Today’s Devotion
Topic: Men like us, not gods (Self Assessment)
We are blessed with another great Saturday and we want to zoom straight into our weekly bible study. Kindly read the passage below and share your thoughts with us.
Text: Acts: 14: 8- 15, 18-19
8 In Lystra there sat a man who was lame. He had been that way from birth and had never walked. 9 He listened to Paul as he was speaking. Paul looked directly at him, saw that he had faith to be healed 10 and called out, “Stand up on your feet!” At that, the man jumped up and began to walk.
11 When the crowd saw what Paul had done, they shouted in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have come down to us in human form!” 12 Barnabas they called Zeus, and Paul they called Hermes because he was the chief speaker.13 The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought bulls and wreaths to the city gates because he and the crowd wanted to offer sacrifices to them.
14 But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of this, they tore their clothes and rushed out into the crowd, shouting: 15 “Friends, why are you doing this? We too are only human, like you. We are bringing you good news, telling you to turn from these worthless things to the living God, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them. ”18 Even with these words, they had difficulty keeping the crowd from sacrificing to them.
19 Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over. They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead. Amen
Questions:
- Verse 9 explains that the lame man listened to Paul as he preached and the Apostle saw that he had faith to be healed:
- What is faith?
- What is the link between faith and hearing the Word of God?
- What important role does faith play when we are expecting a miracle?
- Soon after the healing, the people of Lystra saw Paul and Barnabas as gods and were ready to worship them. Why do we always have the tendency to worship individuals who perform miracles instead of the God that enabled them?
- What must we do as believers when people try to hail us because of a special gift or grace God has given us?
- When Paul wouldn’t let the people worship he and Barnabas, they stoned him (Verse 19). What does this tell about human beings who hail ‘hosanna’ today and ‘crucify him’ tomorrow?
- What have you learnt from today’s discussion?
Kindly forward your reply to us on this same social media platform (Whatsapp and Facebook). We yearn to learn from you again. Click: https://youtu.be/L_bJUIqL-UM
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