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If you noticed that the devotional from the Life Application Bible in Luke is out of order, 1) You might have OCD (Obessesive Compulsive Disorder), or 2) Your'e very observant. Somehow I skipped several days so I'll be catching up.
- dr joe
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Food for Thought...
I believe our nation is headed for very hard, even disastrous times. I do not believe politics will fix our economy - it's too far gone - too much debt to ever pay back. We depend completely on our fragile technological infrastructure for food, water, shelter, transportation, and entertainment. Any number of events could cause a sudden collapse of our system e.g., electric grid collapse from terrorism, natural event like solar flare, simple breakdown from lack of modernization, or Israel attacks Iran and the price of oil skyrockets, or China stops buying our treasury bonds. I am feeling called to prepare for such disaster by working to be less dependent and more self-sufficient. If you have interest in or questions about this line of thinking, please e-mail me by replying to this e-mail. Below are some of my favorite links:
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Luke 9:13-14
13 He replied, "You give them something to eat."
They answered, "We have only five loaves of bread and two fish-unless we go and buy food for all this crowd." 14 (About five thousand men were there.)
But he said to his disciples, "Have them sit down in groups of about fifty each."
When the disciples expressed concern about where the crowd of thousands would eat, Jesus offered a surprising solution: "You feed them." The disciples protested, focusing their attention on what they didn't have-food and money. Do you think God would ask you to do something that you and he together couldn't handle? Don't let your lack of resources blind you to seeing God's power.
Verse and commentary above and below in this color is copied from the Life Application Study Bible Reading Plan on YouVersion. Check it out at: http://www.youversion.com/ .
Any Dr JOE comments will be in BLUE :0)
Acts 21:1-6
7 We (when it says "we" in Acts it means that Luke was with Paul) continued our voyage from Tyre and landed at Ptolemais, where we greeted the brothers and sisters and stayed with them for a day. 78 Leaving the next day, we reached Caesarea and stayed at the house of Philip the evangelist, one of the Seven.
9 He had four unmarried daughters who prophesied.
(Prophecy is a gift of the Holy Spirit where God uses a person to voice what He wants to tell us. Sometimes it's telling the future but often it is a warning or something God needs us to know in order to serve him properly. How can you tell a prophet is from God? Well, a message from God will not contradict His character or what He says in the Bible.)
10 After we had been there a number of days, a prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. 11 Coming over to us, he took Paul's belt, tied his own hands and feet with it and said, "The Holy Spirit says, 'In this way the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem will bind the owner of this belt and will hand him over to the Gentiles.' "
12 When we heard this, we and the people there pleaded with Paul not to go up to Jerusalem. 13 Then Paul answered, "Why are you weeping and breaking my heart? I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus." 14
When he would not be dissuaded, we gave up and said, "The Lord's will be done."
So Luke and the others apparently did not think it was the Lord's will for Paul to be bound and handed over. Paul, however, was quite sure through the Holy Spirit that it was God's will for him to go.
Acts 19:21 After all this had happened, Paul decided in the Spirit to go to Jerusalem, passing through Macedonia and Achaia. (the italicized section is in the notes of the NIV)
How do we know what God's will is for us in a given situation? We ask Him, We read His Word, We ask mature Christians their opinion. Then we depend on the Holy Spirit to guide us.
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Questions?
Please email me with any questions about today's scripture message or anything related to the Bible or Christianity.
I might not know the answer but I'll try real hard to find it.
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