June 26, 2020
Acts 26:28-29
Then Agrippa said to Paul, “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”
Paul replied, “Short time or long—I pray to God that not only you but all who are listening to me today may become what I am, except for these chains.”

New International Version (NIV)
What do we really want out of life?  When we pray, what do we really want from God?  Do we want what God wants for our lives or would we settle for less?  Honestly, we might confess that we want our problems to go away.  We want the blessing of good health and sufficient wealth to do what we want to do.  We want people who disagree with us to leave us alone.  The echoes of sermons saying, ”God always wants you to be healthy wealthy and wise” still ring in our ears.  With deference, does the scripture say that this is what God wants for us?

Once again, Paul found himself on trial for being a Christian.  Each time I read this, I keep expecting Paul to say to the authorities, “I have been treated so unfairly.  I want to be free from these chains.  I want God to extricate me from my imprisonment.”  But Paul does not ask for this.  Apparently, he saw everything in his life as part of God’s greater plan to draw all people to Christ.  So he preached wherever he was.  After Felix and Festus heard the accusations against him, Festus decided to let King Agrippa, the descendant of Herod, examine Paul as well.  In the power of the Holy Spirit, Paul told the story of how God arrested him with a bright light on the road to Damascus and transformed him from a persecutor of Christians into a proclaimer of Christ. 

This is Paul’s big moment.  Given this great opportunity before the King, what does Paul try to do?  He tries to get Agrippa to become a believer in Jesus Christ.  Paul preached that Jesus, the Messiah died and rose from the dead to bring light to the Jews and the Gentiles.  Festus calls him crazy.  Paul asked Agrippa who has a mixed Jewish and Gentile heritage if he believes the prophets.  “Do you think that in such a short time you can persuade me to be a Christian?”  Paul tells the King that he prays he will become a believer like Paul.

I wonder if this challenging time in our world will change the way we look at life.  Do Christians really just want the same life that non-Christians have?  Is our main goal in life measured materially?  Or do we want to so grow in relationship with Jesus that we help others to come to know him as well?  We know how Paul would have answered that question.  How will we answer it?  What do we really want out of life?  Do we want what God wants?

Pray with me:         
Father, help us to recalibrate our desires so that we want what you want for our lives.  Make Jesus our treasure more than any material possession.  Help us to seek you as our King first today and to trust you to give us everything we need.  Make our Christianity contagious.  Help us to see your greater plan for our lives and make us instruments of your peace in the world.  We pray in Jesus’ name.  Amen. 
Join us in memorizing the Word.  Scripture for this week:    
Matthew 6:5-6
And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full.  But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.
Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan.  Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG 
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week.  In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year.  Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.  
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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