Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

 

Set Apart by the Spirit & Courage to speak 

Bible Reading: :  Acts 13: 1 - 12

Key Verse:  6-8

When they had gone through the whole island as  far as Paphos they came upon a certain magician , a Jewish false prophet  named Bar-Jesus. He was with the proconsul Sergius Paulos a man  of intelligence  who summoned Barnabas  and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.

DEVOTION

As we know the official motto of the MTC is “Lighted to Lighten “. It simply means every Marthomite is an evangelist. The two main primary responsibility of every Marthomite is to (i) worship and praise the true living God and (ii ) to evangelize.
To evangelize means to proclaim the “True “word of God regardless of whether it aligns to our present secular world OR whether if some sections of our society find it to be offensive. Paul & Barnabas faced a similar situation while they were travelling to speak about Jesus. They encountered a Sorcerer / False prophet named Bar - Jesus a.k.a. Elymas.
Elymas held a key advisory position to the Roman Governor and therefore tried to stop Paul and Barnabas from converting the Governor.
Then what was Paul’s response?
Verse 9 states - Paul filled with the Holy Spirit looked straight at him and said “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right “and struck him with a temporary blindness.
Imagine, if we were to preach or give a sermon to a crowd and if someone from the crowd talks against us or opposes us then what should be our reaction? - We may not be able to act as boldly as Paul did, but at the least we should not “Dilute” our message to please the crowd OR avoid speaking the truth. We should always remember when speaking the word of God our priority is not to please the crowd / gain a wide applause / people recognition but
to please God who is watching us from above.
We should boldly and proudly proclaim the true word of God as it relates to our day-to-day life specially in Europe and North America. as an e.g.
Jesus is all about Love and God never gets angry - It’s true that the word love appears in the bible hundreds of times and is one of the central theme of the New Testament. John 13 : 34 states - A new commandment I give you that you love one another as I have loved you and by this all men will know that you are my disciple. Matthew 5: 44 states “Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you “. However, it is equally important that we detest anything that goes against the Biblical teaching.
Did Jesus ever get angry?
When Jesus was falsely accused, persecuted, insulted, mocked, spit upon and finally crucified on the cross in the most inhuman way - He still prayed for them (Luke 23 ; 34 )
However, he did get angry - John 2: 14 - 16 - His righteous rage was against people who kept sincere and vulnerable people away from God and exploited the poor in the Temple. The above incident indicates that Love is of prime importance however when the word of God is exploited then we should always speak up and oppose it.

Summary = Next time if we get an opportunity to speak to a crowd or give a Sermon - Always ask yourself one question - what is your main intention - To please the crowd OR to speak the true word of God.
I’m a  Marthomite from generations, but today I’m still a Marthomite because it is one of the few Churches in the world which has stuck to its roots and let’s pray it remains the same.

                                       PRAYER

 

Heavenly father  fill us  with the Holy spirit and courage  to serve you with  obedience and power. Help us Lord to stand firm against all distractions and oppositions and open our eyes to see your truth and walk in the light of your grace  each day. Amen

 

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

The Holy Spirit not only calls us to serve but also gives us the strength and wisdom to overcome every obstacle in god's mission.


Johnson Abraham
St. Mathews Mar Them Church, Milton
Toronto, Canada.