The Wrong Voice is feeding you!
Media, sports, movies and television idols are the WRONG VOICE including career politicians because these fed on humanity's vulnerabilities and ignorance; no matter how educated humankind thinks it is - it's flawed! Seek what the Lord promises and truth will follow, not the deceitfulness of a few deceptive idols seeking to feed on you!
For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself, saying, “Surely blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply you.” And so, after he had patiently endured, he obtained the promise. For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute. Thus God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:13-18)
In Genesis 15 the Lord appears as “a smoking firepot with a blazing torch”. He passes through the pieces of the offering that He commanded Abraham to prepare. After doing so God makes an oath to deliver Abraham’s descendants into the promise land. While this is going on, Abraham is asleep in darkness. The Lord passes through Himself because it would be upon the Lord’s shoulders to accomplish the promise, just as it would also be upon the Lord’s shoulders to “bless him greatly and multiply his descendants abundantly.” The Lord would have to do it. Sarah was barren and Abraham was of old age. Sarah thought it was so ridiculous that she laughed when she heard of the promise for a son. You don’t come to God on your own terms, but you are invited through grace because those are His terms. When God promises, it is a sure thing.
Turning the Tables
When Paul presents the gospel before King Agrippa, we expect him to be defensive. But Paul is ready to shift the spotlight. He offers a surprisingly simple explanation of recent events and a testimony of his faith, and then he describes how the resurrection of Jesus changes everything. He deftly turns the tables and gives the king the opportunity to believe.
Paul describes the gospel as something that was intended all along—it is nothing new: “Therefore I have experienced help from God until this day, and I stand here testifying to both small and great saying nothing except what both the prophets and Moses have said were going to happen, that the Christ was to suffer and that as the first of the resurrection from the dead, he was going to proclaim light both to the people and to the Gentiles” (Acts 26:23).
Paul respectfully tells Agrippa that his testimony should come as no great surprise. Agrippa knows of the Jewish faith, and he has heard about recent events. Now Paul challenges him by presenting him with the only possible explanation—Jesus, the first of the resurrection of the dead, for whose sake Paul is now imprisoned. This faith is consistent with the Jewish belief in God. Now it is not reserved for the Jews, but also available to the Gentiles.
Paul’s words put everyone else in the spotlight. He earns responses from the Roman leaders—a rebuke from Festus (Acts 26:24) and a question from Agrippa: “In a short time are you persuading me to become a Christian?” Paul responds with faith: “I pray to God, whether in a short time or in a long time, not only you but also all those who are listening to me today may become such people as I also am, except for these bonds!” (Acts 26:29).
His constant witness and his trust in God’s power to turn people’s hearts to Himself give Paul confidence and assurance that his words will bring about a response (Acts 26:18). If a man facing trial can present the gospel so respectfully, when he is most defensive and vulnerable, why can’t we? We should have such courage.
How are you looking for opportunities to witness to others about the hope that is in you?
Rebecca Van Noord
