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Acts 13
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Acts 13

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Devotional: Called, Sent, and Strengthened — Acts 13
Scripture Reading

Acts 13:2–3 (NIV)
“While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, ‘Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.’ So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and sent them off.”

1. A Call in the Middle of Ordinary Worship

Paul and Barnabas were not in a special meeting or seeking a grand assignment—Scripture describes an ordinary gathering of believers worshipping together in Antioch. In that simple, everyday moment, the Holy Spirit spoke.

This reminds us:
God often calls us in the ordinary, not the spectacular.
The question is not whether we hear a dramatic voice, but whether our hearts are open and sensitive to the Spirit’s quiet direction.

Paul and Barnabas didn’t hesitate. They trusted the One who called them—and went.

Reflection:
Is my heart open to God’s direction during my ordinary, daily routines?

2. The Presence of Opposition

As the missionaries traveled across Cyprus, they encountered Elymas the sorcerer, who tried to turn the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, away from the faith (Acts 13:6–12). But God used this confrontation to reveal His power, and the proconsul believed.

Sometimes God allows obstacles or difficult people to appear on our path because He plans to use those moments to draw others—and even us—closer to Him.

Reflection:
How might God be using a difficult situation in my life to display His power or grow my faith?

3. When Others Do Not Follow

John Mark, likely a very young man, joined Paul and Barnabas on their journey—but left when they reached Perga (Acts 13:13). Scripture doesn’t give a reason, but later writings and historical research suggest the road ahead was dangerous and frightening.

Paul took this departure hard. Yet later in life, after years of growth on both sides, he would call Mark “useful to me in ministry” (2 Tim. 4:11).

This reminds us:

Not everyone who starts with us will finish with us.

People grow, change, and return.

God is patient with us, and we should be patient with others.

Reflection:
Is there someone I need to extend grace to, remembering that God is still working in their story?

4. When the Message is Rejected

As Paul preached in Antioch of Pisidia, many of the Jews rejected the message of Jesus. Paul then turned to the Gentiles—opening the door of salvation to countless others (Acts 13:46–48).

Rejection did not stop the gospel. God used it to redirect the message to those ready to receive it.

Reflection:
How do I respond when I feel rejected or discouraged? Do I let God redirect me instead of stopping me?

5. God’s Call Is Always Accompanied by His Strength

From dangerous roads to spiritual opposition to relational conflict, Acts 13 shows that the call of God is not always easy. Yet every step is marked by His guidance and power.

Paul and Barnabas went because God sent them.
They endured because God strengthened them.
And fruit came because God prepared the way.

Prayer

Holy spirit Let us have ears that will listen for when you are speaking to us, even in the quiet simple moments help us to remember that you are not looking for a show or some type of spectator sport.What you are looking for are open hearts and willing feat to do your work.Guide us as we follow you amen.

Side note: I utilized an online system to format my writing for this devotion. I will not always do this and have not done this before, but for how long my original text was it seemed a good way to summarize it for easier reading.

The theme of Acts and what we can learn from it
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · Jesus · power of God · Prayer · searching

The theme of Acts and what we can learn from it

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In truth, Acts is very repetitive. A deciple preaches Jesus’s kingdom and heals people. Then he is hated by those who are jealous of him and tortured. Then he goes and preaches Jesus again.
What do we learn from this common string that we see throughout Act? Keep fighting.
Keep telling of Jesus, keep letting them hate you. Do not give up!
Yesterday a friend of ours said, “I keep telling people about Jesus no matter what. I figure they’re going to hell without Him anyway, I can’t make things worse.” And she’s totally right. They are already headed for the worst thing that can happen to them, so you aren’t going to hurt them by telling them about Jesus. The bad thing that can happen is that they might hurt you. Or block you on Social Media, it’s Canada, there’s not a lot people are going to do.
So then why not? Why not tell them? Unless we are afraid for ourselves. Which most of us are. I do not enjoy sharing Jesus. Its the most terrifying thing you will do. Why? Because the devil makes us afraid. He lies to us and tells us to hide our faith our we will lose things. Our friends. Our jobs. Our Twitter following.
In the end what does any of that matter? As long as another soul is in Heaven.

[36] In Joppa there was a disciple named Tabitha (in Greek her name is Dorcas); she was always doing good and helping the poor. [37] About that time she became sick and died, and her body was washed and placed in an upstairs room. [38] Lydda was near Joppa; so when the disciples heard that Peter was in Lydda, they sent two men to him and urged him, “Please come at once!” [39] Peter went with them, and when he arrived he was taken upstairs to the room. All the widows stood around him, crying and showing him the robes and other clothing that Dorcas had made while she was still with them. [40] Peter sent them all out of the room; then he got down on his knees and prayed. Turning toward the dead woman, he said, “Tabitha, get up.” She opened her eyes, and seeing Peter she sat up. [41] He took her by the hand and helped her to her feet. Then he called for the believers, especially the widows, and presented her to them alive. [42] This became known all over Joppa, and many people believed in the Lord. [43] Peter stayed in Joppa for some time with a tanner named Simon.
I want us to take two things from this verse.
1. Nothing can stop God’s work in your life. Not even death.
2. Your work may look different than Peter’s work.

Tabitha did good work. The women showed Peter the clothes she had made for the poor. She probably became sick by being with the sick. She was a minister. Not a pastor. Not an evangelist. She made clothes. This was what she had been gifted by God to do. This makes me think of Linus. There is a group in town that makes blankets for the firetrucks. They make them in bold and beautiful designs. When something tragic happens and the firemen have to wrap someone up in a blanket they wrap them in one of these quilts and then send them home with the quilt.
This is a talent these ladies use to care for these people.
Peter then goes and stays with a tanner. A man who tanned hides for use.
He was able to serve God by letting Peter stay in his home.
We all have something we can do. It might be knitting booties to give to crises pregnancy center. Or making a hot meal for a neighbor. Or teaching someone how to do something they need to be able to do.
God told us to wear boots of readiness not slippers of “meh, maybe later.” Be ready to do God’s work. Who knows what that will look like or what day that will happen. Perhaps you are the smile someone needs. Perhaps you are the home made cookies that helped someone keep going.
We all face battles and darkness. Everyone here has a monster who paces the corners of their mind from time to time. But one way to fight the beast that we don’t alway remember, is to help people.
Tabitha fought the monster of illness, and God sent Peter to help her back on her feet. How many people had she helped back on their feet over the years?
Don’t let the darkness win. Shine light. Be the light. And be willing to let others be the light to you.

Too far away from the fire
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

Too far away from the fire

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When you don’t spend enough time with God, you begin to lose something. You lose the warmth. There is a warmth in the connection between you and God, a steady feeling of health for your soul. You may have days on end where your day was lousy, but you felt okay once you sat down and spent time with Him. Then things change. You get busy. Distracted. Sick. Tired. Something happens, and you are suddenly not spending the time with God that you used to. Then the cold slips in. Like a frost slipping its fingers under the door in December. A chill enters your bones, and you don’t know why or where it has come from. You wrap up in a blanket of comfort, TV, social media, a good book, but it’s never enough. Then, one day, you open your Bible, and suddenly, a wave of warmth floods back into your soul. You stop and pray for a bit, and more warmth comes. Soon, you are praying and worshiping and feel like you are sitting on a warm beach in the sun because your soul has its fire back.

Isaiah 53:6-12 NIV
[6] We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all. [7] He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth. [8] By oppression and judgment he was taken away. Yet who of his generation protested? For he was cut off from the land of the living; for the transgression of my people he was punished. [9] He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth. [10] Yet it was the Lord’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, and though the Lord makes his life an offering for sin, he will see his offspring and prolong his days, and the will of the Lord will prosper in his hand. [11] After he has suffered, he will see the light of life and be satisfied; by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. [12] Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.

https://bible.com/bible/111/isa.53.6-12.NIV

The battle in the hall
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · holy spirit · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · The Bible · True Joy

The battle in the hall

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The real battle, he fought alone, in the hall before the great door and the monster within. – The Hobbit

We often feel like our times of fighting with ourselves and forcing ourselves forward to do things that terrify us is not the true battle. In fact, we look on it as weakness. Yet, it is often in the hallways before the interview, before the operation, before the exam, before whatever is facing you, that is where we fought the true battle. The greatest battle to overcome, because we are fighting ourselves.

In a way, we are all members of Fight Club. We are all fighters against the enemy of our own thoughts and actions. For every time God tells you to do something, the devil tells you not to, and vice-versa. If God tells you to invite your friend to church, the devil will tell you not to. If God tells you not to go to that party, the devil will tell you you should.
You always fight your biggest battles, but yourself, in the hall.
Except one thing. You aren’t by yourself. Jesus fights with you. When the devil gets in your head, Jesus is right there attacking his defenses and stopping him from making strongholds.
Jesus is your only true defense.
Don’t let the battle of the hall hold you back from the path and the future God has set before you.

Some days
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Some days

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Some days, it hurts. Some days you wonder why you are there and how you even got there. Some days, it feels like everyone is after you and not in a good way. But God.
It’s like climbing through a thick cloud. You can’t see where you are going, but you keep going, and then finally, you see the light at the top. That’s what it’s like to turn your eyes upon Jesus. He will show that you are okay because of Him. He will give you great friends. He will give you great family. He Himself will be your support team.
You have wounds. But you are not defined by them. You are strong despite them and because of them, but they are not who you are.
Jesus cried tears of blood for a people He loved, in a place He did not want to be, about to do something He did not want to do. But He did it anyway.
He lives inside of us. His strength to carry on through the impossible is with us. He is our God.
Even when you feel like a tree who has had her bark wounded by a deer, stripped and torn but not so deep it will die, Jesus sees you. He hasn’t let you go or left you. He will get you through this.
Trust Him!

Mist and light
Christianity · encouragement · found · free · guidance · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God

Mist and light

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Have you ever noticed the mist?
I mean really noticed it.
It’s beautiful. It changes everything so that scenes you have seen all your life, sudden you don’t recognize. But that’s also why it can be so dangerous.
If you don’t recognize where you are you can get lost. Or fall and get hurt. Or drive the wrong way.
Sin is like that. It can look so beautiful that we crave it. But then it makes everything you once knew was right and true look blurry. Suddenly you no longer know where you are or how you got there. You’re lost. But the Light of the world comes and burns back the mist showing you your way home.
If you’re lost right now, talk to Jesus and let His light terrify the dark.

Be like Daniel
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance

Be like Daniel

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Life gets hard. Sometimes you get sick. Sometimes you’re far from home. Sometimes you’re under a lot of pressure. Sometimes it’s all of the above.
When times get tough, think of Daniel. He was alone in a strange land, with strange customs and ways. In the beginning he had some friends from his land, but it seems like very soon after he was singled out and made to be on his own.
When times were hard he stood firm for God and did not budge.
He continued to pray each day and watched as God moved mountains.
Then when times were good and he was recognized for what God was doing through him. He continued. He continued to put God first and to pray and to trust Him.
Sometimes life is no fun and all you want to do it cry. In those times turn to Jesus. Reach out to Him. There may be a wall to struggle past, but you will get there. And once there you will see His glory as He guides you on this path.
Stay strong in Jesus friends!

Run to the tower
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · J.R.R.Tolkien · Jesus · no longer lost

Run to the tower

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Run to the tower.

Tolkien wrote a lot of novels that were never celebrated, many of which are barely even known about. I have a favorite set called Tales from the perilous realm. Because, of course, all adventures and all fairy tales can be perilous. He writes of two little dogs staying in a tall tower with the man on the moon and the two little dogs venture too far away from home 1 day and end up bothering a large dragon, and the man on the moon has to save them. And as they’re running away from the dragon, they’re running as fast as they can back to the man on the moon’s tower because they know that they are safe within his tower.
God calls himself our strong tower. But in a world where we don’t really have towers anymore, we have condos and high rises, we forget what a tower means. Towers were fortresses, probably made out of Stone or clay brick. They were strong.They were a place the enemy could not get in. Because it was protected by the king’s guard and by the king.
Run to his tower. He is a fortress for when I am weak. A place where I can hide. God is a place of refuge. His loving arms always open to receive us and always strong to protect. So when we travel too far from home and bother the great dragons, run back to the tower, the door will be open and he will protect you.

Proverbs 3:5-6
Christianity · Devotional · encouragement · found · free · guidance · Jesus · no longer lost · power of God · Prayer · searching · still fighting · True Joy

Proverbs 3:5-6

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Proverbs 3:5-6 NIV

[5] Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; [6] in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

This. This right here. This verse.

We listen to it. We pray it. We quote it. We get it tattooed on our arms. Yet. Do we listen to it?

Trust in Jesus. Do not rely on what you understand. Submit your ways to Him and He will make a way.

We see this verse as a soft, cuddly verse. A feel good verse. This is not a feel good verse. This is a battle cry in the midst of tragedy and sorrow. This is not a spot light on a highway, this is a torch in a tunnel. 

We don’t need to be reminded to trust God when life is good. We need to trust God when life is a dumpster fire! When we can’t take anymore. When we want to scream and cry and throw things. That’s when we need to be reminded that our understanding is not His understanding. Our understanding is limited to what we know and what we see. His understanding expands beyond thought, time and reality as we know it. God knows how the book ends. We don’t. God knows how we are going to continue on. Get by. See the end. See the reward. See the plan, maybe we never see the plan, maybe we just live the plan. But God. God knows. Trust not in your understanding because it is subjective. Trust in God’s understanding because He created your understanding.

Mother’s day
Christianity · Devotional · Love · mother's day

Mother’s day

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Thinking on the day, being mother’s day, I can’t help but think of what really makes a mom. This thought took me to flowers.

Flowers nurture their babies, primarily by providing nourishment and protection until they are ready to grow independently. This is achieved through the development of fruit and seeds, which contain stored food reserves and protective structures. Additionally, some plants have mechanisms to ensure their offspring remain near favorable environments, such as sending out runners or developing seedlings while still attached to the parent plant.

It’s funny to think of. A plant that cannot think or feel is God designed to care for and grow it’s seeds. It does it naturally, automatically, because that’s how God made it to function.
Human mothers aren’t so fortunate. They have to make a choice to be a good mom. These women have decided that raising and caring for their children even at risk and cost to themselves is more important than being free to do as they please or to live for themselves. Because as a mother you never live for yourself, you are always living someone else. Not all women can handle this, so they choose not to have children or keep their children. Foster care is full of kids whose mothers cared more about themselves then about their children. There are a few who gave their children up for the sake of the child. But not many. I say this because being a mom is hard work. It’s not always fun, in fact it is mostly hard work and stress. So to the mothers who chose to brave this path and to stick it out to the end. You are amazing! You are rare and valuable. Keep at it. Keep going. What you do is important.
When I think of how and mother cares for her children in that way of sacrifice, I obviously think of my mom. Especially lately. I have been so busy with school I don’t always remember what day it is or to brush my hair. I know that sounds terrible, but this is truly how busy it’s been. Then today came. Mother’s day. My mom made our family a nice breakfast. I should have made her breakfast. She had baked a cake for mother’s day. I should have made it for her. I did recall to have a present for her. But she cleaned up the kitchen. It was supposed to be her day. She made it special for everyone else. When I told her how sorry I was, she smiled and shook her head. Then she limped to her chair because the day had caused her pain.
That’s a mom. That’s what it means to be a mother. Sacrifice. Love. Determination. Faith. Mothers rely of Jesus to pull them through these tough days and they thank Him each time they get to smile or laugh with their child.
Anyone can be a mom. Even a plant. But it takes someone whose power comes from the savior, someone who keeps going despite the pain and weariness, someone who protects and cares for those around her, to be a mother.
Happy Mother’s day.

https://www.shademetals.com/blog/plant-moms
The life cycle of flowering plants