Thursday

Acts chapter 20 - A Short Eventful Visit

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The start of another chapter today and we have reached chapter 20.




We actually need to go back just for a few verse of chapter 19 first because it continues straight into chapter 20.

We last looked at the verse up to 28 and left off just as the riot in Ephesus was starting

These people involved in the complaint about Paul and the harm his words could bring to their businesses around the idols were Gentiles.

In verse 29 we see how bad it got and the risk it was to Paul's safety.

29 So the whole city was filled with confusion, and rushed into the theatre with one accord, having seized Gaius and Aristarchus, Macedonians, Paul’s travel companions. 30 And when Paul wanted to go in to the people, the disciples would not allow him. 

2 of the disciples were caught by the crowd.
The other disciples kept Paul away from the danger that was recognised and then another person called Alexander is the one to have enough influence to calm the crowd.

Alexander was representing the Jews because this riot may have got so out of hand that it would have ended up not just the Silversmiths etc. against Paul and the other believers but between the Jews and the Gentiles.

His advice was simply  -  do not cause trouble here in the streets but if any of you have a lawful greivance then take it to the courts.


So now into chapter 20


verses 1 - 6

As soon as the he could Paul left and travelled to Macedonia and then on to Greece for 3 months.

After that he intended to go to Syria but the Jews were plotting against him so he decided to go through Macedonia instead headed for Troas

Who went with him?

Well some people went ahead of him and some travelled with him


 And Sopater of Berea accompanied him to Asia—also Aristarchus and Secundus of the Thessalonians, and Gaius of Derbe, and Timothy, and Tychicus and Trophimus of Asia. These men, going ahead, waited for us at Troas.


and some travelled with him


But we sailed away from Philippi after the Days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days joined them at Troas, where we stayed seven days.

Timothy was named in the former group and from the use of the word "us" in the latter group we know it included Luke.

Also an indication again about how how the number of disciples learning from Paul was growing all the time.





verses 7 - 12

While at Troas we get the miracle that is well-known about the boy falling out of the window.

Luke sets the scene here so that we know the poor boy had been there a long time and that it was now evening time by the words of verse 8

There were many lamps in the upper room where they were gathered together. 

He certainly would not have wasted words mentioning lamps if he did not mean to let us know that those lamps were being used.

I have been in long meetings in the past and they are always for a specific reason and that is to hear as much as you can about the Word of God from someone you respect.

These days we complain if the speaker goes over 20 mins in a Sunday morning worship service but when there are times of teaching we do expect longer sessions but not as long as this meeting in Troas.

I also have known of people to fall asleep in short meetings even when they have been trying hard to listen so I have no trouble in picturing this scene and also do not blame the young man for being so tired or Paul for preaching so long.

But I have never been in a meeting where someone has died.

This is something that must have brought such distress and shock to the crowd in the room.

God however had something else planned and that was to show His miraculous power over death.

Some people may have said Paul put him to sleep but God used Paul to bring him back to life.

Another instance where there was great rejoicing.


12 And they brought the young man in alive, and they were not a little comforted.




Some people may have said Paul put him to sleep but God used Paul to bring him back to life.











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Wednesday

3 Christmas Stockings - A Dose of Encouragement



Something that has come out each year to decorate our home at Christmas are 3 red & white Christmas Stockings.







I can't remember exactly when we got them (it may have been during our three years living in the US) but it was a long long time ago and even though our 3 children are all grown up and living in various countries Fred & I would still hang them up and fill them.



The kids laughed at us for doing this but I have never seen them refuse the little bits and pieces that were placed inside for them like Toblerone bars,  boxes of Maltesers,  Smarties,  etc.



Yes we all like chocolate in this family.


They also think we are very predictable because of what would be shaken out of these stockings except for the couple of different little non-edible surprises each year but as I said before - We all like chocolate in this family.






Of course now we have added a daughter-in-law and a son-in-law to the family so they get the same treatment as our two sons and daughter but we use Gift Bags instead of the three stockings which now are hung up simply as decorations.  Hung up mostly to remind us of the old days as we can be a sentimental lot in our family too - okay - I can be sentimental.

It is good to look back and think of previous Christmases, about the happy times and the family as it grew and the coming together with others at that special time and to look now at these three stockings and say "Yes, once we were a family with 3 children and now we have grown."

Of course when we say grown we don't just mean in number from 5 to 10 because of the three grandchildren or in size because yes our boys are tall like their dad but also grown in maturity.

When we look back at these 3 stockings now we thank God for how our children have matured in their relationships with God as well.

So often Christmas is a time of what we want NOW when we think of presents and food but we need to focus back on Why we actually have Christmas each year.

We do need to be predictable and think about the same things each Christmas.


Why do we actually have Christmas each Year?

Christmas is the remembering back to Who came to earth and Why He came.

Jesus came as a baby to live and grow to be the man who was also God, the only one who could then take on our sin and punishment to be our Saviour.

Looking at our 3 stockings our prayer is that our three children and all their families (even those yet to come) will know Who came to earth that first Christmas and Why He came.








Sunday

Acts Chapter 19 (contd.) - The Influence of Paul

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Continuing on in chapter 19 of Acts today we move on to see the influence Paul had in three different situations.


We left off in verse 7 with Paul still in Ephesus in Questions are Important  and now we see he spends a lot more time there.


verses 8 - 10

This tells us about the boldness of Paul when he went into the synagogue over a period of 3 months to teach the people.

The result however was that people were hardened to the message and spoke badly of Paul and Christianity so that he and the disciples that were with him moved on to The School of Tyrannus (still in Ephesus) where he stayed for 2 years daily speaking and reasoning about the Lord.  It looks like there may now have been more than Luke, Timothy and Silas as disciples along with Paul from the way the verse is worded.

This led to another result found in verse 10

10 And this continued for two years, so that all who dwelt in Asia heard the word of the Lord Jesus, both Jews and Greeks.


I think we can say that this was a great result - such a spread of the Gospel.


Perseverance and dedication and the truth bring the right results.


verses 11 - 20

Here now is an instance where we read about the miracles that God did through Paul.  People obviously recognised the power that was at work and sought out healing especially.

But there were others who wanted to try to use this work of the Spirit to benefit themselves even though they were not believers.

It is in this passage that we see how evil spirits can recognise the true power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of the believers in Christ; but there is no power in unbelievers that evil spirits will have to recognise or obey as we read the following in verse 15


15 And the evil spirit answered and said, “Jesus I know, and Paul I know; 
but who are you?”


The result from this was that the unbelievers were at the power of the evil spirits instead of the other way around.




Do we even realise the authority we have as believers?

What authority do we have?

We need to make sure we do not get the wrong idea here so the best thing to do is check this with other Scripture.  (Remember the Bereans in chapter 17  Daily Scriptures)


Let's look at the Great Commission in Matthew chapter 28 verses 18 - 20

18 And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen.


All authority has been given to Jesus and so He commands us to go and make disciples with The Holy Spirit in our lives so that we have the power of Jesus still with us.

We are not in charge and we are not powerful the only thing we can do is let the The Holy Spirit work through us as we obey God and tell others about him.


So this altercation between the unbelievers trying to use the name of Paul to do the same miracles that he did was then obviously talked about everywhere in Ephesus but even though it may have seemed like a victory for the devil the result was really that Glory was brought to God.


17 This became known both to all Jews and Greeks dwelling in Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified.


Great changes were made in peoples lives and nothing stopped the spread of God's Word.


20 So the word of the Lord grew mightily and prevailed.



The right influence works wonders.


verses 21 - 41

We are still in Asia with Paul to see some more of his influence here.


21 When these things were accomplished, Paul purposed in the Spirit, when he had passed through Macedonia and Achaia, to go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 So he sent into Macedonia two of those who ministered to him, Timothy and Erastus, but he himself stayed in Asia for a time.


verse 22 mentions two of the people who ministered with Paul so this would agree with the impression from above that there were now more disciples along with Paul than we had previously known about.

Now Paul sends Timothy and Erastus to Macedonia -  an example of 2 people who he has discipled becoming leaders themselves, obviously going to help the believers in Macedonia that we heard about in previous chapters and hence now themselves going to be discipling others.
More of the influence of Paul.

What hint are we having about the future for Paul here?

He feels he should go to Jerusalem again and then later on to Rome.

But for the moment he stays in Ephesus in Asia where it is evident from verse 26 that some people do not like the influence he has had on the people there and in other parts of Asia


26 Moreover you see and hear that not only at Ephesus, but throughout almost all Asia, this Paul has persuaded and turned away many people, saying that they are not gods which are made with hands.

There was very widespread influence of Paul here that some people were getting very annoyed and there was a lot of tension in the community.

The silversmiths and others involved in the manufacturing of idols are seeing people believing in Jesus and turning away from the gods they had previously worshipped particularly the Goddess Diana and this was seriously effecting their businesses so there was a riot in Ephesus.

The story of Paul continues......









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Thursday

Acts Chapter 19 - Questions Are Important.

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Today we are starting into chapter 19 of Acts.

We briefly heard about Apollos in chapter 18 in A Godly Couple (the previous blog post in this series), when Aquila & Priscilla met him and helped him.

It seems as if he and Paul are travelling in different directions and we have no mention of them having met yet.

So today we are back with Paul who now has come back to Ephesus and there meets 12 men who are described as disciples.

But who were they disciples of?


verses 1 - 7

The interesting thing here is that Paul needs to ask some very important questions.

The first one is found in verse 2


He said unto them, Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed? 


and in the same verse we have their answer


And they said unto him, We have not so much as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost.


Now I have to mention here that at a certain time in my life if I had been asked this question my answer would not have been too dissimilar to their's.
I was brought up in a church where the work of The Holy Spirit was not taught about in Sunday School or not immediately obvious in the sermons (which I did try to listen to as a young teenager) but I had heard mention of The Holy Spirit in the Bible and at one youth meeting I had gone to in a different church.

So yes I knew there was a Holy Spirit but I was not knowledgeable about the work of The Holy spirit.




These 12 men had no idea at all about the Holy Spirit.
They really were missing out on knowing about the Triune God.

So Paul asks another Question in verse 3


And he said unto them, Unto what then were ye baptized? 

and again they answer him in the same verse


And they said, Unto John's baptism.


Perhaps they had been converts from the ministry of Apollos as we read about his lack of full knowledge of the gospel and how Aquila & Priscilla had helped him learn more.

So in verse 4 Paul explained that their baptism was because they had learnt about their need of repentance but they also needed to know about the Saviour who had come after John and was the one they needed to believe in.  (Reminds me once again of that favourite verse of mine in Act 16 v 31 - Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, and all you household.)

We do not know just how much Paul said to them but we do know that after listening to Paul about Jesus there is the correct response and obedience from the 12 men in verse 5



When they heard this, they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.


Obedience is always a sign of true belief.

But Paul did not leave them with just knowledge and understanding of the Holy Spirit about which he had first asked them.

They had now heard the full Gospel but he knew that they needed the experience as well.

And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the Holy Ghost came on them; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied.

What a day for these 12 men

  • Full understanding of the Gospel of Jesus
  • True belief and obedience to God
  • Baptism in the Name of Jesus 
  • Baptism in the Holy Spirit

A great example of the importance of questions and of course the right questions to get the clear picture in all circumstances.  We can never presume what another person thinks or knows or fully understands.










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Tuesday

Three Act Tragedy - Book Review


I am reading through the novels of Agatha Christie in the order in which they were written and writing a review on each one.








Three Act Tragedy


1934


Description


At an apparently respectable dinner party, a vicar is the first to die…
Thirteen guests arrived at dinner at the actor’s house. It was to be a particularly unlucky evening for the mild-mannered Reverend Stephen Babbington, who choked on his cocktail, went into convulsions and died.
But when his martini glass was sent for chemical analysis, there was no trace of poison – just as Poirot had predicted. Even more troubling for the great detective, there was absolutely no motive…







My Thoughts



This is the 23rd book by Agatha Christie and the 10th Poirot Mystery

Not one of my favourites.  Mainly because there is one part of the story line which I either just don't read or follow properly or is not explained properly but I have felt (on the both occasions that I have now read it) is not compatible with the rest of this murder mystery.  

This is one of Miss Christie's books to have multiple murders and speculation of even more murders so there is a lot to take in as we go through this book.

Friends are a feature of this novel too on both the murderer's side and the sleuth's side.

It is indeed a tragedy for more than one person and in more than one way but will bring the reader a great deal of satisfaction if they can not only work out who the murderer is but can work out exactly how it all was orchestrated or performed.



If you would like to know more about this book then click on the title or picture above.


 Here is a link to a list of her novels on Amazon
Books by Agatha Christie


If thinking of reading this book in the future why not pin this pic to go back to later.














Sunday

Acts Chapter 18 (contd.) - A Godly Couple

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We started chapter 18 of Acts covering the first part in Reactions of People

Now today we will look at the rest of the chapter concentrating on a husband and wife that are mentioned several times in the New Testament.

In fact they have already been mentioned for the first time in verse 2 of this chapter so lets start here and go on to see all the other times we hear about them.



First Meeting in Corinth  -  Acts 18 v 2  

And he found a certain Jew named Aquila, born in Pontus, who had recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla

The "he" in this verse refers to Paul who had arrived in Corinth with we presume Luke (who was documenting his travels) but having left Timothy and Silas in Berea although he did request that they should join him as soon as they could in chapter 17 - The Power & Destruction of Envy


Aquila & Priscilla were new friends for Paul.
They were Italian Jews and had to leave Italy because of the command of Claudius that all Jews were to leave Rome.



Common Interest  -  Acts 18 v 3



So, because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and worked; for by occupation they were tentmakers.


Aquila & Priscilla were tentmakers.

This is the first time we see the occupation of Paul as we had only known of him as a persecutor of the Christians and now a follower of Christ.

They must have been a hospitable couple because it states Paul stayed with them and they must also have been generous to share their work with him.

Presumably Timothy and Silas stayed there too when they rejoined Paul and Luke later.




Travelling Together to Syria  -  Acts 18 v 18  


18 So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him.

I have read elsewhere that it is thought that Paul was in Corinth for about 18 months and then left for Syria.  Obviously Aquila and Priscilla had become close friends with him then as they decided to sail to Syria with him.  I don't think he would have wanted them to join him if they had not been of a very similar mind-frame as him.





Acts 18 v 19  -  They Remain in Ephesus


19 And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; 


However they did not continue the whole trip with Paul as they stayed in Ephesus while Paul journeyed on to Antioch in Syria.  We are not given a reason for the couple staying in Ephesus but we do know that they were meant to be there as they had a distinct role to play later.





They Discipled Appollos  -  Acts 18 v 24 - 28 



24 Now a certain Jew named Apollos, born at Alexandria, an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures, came to Ephesus. 25 This man had been instructed in the way of the Lord; and being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things of the Lord, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26 So he began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Aquila and Priscilla heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. 27 And when he desired to cross to Achaia, the brethren wrote, exhorting the disciples to receive him; and when he arrived, he greatly helped those who had believed through grace; 28 for he vigorously refuted the Jews publicly, showing from the Scriptures that Jesus is the Christ. 


Aquila and Priscilla both spoke with Apollos and helped him to understand and gain knowledge that was missing in his preaching of the Gospel.  They explained more to him and made sure he had an accurate understanding so that he would then work better for God.
How do we know for certain that Apollos really benefited and grew in understanding from this encounter?
Well when he wanted to travel to Achaia the christians in Ephesus wrote to commend him to the Christians in Achaia and verse 27 clearly tells us that he was of good help there and could stand in defence of Jesus in the scriptures against the Jews.

I have seen where some people like to bring out Priscilla as a teacher of men here but I feel this is not the right way to see the passage or to use the passage.
There are people who say that some of the times Aquila and Priscilla are mentioned in the Bible, Priscilla's name is put first and that this points to her taking the lead and being a stronger teacher and preacher than her husband.  However this argument cannot be made at this point as it is clear from the verses above that Aquila's name comes first in this meeting and time of teaching.  In fact only once so far has Priscilla's name come first and that was in stating that they sailed with Paul.



No more mention is made of them in the book of Acts but we do find a few more references elsewhere.





Romans 16 v 3


Greet Priscilla and Aquila, my fellow workers in Christ Jesus, who risked their own necks for my life, to whom not only I give thanks, but also all the churches of the Gentiles. Likewise greet the church that is in their house.



Here in Romans we read about the couple again.  This time Priscilla's name is written first with no reference here to teaching but instead of being Paul's co-workers and of their bravery and the thanks the converted Gentiles owed them.  

It is also mentioned that a church met in their house so we can presume that they had some oversight for that, again showing them working as a couple.


It is good to work together for God.




1 Corinthians 16 v 19 

19 The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.


Here they are mentioned by Paul as sending greetings to the church in Corinth which was the first place Paul met and worked with them.



2 timothy 4 v 19


19 Greet Prisca and Aquila, and the household of Onesiphorus.


The last time we read of them in the New Testament is in this small mention where Paul wishes to have Timothy greet them for him which shows he was still thinking of them fondly years later.













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Thursday

Acts Chapter 18 - Reactions of People.

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Having completed the 31 Day Blogging Challenge last month I have decided to continue blogging on through the book of Acts but not everyday, probably 2 times a week.

We finished on Day 31  Knowing God having finished chapter 17  noting that God looks for true worship and obedience and that Christianity is not based on works but on the death & resurrection of Jesus.

So on to Acts chapter 18 today.


verses 1 - 4

Paul has come to Corinth (from Athens) which is the first time we see it mentioned in Acts.
We are then introduced to a married couple called Aquila & Priscilla who were originally from Italy but had moved here having had to leave there homeland because they were Jews.

The first thing I thought about was that Paul found people he could easily become friends with because they had two things in common

  • They were Jews
  • They had the same occupation


How do we meet people and become friends?

Exactly the same way through our jobs or through coming from the same background.

When we went to live in America from 1992 - 1995 we first met people through Fred's job there and then through the church we attended.
Then later through our daughter's school and the neighbourhood we lived in.

When we went to live in Belgium from 2004 - 2010 things were different because we were not fluent Flemish or French speakers so a lot of the time we gravitated towards British and American people but in the end had friends from many nationalities due to going to an International Church.

We probably tend to forget that Paul may not have had any contacts in Corinth to go to and it is not easy to arrive anywhere not knowing anyone and settle there.

People always have to provide for themselves and can not always be dependant on others and that is just what Paul did here.  He worked at a skilled job during the week and then on the Sabbath he reasoned in the synagogue with Jews and Greeks.


reasoned
adjective
  1. based on logic or good sense.

    "a reasoned judgement"   or   "a reasoned argument"
  2. well expressed, well presented, considered, sensible, intelligent


Something to note here is that Paul did not have to devote all his time to preaching, teaching or indeed studying the scriptures to be able to share about Jesus.  So neither do we, instead we just have to be willing to give up of our weekends or free time from the daily work and provision we are responsible to make for ourselves and family.

It does not say in these few verses that Aquila & Priscilla were Christians but obviously they were friendly and hospitable to Paul and willing to share work with him.



verses 5 - 11

Silas & Timothy have now rejoined Paul after having been left in Berea in Macedonia in Day 30 The Power & Destruction of Envy 

This means they were not in Athens at all and also not with Paul when he met Aquila & Priscilla and worked with them.

We now see Paul being zealous in his proclaiming of Jesus as the Messiah to the Jews but this message was not well received and it specifically states that the Jews were against Paul and blasphemed.

 But when they opposed him and blasphemed, he shook his garments and said to them, “Your blood be upon your own heads; I am clean. From now on I will go to the Gentiles.” 


Paul claims he will not bother to witness to the Jews again but only to the Gentiles.

He obviously took the blasphemy very seriously.



blasphemy
noun
  1. the action or offence of speaking sacrilegiously about God or sacred things; profane talk.


But even with this happening the next convert we see is the ruler of the synagogue (presumably a Jew) and his household.  This reminds us of other instances of families already covered in Day 19  It's Not About Us, It's All About God  with Cornelius and  Day 26  Believe in the Right Thing  with the Phillippian jailer.

Then we also see "many of the Corinthians" believing and being baptized and they were presumably Gentiles because they were Greeks.


So even when there was opposition to God's Word being preached and the truth of the Gospel being told; God was still working and bringing people to know Him.  



Even today God is still working and bringing people to know Him.


We need to remember this and believe that

Even today when there is opposition to God's Word being preached and the truth of the Gospel being told; God will still be working and bringing people to know Him.  



If you are interested in more of the posts in this series on The Book of Acts please click on the link below and you will find a list & link to all of the posts.












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Monday

Scrapbooking Freebies!!! - Coffee & Conversation







I have an interest in Scrapbooking but I'm not so keen that I have done several.





For my mother's 90th Birthday I made a scrap book covering all the big events in her and daddy's life together.  This was an actual scrap book and I have always thought that I would do more to cover special events in my life too but so far they have only been in the planning list stage with only a few items gathered together.

Now the emphasis is all on digital scrap booking and I have started to dabble into this too.

Of course unless I am sure that I will make great use of something, I am reluctant to spend money on it (hence my iPad is full of free apps - and they are very good too).  So when I discovered a place where I could get free downloads I waded in and now I get emails with scrapbooking freebies.


SCRAPBOOKING FREEBIES!!!


So I thought I would share this with you for any other dabblers like me or more serious digital scrappers.

Go along to My Memories and register for the emails which will bring you notifications of lots of free items.  You will also receive info on all the products for sale and special offers on a regular basis.

Then have a look on the left side bar of their site for the words  "Free Kits" and make sure you free up some time to look through all the many pages of these.







I won't guarantee these will to make you a better scrapper
but there is the potential to do so 

however

please don't blame me if you are tempted to buy some things too.