SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 5/16/2018 9:38 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-2 Recognizing God Is
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: Acts
17:22-23
Message of the verses: “22 So Paul stood in the midst of the Areopagus and said, "Men of Athens, I observe that you are very religious in all respects. 23 “For while I was passing through and examining the objects of your worship, I also found an altar with this inscription, ’TO AN UNKNOWN GOD.’ Therefore what you worship in ignorance, this I proclaim to you.”
As we ended our last SD we quoted botanist Alan Radcliffe
Smith as he spoke about the Lady’s Slipper Orchid. In today’s SD as we begin I want to begin by
talking about the fact that a plan requires a planner. This story goes back a few years but worth
telling. I went to a men’s Bible study a
few years back to hear a man named Bill Glass, who used to play professional
football. He played for the Detroit
Lions and then the Cleveland Browns where he retired from. The year that I heard him speak he was in
town to be honored by the Browns so I had the opportunity to hear him
speak. Bill’s plan for his life was to
become the next Billy Graham, as he wanted to become an evangelist. God changed his plan as after much persuading
he went to a prison to talk to the inmates about Christ. He did not want to do this, but after going
that first time he knew that is what God wanted him to do. God prepared his heart so that he could begin
the Bill Glass prison ministry. Bill was
a friend of a friend of mine and so I got to meet him after he spoke and
actually shake hands with him. When I
did that my hand just disappeared into his gigantic hand. As he spoke to us he mentioned that he was
wearing a Rolex watch, a gift from some organization. He said that the reason that this watch
worked so well was because it had an intelligent designer, and then he carried
over that point to God and the universe stating that God was the One who not only
designed the universe, but He created it also, including the Lady Slipper
Orchid. We look at things like
computers, cars, buildings, etc., and we don’t have a problem stating that
someone has designed them, but when some people look at the world they think it
all happened by some cosmic accident called evolution. I have mentioned how much that I hate
evolution as it to me, is only a means of denying that God is the creator of
the universe, and when you take Him out of that roll you can say that you are
not accountable to anyone. Satan is
behind evolution without a doubt to me, as he tries to get people, even
Christians to forget about the clear teaching that is found in the first two
chapters of Genesis, and if he can do that it casts a doubt on the rest of
Scripture.
John MacArthur writes:
“Since the evidence for
God’s existence is so overwhelming, the question arises as to why there are
atheists. The Bible teaches that the
reason is not intellectual and rational but moral and spiritual. David wrote in Psalm 14:1, ‘The fool has said
in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ That
the foolishness in view is moral, not intellectual, is clear from the rest of
the verse: ‘They are corrupt, they have
committed abominable deeds; there is no one who does good.’ Atheism’s rejection of God’s appeals to
people who wish to avoid judgment for their sinful lifestyle. Romans 1:18-23 makes clear that the matter of
rejecting God is willful and due to the love of sin:
‘18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.’”
This is what Paul walked into while at Athens, confusion
that was caused by conflicting philosophies and idolatry. So Paul spoke forcefully the truth to them
about the One True God, so that they could know Him. “What therefore you worship in ignorance,
this I proclaim to you,” and that is what we will be looking at as we continue
through this 17th chapter of Acts, looking next at “Recognizing Who
God Is” in our next SD.
Spiritual meaning
for my life today: Knowing that God
created the universe, and knowing that He is in control of it all, including
me, I can only give thanks, even though my part of the universe is some things
in it that if I had my choice would not be there, but knowing that God will use
them to cause all things to work together for my good and for His glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: Trust the Lord!
Answer to yesterday’s Bible
question: “Goat’s hair” (Exodus 26:7).
Today’s Bible
question: “What nationality was the man
who helped the man who fell among thieves?”
Answer in our next SD.
5/16/2018 10:19 AM
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