Acts 23:11 (KJV)
And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.
Paul had earlier stated that he was willing not only to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem. Here the Lord encourages him that he would not die there, but be a witness also in Rome.
There is nothing in this promise that implies relief of the trial. There is only a promise
- That the Jews will not kill him
- That he will be given further opportunities to witness
Cheer can happen in the most unsuspecting ways. Paul was cheered:
By the Lord HimselfFind your joy in the Lord and you can be happy anywhere.
By an acknowledgment of his testimonyThat God has been a witness of our ministry can be a great encouragement. We are not alone even when no one stands with us. We might feel like we have failed. But God has been in the stands cheering us along.
By a promise of future serviceHe hadn’t cast Paul away or put him on a shelf. He wasn’t confining Paul to ineffectiveness. He was merely opening new doors of opportunity.
To my readers:
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.
I would love to hear from you. Leave comments below.
If you have been blessed by this blog, please subscribe to my feed and share it with others
Acts 23:11 What Cheered Paul
Please consider helping our church’s teen department by signing up for cash back shopping at Bible Baptist Church Fundraiser. This program has three levels of participation, the first being completely free. Email me for a free one month VIP membership.
No comments:
Post a Comment