Day 47/260: Read Acts 23

What are your plans for tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Have you consulted the Lord about those plans?

God does not talk to us directly today like He did in times past, like He did to Paul. Jesus said, “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Jesus had a plan for Paul. He was using the former Pharisee to spread the testimony of Christ, the Son of the Living God, throughout the world in the first century.

He has plans for us today as well. While we do not receive direct revelation from Him, we can live for Him each day in whatever circumstance we are found.

Paul testified in Jerusalem, and in every city he visited during his missionary journeys. Are we spreading God’s good news wherever we go? At work, at school, at home, we should be shining our light for Christ so others can glorify God.

Be of good cheer, reader! Jesus has a plan for you; live faithfully for Him and bear fruit!

Memory (Copy into a notebook 5-10 times)

Acts 22:16. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Pray

Pray for opportunities to demonstrate the love of God to those around you today. Praise Him for His blessings.

Day 46/260: Read Acts 22

Many in the religious world point to the “sinner’s prayer” as the means to salvation. “Just ask Jesus into your heart, and you will be saved,” say denominational preachers. But what do the Scriptures say?

I find it interesting that Paul was told to stop praying! In the first retelling of his conversion, Jesus told Ananias that Paul was praying (Acts 9:11). Paul was waiting for someone to come and tell him what to do. In the meantime, he prayed and fasted. What happened when Ananias showed up? He told Paul he was wasting time!

“And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.”

Stop waiting! Get those sins washed away! Your prayers are worthless if you are still in your sins!

The same is true today. The “sinner’s prayer” has never saved a single soul. It didn’t save Paul, and it won’t save anyone today.

If you have never been baptized to wash away your sins, why are you waiting? Do what Jesus commands, let Him save you the way He said He would, and become His faithful servant.

Memory (Read aloud 5-10 times)

Acts 22:16. And now why are you waiting? Arise and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on the name of the Lord.

Pray

Pray…if you’re a child of God. If you have not yet obeyed the gospel through repentance and immersion, stop waiting. Obey, then pray, thanking God for His grace and mercy.

Day 45/260: Read Acts 21

How do you react when you receive bad news about something that is going to happen in your life? Do you start thinking about how you can prevent the bad news from taking place?

A prophecy was given through Agabus that Paul would be bound by the Jews in Jerusalem and delivered to the Gentiles. Immediately, his friends tried to convince him to change his plans; they didn’t want the bad news to come true!

Paul, however, said, “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 Lord Jesus.” What faith!

Now, think again about your reaction. There is bad news concerning Jesus: if you faithfully follow Him, you will lose friends. Family members may get mad. You will be mocked and persecuted.

Are you ready for that? Are you willing to endure the hard-ships of the Christian life? Believe God when He tells you that the blessings far outweigh the bad!

Memory (Recite to a friend without looking)

Acts 20:28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Pray

Pray for a faith like Paul’s, for the boldness to stand for the truth of God’s Word, to claim Christ. Pray for an attitude that recognizes the blessings of being a child of God and thank Him for those blessings!

Day 44/260: Read Acts 20

False teachers have always been a part of the religious world. It is just as true today as it was in the first century.

Paul warned the elders in Ephesus that after he left, “Savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock.” He is not talking about literal wolves here, but men who would come in and tear the church apart by false teaching. “Also from among yourselves men will rise up, speaking perverse things, to draw away the disciples after themselves.”

Paul spent much time preparing them for these attacks. He taught privately and publicly, and he did not hold anything back. “For I have not shunned to declare to you the whole counsel of God.”

People generally do not like “the whole counsel of God.” They want to hear about His love and grace and mercy, but the wrath of God is every bit as real as His love. If we don’t know about His wrath, we don’t know “the whole counsel of God.”

Don’t gloss over the warnings of hell. Don’t be deceived by those who preach tolerance toward sin. Stand faithfully with the Word of God.

Memory (Fill in the blanks)

Acts 20:28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy _______________ has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of _______________ which He purchased with His own _______________.

Pray

Pray for wisdom to discern right from wrong using the inspired Scriptures. Pray for those misled by false teachers.

Day 43/260: Read Acts 19

There are many false notions about baptism in the religious world. Some view the act as nothing more than a ritual, “an outward sign of an inward grace.” That phrase is found nowhere within inspiration.

The men in Ephesus had been baptized, but for the wrong reason. They were baptized into John’s baptism, which was “a baptism of repentance” that pointed to the coming Messiah. The problem is that when these men were baptized, Christ had already come, been crucified, resurrected, and ascended into heaven. John’s baptism was no longer valid.

The reason for baptism was important then, and it is important now. Why were you baptized?

What is the reason for baptism, according to the Scriptures?

• For salvation (Mark 16:16; 1 Peter 3:21)
• For the remission of sins (Acts 2:38)
• To wash away sins (Acts 22:16)
• To reenact Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection (Romans 6:3-5)
• To get into Christ (Galatians 3:27)

Were you baptized for these reasons? If not, talk to a member of the church of Christ in your area. Study. Learn. Obey.

Memory (Fill in the blanks)

Acts 20:28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the _______________, among which the Holy Spirit has made you _______________, to shepherd the _______________ of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Pray

Pray for the boldness to obey Christ’s commands for the right reasons.

Day 42/260: Read Acts 18

Is it possible that you have been wrong about some spiritual matter? That you have been unintentionally misled, or perhaps not fully informed?

Consider Apollos. He was “an eloquent man and mighty in the Scriptures.” This had reference, of course, to the inspired writings of the Old Testament. Yet, he was not completely up-to-date. Jesus had come and fulfilled the Scriptures. Apollos had been taught John’s baptism, but had not yet been informed of the new covenant instituted by Christ on the cross.

Aquila and Priscilla heard him and discerned that Apollos was sincere in his belief. Sincerity, however, is not enough. So they taught him privately; they “explained to him the way of God more accurately.”

Is there someone in your life that is honest and sincere, but misinformed? Can you, with love and gentleness, explain to them the gospel more accurately?

“The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).

Memory (Copy into a notebook 5-10 times)

Acts 20:28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Pray

Pray for a spirit of gentleness within you as you reach out to the sincere, yet misinformed, people in your life.

Day 41/260: Read Acts 17

When Paul traveled, he always gravitated to people who were spiritually-minded. Usually that was at a synagogue; after visiting the synagogue in Athens, he was taken to the Areopagus where many pagan idols were worshiped. Luke says, “For all the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or hear some new thing.”

Paul directed their attention to the altar inscribed: “To The Unknown God.” He proceeded to tell the Athenians of the one, true God of heaven, who was unknown to them.

What was the result of Paul’s preaching? Some mocked him, but others were willing to listen more. When Paul left Athens, Luke says, “However, some men joined him and believed, among them Dionysius the Areopagite, a woman named Damaris, and others with them.”

Paul was doing what Jesus commanded: as he was going from place to place, he was sowing seed of the gospel. Results varied as each individual had to make his own decision, but Paul continued doing what he was meant to do.

Are you scattering seed wherever you go?

Memory (Read aloud 5-10 times)

Acts 20:28. Therefore take heed to yourselves and to all the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.

Pray

Pray for open and honest hearts as you spread the Word to your family, friends, co-workers, classmates, neighbors, and everyone else within your sphere of influence.

Day 40/260: Read Acts 16

How quick are you to obey when you learn what the Word of God says? How urgent are eternal matters to you?

When Paul and Silas taught the jailer in Philippi, he wasted no time in obeying the message. These men had been whipped and imprisoned, but instead of bemoaning the negatives of their current circumstances, they praised God. “But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.”

An earthquake hit, causing all the doors to open and all the chains to fall from the prisoners’ hands. The jailer knew his punishment would be severe and was ready to take his own life, but Paul prevented him, saying all the inmates were accounted for.

The jailer then asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” Paul and Silas “spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all who were in his house. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.”

The jailer understood the urgency of the gospel. Have we lost that sense of urgency today? Souls are at stake; may we urgently teach others to obey God.

Memory (Recite to a friend without looking)

Acts 16:33. And he took them the same hour of the night and washed their stripes. And immediately he and all his family were baptized.

Pray

Pray for opportunities to teach others the gospel, showing them the urgency of the good news.