Agape Devotions

Read: Acts 21.1-22.29 No devotional today

Read: Acts 19.21-20.38 Verses chosen for reflection 23 About that time there arose no little disturbance concerning the Way. 24 For a man named Demetrius, a silversmith, who made silver shrines of Artemis, brought no little business to the craftsmen. 25 These he gathered together, with the workmen in similar trades, and said, “Men, you know that from this business we have our wealth. 26 And you see and hear that not only in Ephesus but in almost all of Asia this Paul has persuaded and turned away a great many people, saying that gods made with hands are not gods. 27 And there is danger not only that this trade of ours may come into disrepute but also that the temple of the great goddess Artemis may be counted as nothing, and that she may even be deposed from her magnificence, she whom all Asia and the world worship.” Reflect:  Demetrius was preaching the "gospel of wealth" and he was pretty effective with it. He painted the bleak scenario that they might lose their wealth and...

READ : Acts 18:1 to 19:20 REFLECT :   What the Lord literally said when He appeared to Paul in this night vision was,  Stop being afraid, but keep on speaking.  This reveals that Paul was indeed becoming afraid. It is quite understandable that he would, for a very familiar pattern was developing. He had seen it before many times. He had come to the synagogue and spoken to the Jews. They had rejected his message. He turned to the Gentiles and there was immediate response, a great flood of people coming in. This aroused the anger and hostility of the Jews, and he knew that the next step was trouble. Is that not beautifully descriptive of the humanity of this man? We sometimes think of Paul as being so bold, so fearless — yet he suffered just as we do from apprehensions, forebodings, and fears. In fact in a letter to these very Corinthians he says so. In First Corinthians 2, he says,  When I came to you...I was with you in weakness and in much fear and trembling... ...

READ : Acts 16:6-17:34 Verses chosen for meditation: Acts 16:25-32 25  About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,  26  and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken. And immediately all the doors were opened, and everyone's bonds were unfastened.  27  When the jailer woke and saw that the prison doors were open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.  28  But Paul cried with a loud voice, “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here.”  29  And the jailer called for lights and rushed in, and trembling with fear he fell down before Paul and Silas.  30  Then he brought them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”  31  And they said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your h...

READ : Acts 14:1 - 16:5  Verses chosen for meditation: Acts 15:37- 38. 37  Now Barnabas wanted to take with them John called Mark. 38  But Paul thought best not to take with them one who had withdrawn from them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.     REFLECT Do you know that Thomas Edison didn’t like or do well in school when he was seven? One day, when he was called “addled” (mentally confused) by a teacher, he stormed home. After speaking with the teacher the next day, his mom (a teacher by training), decided to home-school Thomas. With her love and encouragement (and his God-given genius), Thomas later became a great inventor. In honouring his mum, he wrote: “My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me, and I felt I had someone to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” In  Acts 15 , we read that Barnabas, and the apostle Paul served together as missionaries until they had a sharp disagreement ...

Read Acts 12:25 to Acts 13:52 Verses chosen for meditation: Acts 13: 1, 2-4, 9-12, 13, 48-52 ESV 1 Now there were in the church at Antioch prophets and teachers, Barnabas, Simeon who was called Niger Lucius of Cyrene, Manaen a lifelong friend of Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. 2 While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 3 Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. 4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus. 9 But Saul, who was also called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him 10 and said, “You son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, full of all deceit and villainy, will you not stop making crooked the straight paths of the Lord? 11 And now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and unable to see the sun for a time.” Immediately ...

TEXT TO REFLECT Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. 28 And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the Spirit that there would be a great famine over all the world (this took place in the days of Claudius). 29 So the disciples determined, every one according to his ability, to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. 30 And they did so, sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul. Acts 11: 27-30 REFLECT What are some of the marks of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit? This brief but significant paragraph highlights one of the results of the people becoming disciples. The gospel had reached the people in Antioch and a church had been established. Acts 11 records that a great number had become followers of Christ and that Barnabas had brought Paul to help teach the believers about the Way. We do not know exactly how large the church in Antioch was, but it must have been large, since the recorder of the Book of Acts mentioned that a g...