15 December 2010 Devotion for Today "God Offline?" Isaiah 40:27-31

15 December 2010 Devotion for Today "God Offline?" Isaiah 40:27-31



As I was studying a passage of Scripture for my Wednesday night Bible study, I hit the "print" button on my computer. Instead of hearing the customary whirr of the printer, it did nothing. I looked at the panel and the green light, which normally remains on, was blinking. Then I looked on my laptop screen and a window that interfaces with the printer said, PRINTER OFFLINE! That meant I had to fool around with it a bit to get it to work again and after several moments of turning off the printer and restarting it, and even rebooting the laptop, both devices were "online" again and things started working normally.



Now I recognize that not everybody has an experience like this- and I don't want to leave anyone out. But if you are reading this devotional "online" then it is likely you are somewhat familiar with computer or internet terminology. When something goes "offline" it means it is malfunctioning or has completely shut down. Computer websites typically go "offline" for updating and regular maintenance. People go "offline" on Facebook chat or Twitter because they have a life and can't be spending every waking moment being available, and have to get on to something else. Computer and other electronic devices go "offline" when something is wrong with the connection or if there is a deliberate shut-down initiated by the operator. "Offline" typically means there is an interruption in the connection. This usually isn't a huge inconvenience, of course, unless the electrical power grid suddenly goes "Offline" during a major winter snow storm or cold snap and you are praying it goes online again before you freeze to death.



But have you ever considered what would happen if God ever went "Offline?" I doubt most of us ever have, because God is always available. He never shuts down. He never takes a vacation and He never sleeps. What's more, He is perfect and therefore never needs scheduled maintenance. Plenty of Scriptures abound to underscore this point: "And lo, I am with you ALWAYS, even to the end of the world," says Jesus in Matthew 28:20. "I will never leave you nor forsake you." Hebrews 13:5. Or what about when David says in Psalm 23, "Yea thou I walk through the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for You are with me."? These and other Scriptures are constant assurances and reminders that God is always there and that He never goes "Offline." Can you imagine if that would ever happen, how disastrous that would be? That you would be praying and He didn't get your "knee-mail" because He went offline for a while? Literally millions of prayers would go unreceived because unknown to us, God didn't get them because there was a disconnect.



Isaiah mimics the cry of the typical Israelite when he asks in Isaiah 40:27

Why do you say, O Jacob,

And speak, O Israel:

“ My way is hidden from the LORD,

And my just claim is passed over by my God”?



It was another way of asking, since ancient Israelites did not possess computers, "God, have you gone offline?" He was complaining because he felt distant and alienated- disconnected from God.



But let's get closer to reality. If there ever were a time when you and I have ever experienced some disconnect between us and God it is not likely that it is God who is the source of the one being offline. It means we are the source of there being something gone wrong that puts us in Offline mode between us and God. Unlike God, we are constantly in need of spiritual and physical maintenance. Perhaps it is sin and our heart has gone offline, because the Bible says that if we regard iniquity in our hearts, the Lord will not hear us. We also always need sleep and go through periodic phases where we shut down for one reason or another. This means if there is an adjustment or a rebooting session that needs to occur, we need to do that to ourselves in order to reconnect the fellowship between us and God. Isaiah tells us in this Scripture that He always stands available to answer our prayers and to always be online whenever we need Him, but that it is up to us to keep those channels of communication open and keep ourselves "Online" for Him. And when we stay online with God, here is the result:



28 Have you not known?

Have you not heard?

The everlasting God, the LORD,

The Creator of the ends of the earth,

Neither faints nor is weary.

His understanding is unsearchable.

29 He gives power to the weak,

And to those who have no might He increases strength.

30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary,

And the young men shall utterly fall,

31 But those who wait on the LORD

Shall renew their strength;

They shall mount up with wings like eagles,

They shall run and not be weary,

They shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:28-31)



Keep your spiritual systems restored and refreshed so that you will not go into Offline mode with God. Keep connected with Him. Possibly you might have to shut down something that is keeping you connected to the world so that you can go online again in your relationship with God. When you do, you will find, as Isaiah says, more power and joy than you know what to do with.



Refresh your system and stay online today with God. Have a blessed day!

06 December 2010 Devotion for Today "Almost Persuaded" Acts 26: 24-32

06 December 2010 Devotion for Today "Almost Persuaded" Acts 26: 24-32



24 Now as he thus made his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are beside yourself! Much learning is driving you mad!”

25 But he said, “I am not mad, most noble Festus, but speak the words of truth and reason. 26 For the king, before whom I also speak freely, knows these things; for I am convinced that none of these things escapes his attention, since this thing was not done in a corner. 27 King Agrippa, do you believe the prophets? I know that you do believe.”

28 Then Agrippa said to Paul, “You almost persuade me to become a Christian.”

29 And Paul said, “I would to God that not only you, but also all who hear me today, might become both almost and altogether such as I am, except for these chains.”

30 When he had said these things, the king stood up, as well as the governor and Bernice and those who sat with them; 31 and when they had gone aside, they talked among themselves, saying, “This man is doing nothing deserving of death or chains.”

32 Then Agrippa said to Festus, “This man might have been set free if he had not appealed to Caesar.”

(Acts 26:24-32)





This passage of Scripture takes me back to a childhood statement that many of us might remember: "Almost counts only with horseshoes and hand grenades!" The meaning of it of course is that almost means nothing at all. If a man attempts to spring over a two-hundred-foot chasm and almost makes it to the other side, he plunges to his death just the same. If a runner in a race stumbles and falls even before a foot of making it to the finish line, that doesn't make him almost a winner. He loses just the same. You get the idea.



Here in this passage of Scripture the Apostle Paul is defending his very life before Governor Festus and King Agrippa, their "significant others," as well as most of the important dignitaries and officials of the client Kingdom of Judea. Paul was determined, however, to make the most of this situation for a witnessing opportunity for Jesus Christ. The reactions of both Festus and Agrippa were probably predictable. Festus retorted that Paul's testimony was too deep for him, saying that such learning is driving Paul crazy. He refused to take it seriously and ridiculed Paul. King Agrippa's response, however, but much different. He did not treat Paul so contemptuously, and regarded him with respect. Paul appealed to him on the basis of the King's knowledge and background of Judaism. Still, Agrippa deflected Paul's attempts to convert him- probably feeling the pressure of the spotlight in front of all the officials who were watching his every move. It was evident that both the king and his cohorts had heard enough. While the appeal was enough to acquit Paul with the spurious charges against him, it was not enough to get them saved. Both Festus and Agrippa found a way to remove themselves from any responsibility for Paul's case by remanding him to Rome since Paul had appealed on the basis of his citizenship.



Paul, however, is brilliant in his ability to be controlled by the Holy Spirit. He used this trial to aim the Gospel message directly at the leaders of his nation. I'm sure Paul knew that this was a "long shot," but he was not going to discount the ability of the Holy Spirit to change people's hearts. Not only that, but there were many positive outcomes even though Agrippa was "almost persuaded." Paul elevated his own credibility, as well as all others who followed Jesus Christ in that region, and that the government had nothing to fear from this new movement that sought to promote peace and love. Paul could have been released, but he would have done so at his own peril; for the Jews would certainly have murdered him. It was better that he exit Jerusalem for he clearly had done all that he could do there, and going to Rome would build the cause of the Kingdom that much more. Paul did so all at the expense of the Roman Empire- which got him that one-way ticket to the capitol.



Many Christians do not witness today because they feel discouragement or fear defeat. This did not dissuade Paul from doing so. He relied upon the Holy Spirit to instruct him about what to say and left the results to Him. So what if those who heard did not turn to Christ? Imagine the possibility of what may have happened had they done so? This was too great an opportunity to pass up. We have tremendous opportunities around us even today. So if others to whom we speak about Christ are "almost persuaded," don't count it as a failure. Consider it as a victory to the point that they are that much nearer to Christ than what they might have been had you not said anything to them. And count it also complete obedience on your part that you did what Christ instructed you to do, instead of "almost!"



Prayer: Dear Lord, help me to be completely obedient to You today, instead of "almost." In Jesus Name, Amen.



Have a blessed day!

02 December 2010 Devotion for Today "Before Kings" Acts 25

02 December 2010 Devotion for Today "Before Kings" Acts 25

23 The next day Agrippa and Bernice came with great pomp and entered the audience room with the high-ranking military officers and the prominent men of the city. At the command of Festus, Paul was brought in. 24 Festus said: “King Agrippa, and all who are present with us, you see this man! The whole Jewish community has petitioned me about him in Jerusalem and here in Caesarea, shouting that he ought not to live any longer. 25 I found he had done nothing deserving of death, but because he made his appeal to the Emperor I decided to send him to Rome. 26 But I have nothing definite to write to His Majesty about him. Therefore I have brought him before all of you, and especially before you, King Agrippa, so that as a result of this investigation I may have something to write. 27 For I think it is unreasonable to send a prisoner on to Rome without specifying the charges against him.”

(Acts 25:23-27)

In this passage Paul had already met with Felix's successor, Festus. Festus, like Felix, seemed very taken with Paul- but not so much that he was willing to release him. Festus needed to build trust with the Jews who repetitioned charges against Paul. However, the charges against Paul were now more subdued. Festus enjoyed a good relationship with King Agrippa, the puppet-ruler of the region. Both enjoyed hearing an educated and articulate man such as Paul give forth with sophistication, learning, and philosophy. Apparently there were few minds as gifted in Judea on the level with Paul's. I think they also enjoyed the intrigue that had been brewing between Paul and the Jews for some time. It was still a very delicate matter Festus and the King had to deal with. They knew that to hand Paul over to the Jews would mean certain death for him. They also did not wish to offend the Jews by holding a trial where Paul would most certainly be acquitted- since they knew that Paul had not broken any laws, civil or Jewish. Their recourse was suggested to them by Paul himself who stated that he had the right to appeal to Caesar to allow him to try his case. Festus, elated at not having to contend with the matter any further, lost no time in expediting the appeal to the Imperial government. Festus appeals to King a
Agrippa (who was not technically a Jew, but of the tribe and people of Esau and raised up in the court of Emperior Claudius). Bernice was an interesting figure. She was the sister of Agrippa and Drusilla- the wife of the former governor Felix. Josephus, the Roman historian, suggests Agrippa and Bernice carried on an open, incestuous relationship; for she was not the queen we might suppose. These highly political figures demonstrate their extreme spiritual poverty, and the fact that they will even willing to listen to Paul suggests that they were somewhat open to hearing about Christ and the reparation that Christ could do for their extremely broken lives.

Brokenness lies every where today. We find it in our political figures as well, but where we see it most pronounced is in our pews. It is a wonder that the modern church today can be as effective as it is considering the dysfunction which has invaded it at times. Our society is rapidly becoming as morally corrupt as that of the Romans. In fact it makes me wonder just how far away we are in countenancing incestuous relationships like we find with Agrippa and Bernice. We must not, however, underestimate what the power of the Gospel can do to change lives and restore or even invent character where none has been before.

You may not stand before Agrippa and Bernice but you stand nonetheless before a pagan and wicked society that seems to tolerate anything or anyone except for those who call us accountable to God's standards. Where do you stand today?

Prayer: Dear Lord it is to a very wicked world that You send me to. All of the virtues and ideas which You have instilled in me are considered old-fashioned and outmoded by the sophisticates of my modern world. Yet the power of the unchangeable Gospel and commitment to Christ's love continues to reside in me. Use me to demonstrate love and compassion for people like Agrippa and Bernice that they may see themselves people whom God loves and wishes to draw unto Himself. I go today as Your Ambassador. In Jesus Name I pray, Amen.