First Baptist Church, Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Devotional: Proverbs 2

Today’s passage: Proverbs 2

Helpful thoughts:

  • If you treasure the word of God, you will incline your ear to it.  If you incline your ear to it, you will understand the fear of the Lord and grow in knowledge.
    • With greater knowledge and fear come greater delight in God’s word.  What a wonderful cycle.
    • When we are not delighting in God and His word, we are delighting in something.
  • The immoral seductive woman of Proverbs 2:16-19 could be applied as a contrast to the woman “Wisdom” who cried out in 1:20-33.  The immoral woman seduces with her words and leads victims down paths toward death.
    • There is a battle being waged for your mind and heart.  Who you hear shapes how you think, act and feel.
  • Understanding righteousness, justice and equity bring deliverance from evil.  This is a rescue mission!

Questions to consider:

  1. Where are all the places you hear words, ideas, philosophies, etc. (Think people, television, radio, internet, family, and more)?  How do you think you are doing at looking at the world through the lens of Scripture as opposed to looking at the world and Scripture through a lens from the world?  How would you know you are rightly evaluating your progress in this?
  2. Is pleasure only for evil things?  What role does pleasure and delight play in both evil desires and righteous desires?  What shapes or changes our desires so that we would take pleasure in God and in what is good?
  3. We may think sometimes that the battle against sin starts when temptation comes.  What does this chapter have to say about that?  When does the battle against sin and for righteousness begin?  If we regularly wait to try to battle against sin after the temptation has already come, will we be ready to face it victoriously?

Prayer:

Father, thank you for your kindness in giving us your word!  In our sinful state we all choose sin, we all fall short of your glory.  So we also thank you for the grace you showed us in sending Christ to die in our place, for our sin.  Thank you for putting his righteousness to our account.  And thank you for giving us new life and freedom from our bondage to sin, so that we might read your word and truly delight in its truth.  Lord, please help us and guide us in the truth, that we would see its wonder and beauty, that it would draw us to praise and to delight in you more than we would delight in the seductive, prideful, and deathly pleasures of this world.  May we walk in victory as we eagerly pursue you in love, reverence, and adoration.

Devotional: Proverbs 1

Today’s passage: Proverbs 1

Helpful thoughts:

  • James 1:5-6 – If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind.
    • As we begin to read through this book, let’s ask God to richly bless us with wisdom and with faith to stand firm in the truths we learn.
  • Wisdom is tied to being willing to hear, listen, learn, receive counsel, etc.
    • Fearing the Lord results in a willingness to humbly hear from Him.  Fools think they know everything and despise being corrected.
  • One common tool in Hebrew poetry is parallelism.  For example, hearing from your father and your mother in verse 8 goes together.  They are not separate commands and could be applied either way and together as one command, “listen to your parents.”

Questions to consider:

  1. What does it mean to fear the Lord?  Why is it right?  How does the gospel remedy our problem of a fear of justice and free us to have a reverential fear?  How do we read our Bibles, view our days, handle our relationships when we are firmly rooted in a reverential fear of the Lord?  When we don’t reverence God, how do you build that up?
  2. What does seeking after greedy gain result in?  Why would people be prone to listen and go along with a group like this in the first place?  Even if a Christian simply desires the idea of friendships, and that motivates them to go along, what was still the main motivator for their actions?  How will we see people and interact with them when we are truly loving them and loving God first?
  3. When do people tend to decide they are ready for wisdom…before or after calamity comes?  Why does being “simple” seem/feel more appealing than being wise?  What changes does gaining wisdom require of us?

Prayer:

Father, please give us your wisdom!  May we humbly and reverently come to your word with eagerness, ready to receive truth, ready to learn more about who you are, and ready to change and grow.  We thank you that through the shed blood of Jesus Christ, we do not have to fear you in terror, but that in Christ we can respect you as our Father.  Please give us ears to hear, minds that are continually transformed in truth, desire to keep learning and growing, and hearts to love you and love others in sincerity, in righteousness, and in wisdom.

Devotional: Acts 28:1-31

Today’s passage: Acts 28:1-31

Helpful thoughts:

  • The inhabitants of Malta went from assuming Paul was a murderer to a god.  Quite the leap!
    • Their view of justice allowed for this sort of instance to make things right.  By God’s grace, our justice was served at the cross.
    • Paul didn’t seem to fear this snake bite.  God had revealed His will.  Paul would make it to Rome.
  • The Twin Brothers were believed to protect sailors.  Perhaps many of these Romans by now knew exactly who was actually protecting them on this voyage.
  • Seeing other Christians gave Paul great encouragement.  The fellowship of the saints is crucial in the Christian life!
  • For some helpful information about what happened after Acts 28, check out this link: https://www.gotquestions.org/Paul-fourth-missionary-journey.html

Questions to consider:

  1. How was the response of the Jews in Rome so similar to all the other instances we read in the book of Acts?  How did Paul speak to their response?  What did he commit to do just as he had so many times before?
  2. Why is it so important to have good relationships with others in the church?  In what ways does it help us to persevere? To get rest and encouragement?  What other benefits can you think of?
  3. Why doesn’t the story end with the end of the book of Acts?  Why doesn’t the story end even with the end of Paul’s earthly life?  How are we involved in this great narrative?  How will you contribute to the story?

Devotional: Acts 27:1-44

Today’s passage: Acts 27:1-44

Helpful thoughts:

  • The use of “we” in verse 1 refers to the inclusion of Luke.  Luke would have stayed close by in Caesarea but not imprisoned with Paul.  Luke’s expertise as a medical doctor allowed and gave him great added reason to accompany Paul.
  • Verse 10 is Paul’s perception (What he thinks will happen).  Verse 22 is a message delivered by an angel from the Lord.
    • Their survival was necessary for Paul to take the gospel to Caesar.
  • Paul the prisoner became Paul the leader by God’s providence.  By God’s providence, every single person aboard the ship survived.

Questions to consider:

  1. How was the response of these Romans similar to that of the men aboard the ship with the reluctant prophet Jonah?  How do men often act toward God when they are in grave danger?  What does this reveal about man’s hearts and our knowledge/awareness of God?
  2. How did God use Luke’s trade for His glory?  How has God used your skills for the kingdom?  How could God use your abilities and expertise now or in the future for the benefit of others even beyond the company you might work for?
  3. Ultimately, why did all these men survive?  Why wasn’t God ready to have Paul go home to Heaven yet?  What about Luke?  What things did God have for them (and others) to do?

Suggested Resources

In Sunday’s sermon, I (Pastor Andy) suggested quite a few resources to help us to grow in our knowledge, to see the glories of the Lord, to draw our attention, to increase our affections, that we might enjoy Him all the more and grow in Christ-likeness.

Here is the list with some links to places you could purchase these resources (Audiobook versions should be available through most of these links):

Here are some links to other resources I mentioned:

Devotional: Acts 26:1-32

Today’s passage: Acts 26:1-32

Helpful thoughts:

  • Paul has referred a couple times in the previous chapters to the Pharisees’ belief in resurrection.  One of the points he makes is that all the Pharisees should believe Jesus is the promised Messiah because He rose from the dead.  He is who they were waiting for!
    • The way Paul communicates this in the first eight verses show he is aware of just how much Agrippa knows about the Jews.
  • Part of Paul’s defense was his zeal to persecute the church.  He did not believe in Jesus.  He was working fervently against the church.  This adds to the evidence of his conversion.
    • People who want to believe something are easy to convince.  Paul did not want to believe.
  • Paul had two goals in his defense.  The lesser goal of proving his innocence and the greater goal of leading Agrippa to Christ.

Questions to consider:

  1. How was this evangelism opportunity different than the one on Mar’s Hill in Athens?  Who was Paul leading to Christ?  What did they already know?
  2. How were the responses of Festus and Agrippa similar to the responses in Acts 17:32-34?  They way people will respond can often make us hesitate to share the Gospel.  We may feel like we won’t have all the answers for that person.  But, what has God called us to do?  What part of evangelism is our responsibility (And privilege)?  Did Paul always have all the answers that would make everyone believe?
  3. What opportunities might God be giving you with the people you know to share the gospel?  What could help us to have our eyes out for opportunities and be ready when they come?

Devotional: Acts 25:1-27

Today’s passage: Acts 25:1-27

Helpful thoughts:

  • Two years after the initial plot and attempt, the Jews’ plan and resolve remains unchanged.
    • What had increased however, was the list of false accusations.
  • As a Roman citizen, Paul had a right to appeal to the highest judge in the empire, the Caesar.
    • Paul’s appeal was his only option to avoid the murder plot once he realized Festus was willing to make a spectacle of him before the Jews in Jerusalem.
  • Verse 20 contains a politically motivated fabrication.  Festus wanted to do the Jews a favor (Verse 9).
    • The official reason to bring Paul before Agrippa was to formulate the document which would accompany Paul’s appeal to Caesar.
    • The unofficial reason was simply because the matter was intriguing and an opportunity for pomp.
    • God’s sovereign reason will be on display in the next chapter…

Questions to consider:

  1. What would be the reasons Paul would appeal to Caesar?  If you were Paul, what would you be trying to accomplish?  Do you think it was more about personal protection or about potential opportunity?
  2. In what way had Paul become a political football?  What concerns and opportunities were there for Festus and Agrippa?
  3. What does Festus’ statement in verse 25 prove about Paul’s legal status?  Are Christians always going to be treated fairly based on what we actually believe?  Did Paul complain to Festus about this?  Why not?  What was his greatest concern?

Devotional: Acts 24:1-27

Today’s passage: Acts 24:1-27

Helpful thoughts:

  • Tertullus’ basic request was for Felix to give Paul to the Jews so they could judge Paul according to their own law.
  • Paul’s appeal was that the Jews were in truth only after Paul because he believed Jesus rose from the dead.  He mentioned “The Way” and the resurrection, and Felix knew exactly what he was talking about (Verse 22).
  • Felix’s understanding of the situation resulted in a few things:
    • He would not allow harm to come to Paul by releasing him back to the Jews.
    • He desired to learn more about Christianity, so he asked Paul to teach him.
    • He desired money, so he talked to Paul in order to drop the hint…

Questions to consider:

  1. Why did Felix keep Paul in jail for two years?  What did he want?  What motivated Felix to keep Paul in jail as he was leaving office?  Who all “benefited” from Paul being held and why?
  2. What was Paul happy to do as long as God had him there in jail?  Did his ministry end?
  3. If Paul remained in jail, why was he there?  If Paul was free, why was he free?  Where did Paul’s purpose and contentment come from (Philippians 4:4-13)?

Devotional: Acts 23:12-35

Today’s passage: Acts 23:12-35

Helpful thoughts:

  • God said Paul was going to Rome, men said Paul was going to die.  Paul went to Rome.
    • The severity of their oath was a means to get the Sanhedrin on board with the plan.
    • These “devout” men vowed to God to kill a man and sought to use manipulation and lies in order to do it.
  • Lysias utilized 470 trained soldiers to carry Paul safely away from Jerusalem.
    • The letter that accompanied Paul was…mostly true.  “Rescued” was a bit of a stretch.  Remember, Paul was arrested and stretched out to be scourged by Lysias.  But, he wasn’t about to let Felix know that.
  • Paul’s all-expenses-paid trip to Rome has officially begun.
    • God used men who thought they were serving God by trying to execute Paul and a commander who did not follow the God of the Jews to accomplish His will.

Questions to consider:

  1. These Jewish men felt very strongly about their cause.  They believed they were fighting for God!  Were they right?  Does feeling very strongly about something mean you must be right?  How do we rightly discern truth?  By what standard?
  2. Back in verse 11, Jesus told Paul to take courage or to be of good cheer.  Why would Paul have been right to rest at ease even while people were plotting to kill him?  What reason has God given all of us to take heart? (1 Thessalonians 4:16-18)
  3. What promise has God made to His children?  If you have put your faith in Jesus Christ, what do you know is in your future? (Romans 8:29-39)