And the evil spirit answered and said to them, “I recognize Jesus, and I know about Paul, but who are you?” Acts 19:15

Does Satan know you? May sound like an odd question, but the fact is if your not a threat to his dark kingdom, then your probably not doing your job as a Christian. False prosperity gospel today teaches people to “live there best life now” and be complacent, this is exactly what Satan wants from you. Because if you truly followed Christ commands and used the power of The Holy Spirit, you would send the demons trembling

The Holy Spirit was doing powerful work through Pauls ministry. It was so powerful that even a touch of their handkerchiefs or aprons, healed sick people and cast out demons. Some Jewish exorcists witnessed this power and decided to mimic it. However these men were not truly disciples of Christ, and the demons laughed and attacked them

You believe that God is one. You do well; the demons also believe, and shudder. James 2:19

Demons tremble and shudder at the name of Jesus Christ and the power of The Holy Spirit. When you truly follow Gods will by the power of The Holy Spirit, no weapon that Satan has will be formed against you!

Unfortunately, a lot of Christianity today is false and self worship. People are more concerned about their will be done instead of Gods will be done. Don’t be complacent, don’t allow Satan to fool and overcome you! Follow Gods will and allow the Holy Spirit to empower you in Jesus Name Amen!

Heavenly Father, we pray for your will to be done, we set aside our personal agenda and egos for your kingdom, allow the Holy Spirit to work through us in Jesus Name Amen!

and he began to speak out boldly in the synagogue. But when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they took him aside and explained to him the way of God more accurately. Acts 18:26

Apollos was a Jew who was described as eloquent and “well versed” in the scriptures. He preached about Jesus Christ and was “fervent in spirit” However Apollos was limited in his knowledge of the full gospel of Jesus. He knew about Jesus and about his baptism, but probably wasn’t educated yet on the resurrection and the ascension, ect.

Priscilla and Aquila heard his limited knowledge and took it upon themselves to fully educate him on the gospel of Jesus Christ. We as Christians probably have limited knowledge of certain areas in The Bible also. Don’t let our human pride limit us and learning from other Christians about the full theology of Christianity.

Priscilla and Aquila were a married couple who served under Paul,  Apollo was a well respected preacher and he could have easily allowed his pride get in the way and blow them off. Especially with Priscilla being a woman, during this time period , most woman were not respected or even educated. However Apollo allowed them to train him on Jesus, and he became a better preacher because of it

“Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Matthew 28:19-20

Jesus commanded us to make disciples by teaching the gospel. Priscilla and Aquila fulfilled this great commission by training Apollo, as they have trained many others who preached the gospel throughout their ministry. Don’t allow your human pride or ego to miss out on opportunities to learn about God

Heavenly Father, we pray that your Holy Spirit, works through and in us to teach us your ways, grant us wisdom beyond human comprehension in Jesus Name Amen

And the Lord said to Paul in the night by a vision, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; Acts 18:9

While Paul was in the city of Corinth, obviously famous for his letters to the Corinthians, he became extremely frustrated. He spent every day preaching the gospel to the Jewish people hoping they would understand that Jesus is the Messiah. However even after all the evidence Paul presented to them from Old Testament scriptures, they would not believe him. Finally, Paul declared “Your blood be on your own heads! I am innocent of it, from now on I will go to the Gentiles”

Paul was at his breaking point of frustration trying to teach the Jews about Jesus Christ and decided to walk away. Many of us can probably relate to Paul with this, maybe not even in ministry. Have you ever tried to teach people something and they just were not getting it? This is what Paul experienced and he let it get the best of him

However God had a different plan, he told Paul to “Keep on Speaking, Don’t be Silent” See Paul might have been done trying to teach the Jews but God wasn’t finished yet.

for I am with you, and no man will attack you in order to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” Acts 18:10

Paul might have felt alone, being rejected by many, but God was with him. Not only was God with him but God promised him protection. We are not alone either, when you are serving God, you are never alone. Don’t be silent about Jesus Christ, Keep Speaking!

Heavenly Father, give us the courage and wisdom to keep speaking about our Lord Jesus Christ, protect us from our enemies in Jesus Name Amen!

The God who made the world and all things in it, since He is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples made with hands; Acts 17:24

While Paul was in Athens he observed idolatry at its highest extent, the Greeks had manmade idols which they worshiped everywhere, they even worshipped gods that didn’t have a name. The Holy Spirit inside Paul was deeply disturbed by this false worship, which led to Paul to preach a power sermon about the one true God

Even in today’s society we have the same issues of idolatry worship as the Greeks had. We worship celebrities and make them gods. We worship professional athletes and make them gods. We worship musicians and make them gods. This is deeply disturbing to God and the Holy Spirit grieves inside us all.

Its important to understand all these modern-day idols are just mortal people, like you and me. They are all flawed and lost. None of them can save your soul, none of them can create the Heavens and the Earth, they will all let you down.

because He has fixed a day in which He will judge the world in righteousness through a Man whom He has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising Him from the dead.” Acts 17:31

There will come a day of judgement, who will save you? Will a celebrity redeem you of your sins? Only Jesus Christ can pay the debt for your sins, he is the only way to God. Don’t be misled by false idols and false worship, worship the only one who was anointed to save your soul, Jesus Christ

Heavenly Father, we thank you for your grace and mercy through our Lord Jesus Christ, we pray the Holy Spirit convits and leads us away from false idols and worship, in Jesus Name Amen!

But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them; Acts 16:25

Paul and Silas were stripped and beaten with rods , then thrown into jail for preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. There charge against them was “throwing the city into turmoil” Imagine if you were going out to preach the gospel somewhere and the end result was being stripped, beaten, and imprisoned. How would you be feeling about now?

However we didn’t see Paul and Silas crying about there outcome, they weren’t organizing walkouts and marches, they were praying, singing hymns and praising God! What can we learn from the early Christian Church?

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Romans 8:28

We need to learn that we are not in control, God is in control. So if we want things to change or work out, we need to give it up to God, and let him take control. This is exactly what Paul and Silas did, instead of complaining or plotting revenge, they worshiped.

To a non Christian this might sound insane, what kind of response is that? But because of Paul and Silas faith, God rescued them from the prison. Not only that because of the demonstration of there faith and the power of God, the jailer accept Jesus and he and his family were baptized also.  God took a dire situation and turned it into another victory for the Kingdom of God

Heavenly Father, we know you are in complete control, we pray that you lead and save us from our troubles and enemies, in Jesus name Amen!

“Now therefore why do you put God to the test by placing upon the neck of the disciples a yoke which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? Acts 15:10

When Jesus said “It is Finished” at the cross he took the yoke that was hung around our necks and took it upon himself. The fact of the matter is we are all sinners and if we were going to be judged according to the law our sentence would be death. However because God loves us and showed us mercy, Jesus took on the penalty of our sins and removed that yoke from around our necks

Grace has been misunderstood since the resurrection. Even today there are some “Christian groups” who have a hard time accepting Grace. The power of the blood of Jesus Christ, has broken every chain and set us free. The Pharisees would not accept Grace, they didn’t understand no matter how religious they were, they were wretched sinners just like all of us.

“But we believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus, in the same way as they also are.” Acts 15:11

Peter declared we are saved through the Grace of Christ not the Law. This doesn’t mean Christians reject The Law but Christ has fulfilled it. We are no longer under The Law but Under grace. Because anyone who lives under The Law is cursed because nobody is righteous enough to fulfill it except Jesus Christ

Heavenly Father, we thank you for our Lord Jesus Christ, who took on the wages of our sin and freed us from our yokes, Thank you for your amazing grace in Jesus Name Amen!