READING: Acts 27-28
TEXTS AND APPLICATION: Yesterday was church day. I pray you had a great day with the people of God, being loved, encouraged, and strengthened together. Even if yesterday was a difficult day, though, I still pray that God gave you a few believing friends whose very presence gives you hope to press forward.
God does that often, actually. He raises up a few Christian brothers and sisters whose handshake and hug mean the world to us. When the world turns in opposition to the church or temptation becomes overwhelmingly hard, somehow just one more believer around us can push us toward obedience.
In today’s reading, Paul was being taken to Rome as a prisoner — but along the way, God encouraged him through other believers:
- Apparently, there were believers in Sidon who ministered to Paul: “The next day we put in at Sidon, and Julius treated Paul kindly and allowed him to go to his friends to receive their care” (Acts 27:3)
- Believers in Puteoli provided for Paul for a week: “There we found believers and were invited to stay with them for seven days” (Acts 28:14)
- Believers in Rome came to meet Paul, and their presence encouraged him: "Now the believers from there had heard the news about us and had come to meet us as far as the Forum of Appius and the Three Taverns. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and took courage” (Acts 28:15)
Often just in time, God sends somebody across our path to love us. That’s how much He loves us.
ACTION STEPS: As you start a new workweek, take time to thank God for believers who encouraged you yesterday. Send some of those folks an email to say, “thanks.”
PRAYER: “God, I thank You for the brothers and sisters in my life. Help me to give back to others as others have given to me.
TOMORROW’S READING: Colossians 1-4, Philemon 1