KJB Daily Devotion – Following Jesus Through Every Chapter
Date: Thursday, December 14, 2017
Chapters: Acts 26-28
Message: Stay On The Ship
Hello My Friend,
I was asked these series of questions regarding religion, and you could tell that it was someone of the world who made up these questions, and I was getting aggravated at the questions, because it was as if they were targeting Christianity. Good; Complete or sufficiently perfect, Cheer; To cause to rejoice. Being in the will of God does not always come with good cheer, we are often subject to things that down right frustrate and discourage us. Jesus never said that we would not have any challenges following Him, but did say to be of Good Cheer through them all because He is right there with us. God knows and expects us to have some down days, but remember, He never gives us what we cannot handle. So, if God has you going through something pretty big, He knows you are a lot stronger than you think. Why? He is your strength. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” – John 16:33.
“I have overcome the world.” Jesus overcame the world when He arose on the third day, and so do we when we accept Him as our Saviour. Stop and think about that word good for a few minutes, complete, sufficiently (equally) perfect. Before we know Christ as our Saviour, we are incomplete, not equal to Him, therefore, we could not stand before God because we must be perfect. When we personally accept Christ as our Saviour, we are cleansed by His blood, removed of all our sin, making us complete and perfect in the eyes of God and able to stand before Him as an equal to His Son. Remember, we are a testimony that we overcame not only the world, but the devil too. As Paul stands before king Agrippa he was excited to give his testimony, he told how he got saved and how Jesus told him to be a witness to the Gentiles.
“Having therefore obtained help of God, I continue unto this day, witnessing both to small and great, saying none other things than those which the prophets and Moses did say should come: That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles. And as he thus spake for himself, Festus said with a loud voice, Paul, thou art beside thyself; much learning doth make thee mad. But he said, I am not mad, most noble Festus; but speak forth the words of truth and soberness. For the king knoweth of these things, before whom also I speak freely: for I am persuaded that none of these things are hidden from him; for this thing was not done in a corner.” – Acts 26:22-26.
“much learning doth make thee mad.” I was once told by someone that I was in a cult because I refused to succumb to his advances. The world will never understand our faith, but it is not them that we are here to please, it is God, what He thinks about us is what matters most. People do not like to hear the truth about Christ because that means they have to admit they have sin in their lives. Something happens when we begin to walk in the likeness of Christ, we find ourselves being directed by the Holy Spirit even when we are not in the will of God. While Paul thought he was to die in Jerusalem, Jesus told him that he must go to Rome and preach the Gospel there, and while I am sure that God never intended for Paul to go there as a prisoner, king Agrippa, who was ready to release him, granted his wish to appeal to Caesar and was now on a prison ship with two hundred seventy-six men headed for Rome. God used this opportunity to show Christ to the men on the ship as they are in the midst of a hurricane for days. Paul ensures the men that God is with them and that they would survive.
“But after long abstinence Paul stood forth in the midst of them, and said, Sirs, ye should have hearkened unto me, and not have loosed from Crete, and to have gained this harm and loss. And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man’s life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Howbeit we must be cast upon a certain island.” – Acts 27:21-26.
“For there stood by me this night the angel of God,” Many people believe this to be Gabriel, in fact, that anytime an angel is mentioned that it is Gabriel, while that may be the case sometimes, the majority of the time this is Jesus Himself. If we are saved, we belong to Jesus, and it is Jesus that we serve, some of us serve Him just to let it be known that there is no salvation apart from Him. When we are in the midst of the hurricanes of life, be of good cheer, we belong to Jesus and He belongs to us, that means wherever we go, He goes. The storm will not last forever, and in the midst of it, some may even get saved, so, be of good cheer. Believe in God, He really wants the best for us, but sometimes we must get wet and shaken up a lot to see what that is. It was getting so bad that the men lowered the lifeboat in an attempt to jump ship, but Paul stopped them.
“And as the shipmen were about to flee out of the ship, when they had let down the boat into the sea, under colour as though they would have cast anchors out of the foreship, Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved. Then the soldiers cut off the ropes of the boat, and let her fall off. And while the day was coming on, Paul besought them all to take meat, saying, This day is the fourteenth day that ye have tarried and continued fasting, having taken nothing. Wherefore I pray you to take some meat: for this is for your health: for there shall not an hair fall from the head of any of you.” – Acts 27:30-34.
“Except these abide in the ship, ye cannot be saved.” Except we abide in the ship of Christ we cannot be saved. We cannot avoid storms, and sometimes we even create them ourselves, but we can endure them as long as we stay on His ship. And while we in no way lose our salvation if we get off the ship we do lose our connection with God and our ability to endure the storm. We do not have to blend in with the world to be among them, I am the oddball who wears a black skirt to work, I look similar, but am different, and that is what I am supposed to be.
Two hundred and seventy-six souls were saved on the ship, Paul finally arrives in Rome, and something strange happened. “And it came to pass, that after three days Paul called the chief of the Jews together: and when they were come together, he said unto them, Men and brethren, though I have committed nothing against the people, or customs of our fathers, yet was I delivered prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans. Who, when they had examined me, would have let me go, because there was no cause of death in me. But when the Jews spake against it, I was constrained to appeal unto Caesar; not that I had ought to accuse my nation of. For this cause therefore have I called for you, to see you, and to speak with you: because that for the hope of Israel I am bound with this chain. Be it known therefore unto you, that the salvation of God is sent unto the Gentiles, and that they will hear it. And when he had said these words, the Jews departed, and had great reasoning among themselves. And Paul dwelt two whole years in his own hired house, and received all that came in unto him,” – Acts 28:17-20,28-30.
“I am bound with this chain.” Paul had a great burden to see the Jews get saved. God not only allows the storms, but sees us through in order to see the lost get saved, but be of good cheer. Paul, began his life persecuting Christians, he turned his life around and became the most well known and greatest evangelist there ever was. He endured much pain, suffering, and humiliation, but never lost sight of Christ. He is a testimony that anyone can turn their life around and be blessed by living their lives through Christ. It is not always easy to be of good cheer when we are in the midst of a storm, sometimes we may even get shipwrecked, but Jesus is always with us, He will help us weather the storm, will reveal Himself through it too. “But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.” – Matthew 14:27.
Jesus Christ Magnified: “That Christ should suffer, and that he should be the first that should rise from the dead, and should shew light unto the people, and to the Gentiles.” – Acts 26:23.
Today’s Prayer: God, I have felt this storm coming even before it arrived, and while it seems I have been driving through it for quite some time, I know it is quicker to get through going slow and steady instead of just pulling over and waiting for it to stop. Lord, forgive me for my frustrations in the midst my storm, I know that You love me have a purpose for what I am going through. Give me Your power and strength to stay in the ship, moving slow and steady by faith. Lift up my spirits, restore unto me the joy of my salvation, so that I may be of good cheer as I endure this storm. Help me to remove all the obstacles that keep me from hearing You, and let me not be diverted onto a wrong path. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
God Bless You, I am praying for you,
Christina
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