Up To This Word
Up To This Word
Thursday
"When I had returned to Jerusalem and was praying in the temple, I fell into a trance and saw him saying to me, 'Make haste and get out of Jerusalem quickly, because they will not accept your testimony about me.' And I said, 'Lord, they themselves know that in one synagogue after another I imprisoned and beat those who believed in you. And when the blood of Stephen your witness was being shed, I myself was standing by and approving and watching over the garments of those who killed him.' And he said to me, 'Go, for I will send you far away to the Gentiles.'" Up to this word they listened to him. Then they raised their voices and said, "Away with such a fellow from the earth! For he should not be allowed to live."
— Acts 22:17-22 (ESV)
So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."
— Acts 10:34-35 (ESV)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
— Galatians 3:28 (ESV)
— Acts 22:17-22 (ESV)
So Peter opened his mouth and said: "Truly I understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him."
— Acts 10:34-35 (ESV)
There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
— Galatians 3:28 (ESV)
Reflection:
The crowd listened politely right up until God's grace reached people they didn't think deserved it. That's the Everyman's Idol at work: our culture quietly decides who's in and who's out. But the cross levels the ground. Every one of us comes to God the same way, by grace through faith in Christ. Where is your "up to this word" moment, the point where you stop listening because Jesus is challenging something you're comfortable with?
The crowd listened politely right up until God's grace reached people they didn't think deserved it. That's the Everyman's Idol at work: our culture quietly decides who's in and who's out. But the cross levels the ground. Every one of us comes to God the same way, by grace through faith in Christ. Where is your "up to this word" moment, the point where you stop listening because Jesus is challenging something you're comfortable with?
Consider:
Is there a kind of person you find it hard to imagine sitting next to you in church? Bring that honestly to the Lord.
Is there a kind of person you find it hard to imagine sitting next to you in church? Bring that honestly to the Lord.
Pray:
Lord, tear down any wall in my heart that You have already torn down at the cross.
Lord, tear down any wall in my heart that You have already torn down at the cross.
Posted in Experiencing God - Acts 21:37-22:22
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