Timothy's feet hurt. Truly hurt. They ached with a pain that Timothy had never experience in his life. Was it even possible to walk when you were in this much pain?
"Where are we going to stay?" Timothy glanced over at Silas.
"I don't know," Silas said, glancing over at him. "I'm trying not to worry about it."
Timothy was trying not to worry about it either.
His stomach groaned.
Great. Now he was worried about his lack of food.
They turned the corner, and stopped in their tracks. Dust billowed around them in a big, tan cloud, but that didn't block out the sight before them.
Paul stood in the middle of a group of people teaching them about Jesus. Someone had brought him a plate of food, but it sat off to the side, ignored. His face was beat red from the heat, but he didn't move to the shade. He was consumed with his task.
Timothy looked at Silas, and was a little relieved to see his own sheepish expression mirrored on Silas' face. Paul was occupied with the Word of God, focused on the important things. God was taking care of him. Maybe they should focus on the same thing instead of worrying.
Based on Acts 18:5
"When Silas and Timothy arrived from Macedonia, Paul was occupied with the word, testifying to the Jews that the Christ was Jesus." Acts 18:5
I love this verse. I love what it means. Paul was so focused on the word, on serving God, and sharing the Gospel. When other people arrived, they found Paul occupied with sharing God's word.
Most of us are totally focused. We know how to focus - on everything else! But on God? Do we know how to be totally focused on God?
"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2
If I had moved to a strange new city, I would be focused on so many things. Where would I live? Where would I get the money to buy food? How will my family adjust to this new place? Where is the nearest bookstore?
What you're focused on when other people show up out of the blue, when you don't know they are watching you, shows a lot about your priorities. Paul's priority was the word. Lived and breathed it. What are you occupied with everyday? Is it God?
"Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2
Occupy yourself with the things and The One above.
V. Joy Palmer
Thursday, February 18, 2016
Tuesday, February 16, 2016
The Known God
The sun seemed to be hotter on top of the mountain. Thank God for the breeze that cooled and soothed him, making the sweat on his brow seem refreshing instead of sticky.
The hill seemed to stretch for miles above Athens. The esteemed leaders sat before him looking partly bemused, partly condescending. They spent all their time learning about and worshipping false gods, so Paul wasn't really surprised. He had seen an altar with the inscription, "To the unknown god." Paul knew that they were deceived, searching, and as a result, worshipping anything.
But today they would learn the truth.
Standing in the midst of the Areopagus, Paul took a deep breath. He felt the calming presence of the Holy Spirit as all the men trained their judging eyes on him.
Today they would meet the unknown God. Today they would stop saying unknown. Today they would learn that He wanted to know them.
Based on Acts 17:22-25
"So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, "To the unknown god." What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. he God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, or is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.'"
You may be sitting there thinking, "Religious. I'm not religious. I worship no one!"
That's not really true.
You see, we were created to worship. Created to look to Something greater then ourselves. Created to love Him. The Lord God of Heaven, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. But the god of this world, the enemy, tries to convince you otherwise. He convinces unsuspecting people to put their faith in false gods and religions, in science and evolution, in their own strengths, abilities, or god-ness. And we long to put our faith into something, anything. Whether we realize it or not, we all worship something.
Paul was telling the people to stop worshiping everything but the One who is responsible. God. He's the One our souls long for. Is the unknown God known to you? Do you worship something, anything, hoping it's The Real God?
The God of Heaven and Earth longs for you, too. The unknown God is here and waiting for you. He wants to be known by you.
V. Joy Palmer
The hill seemed to stretch for miles above Athens. The esteemed leaders sat before him looking partly bemused, partly condescending. They spent all their time learning about and worshipping false gods, so Paul wasn't really surprised. He had seen an altar with the inscription, "To the unknown god." Paul knew that they were deceived, searching, and as a result, worshipping anything.
But today they would learn the truth.
Standing in the midst of the Areopagus, Paul took a deep breath. He felt the calming presence of the Holy Spirit as all the men trained their judging eyes on him.
Today they would meet the unknown God. Today they would stop saying unknown. Today they would learn that He wanted to know them.
Based on Acts 17:22-25
"So Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: 'Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, "To the unknown god." What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. he God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, or is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.'"
Acts 17:22-25
These verses are so true for people today. They are so relatable and applicable.
You may be sitting there thinking, "Religious. I'm not religious. I worship no one!"
That's not really true.
You see, we were created to worship. Created to look to Something greater then ourselves. Created to love Him. The Lord God of Heaven, Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit. But the god of this world, the enemy, tries to convince you otherwise. He convinces unsuspecting people to put their faith in false gods and religions, in science and evolution, in their own strengths, abilities, or god-ness. And we long to put our faith into something, anything. Whether we realize it or not, we all worship something.
Paul was telling the people to stop worshiping everything but the One who is responsible. God. He's the One our souls long for. Is the unknown God known to you? Do you worship something, anything, hoping it's The Real God?
The God of Heaven and Earth longs for you, too. The unknown God is here and waiting for you. He wants to be known by you.
V. Joy Palmer
"His Bride"
3618 - from 3634; a bride (as if perfect); hence a son's wife.
3634 - a primitive root; to complete.
I don't know about you, but I love that in Hebrew the meaning of the word 'bride' comes from a root word that means ... to complete and that as His bride, we truly are complete in Him. "For in Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily, and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power." Colossians 2:9-10
This gives us pause to stop and think about two things. One is simply this ...our love for Him, as His bride, means that He completes us! Probably not a big surprise considering who He is, what He brings to the relationship, and all that He did and sacrificed to make us His bride. The second is this, as His bride ... we complete Him! We are "the bride who made herself ready" that is talked about in Revelations 19:7 In Genesis 2 it tells us that Adam needed a helper that was 'comparable' to him. So the Father gave him one. He created a bride to be His counterpart and to 'be joined as one flesh.' Eve was created to be Adam's bride ... to complete Him, and you and I, as the bride of Christ, are being made complete in Him to be His! We are even now being made 'complete' in Him that we can be found to be 'arrayed in fine linen, clean and bright, for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints.' Revelations 19:8
I don't know about you ...but I know that as for me my hearts cries out ..."As for me, I will see Your face in righteousness; I shall be satisfied when I awake in Your likeness." Psalm 17:15
Sunday, February 14, 2016
"Aimed At You"
As I was reading these verses in Jeremiah today, this scene came to mind: "And He arose and came to his father. BUT when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him. And the son said to him,'Father,I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and am no longer worthy to be called your son' But the Father said to his servants, 'Bring out the best robe and put it on Him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet. And bring the featured calf here and kill it, and let us eat and be merry; for this my son was dead and is alive again; He was lost and is found.' And they began to be merry." Luke 15:20-24
An everlasting love is waiting and watching for the lost to come home!
An everlasting love has you running out to meet the lost even when he is still a great way off!
An everlasting love will always shower love and compassion on the lost even when they think they are undeserving!
An everlasting love always, always, always brings restoration causing the dead to be made alive again!
An everlasting love always causes the lost to be found and to be restored to a place of honor ...a place of sonship!
Remember --- His everlasting love is aimed at you!
God Bless!!!
Staff of Snack Time Devotions
Friday, February 12, 2016
Annoyed. Convited. Affected.
Sunlight glinted off the golden face of the fish idol. It's lips were parted like it was angry and about to swallow it's prey.
Where did men come up with these things?
Paul felt that familiar annoyance and anger build inside him like a bubbling volcano about to explode. He was so sick of seeing this garbage, the devils handiwork overlaid with gold, silver, and jewels. He had been sick of it ever since the very first day.
He dodged a man in a robe cutting himself and proclaiming the rituals of his idol to the people. Weaving in and out of the crowd, Paul came to his spot. A grassy spot empty of all idols. He sat down on his rock and started to teach about Jesus. Teach. Preach. Reason. Sometimes argue. But the people weren't easily convinced. So many of them had spent their lives worshiping false gods, so the introduction of yet another god wasn't received as their first encounter with the One True God.
But Paul wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. How could he ignore a city full of idols and lost souls? What kind of witness and warrior for Christ would that make him? No, he would fight. He would teach. He would reason until his last breath.
Based on Acts 17:16-17
"Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there." Acts 17:16-17
This.
THIS.
Why this? Want me to stop saying this? (Imagine me wildly pointing at this verse, too. Helps the image.) This is awesome. Paul was bothered by the city full of idols. It irritated him. It convicted him. He had to do something about it. He couldn't just ignore this city of idols.
What about us? It's so easy to just ignore all the junk going on around us. All the idols that people worship now. Only now, not everybody is bowing to a golden statue. Now we make TV, celebrities, games, books, sports, food, money, drugs, and relationships our idols.
And we just exist in that everyday. Never saying a word. Never so much as shuddering. We coexist.
God's people SHOULD be affected by false idols and whatnot in the world. Why? Because when we are affected, we do something.
I am so guilty of just looking the other way, but it's time I stopped. It's time we all stopped. We need to do something. We need to be affected.
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14
V. Joy Palmer
Where did men come up with these things?
Paul felt that familiar annoyance and anger build inside him like a bubbling volcano about to explode. He was so sick of seeing this garbage, the devils handiwork overlaid with gold, silver, and jewels. He had been sick of it ever since the very first day.
He dodged a man in a robe cutting himself and proclaiming the rituals of his idol to the people. Weaving in and out of the crowd, Paul came to his spot. A grassy spot empty of all idols. He sat down on his rock and started to teach about Jesus. Teach. Preach. Reason. Sometimes argue. But the people weren't easily convinced. So many of them had spent their lives worshiping false gods, so the introduction of yet another god wasn't received as their first encounter with the One True God.
But Paul wouldn't stop. He couldn't stop. How could he ignore a city full of idols and lost souls? What kind of witness and warrior for Christ would that make him? No, he would fight. He would teach. He would reason until his last breath.
Based on Acts 17:16-17
"Now while Paul was waiting for them at Athens, his spirit was provoked within him as he saw that the city was full of idols. So he reasoned in the synagogue with the Jews and the devout persons, and in the marketplace every day with those who happened to be there." Acts 17:16-17
This.
THIS.
Why this? Want me to stop saying this? (Imagine me wildly pointing at this verse, too. Helps the image.) This is awesome. Paul was bothered by the city full of idols. It irritated him. It convicted him. He had to do something about it. He couldn't just ignore this city of idols.
What about us? It's so easy to just ignore all the junk going on around us. All the idols that people worship now. Only now, not everybody is bowing to a golden statue. Now we make TV, celebrities, games, books, sports, food, money, drugs, and relationships our idols.
And we just exist in that everyday. Never saying a word. Never so much as shuddering. We coexist.
God's people SHOULD be affected by false idols and whatnot in the world. Why? Because when we are affected, we do something.
I am so guilty of just looking the other way, but it's time I stopped. It's time we all stopped. We need to do something. We need to be affected.
"If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land."
2 Chronicles 7:14
V. Joy Palmer
Thursday, February 11, 2016
"What If"
After these things Jesus went over the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias.
Then great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He preformed on those who were diseased.
And Jesus went up on the mountain, and there He sat with His disciples.
Now the Passover, a feast of the Jews, was near.
Then Jesus lifted up His eyes, and seeing a great multitude coming toward Him, He said to Philip, "Where shall we buy bread, that these may eat?"
But this He said to test him, for He Himself knew what He would do.
Phillip answered Him, "Two hundred scenario worth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may have a little."
One of His disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said to Him, "There is a lad here who has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?"
Then Jesus said, "Make the people sit down." Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, in number about five thousand.
And Jesus took the loaves, and when He had given thanks He distributed them to the disciples, and the disciples to those sitting down: and likewise of the fish, as much as they wanted.
So when they were filled, He said to His disciples, "Gather up the fragments that remain, so that nothing is lost."
Therefore they gathered them up, and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves which were left over by those who had eaten. Then those men, when they had seen the sign that Jesus did, said, "This is truly the Prophet who is to come into the world." John 6:1-14
Have you ever really thought about this statement before? It says that Jesus knew what He was about to do but that He asked the question of His disciple to test him. Test him how? Jesus looked, saw the need, had the solution in mind, and then still stopped to see what Philip's response to His question would be. The Real question today is, what will yours be?
Will it be like Phillips? Is our response to a tough situation to see only the hopelessness of it all? Is it instead like Andrew's where we try to come up with a solution but immediately drop it because we know it will never be enough? "...a boy here has five barley loaves and two small fish, but what are they among so many?" Would it be to offer no solution at all and to remain silent likely the rest of the disciples? Would we pass the test? Would our response be the one He was hoping for?
The truth is, before His question, none of the disciples had even given any thought to the need to feed this multitude. Jesus looked up, saw them coming, and saw the need.
Jesus always sees! He sees the dilemmas we face. Will our responses pass the test? Will we respond in a way that shows we KNOW He has a plan? That we trust Him? What if the response He was looking for from His disciple was something more like "... Lord, I've seen You turn water into wine, heal the sick, raise the dead, and cast out demons! This multitude followed us because of miracles! I know You have this covered! What do You want Me to do?"
WHAT IF as His people, who are known by His name, we were to really trust Him to have it covered? What if our first response was to declare Him Lord, and our next was to seek our place in His plan because just as in this encounter it was His plan, His power that multiplied the bread and fish but He also then gave it to the disciples to distribute!
Tuesday, February 9, 2016
The Honeymoon Is Over
The blood trickled down his eyebrow, over his nose, and onto his lip. Jason could taste the blood.
They had been dragged out of their home, before the city officials, and now resided in jail. For how long, he didn't know. Maybe forever.
Was this supposed to happen?
It had been like he had fallen in love - like they all had fallen in love. Even more intense then when Jason had met his wife. Jason and the others in his household had fallen in love with the Creator, the Savior, the One True God. He and his family committed themselves to God.
Immediately this happened.
One question kept running through his tired, defeated mind.
Light lit the jail cells, and the city officials made their way into the dank chamber. Their stony faces asked the same question that his soul cried out.
Was He worth it?
Based on Acts 17:5-9
"But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: 'These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.' When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go." Acts 17:5-9
There is this infamous phrase about marriage. Perhaps you know it.
"The honeymoon is over."
It's meant to say that it's not all lovey-dovey, gooey and romantic anymore. Your spouse no longer has the ability to hang the stars in the sky. Now it's time to go through the trials, testing, and meaty stuff that make a relationship into something that will last.
As I was reading these verses, that phrase just kept running through my mind. "The honeymoon is over." And so soon! They were immediately persecuted and put on the spot. I can't help wondering what happened to Jason and the others. Did they remain faithful to God despite the persecution?
No matter how quickly the honeymoon ends, the relationship can still stand strong if they are committed.
Millions of people choose to not let the trials turn their love for God to rubble. I choose to walk through the fire with God and come out on the other side even more committed to Him. Will we fight for our True Love, our God, our King?
The honeymoon may be over, but the relationship is just beginning.
V. Joy Palmer
They had been dragged out of their home, before the city officials, and now resided in jail. For how long, he didn't know. Maybe forever.
Was this supposed to happen?
It had been like he had fallen in love - like they all had fallen in love. Even more intense then when Jason had met his wife. Jason and the others in his household had fallen in love with the Creator, the Savior, the One True God. He and his family committed themselves to God.
Immediately this happened.
One question kept running through his tired, defeated mind.
Light lit the jail cells, and the city officials made their way into the dank chamber. Their stony faces asked the same question that his soul cried out.
Was He worth it?
Based on Acts 17:5-9
"But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason’s house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd. But when they did not find them, they dragged Jason and some other believers before the city officials, shouting: 'These men who have caused trouble all over the world have now come here, and Jason has welcomed them into his house. They are all defying Caesar’s decrees, saying that there is another king, one called Jesus.' When they heard this, the crowd and the city officials were thrown into turmoil. Then they made Jason and the others post bond and let them go." Acts 17:5-9
There is this infamous phrase about marriage. Perhaps you know it.
"The honeymoon is over."
It's meant to say that it's not all lovey-dovey, gooey and romantic anymore. Your spouse no longer has the ability to hang the stars in the sky. Now it's time to go through the trials, testing, and meaty stuff that make a relationship into something that will last.
As I was reading these verses, that phrase just kept running through my mind. "The honeymoon is over." And so soon! They were immediately persecuted and put on the spot. I can't help wondering what happened to Jason and the others. Did they remain faithful to God despite the persecution?
No matter how quickly the honeymoon ends, the relationship can still stand strong if they are committed.
Millions of people choose to not let the trials turn their love for God to rubble. I choose to walk through the fire with God and come out on the other side even more committed to Him. Will we fight for our True Love, our God, our King?
The honeymoon may be over, but the relationship is just beginning.
V. Joy Palmer
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