The Apostle Paul said, “No way!”

Monday  2-8-16 (Valencia, California... ministry in Arleta Assembly of God) 

    

Scripture reading for today:    Lev 7 - 9     Acts 15

S=Scripture  O=Observation  A=Application  P=Prayer  SOAP for the soul.

S.  Acts 15:39  Then the contention became so sharp that they parted from one another. NKJV

O. Biographies of great leaders tend to leave out their faults.  One of the indications of the open honesty of the Holy Scriptures is that it never hides the faults of its heroes like David, Peter and Paul.  Here we have two great men of God, Barnabas and Paul, who have travelled together and suffered for the Lord together and they break up their team due to a difference of opinion.  Barnabas has mercy on his cousin, John Mark, and wants to give him a second chance and Paul says “No way!” 

A. One of the lessons that this teaches me it that a disagreement with a fellow servant of God does not mean the end.  Usually strong leaders have strong opinions.  They want to do it their way. Somebody has to bend... or the relationship is ended.  Here we see a relationship apparently broken... but now two missionary teams go out to two different fields. More lost souls will be reached.  And if we could look into the future... we would see that much later in Paul’s life, John Mark, the same young man that Paul was unwilling to take with him, was now applauded by Paul himself as a faithful helper.  (2 Tim 4:11)  Paul was admitting his earlier mistaken appraisal.

P.  Lord, I know that I am still frail and likely to disagree with one of my fellow servants.  Still You don’t throw either of us out.  You continue to use both of us.  You even make the apparent split prove to be a blessing to Your work.  If fact, You protect me from bitterness and lead me to complete forgiveness.  Jesus, You and I both know people who do not have You in their lives that can never forgive and live out their lives with bitterness.  They need You.  Only You can take a broken relationship and make something good out of it all.* (Read on.)

Ralph

*She was a woman of over 60 years of age.  Many years before she had caught her husband in bed with her sister.  Her husband was long ago dead and gone.  And now she had taken Christ into her life.  I suggested that she go visit her sister and forgive her.  It was not easy, but a relationship was restored and perhaps her younger sister will take Jesus, too, and thus both make heaven their eternal home.  And the added blessing is that this woman of over 60 years now had that spirit of bitterness and unforgiveness broken.  She was finally free!