Runaway slaves were killed. He is no longer like a slave to you. The way we have treated others and God we often can't forget. For this reason God purposefully led the wondering multitude to a place where there was no possible way of escape from Pharaoh and his army, humanly speaking. So this verse does include that. Jesus shows mercy and love to useless rebels like you and I and changes us to useful brothers and sisters in Christ. The prophecy was so specific that it mentioned Cyrus by name before he was born. Here the apostle is dealing practically with how you can be an instrument in God's hands to vitally and mightily affect the world around you. Their horses also are swifter than leopards, And more fierce than evening wolves. Saul is perhaps the most strategic person of all. God uses unbelievers to accomplish his will and must. You may even have to cut off your friendships to a considerable degree -- not that the Christian must ever retire from the world, but we have to recognize that there must be a turning away from that which is ignoble. Starting out as a shepherd boy who tended his father's flocks, he seemed very small.
Those who buried Stephen were surely putting themselves at risk by identifying with him, especially since a great persecution had broken out against the believers in Jerusalem. RT063 - God uses unlikely tools to accomplish His will! Ezra 1:2. Fourth, God's command seemed impossible to obey. It was through Isaac's lineage that many other great heroes came, and through which Jesus, the Messiah, was ultimately born. It may be that we misappropriate the grace of God for the praise of men and ego satisfaction. If somebody is angry at you, although you are not to blame, you just cannot keep that within you and let it fester away, upsetting you and creating frustration in your heart.
God does not force us to be used of him; it must always be a willing choice on our part. For years, Houdini amazed the crowds with his incredible escapes. 52 He sent messengers on ahead of him. Jeremiah 25:32 says, "Behold, disaster shall go forth From nation to nation, And a great whirlwind shall be raised up From the farthest parts of the earth. Jesus changes Mark so much that Paul asks for Mark to come to Rome to be with him during his final imprisonment before Paul dies, because Mark is so useful. God uses unbelievers to accomplish his will be able. Timothy had a great opportunity in Ephesus. They approached some source of water, perhaps an oasis of some kind, and the eunuch seized this opportunity to be baptized. 7 For unclean spirits, crying with loud shrieks, were coming out of many who were possessed, and many paralyzed and lame people were healed. The writer to the Hebrews said, 15 For we do not have a high priest incapable of sympathizing with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in every way just as we are, yet without sin.
God sets up and uses the government for His evil governments. These, however, are not the points of contrast on which I wish to focus. The Bible says, "God was well pleased through the message preached to save those who believe" (I Cor. Now on that day a great persecution began against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were forced to scatter 3 throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria. Now he is the most gentle-spirited, gracious fellow, a teacher of the other prisoners, instructing them in the truth of God. But the fact of the matter is it wasn't me! Try to please them all the time, not just when they are watching you. Granted, God's Spirit directs Philip to the desert road where he meets the eunuch, and He then instructs Philip to make contact with this man. But Aristarchus is loyal servant of Christ and in Acts 27 – Aristarchus is with Paul when Paul goes to Rome to be tried as a prisoner. God Uses Many People to Accomplish His Purposes | Faith Ministries Resources. Jesus uses Demas for his purposes even though he quits following Jesus. There may be some today who suppose that unless there are unusual signs and wonders, God may not be present, and He may not be powerfully at work in our midst. Earlier in Colossians 3 God instructs slaves and masters…. Seek] peace, along with those who call upon the Lord from a pure heart.
We ought to be encouraged to pray for the salvation of the lost. My ministry is small locally, but gigantic because of the faithful service of others. From this point on, there was great hostility between the Jews and the Samaritans. God will bring ultimate and final judgment upon all ungodliness.
2 Timothy 4:11a NLT. We are to put off what belongs to our old life and to put on what belongs to our new life. For his life was taken away from the earth. " Impatience and failing to trust God is never helpful. Nevertheless, the hand of God continued to work in a powerful way (Acts 5:14-16). They deride every stronghold, For they heap up earthen mounds and seize it.
Moses was a by-product of the Egyptians attempts to hinder God's blessing upon them, was placed in pitch covered basket and set adrift in the Nile, but rescued, weened by his own mother, adopted into Pharaoh's house, and educated in all the learning of Egypt (Acts 7:22). Pharaoh's heart was hardened again. Stephen was likewise distinguished by his powerful preaching, accompanied by wonders and signs (Acts 6:8-10). Fit to be Used | 2 Tim 2:20-22. We need to clearly understand this fact. Signs and wonders were necessary to accredit the apostles as God's authoritative spokesmen (2 Corinthians 12:11-13; Hebrews 2:1-4). He had come to Jerusalem to worship, 28 and was returning home, sitting in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah. God can operate through unbelievers just as easily as He can through believers.
30 He is the reason you have a relationship with Christ Jesus, who became for us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, "Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 1:26-31). A simple reading of this statement would seem to lead one to conclude that "this matter" is the bestowing of the Spirit, not the matter of being saved. God uses unbelievers to accomplish his will and trust. But Christ changed Paul's life to put the past sins behind him and to seek Jesus and to know Jesus, even if it means sharing in the sufferings of Jesus. It is not until Acts 11:19 that Luke takes up the preaching of the gospel beyond Judea and Samaria. Jesus was silent at His death (see also 1 Peter 2:22-23), and so it is Philip who speaks to explain Messiah's death and resurrection, and the salvation it achieved.
In Deuteronomy, Israel is about to enter into the Promised Land. Lesson 2: God's Use of the Ungodly Habakkuk 1:5-11. The Prophet Habakkuk wrote during the troubled times before Judah's captivity. How many times do we fret and worry and then see the Lord deliver us and realize that all of our anxiety and fretting was for naught, that it accomplished nothing, but was an expression of our sinful doubt? Specifically, Luke indicates that he was reading the words of Isaiah 53:7-8. Their end will be most awful. You have to claim them; you have to go after them. I might preach to 100 people on Sunday morning in my own little church, but I preach to thousands over the internet. And that gain is not always monetary. However, he managed to defeat the Philistine giant, Goliath with one stone in his slingshot. Only so can we hope to be fit for the Master's use.
At first glance, it might look as though Saul played but a small part in the death of Stephen. It forces us to live by faith, which is how He wants us to live all the time because it gives Him glory. He is simply instructed to go in a certain direction. John Mark who is called Mark in the Bible, was a Jewish Christian. But Luke was not Jewish. I believe we see God at work strategically in the Book of Acts moving "key logs" so that others were greatly impacted.