FBC Daily Devotional – December 31, 2021

Faith Baptist Church

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Well, a good Friday to you. Happy New Year's Eve, last day of 2021, and it's time tomorrow we'll be into a new year, heading off to what lies ahead.

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We know not, do we? We're thankful that we know one who does, and we can trust him for all of our needs, all of our cares, and there are certainly a lot of them that our world throws at us in these days, aren't there?

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Well, we are trusting in our Lord for this new year, and thanking him for all that he's done in bringing us through this past year.

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Well, the other day we were in Acts chapter 20, and I talked a little bit about this goal that Paul had, that he was convicted in his spirit, in his heart, that God wanted him to get to Jerusalem before Pentecost, and so he's on his way, and he's determined to get there, and he's made decisions along the way that will help him to get there in time.

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He's avoided some distractions, and he's not allowed the portent of harm, personal harm, or even imprisonment to keep him from heading in that direction.

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Off he goes. You come to chapter 21, he's still got that goal. He's still headed towards Jerusalem, and what's interesting in this early part of the chapter is that there are some good, godly, well -meaning people that are doing everything they can to dissuade

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Paul from going along that way. You see this in verse 4.

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It says, he found some disciples and stayed in this place with these disciples for seven days, and they told

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Paul, says through the Spirit, not to go up to Jerusalem. In other words, the Holy Spirit had convinced them too that Paul was going to suffer when he got to Jerusalem, that he's going to be imprisoned, he could be harmed, and the

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Spirit gave him the conviction that this was not going to go well for him when he got to Jerusalem. Well, they cared for Paul, and they didn't want him to get hurt, so they're trying to dissuade him from going to Jerusalem.

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And I take from that the fact that good, well -meaning people can, with all the right heart and intention and concern for you, for me, can try to dissuade you from doing what you know

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God would have you to do. And you have to persist in that. And what they feel might come may be absolutely correct, but if you know in your heart that's where God would have you to go, you need to go, you need to pursue that.

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Now, I'm not saying that cavalierly, and I'm not saying that we should just be nonchalant about ignoring the advice and counsel of others.

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Absolutely not. In a multitude of counselors there is wisdom, and sometimes, many times, oftentimes,

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God will use the godly counsel of his people to direct our steps and help us discern what

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God would have us to do. But once that's discerned and determined, then we need to press forward, even if along the way somebody very concerned about us, and concerned about good things, tries to dissuade us from it.

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The thing of it is, the Lord can use people like that, though, to give us a better and clearer understanding of what's ahead.

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So like we just read here in verse 4, they told Paul not to go to Jerusalem. Why? Because of what comes in verses 10 through 12.

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It says, we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea, and when he had come to us, he took

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Paul's belt, bound him, bound his own hands and feet, and said, thus says the

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Holy Spirit, so shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the

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Gentiles. All right, so he's got a very clear picture of what's coming in Jerusalem. And the people around him say to Paul in verse 12, it says, even

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Luke, who's with Paul at this point, he says, when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.

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And yet, if I know that's God's will, I need to persist.

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I cannot allow the threat of personal discomfort or harm distract me.

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And Paul answers and says, what do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the

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Lord Jesus. He is definitely convinced God wants him to go there.

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And when you are convinced, convinced clearly that this is a direction, this is the thing that God would have you to do, then you probably don't want to be dissuaded.

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Certainly, if you have good godly people who are counseling you in another direction, you better stop and think long and hard about that.

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And maybe there's something you're missing. But again, if you know this is what

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God would have you to do, go forward with it. Go forward with it. Paul's a wonderful example here and a challenge, a challenge to us all.

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Are we willing to suffer, even to die, for the name of the

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Lord Jesus Christ, if we know that's what God would have us to do? Well, that's some heavy food for thought, isn't it?

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So, our Father, on this last day of 2021, we don't know what the year ahead holds for us.

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We know we have lost all kinds of freedoms, and some things are under threat, and there's been hostility voiced toward those who would hold to the principles and truths of God's word.

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So, we really don't know. But Father, when we know what you would have us to do, we need to persist in it, even if hardship, difficulty, and pain would come our way.

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Help us to be so faithful, we pray, and we ask this in Jesus' name. Amen. All right.

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Well, I hope you have a good rest of your day, a wonderful New Year's Eve, and I hope it will be a happy, blessed new year for you.