Acts 20

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Devotional

“So now, brethren, I commend you to God and to the word of His grace, which is able to build you up and give you an inheritance among all those who are sanctified.

– Acts 20:32

I’ve recently been struck by the trust the Apostle Paul had in the Spirit of God in relation to the leadership of His church. Paul fully trusted that the Church is God’s Church, and God, by His Spirit, will take care of and direct it. This trust seems also to have been adopted by disciples of Paul’s ministry like Timothy and Titus, too.

I say that because in Titus 1:5 Paul says that he left Titus in Crete, as the overseeing pastor or bishop, to ordain elders in every city of the Island. Then in 2 Timothy, a book that was written within a year after Titus, we are told that Titus had departed for Dalmatia, apparently to continue the work of church planting. What’s that got to do with trust in God, and His ability to take care of and direct the church? Apparently, the work of ordaining elders over the churches of Crete was accomplished in a relatively short period of time, and thus Titus was on to the next task in ministry.

Our God is able to attend to the affairs of His church. Trust Him!

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 19

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Devotional

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

– Acts 19:15

Can you imagine the shock that must have appeared on the faces of the sons of Sceva as they heard this word? The spiritual dimension is real. And like entering into the ocean in scuba gear, it’s an otherworldly and out of our comfort-zone realm that ought not be trifled with, without proper preparation and prayer.

Do not be so quick to meddle in things you know little about, without first preparing by prayer and relying upon God’s Spirit and power.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 18

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Devotional

When Silas and Timothy had come from Macedonia, Paul was compelled by the Spirit, and testified to the Jews that Jesus is the Christ.

– Acts 18:5

Have you ever experienced the compelling stir by the Spirit to share the good news of Christ with someone? If not, pray that God would begin to stir your spirit by the work and power of His Spirit to do just that. But if you have experienced the compelling stir of the Spirit to testify of Christ, have you obediently submitted your will to His and moved forward in faith to speak the Gospel? If not, here’s an encouraging truth. God will not compel you by His Spirit, to testify of His Son, and not also give you the power by His Spirit to do it.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 17

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Devotional

Then Paul, as his custom was, went in to them, and for three Sabbaths reasoned with them from the Scriptures, explaining and demonstrating that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead, and saying, “This Jesus whom I preach to you is the Christ.”

– Acts 17:2-3

It’s ok to have a customary approach to proclaiming the Gospel. In fact, I’d say that it’s better to have a customary approach to have none at all. You’re far more likely to share your faith, and preach the Gospel, if you have a planned, customary approach than if you do not. So plan an approach, and start using it.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 16

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Devotional

But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.

– Acts 16:25

Such joy in trial is found only through absolute faith that Christ has overcome the world. For it was He who said, “In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.”

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 15

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Devotional

“So God, who knows the heart, acknowledged them by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as He did to us, and made no distinction between us and them, purifying their hearts by faith.”

— Acts 15:8-9

There is no separation between distinctly different ethnic groups, in Christ. “For the same Lord over all is rich to all who call upon Him.” (Romans 10:12)

In this we find the beautiful reality that through the Gospel is all the ‘race reconciliation’ we could ever desire.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 14

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Devotional

From there they sailed to Antioch, where they had been commended to the grace of God for the work which they had completed.

– Acts 14:26

Often times the simplicity of the work that the early apostles engaged in is striking. They went from city to city and region to region preaching the message of the Gospel. They discipled people in following Jesus, taught them to pray and fast, and they appointed leaders over them and then moved on to the next town. And after they’d spent a period of time in the region of Galatia, they returned home because their work was “completed.”

Sometimes I wonder if we haven’t just totally complicated and confused the simplicity of the ministry. The sad part is, I’m not sure I’d even know how to return to the simplicity.

“Lord help! We’ve made it much more complex than it probably needs to be.”

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 13

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Devotional

“Therefore let it be known to you, brethren, that through this Man is preached to you the forgiveness of sins; and by Him everyone who believes is justified from all things from which you could not be justified by the law of Moses.”

– Acts 13:38-39

Forgiveness and justification are preached in Christ and found by everyone who believes! This was the message that began to be preached to Jew and Gentile alike, as some of the first missionaries went forth proclaiming the good news. And though many of the Jews who heard the message were skeptical, and ultimately rather hard, “the Gentiles begged that these words might be preached to them the” (v. 42) the following week.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 12

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Devotional

But the word of God grew and multiplied.

– Acts 12:24

Since the birth of the church (at Pentecost, which just so happened to be yesterday) for the last 2,000 this has been the testimony of God’s grace and power. Still today, God’s word grows and multiplies, though there is resistance. And this will be the testimony until Christ returns. God’s word will not return void.

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon

Acts 11

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Devotional

“If therefore God gave them the same gift as He gave us when we believed on the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I that I could withstand God?”

— Acts 11:17

I’ve always loved Peter’s recounting of the events at Cornelius’s home here in Acts 11. Especially this simple statement of acceptance and faith; “Who was I that I could withstand God?”

That’s a good question to ponder. Are you withstanding the will and plan of God somehow in your life?

Helpful Resources

Enduring Word Commentary with Pastor David Guzik

Read the Scriptures at Bible.com

Download the YouVersion Bible App

Additional Daily Devotionals

My Utmost for His Highest | Oswald Chambers

Morning & Evening | Charles Spurgeon