BJ McConnell
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Sept 28, 2019 2:32:20 GMT -5
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Post by BJ McConnell on Jan 18, 2020 12:14:34 GMT -5
The Book of Acts Chapters 27-28 Read It OnlineShipwreck and Paul's Last Days This week concludes our study of the Book of Acts This study is now closed.
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lizrodriguez67
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Nov 30, 2019 11:01:08 GMT -5
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Post by lizrodriguez67 on Apr 23, 2020 19:24:18 GMT -5
Hey there!!!! I’m here🥴
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BJ McConnell
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Sept 28, 2019 2:32:20 GMT -5
Posts: 246 Amens: 13
Favorite Verse: 2 Cor 5:17
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Post by BJ McConnell on Apr 24, 2020 2:58:00 GMT -5
Hi, glad you made it! What do you think of the readings?
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BJ McConnell
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Sept 28, 2019 2:32:20 GMT -5
Posts: 246 Amens: 13
Favorite Verse: 2 Cor 5:17
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Born Again Christian?: Yes
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Post by BJ McConnell on Apr 24, 2020 5:38:30 GMT -5
Happy Week 17 everyone!
So the first thing I took away from these readings was the example set forth in chapter 27. Towards the middle of the chapter they are going through storms and everyone on board loses hope. Paul tells everyone on the ship that he has been told by an angel of the Lord that because he (Paul) must get to Rome, God will spare the lives of everyone on board and that only the ship will be lost. I think what's most important to note here is that when Paul shares this with the others on board he makes sure to tell them that he serves God and that he believes what God has told him. This is an example to us all. When God speaks a blessing over our lives, it's important to 1) make it known that we serve God, and 2) that we believe what He says. God does not honor those who do not believe. Every story in the Bible where someone is blessed by God has one thing in common, they were blessed because they believed. As it's said in the scriptures, "But without faith it is impossible to please him..." (Hebrews 11:6)
Chapter 28 begins as Paul and the others make it onto the island of Melita (or Malta, depending on what version of the Bible you are reading). What happens here I find to be a great testimony to us that we must trust in God's ultimate purpose even if we cannot see why certain things are being allowed to happen in our lives to reach that purpose. You've probably heard your pastor talk about this by referring to puzzle pieces and that we can only see the pieces but God sees the finished puzzle and therefore knows best how to get us to that complete picture. I think what happens here in chapter 28 is a perfect example of that lesson.
Those on the ship could likely, with exception to Paul maybe, only see what they were going through. They could only see the storms, and were afraid for their lives. They could only see that they ended up stranded on an island. It would be easy for anyone to feel like nothing but bad things came from their journey. Even Paul could have felt this way. He was shipwrecked and stranded on an island, then as if that wasn't hard enough, he gets bitten by a viper, which based on the reaction of the local people of the island, was a very deadly snake.
So it seems like everything is going wrong, but hold on, let's put on our God glasses for a moment so we can see what He sees. Without the storms there is no shipwreck. Without the shipwreck Paul does not get to the island of Melita. If Paul does not get to Melita, he does not get bit by the snake. Now, while that initially sounds like a good thing, we have to look a little further into the story. When Paul is bit, the locals think Paul is cursed to die because he is a murderer. But when God protects Paul and he does not even get sick from the snake, then the locals think he is a God. Now Paul shakes off the idea of being a God just as easily as he shook off the snake from his hand, but the locals still have this idea of Paul being godlike. So the Bible does not say this, but I believe it is because the locals feel Paul is a God that they put him in the quarters where the chief of the islands possessions are located, which leads to meeting Publius, the island chief. After meeting Publius, Paul finds out that Publius' father is very sick so Paul lays hands on Publius' father and he is healed. Then, after seeing Publius' father get healed, many others from the island who are sick come to Paul and they are healed as well.
Okay, let's put our God glasses back on. If Paul isn't bitten by the snake, the locals will not think he is a God. If they do not think he is a God he does not meet Publius. If he does not meet Publius he does not know Publius' father is sick and he will not lay hands on him for him to be healed. If Publius' father is not healed, the other sick people on the island will not come to Paul to be healed either. So what I see in all of this is that, as God often does, God works all these things we perceive to be bad things and turns them into His will. He allowed the shipwreck and being stranded on the island and the snake bite to happen in order to get the people of the island healed of their sicknesses. But could the men on the ship see this as they were suffering all these troubles? No, of course not. They saw only the pieces of the puzzle, while God was focused on the complete picture - the healing of the islanders.
So what this teaches me is that while I don't really have God glasses so that I can see what all the problems in life lead up to, I have to trust in God's ability to see the complete picture and trust that when I am going through trials in life, that God is using those trials to bring me to a larger good. And that perhaps my suffering is being used in order to heal someone else, or even bring them to know God through me.
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BJ McConnell
Forum Owner
Sept 28, 2019 2:32:20 GMT -5
Posts: 246 Amens: 13
Favorite Verse: 2 Cor 5:17
Bible Study Member?: Yes
Born Again Christian?: Yes
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Post by BJ McConnell on Apr 24, 2020 6:00:05 GMT -5
So we made it! This week's readings concludes the Book of Acts. I hope you've enjoyed reading this important book and witnessing the birth of the Christian Church as much as I have. Of course we all know that there is more history to Paul's final days that are not spoken of here in Acts, but I feel it is fitting that Luke leaves us with this picture of Paul spending his final years at Rome teaching and preaching to the Romans and writing his epistles, which will ultimately be used to give us such a large part of the New Testament of the Holy Bible. Epistles that are some of the greatest teachings in all of history, which show us and lead us to a greater purpose in life and a deeper walk with God. I thank our God for the Apostle Paul, without whom so much of Christianity could have been lost. See you next week as we begin the Epistle of Paul to the Romans, one of the greatest epistles Paul ever wrote, and one of the most important books of the Bible for us believers! God's mercy and grace be upon you all.
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