Then in reading Mark 2, Jesus’ way is a very different way. Different attitudes and behaviors get noticed especially when such attitudes and behaviors rub against conventional religious practices. But Jesus’ answer to criticism goes to the heart of the Christian way. Jesus is being obedient to a calling. Jesus’ whole ministry is to bring health not just to the physically sick but to Israel as a whole and the world as a whole. However, this is not an easier way. A lot of people will get upset. There are great challenge and risks that will require sacrifice and hardship. That’s also true for Jesus’ followers, even today. Can you see the promised land – that is, God’s vision of reality? What are the obstacles within me that keep me from seeing what God sees?

Jesus’ actions and words ring out like a loud alarm in today’s world telling us what time it is (time for the doctor to see the patients), warning us to look at things from God’s point of view (our perspectives often block God’s view), encouraging us to extend his healing and transforming power wherever and whenever it is needed.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us – yes, establish the work of our hands. (Psalm 90:17)

You would think the Israelites would have more patience and a lot more gratitude. For four hundred years they had been in Egypt – as slaves. Then one day they are given freedom. They experience the miraculous escape through the Red Sea, and what do they do? Within days of freedom, they are whining that life is too hard. They complain about now having enough to eat. So, God provides manna. After eleven months of being sustained in Sinai by eating manna, they head toward the Promised Land. And what do they do, but start whining about the manna that God provides. They want meat. So, God gives them meat – and a consequence of eating too much meat. They get sick.

Some days, I get tired or hungry or both. Something else in my day has not gone the way I wanted – and I whine. Usually to myself, sometimes to whomever is within the range of my voice, and I wonder what God hears.

The Israelites quickly focused on themselves, forgetting God’s promise. Did God exist for their purposes or did they exist for God’s purposes? Who gets to be God? I have discovered that when I get what I want I am not necessarily in a better place – not unless that place is God directed. The Israelites got what they wanted. It came with a cost – a very unpleasant one.

So, for today, I will carry with me the words from Psalm 27: I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD.

But then, this is not really the story of Paul, is it? This is the story of the Lord Jesus Christ. The book of Acts is not an ending but a beginning. We now step into that beginning – with all boldness and without hindrance.

Lord, enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders in the name of your holy servant Jesus. Amen.

Are you ready with your elevator speech? As I understand it, the elevator speech comes from the idea that inside the elevator one has a captive audience and anywhere from 30 seconds to two minutes (depending on the distance the elevator is traveling) to make a sales pitch.

Paul never missed an opportunity. Every opportunity was an opportunity to tell his story of what God had done in his life. Whether standing trial before King Agrippa or while shipwrecked or countless other places, Paul was ready. As we approach the end of the book of Acts, we have read Paul’s story often enough that we know his story. What is your story? What has God done in and through you? Is today the day to write your story or tell your story?

Acts 26:29″Short time or long – I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

Paul is living what he feels God called him to do and that will take him to Rome (I must visit Rome – Acts 19:21). In a special vision, Paul is promised by Jesus that he will get to Rome (“Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.” Acts 23:11). We are learning something about God’s purposes and prayer.

Sometimes when we pray and wait for God to act, part of the answer is that God will act, but God will do so through our taking proper responsibility in the matter at hand. It can be hard to know what is the right answer. Is it that God will fight for me or is it “take courage” and it is time for me to act? Discovering which applies in which instance is the discernment that all Christians must do.

After two years in prison – waiting, praying, discerning - Paul takes action. “I appeal to Caesar!”

The Bible is not organized in chronological order. With Numbers, we are taken back to the time just after the Israelites have escaped to the wilderness of Sinai. From slavery to new-found freedom, it was like the counting that I have experienced when traveling. Every household was organized within a tribe that could be traced back to one of the twelve sons of Jacob. Every household counted. Every household mattered.

In Acts 24, we learn that Paul was in prison – for more than two years. Periodically, he was brought before the governor who hoped Paul would offer a bribe. All Paul had to offer was the message of the gospel that God had given him. I wonder if Paul ever felt left behind. During the long periods that he would sit in prison, perhaps he remembered the care given in the scriptures to counting. Everyone matters – to God.

That’s something I ponder in my own life. When I live with the consequence of some decision or action, I am left to wonder – was it worth it? It never is. Why not just be obedient?

In Acts 23, Paul was facing consequences of being obedient and faithful to God. The attacking crowd and the confrontation by the high priest and sadducees must have been terrifying. He escaped death at this point. He would live to see Rome, but at what price? Are the consequences of obedience any better than the consequences of disobedience? Does faith matter?

I underlined these words from Acts 23:11. The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage!” For Paul, this made all the difference.

For me, it has made all the difference. The Lord stood near… “Take courage!”

I’ll admit to being disobedient and experiencing the consequences, but I want the balance of my life (and this day) to be lived with the Lord standing near, whispering in my ear – “Take courage.”

What’s mine is mine – or is it? In Leviticus, we learn that the land belonged to God, who in turn placed it on lease in the hands of families. Every fifty years – the year of Jubilee – the land was restored to the original leasee. God is the owner and the provider. I remember the words of the hymn: We give thee but thine own whate’re the gift may be. All that we have is thine alone, a trust O LORD from thee. Trust.

Paul gave his testimony of faith. What would happen next was beyond his ability to control. Even announcing that he was a Roman citizen would not ultimately save him. All he could do was trust God.

In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. (Psalm 25:1) I want to be trusted. Today, let me learn the lesson of trusting God.

Have you ever been compelled? I don’t mean that voice inside late at night that calls you to the freezer for ice cream. I don’t mean that desire for success that keeps you working late into the night. I don’t mean the kind of concern for your health prompted by a doctor’s warning that gets you up early each morning to exercise. Yes, these may fit the dictionary definition of compelled – to be driven or to be forced. For Paul to be compelled by the Spirit, I don’t think Paul was being forced. I think Paul was being faithful. He was responding to a higher calling and he found the strength through the power of the Holy Spirit to be faithful to that call regardless of what others urged him to do and in spite of the risks to his life. For Paul, this was not about Paul but God.

To be so in love with God and to have a pinpoint focus on fulfilling his God-given purpose, Paul keeps moving toward Pentecost in Jerusalem. Nineteen chapters ago, we read the importance of Pentecost – the believers were filled with the power of the Holy Spirit.

I underlined three words in Acts 21. Found in verse 13, Paul said I am ready. I, too, want to be ready, but will I be so faithful to God’s claim on my life that I will be compelled by the Spirit? Today I’ve been given another day, another opportunity. LORD, here I am.

Jesus would announce that all of the laws could be summarized in two commands. That sounds a whole lot easier than keeping track of everything found in the book of Leviticus, until we hear the two commands. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. (Matthew 22:37-39)

I long for a world like that. God longs for a world like that. God calls me (and you) to be the one(s) to start living that world (i.e. kingdom of God). And to do that, Paul’s words will become my words as well: I consider my life worth nothing to me; my only aim is to finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me – the task of testifying to the good news of God’s grace (Acts 20:24)

Be bold!