Acts 21: 14-29

Verse 14: “So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, “The will of the Lord be done.””

I was contacted once by an old friend about applying for a position that his group had open; the friend had told me that God had put my name into his prayers about applying. So, I prayed as well…at first, I heard “yes”, so I applied for the position with the group. The interview went pleasantly enough; however, a couple of weeks later, I was informed I didn’t get the position. During that interim, I began hearing “wait” in my prayers, instead of “yes”. When I contacted my old friend, I asked him quietly how did I do? He replied that everyone liked me and my experience, etc. He also added that, to a member, the interview team had voted “no” that I wasn’t the man for the position. I reassured my friend, “then, that’s God at work”. I was at peace, and wanted my friend to be as well. God is in control.

That last statement is what Paul’s friends had to finally understand; that God is in control. Sometimes it can be hard to see something fearful coming, especially for a friend or family member, but God can use that situation for good. It’s something that bears remembering in the world we live in today.

Something to think about.

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Acts 21: 7-13

Verses 10-11: “And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea. When he had come to us, he took Paul’s belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, “Thus says the Holy Spirit, ‘So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.'””

Larry Trask was the son of Bolivar Trask, the man who created the mutant-hunting robots known as Sentinels. His guardian, Judge Chalmers, had sought to shield the boy from the nightmarish legacy his father had created. However, in an Avengers storyline which culminated in issue #104, the mutant speedster Quicksilver compelled Larry’s help in trying to rescue his sister Wanda, the Scarlet Witch, from a band of Sentinels that had returned from orbit around the sun. As we find out in the storyline, Larry himself is a mutant, with the ability to see snatches of the future: and his visions showed the Avengers suffering defeat in combat with the Sentinels, the Sentinels launching a solar flare to wipe out the human race, and finally darkness, which Larry assumed to be the end of Earth.

During the final fight, it was revealed that the Sentinel leader, Number 2, had evolved into a mutant being himself. It was his plan to sterilize the human race with the solar flare, thus eventually wiping them out. As the other Sentinels attacked Number 2 (for their programming was to capture or to destroy mutants), it resulted in the mutual destruction of all the Sentinels. In falling like giant tenpins, one of them fell on Trask, thus killing him. Thus, Larry’s last vision was not of Earth’s destruction, but the blackness of his own death.

Agabus was delivering a vision shown to him by the Holy Spirit. Paul’s friends were anxious for his safety, for he still was determined to go to Jerusalem. This prophetic declaration must have alarmed the crowd even more. Yet, Paul was undeterred. He told them, “look, I’m not only ready to be bound, but to die for Jesus if necessary.” His friends were genuinely concerned for them, but they knew this was the Lord’s will.

How would you feel if you knew your future? How would you feel if you saw danger for yourself? Do you face a test today which challenges your safety or your future? If the test and mission is from God, have no fear for He is with you. If you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, then you need not fear, though fear is a natural feeling…Jesus knows what the future holds…He’s been there…and He’s waiting to lead you through it!

Something to think about.

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