Archive for category: GAMEtime Sharing

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 24:1-16.  Let’s go!

Acts 24:1-9  

1  Five days later the high priest Ananias went down to Caesarea with some of the elders and a lawyer named Tertullus, and they brought their charges against Paul before the governor. 
2  When Paul was called in, Tertullus presented his case before Felix: “We have enjoyed a long period of peace under you, and your foresight has brought about reforms in this nation. 
3  Everywhere and in every way, most excellent Felix, we acknowledge this with profound gratitude. 
4  But in order not to weary you further, I would request that you be kind enough to hear us briefly. 
5  “We have found this man to be a troublemaker, stirring up riots among the Jews all over the world. He is a ringleader of the Nazarene sect 
6  and even tried to desecrate the temple; so we seized him. 
7   
8  By examining him yourself you will be able to learn the truth about all these charges we are bringing against him.” 
9  The Jews joined in the accusation, asserting that these things were true. 

 Acts 24:1-9:  “It’s Time to Lawyer Up!”

The trial of the apostle Paul in Governor Felix’s court is about to get under way.  The high priest and the Jewish elders decide to lawyer up and retain the attorney Tertullus to bring their case against Paul.  But Paul had an even better lawyer on his side to defend him against these false charges: the Lord Jesus.  His judge and his accusers couldn’t see him, but Jesus was there.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 23:12-22.  Let’s go!

Acts 23:12-22 (NIV)
12  The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.
13  More than forty men were involved in this plot.
14  They went to the chief priests and elders and said, “We have taken a solemn oath not to eat anything until we have killed Paul.
15  Now then, you and the Sanhedrin petition the commander to bring him before you on the pretext of wanting more accurate information about his case. We are ready to kill him before he gets here.”……

On verses 12-22:  Growing up I loved watching James Bond movies.  Not only did James Bond show tremendous skill, heart, and suave as he went about his mission, but he was also extremely lucky.  In every James Bond movie, there would be some crucial moment when his life would be in grave danger and he would be spared not because of his skill, his heart or his suave, but simply because he happened to be in the right place at the right time or because someone else happened to lend him a hand.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 22:17-30.  Let’s go!

Acts 22:17-21 (NIV)
17  “When I returned to Jerusalem and was praying at the temple, I fell into a trance
18  and saw the Lord speaking. ‘Quick!’ he said to me. ‘Leave Jerusalem immediately, because they will not accept your testimony about me.’
19  “‘Lord,’ I replied, ‘these men know that I went from one synagogue to another to imprison and beat those who believe in you.
20  And when the blood of your martyr Stephen was shed, I stood there giving my approval and guarding the clothes of those who were killing him.’
21  “Then the Lord said to me, ‘Go; I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'”

On verses 17-21:  In Paul’s mind, it seemed to make so much sense for him, when he first became a Christian, to stay in Jerusalem, since he was well known in Jerusalem as the most zealous persecutor of Christians and now had become a Christian himself.  But God had different plans for Paul. God knew that people were bent on killing Paul in Jerusalem, so God sends Paul far away to the Gentiles.  It turns out that there was wisdom in God’s plan after all.

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 21:26-40.  Let’s go!

Acts 21:26-36 (NIV)
26  The next day Paul took the men and purified himself along with them. Then he went to the temple to give notice of the date when the days of purification would end and the offering would be made for each of them.
27  When the seven days were nearly over, some Jews from the province of Asia saw Paul at the temple. They stirred up the whole crowd and seized him,
28  shouting, “Men of Israel, help us! This is the man who teaches all men everywhere against our people and our law and this place. And besides, he has brought Greeks into the temple area and defiled this holy place.”……

On verses 26-36:  Now we see why it was such a dangerous and risky idea for Paul to go to Jerusalem, and why others tried to discourage him from going.  Paul was a wanted man in Jerusalem, with many people bent on taking his life.  The violent opposition Paul faced in Jerusalem is reminiscent of what Jesus faced in Jerusalem.  Both Jesus and Paul knew that danger awaited them in Jerusalem.  In Luke 13, when people tried to discourage Jesus from going to Jerusalem, Jesus himself said, “In any case, I must keep going today and tomorrow and the next day–for surely no prophet can die outside Jerusalem!” (Luke 13:33).  Jesus even laments over the people of Jerusalem in the next verses when he says:

Hi  GAMErs!

Today’s passage is Acts 21:1-14.  Let’s go!

Acts 21:1-6 (NIV)
1  After we had torn ourselves away from them, we put out to sea and sailed straight to Cos. The next day we went to Rhodes and from there to Patara.
2  We found a ship crossing over to Phoenicia, went on board and set sail.
3  After sighting Cyprus and passing to the south of it, we sailed on to Syria. We landed at Tyre, where our ship was to unload its cargo.
4  Finding the disciples there, we stayed with them seven days. Through the Spirit they urged Paul not to go on to Jerusalem.
5  But when our time was up, we left and continued on our way. All the disciples and their wives and children accompanied us out of the city, and there on the beach we knelt to pray.
6  After saying good-by to each other, we went aboard the ship, and they returned home.

On verses 1-6:  Paul believed that the Holy Spirit was leading him to go to Jerusalem (see Acts 20:22).  Yet in verse 4 we read that “[t]hrough the Spirit” Christians in Tyre “urged Paul not to go to Jerusalem”.  Was the Holy Spirit giving contradictory directions?  I don’t think so.  God is not double-minded, so I think the best way to understand verse 4 is that the Holy Spirit had moved Paul’s heart to go to Jerusalem and at the same time impressed it upon the Christians in Tyre to warn Paul that great hardship lay ahead of him if he were to go.