Day 26: Acts 17:1-15

Now the Berean Jews were of more noble character than those in Thessalonica, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true. (Acts 17:11)

This is a beautiful passage of Scripture.  I love the thought that there is a congregation out there that receives the message being preached and then spends the next days and hours searching Scripture to determine the orthodoxy of what has been said.

This sure beats preaching to the people who don’t receive the word, who do not test it and who tell you that you are from the devil.  This happens just as often in ministry.  We must forgive them, of course, and move on.

This passage of scripture highlights the two kinds of people you will preach to: the ones that will accept the word you have from the Lord and the ones that will not.

You will often encounter these two sorts in the same room.  Recently I have had a lot of detractors: people who are not impressed with my message at all.  Many of them get up and walk out of meetings.  In fact, I sort of count this as a sign that my meeting is progressing according to the spirit.

I was in a meeting filled with demonic activity recently.  There was a great darkness over many of the lives of the people in the room.  I could sense this but could also see it in the blank and angry stares on many of the faces.

When time came for ministry only a few people responded and most of them were my friends who felt that they needed to help me out.  The rest of the room was not budging.  God began to move a little and some people were healed, but not a lot.  And then this one woman from among their own congregation came forward and got healed and then others started to come.  About 6 or 7 people in this congregation got healed.  It was indeed a breakthrough.  I could see the light of God’s countenance on the faces of these precious ones.

And yet, as I was leaving this meeting there were those who were completely opposed to me.  You could feel it like a dark cloud above them as I walked by.  They would not speak to me or say goodbye.

We will experience those that want to hang us and those who think we are God’s angels.  The line dividing these two camps is drawn through the preaching of the word and the sharing of our testimony.  Those that are of the Spirit will be drawn to us and those that are of another spirit, or in the flesh, will want nothing to do with us.  The more we preach Jesus and the good news and tell people what He is doing, the more we will see the dividing of the camp.

We preach to bring liberty to these dear ones.  Our message is vindicated by their lives being healed and by them being set free.  When I see peace enter their hearts, when I see them cry tears of deliverance, when I see their families getting touched by the power of God and when I see joy in their expressions, it is all worth the battle fought.

I pray that you too will see clearly and preach.  May God help you as you move out in the work of ministry.  May God open your eyes to discern what is going on in the Spirit and may you win a harvest of souls into the kingdom.