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But he who trusts in Me shall possess the land and inherit My Holy Mountain" (Isaiah 57:13). |
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| Archived Manna: | |
Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Sunday, February 16, 2025
Today's Passage : Today's Passage :Paul Before Agrippa and Bernice [2] Bible Verse:Acts 26:1-11 (ESV) "So Agrippa said to Paul, “You have permission to speak for yourself.” Then Paul stretched out his hand and made his defense: “I consider myself fortunate that it is before you, King Agrippa, I am going to make my defense today against all the accusations of the Jews, especially because you are familiar with all the customs and controversies of the Jews. Therefore I beg you to listen to me patiently. “My manner of life from my youth, spent from the beginning among my own nation and in Jerusalem, is known by all the Jews. They have known for a long time, if they are willing to testify, that according to the strictest party of our religion I have lived as a Pharisee. And now I stand here on trial because of my hope in the promise made by God to our fathers, to which our twelve tribes hope to attain, as they earnestly worship night and day. And for this hope I am accused by Jews, O king! Why is it thought incredible by any of you that God raises the dead? “I myself was convinced that I ought to do many things in opposing the name of Jesus of Nazareth. And I did so in Jerusalem. I not only locked up many of the saints in prison after receiving authority from the chief priests, but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them. And I punished them often in all the synagogues and tried to make them blaspheme, and in raging fury against them I persecuted them even to foreign cities." Message:
It may seem a bit tiresome, reading the history of Paul’s conversion yet again. The later chapters of Acts contain a great deal of his speeches, but they are important, because in them we see the nature of his mission. Paul did not speak to the intellect of his many listeners. Nor did he recite a third-person history of Christ and the Holy Spirit. Rather, he talked about himself. He was the great proponent of the new Christian method of preaching: Witnessing to the power of a Christ he, himself, had never met, by the power of a Holy Spirit that lived within him.
This intimate sharing of one’s personal life was a new and convincing kind of religious argument. Other parts of the world had dabbled in monotheism, but their concept of God was in their mind. Paul’s God was in his heart and spirit. He preached, not a god who lived in a statue or even (in the case of the Jews) inside a special place in a temple; he preached the true God, whose spirit lived in him and colored every moment of his time and every action of his life.
Paul’s account here differs, not in facts, but in how he frames his conversion and mission. He more clearly depicts himself as a Jewish prophet. Rather than a revolutionary, he is a prophet of the evolution of God’s promise to Israel. He then shows that he, himself, had once been in Agrippa’s position—a Jew who did not accept Jesus and, in fact, persecuted those who did.
We will see tomorrow if his argument can affect the haughty Agrippa.
Meditation : Prayer : Almighty God, who does freely pardon all who repent and turn to Him, now fulfill in my contrite heart the promise of redeeming grace; forgiving all my sins, and cleansing me from an evil conscience; through the perfect sacrifice of Christ Jesus our Lord. And turn my heart to your will at every moment, I pray..............Amen |
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