the breath, the spirit of living. 

Revere the One True Living God.  Know that He is and be conscience of His authority over all things.  Strive to follow His guidance in Christ Jesus.  Be forgiven when you fail.  Bear the image of Jesus in as much as you can fight yourself to do it. 

In such a faith as this there is life (desire, purpose) and wisdom.  

Repentance

 As written at Utmost for His Highest today: My Utmost for His Highest by Oswald Chamber

"Godly sorrow produces repentance leading to salvation… —2 Corinthians 7:10
 
"Conviction of sin is best described in the words:
My sins, my sins, my Savior,
How sad on Thee they fall.
 
"Conviction of sin is one of the most uncommon things that ever happens to a person. It is the beginning of an understanding of God. Jesus Christ said that when the Holy Spirit came He would convict people of sin (see John 16:8). And when the Holy Spirit stirs a person’s conscience and brings him into the presence of God, it is not that person’s relationship with others that bothers him but his relationship with God— “Against You, You only, have I sinned, and done this evil in your sight…” (Psalm 51:4). The wonders of conviction of sin, forgiveness, and holiness are so interwoven that it is only the forgiven person who is truly holy. He proves he is forgiven by being the opposite of what he was previously, by the grace of God. Repentance always brings a person to the point of saying, “I have sinned.” The surest sign that God is at work in his life is when he says that and means it. Anything less is simply sorrow for having made foolish mistakes— a reflex action caused by self-disgust.

"The entrance into the kingdom of God is through the sharp, sudden pains of repentance colliding with man’s respectable “goodness.” Then the Holy Spirit, who produces these struggles, begins the formation of the Son of God in the person’s life (see Galatians 4:19). This new life will reveal itself in conscious repentance followed by unconscious holiness, never the other way around. The foundation of Christianity is repentance. Strictly speaking, a person cannot repent when he chooses— repentance is a gift of God. The old Puritans used to pray for “the gift of tears.” If you ever cease to understand the value of repentance, you allow yourself to remain in sin. Examine yourself to see if you have forgotten how to be truly repentant."

Every Christian should know confidently that there is one true living God and that repentance is real.  Repentance should be the event that brings all Christians to tears, whether our own or others.  It is too precious, when sincere, not to be broken over.  Repentance breaks the bonds on a person's heart and allows God to enter in.  It is a hallelujah moment.  It is also a deeply personal moment between a person and God.

Political Idolatry

One of the signs that an object is functioning as an idol is that fear becomes one of the chief characteristics of life. When we center our lives on the idol, we become dependent on it. If our counterfeit god is threatened in any way, our response is complete panic. We do not say, ‘What a shame, how difficult,’ but rather ‘This is the end! There’s no hope!’

This may be a reason why so many people now respond to U.S. political trends in such an extreme way. When either party wins an election, a certain percentage of the losing side talks openly about leaving the country. They become agitated and fearful for the future. They have put the kind of hope in their political leaders and policies that once was reserved for God and the work of the gospel. When their political leaders are out of power, they experience a death. They believe that if their policies and people are not in power, everything will fall apart. They refuse to admit how much agreement they actually have with the other party, and instead focus on the points of disagreement. The points of contention overshadow everything else, and a poisonous environment is created.

Another sign of idolatry in our politics is that opponents are not considered to be simply mistaken but to be evil. After the last presidential election, my eighty-four-year-old mother observed, ‘It used to be that whoever was elected as your president, even if he wasn’t the one you voted for, he was still your president. That doesn’t seem to be the case any longer.’ After each election, there is now a significant number of people who see the incoming president lacking moral legitimacy. The increasing political polarization and bitterness we see in U.S. politics today is a sign that we have made political activism into a form of religion. How does idolatry produce fear and demonization?

Dutch-Canadian philosopher Al Wolters taught that in the biblical view of things, the main problem in life is sin, and the only solution is God and his grace. The alternative to this view is to identify something besides sin as the main problem with the world and something besides God as the main remedy. That demonizes something that is not completely bad, and makes and idol out of something that cannot be the ultimate good.

…In political idolatry, we make a god out of having power. 

• Tim Keller   - http://dailykeller.com/the-signs-of-political-idolatry/

Love in Action - Part II - Romans 12

 ¹³ Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

If a brother or sister needs something, share with them.  I would add here to share it in the spirit of agape.  That is, give with no thought of return.  Do not give and count the gift on a ledger.  Let it go and be a gift.  Give in the same spirit that God gave Jesus.  We should look for opportunities to share and give.  We should pursue it.

¹⁴ Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.

This speaks for itself, but it is incredibly difficult.  This goes along with the thought of giving the Lord thanks in all things.  The fact that Paul wrote this is incredible.  He had been persecuted many times.  He is very direct in saying to not curse them, but to bless them.  This is the right response from a Christian who realizes that all people are created by God for His purposes.

Some Bible interpretations believe that is only for believers to believers.  That is, if other believers are persecuting you, bless them and don’t curse them.  But it leaves out the rest of the world who Christ died for.  Paul’s own actions demonstrate that he did not curse those who were not believers.  Therefore, I believe this applies to the believer towards all people.

 ¹⁵ Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.

The world’s motto is, “laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone.”  But this is not true for the believer.  As a follow to verse 9, love one another sincerely.  If something wonderful happens to a brother or sister, rejoice with them.  Be excited.  Don’t be envious or jealous.  In sincere love, celebrate!  Similarly, when someone is mourning, if you love them your heart will hurt also, mourn with them.  Do not do this in loud fake wailing as was custom of that day, but with heartfelt pain, share the hurt.

 ¹⁶ Live in harmony with one another. 

Do not live in strife with one another, but in harmony.  This suggest we can all live as part of the same song.  Let’s all live together as a song of worship to God, each person playing or singing their part. 

Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

This is basically the third time he has written do not be proud.  In verses 3 and 10, he indicates that we should not think too highly of ourselves and should lift others above ourselves.  In much the same thought, here we should be willing to associate with those most of society might class as lesser or lower in importance.  It is obvious very important for us to be aware that we are all sinners and we can be a humble sinner loving everyone sincerely. 

We should not be egotistical or have a swollen importance or believe we are so wise that we are above others.  This was evident back then in the Jewish council and Sanhedrin.  Christ came as a servant and fellowshipped with the outcast.  Solomon said in Proverbs 26:12, “See you a man wise in his own conceit?  There is more hope of a fool than of him.”

¹⁷ Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone.

This is so very difficult.  I want to say that the vengeance is the Lord’s and He’ll use me to do it.  But that is taking matters into my own hands.  This verse makes the assumption, or is stating the unsaid truth, that evil will happen to you.  But we are specifically instructed not to do evil to those who do evil to us.  In fact, we are to do what is right.  We do not give people what they deserve just as we do get what we deserve as sinners.  By doing so, even those who are against us will realize that what we do is right.  It might make them hate us more, but there will be no doubt of our character or in the God we follow if we are careful to do the right thing, especially when there is no reason to do it.

 ¹⁸ If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone.

In as much as you can do to live at peace with others, do it.  Do the part that is your responsibility.  If others refuse to live at peace that is upon them, but of the part you can control, do what you can to live at peace.

 ¹⁹ Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord.

This is follow-up to verses 17 and 18.  Don’t repay evil for evil, live at peace with everyone, and do not take revenge.  I am like the Irishman who was hit on the cheek, he got up and turned the other cheek.  Then he was hit on that cheek also and he was hit so hard it knocked him down.  So, he got up and beat the other fellow up.  Someone asked why he did that after turning the other cheek.  He answered, “Well, the Bible says to turn your cheek, and I had only the other cheek to turn.  The Lord didn’t tell me what to do after that, so I did what I thought I ought to do.”  And this is what most of us do.

Let the Lord avenge in His way at His time.  The moment we take the matter into our own hands and strike back, we take the matter out of God’s hands.  This is not easy, but there is yet a further step to take.

 ²⁰ On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;
    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.
In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

²¹ Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Not only are we not to repay those who do evil upon us and to try to live peacefully with them, but we are to treat them like fellow human beings!  This takes the Spirit of God living out from within us.  It is so difficult to love the unlovable, but to love those who purposefully oppose us and do intentional acts against us, that is other worldly, that is of God.  By the same Spirit that mercifully held God’s power from destroying us as sinners, that Spirit can indwell us and allow us to be merciful to those who are our enemy.

In sincere love, without pride, we should feed them if they are hungry and give them drink if they are thirsty.  Even if they do not understand the why and it makes no worldly sense, our actions should be understood as right and good.

Lastly, we are not to fight against the world by the ways of the world.  If we try to fight evil using the means of evil, we will be sorely defeated.  Instead, be who you are created to by God and in the perfecting of the Spirit.  In so doing, you will be able to do good and be good and that will overcome evil.

Love in Action - Part I - Romans 12

⁹ Love must be sincere. 

I tend to think that this first sentence in verse 9 is a following description to showing mercy to others cheerfully.  Our love for others, and ourselves, must be real.  A feigned affection is a lie.  People have a particular disdain for liars.  No one likes to be spammed.  No one wants to realize they’ve paid for junk when they were told it was a good product.  And no one wants to believe you really care about them when you don’t.  Humans are very good at detecting this insincerity in others.  The difference is usually in the followed actions that show that love.

The word hypocrite means to play a part.  In acting you get your cue then you say the right thing at the right time.  The Greek word for a stage actor is hupokrites and this is the origin of our word hypocrite.  It is a person who pretends or acts like they have virtues, morals, or religious beliefs that they don’t actually possess.  Or it is a person who feigns some desirable or publicly approved attitude which they do not practice in their private life.

A believer following Jesus must be genuine because the Holy Spirit is working from within, transforming his/her life by “renewing” the mind.  Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 3:18, “But we all, with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord.”  Believers can be changed into an image similar that appears as the glory of the Lord.  The minute that we assume a pose and pretend to be something for the acceptance of the world it becomes impossible for us to know the will of God.  But if we yield to God, if we let what He has created in us on the inside become what we are on the outside, the will of God for the believer becomes good and fits us exactly.  Our will and God’s will become matched.  It is wonderful not to have to act the part of being Christian, but just be natural and let the Spirit of God move and work through you.  This is where you find joy and content.

Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be purposeful in what is important to you.  Hate what is against God.  Despise what isn’t of God, for God, or following God.  If something is pulling you away from God, despise it, do not take joy in it. 

Instead, grab hold of what is good and hang on!  Don’t let it escape your grasp.  “Cling” or “cleave” to it as though it is a life line.  Be stuck to what is good, welded or cemented to it.

 ¹⁰ Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

Since we belong to one another as fellow members of the body, let us be devoted to one another.   “Love the brethren in the faith as though they were brethren in blood (Farrar).”  Do it in love, sincere love, for the other.  Respect one another, lift them up as more important than yourself.  As said earlier, do not think more highly of yourself, but think more highly of one another.

 ¹¹ Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord.

If there is one thing I could use more of, it is zeal in spiritual work.  It is so very easy to get discouraged and doubtful with regard to the results of your effort.  This makes it hard to have an excitement, an internal fire, in doing the work of God. 

At one point, Paul was a prisoner, was stuck at sea in a storm and had not eaten for 14 days, then he was shipwrecked, and then he got bit by a snake trying to build a fire.  How much zeal would you have at that point?  Would you have been discouraged and doubtful with regard to why God still had you alive?  Would you be wondering what the point was to keep going on?  Yet, Paul defied death by not getting sick from the snakebite and through it all was able to witness and testify and be an image of the glory of God by saving all his shipmates and the leader of the people on the island. 

Paul instructs us not to just try to have some zeal, but to never be lacking in it.  It should always be a part of our effort and emotion.  How is your zeal, your spiritual fervor?  What can be done to make it never lacking?

Does everything we do in zeal and fervor serve the Lord?  When we are doing our day-to-day business, are we looking at how it serves the Lord?  When we communicate with others, are we looking at how it serves the Lord?  When we live closely with our wives and children, are we looking at how it serves the Lord?

 ¹² Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.

The first part and the last part of this verse are bookends to the middle.  During affliction be patient, but wrap it with a joyful hope while being faithful in prayer.  There should be an internal satisfaction in our hope knowing God has a perfect plan and we are a part of it.  I don’t understand it, but I have hope because God loved so much He sent Jesus.  And I’ll be faithful in my prayer, acting upon my hope, seeking conversation with God. 

Our circumstances may not warrant rejoicing.  Certainly, Paul’s were not, yet we know that our future is held in the strong and secure hands of God.  His promises are not slack.  Our problems or troubles have come to pass, they have not come to stay.  

Humble Service in the Body of Christ - Romans 12

³ For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. ⁴ For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, ⁵ so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. ⁶ We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; ⁷ if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; ⁸ if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

Paul had performed some extraordinary things while following God.  He had gone to on mission trips to spread the Good News and started many churches in Asia.  He had been significant in his preaching and teaching at those churches and at Antioch.  He had confronted the Jewish leaders and Sanhedrin and witnessed to all of them.  He had been protected by the Romans as a Roman citizen. People had been healed from his garments and he had brought someone back from the dead.  Because of all of this, he could believe that he was more important as a child of God than others.  He intentionally says this as he opens this thought, “for by the grace given me I say to every one of you”.  It is by God’s grace - it is a gift of God that I don’t deserve – that I am teaching you this thing.  He is saying that he is a humble sinner just like you, not the great Paul, and this is important for you to understand when you read this.

And so, his first sentence following that is, “do not think of yourself more highly than you ought”.  Paul says it is by God’s grace that he is writing this, so like him, you aren’t all that you think you are and you should not think of yourself too important.  Instead, have a realistic view upon yourself as a sinner believing in faith upon Jesus just as everyone else.  All of us who believe, including Paul, has to have faith in Jesus as the Son of God.  We are all dependent upon His death and resurrection for life.  So, don’t think you are any more or less than everyone else.  Be realistic in your place.

Once we understand that, then we must realize that while all of us have that commonality, we are very different in our function and gifts.  Further, we belong to each other.  We are all a part of the body of Christ and we all have different abilities and actions to do. 

Several gifts are defined here: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leading, and showing mercy.  I do not believe Paul wrote this as an all-encompassing list of gifts, but to say that there are many different gifts as there are many different parts of the body and whatever your gift is, use it.  Your gift is a member of the body of Christ and it belongs to the body.  Do not handicap the body by not functioning.  Use the gift given to you by the grace of God.

Now, I do find that the word description behind each of the gifts he defines is important.  Prophesy in accordance with your faith.  Your ability to prophesy is measured by the assurance and conviction of truth in your heart.  If you have doubt it will be difficult to prophesy.  Serving, teaching, encouraging, and giving are very straight forward.  If your gift is leading, you must do it diligently.  They must be intentional, steadfast, and hard-working.  If your gift is leadership, do not be slack in that work.  If your gift is showing mercy, do it cheerfully.  It isn’t enough to just show mercy, you must do it with a cheerful spirit.  God did not begrudgingly withhold His power and save man.  He did it out of His great love for all mankind.  He extended His hand down to us and when we take His hand, I do not believe God has a frustrated “about time” attitude, but rather we are told that a heavenly choir sings and praises God for every salvation.  Someone with an intense love for others extending mercy should do so with a sincere effort and out of a cheerful heart.

A Living Sacrifice - Romans 12

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Why should we offer our bodies as a living sacrifice?  “In view of God’s mercy” it is reasonable and it is our “true and proper worship”. 

What is God’s mercy?  “Smite me, Almighty Smiter” said Bruce in the movie Almighty Bruce.  Isn’t mercy God not smiting us all to ashes for the evil within us?  God’s mercy is God’s power under control.  Certainly, we have all disobeyed the Words and call of God upon our hearts at some time.  We knew what was right and what was not and we did what we wanted, not what we knew was right.  Therefore, we all deserve to die and be separated from God.  Yet, He chose not to let that be our fate, but to provide another option to reunite us with Him.  That is God’s mercy.  It is God’s grace being imparted upon you and I for no other reason than God extended His mighty love towards us, undeserving sinners.  We didn’t earn it, but it was given to us.  We were guilty, but had the sentence removed.

Our bodies are a free gift of God.  We indwelt them when we were born.  It is all we have when we are born and we will give it up when we die.  Paul is reasoning that in light of the enormity of God’s mercy, which spared our souls, we should consider that offering our bodies as a sacrifice a reasonable thing.  In fact, he says it is more than just an any act, it is an act of worship.

What are our bodies?  Well, it is your physical body, that its actions would be those that honor God.  It is every way that we are able to express ourselves: your mind, your affections, your will.  But it is more than that, it is following God in this physical world.  We have many choices every day.  We can tithe or not tithe; we can curse or not curse; we can be kind or not be kind; we can hate or not hate; we can serve someone else or not serve; we can put others first or ourselves first; etc.  If we set our hearts to follow God, because He is God, even if we do not understand everything or why and have to overcome our own ideas of what we should do, it is a living sacrifice.  And this is an act of worship to God as a means of praise and acknowledgment that He is God and we are not.

 ² Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

As we discussed with living sacrifice, a part of it is not conforming to the pattern of this world.  The only way to do that is to be in God’s Word and in communion with Him.  Assuming you sleep eight hours each night as you ought and spend another two hours eating and commuting, that leaves 14 hours of activity.  Let’s take away eight for work.  That leaves six hours of activity.  How many of those six hours are receiving input from the world and how many are receiving input from God?  It is difficult to not be conformed to the pattern of this world if all we see, hear, and study is this world. 

Kenneth S. Wuest  writes in the book, Romans in the Greek New Testament, an interpretation of this verse that says: “And stop assuming an outward expression that does not come from within you and is not representative of what you are in your inner being, but is patterned after this age; but change your outward expression to one that comes from within and is representative of your inner being, by the renewing of your mind, resulting in your putting to the test what is the will of God, the good and well-pleasing, and complete will, and having found that it meets specifications, placing your approval upon it.”

The word “transformed” indicates that our thoughts and wisdoms will be changed into something other than what we know.  Our mind will become renewed; it will have new life.  Once this happens, we will be able to know God’s will.  Paul says that we will be able to test and approve God’s will.  This indicates to me that Paul went through some times where maybe he wasn’t sure, or he had taught many people who didn’t know how to know what God’s will was.  Without the renewing of the mind to know God, you can’t know what God’s will is, and His will is good, pleasing, and perfect.

Paul Preaches at Rome - Acts 28

¹⁷ Three days later he called together the local Jewish leaders. When they had assembled, Paul said to them: “My brothers, although I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our ancestors, I was arrested in Jerusalem and handed over to the Romans. ¹⁸ They examined me and wanted to release me, because I was not guilty of any crime deserving death. ¹⁹ The Jews objected, so I was compelled to make an appeal to Caesar. I certainly did not intend to bring any charge against my own people. ²⁰ For this reason I have asked to see you and talk with you. It is because of the hope of Israel that I am bound with this chain.”

²¹ They replied, “We have not received any letters from Judea concerning you, and none of our people who have come from there has reported or said anything bad about you. ²² But we want to hear what your views are, for we know that people everywhere are talking against this sect.”

Paul reaches out to the Jews!  This is amazing as most people would not do this.  Paul reaches out to settle any disagreements among them right away.  He finds that they are interested in knowing what is it the Way is about.  I have to believe that Paul was excited for a chance to preach and teach them about Jesus.  Any other person would have groaned over it knowing it would bring conflict, but Paul seems to welcome any opportunity to speak to the Jews hoping that some might believe, even just one.

²³ They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus. ²⁴ Some were convinced by what he said, but others would not believe. ²⁵ They disagreed among themselves and began to leave after Paul had made this final statement: “The Holy Spirit spoke the truth to your ancestors when he said through Isaiah the prophet:

²⁶ “‘Go to this people and say, “You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving.”

²⁷ For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

²⁸ “Therefore I want you to know that God’s salvation has been sent to the Gentiles, and they will listen!” 

Paul’s final statement to the Jews is to quote to them how God describes the reality of their relationship with Him.  They hear but don’t understand; they see but don’t perceive what they see; their heart is hardened; if their heart was open He would open their ears and eyes and they would understand and repent and be healed.  But, they won’t, so God extends His grace to everyone.  They listen for God and hear.

Do we listen for God with an open heart or is our heart hardened?

Do we want to know God better?

When is the last time you were moved by the Spirit?

³⁰ For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. ³¹ He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!

The last lines of Acts tell us that Paul wasn’t in a prison, but he was trusted to stay in an apartment.  He saw visitors.

I think the very last line is really a summation of Paul’s life.  It is what Paul was purposed to do and there are very few who do it today.

Proclaim the kingdom of God.  Teach about the Lord Jesus Christ.  Do this with boldness and with no restrictions!

The Book of Acts doesn’t end here, but ends with the Rapture of the saints.  It ends with the coming of Christ for His own.  Until then, the Spirit working within those who believe is the continuing story of Acts.

Paul Ashore on Malta and Arrival at Rome - Acts 28

28 Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. ² The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us all because it was raining and cold. ³ Paul gathered a pile of brushwood and, as he put it on the fire, a viper, driven out by the heat, fastened itself on his hand. ⁴ When the islanders saw the snake hanging from his hand, they said to each other, “This man must be a murderer; for though he escaped from the sea, the goddess Justice has not allowed him to live.” ⁵ But Paul shook the snake off into the fire and suffered no ill effects. ⁶ The people expected him to swell up or suddenly fall dead; but after waiting a long time and seeing nothing unusual happen to him, they changed their minds and said he was a god.

God has used Paul through his perceptions of the future to show everyone on the ship that God is real.  Because of Paul, everyone on the ship has lived.  Now, after two weeks of battling a storm at sea and surviving a shipwreck, prisoner Paul is bitten by a viper trying to make a fire.  He was indeed appointed to suffer for Christ sake.  We would say that he was, “snake-bit”, literally.  Everywhere he went bad things were happening, yet God is using them to show who He is through Paul.  The same is happening here.  God is using this snake bite experience so Paul can witness to these people who God is.

⁷ There was an estate nearby that belonged to Publius, the chief official of the island. He welcomed us to his home and showed us generous hospitality for three days. ⁸ His father was sick in bed, suffering from fever and dysentery. Paul went in to see him and, after prayer, placed his hands on him and healed him. ⁹ When this had happened, the rest of the sick on the island came and were cured. ¹⁰ They honored us in many ways; and when we were ready to sail, they furnished us with the supplies we needed.

Paul, who had not died from the snake bite, now heals the ruler’s father and all the sick on the island.  God is honoring Paul by continuously filling him with His Spirit.  I have no doubt that Paul witnessed to Jesus as he is being used to heal. 

There just aren’t enough words to describe the work of God through Paul.  Sure, he has been through an extraordinary shipwreck, bitten by a snake, and he’s still a prisoner of Rome.  All of these are seemingly bad things.  Any one of these and we might have a shaky faith.  But Paul presents God through them all.  Because of his faith, all the sailors live and all the islanders are healed.  Is it no wonder Paul could write that everything is done according to God’s purpose.  He had lived it.

¹¹ After three months we put out to sea in a ship that had wintered in the island—it was an Alexandrian ship with the figurehead of the twin gods Castor and Pollux. ¹² We put in at Syracuse and stayed there three days. ¹³ From there we set sail and arrived at Rhegium. The next day the south wind came up, and on the following day we reached Puteoli. ¹⁴ There we found some brothers and sisters who invited us to spend a week with them. And so we came to Rome. ¹⁵ The brothers and sisters there had heard that we were coming, and they traveled as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns to meet us. At the sight of these people Paul thanked God and was encouraged. ¹⁶ When we got to Rome, Paul was allowed to live by himself, with a soldier to guard him.

After all the events of getting to that island, they have no problems at all getting to Rome.  They travel uneventfully there and quickly.  God obviously wanted Paul in Malta to share the gospel.  It is also noteworthy that Paul received encouragement from other believers.  He had great faith and God's power was evident in Paul, yet he still needed encouragement from fellow Christians.  What an important lesson to each of us to be in constant encouragement for one another.