October 24 2015 Are you Guilty?

Today’s reading was Act 25, Jeremiah 15 & 16, and Psalm 10

The scripture that stood out to me was Acts 25:11 “If then I am a wrongdoer and have committed anything for which I deserve to die, I do not seek to escape death. But if there is nothing to their charges against me, no one can give me up to them. I appeal to Caesar.”

Observation: Paul had been summoned again and those accusing him had nothing but a dispute about the resurrection of Jesus our Christ. After having two governors hearing his case and finally king Festus hearing it and asking him if he wanted to go back to Jerusalem to be tried there he pulled his trump card out, as a Roman Citizen he can appeal to Caesar himself. Paul was saying that I’m a citizen and I want to go to the highest court to plead his case there witch would be sharing the Gospel with Cesar.

Application: There are a couple ways that I am seeing an application in this, first is don’t claim to be innocent of something you have done. We are all found guilty of our sins and though Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, he paid the penalty for us so that we can be in rite standing with God.  

Second application I saw was when we are innocent we need to appeal to the highest court. As citizens of heaven that court is in heaven with God, meaning pray for all those involved and seek God direction in that situation. We are told that we will be despised for Christ’s sake. John 15:18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you.”

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for the Great gift you have poured out on this world though your Son, Christ Jesus. You have taken away our sins and washed us white as fresh fallen snow. You provide such great blessings giving us what we need both physically and spiritually. Lord, I ask you to help me to stop claiming innocence of things I know I have in my life and surrender it to you and seek you and default to your love and will when people come against me and I am innocent. Help me to appeal to your courts not the courts of my mind or of the world.