6.22.9 "The Rise and Fall of Public Opinion"

"The Rise and Fall of Public Opinion"

2 Kings 3:1-4:17
Acts 14:8-28
Psalm 140:1-13
Proverbs 17:22

In Acts 14 Paul & Barnabas are in Lystra. In verse 10, Paul tells a lame man to "'Stand Up!' He leaped to his feet and started walking!"

What caught my attention in this scripture is how the public receives them in the rest of the chapter. In verse 11-13, the locals begin shouting "'These men are gods in human bodies!' They decided that Barnabas was the Greek god Jupiter, and that Paul, because he was the chief speaker, was Mercury! The local priest of the Temple of Jupiter, located on the outskirts of the city, brought them cartloads of flowers and prepared to sacrifice oxen to them at the city gates before the crowds."

Of course, Paul & Barnabas corrected the people in this, "but even so, Paul and Barnabas could scarcely restrain the people from sacrificing to them!"

So how about this? Verse 19 "Yet only a few days later some Jews arrived from Antioch and Iconium and turned the crowds into a murderous mob that stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, apparently dead."

So, how bout that for a days work? Going from being labeled a god to being stoned to death.

What message can you get from this? Verse 20 says: "But as the believers stood around him, he got up and went back into the city!"

The message for today is: Your calling and your purpose is not contingent on public opinion. It is vital that we as a Body corporately, as well as individual parts of the body are sure of our call and our purpose. There will be times we will be flying high because of the praise of men for a job well done, and there will be times they're shooting at us. Either way, we must never allow our understanding of God's call and his purpose on our lives to get out of balance.

Putting it in another light, Paul's response to the praises of the people was not "I must be doing God's will because they LOVE me!" nor was it "This must not be of God because they've stoned me!"

For us, we must know so deeply what God has for our life, and be so devoted to living the Balanced Christian Life, that we do not allow circumstances to change our course. In doing this "we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming." (Eph 4:14)

God's call on your life is not changed by circumstances. There are times when God will use circumstances to confirm & solidify in your heart what he's created you for, and other times when the circumstances will be used to refine you. But either way, "God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." (Romans 11:29)

No matter what happens today, and no matter what people think of you, live in the confidence that God has a plan for you!


Through the Power of the Spirit,
Live the DREAM!

P Greg


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