Romans 13 - Respect Authority

“ 1Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. 2Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

This is an excellent verse to remember in society today. There is much talk about leadership and “what is right”, about following one’s own agenda and rebelling against authority out of lack of respect for leaders. Parents often quote one of the Ten Commandments to children, “Honor thy father and mother”, but adults quickly forget we are also to honor our leaders and respect authority as well.

As it says in these verses, the governing authorities are there only because God has established them, therefore, we are to respect that authority. Whether it be church, local, state or federal authority, we are to follow the rules governing us, with respect for the authority and position, if not for the individual person. Therefore, regardless of your political outlook, disrespect for authority is disrespect to God, who established that authority. Not a popular message, but one we all need to hear and remember.

Romans 12 - What to do with One of Those Days

“2Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

Do you have those times when all seems to go wrong, when you’re frustrated for no reason, when you just feel like you’re “at the end of your rope”? Sure, we all do. We look at the day and say “I just don’t understand what is happening and I don’t see how any good can come of it.” That is where verse 2 comes in.

We live in this world and are affected by what goes on within it. It is very easy, if we allow it, to be overcome and overwhelmed by this world and try to conform to it. When we do, we loose sight of God’s will and become easily dazed and confused, lost and bewildered, frustrated and hopeless, but that is not the end. By following the verse’s instructions, we can get in tune with God. Pray and worship Him, spend some time conversing with Him, allow God to transform us through renewing our minds. That is when we will see God’s infinite love and wisdom, understand that (even if we don’t know His will) His will is “good, pleasing and perfect”.

Simply, God is in control if we let Him. We get distracted by the world, so at times we need to remove that distraction by going to the Source of all that is good and holy, God. So if you are facing “one of those days”, get alone with God, renew and be transformed, seek God’s will, for He will never disappoint. Blessings.

Romans 11 - "I" trouble

“ 36For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen.”

Simple, true, and powerful. All things are under God’s watchful eye, all the gifts and “fortune” you believe “you” “earned” have come from Him. Your talents, abilities, etc. are gifts from God and they will be used to His purpose or returned to Him. If we can grasp the concept that we are not the “owners” of anything, but rather are using them on “loan” from God, then greed, petty arguments, selfishness, apathy can all be conquered. It would not be so painful to give, since it is not ours anyway. It would be easier to give God glory for achievements, since it was talent given from Him anyway. Do you see my point? When we realize that all we are, can be, have and can have come from God, through His will and for His purpose, the better we can be used for His purpose and fulfill our own. And by aligning with God’s will, allowing Him to bless others through us, we enrich our lives and remove the “stumbling blocks” like greed and etc. To God be the glory forever! Amen.

Romans 10 - Old Law Lingers

“ ¹Brothers, my heart's desire and prayer to God for the Israelites is that they may be saved. ²For I can testify about them that they are zealous for God, but their zeal is not based on knowledge. ³Since they did not know the righteousness that comes from God and sought to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes.”

Under the old law, before Jesus Christ, there were rituals to be followed for cleansing of sin, but the Israelites began to lean heavily on the law and the letter of the law instead of the glory of God. It became about saying the right things, doing the right gestures, eating the right foods to be holy, none of which absolved sin and gained righteousness. That is why most rejected Jesus and the gift He gave to the world. They couldn’t understand that there was nothing they could do, no amount of “good deeds” that could save them. There is only the righteousness of God that comes through the Son, Jesus Christ, and Jesus paid the price that ALL can be saved, not just the chosen few. Jesus ended the old law and established a new covenant for ALL, Jews and Gentiles, who believe. Thank you Jesus for Your sacrifice and loving me enough to die for me, even though I don’t deserve it, You did it anyway. Praise the Lord!

Romans 9 - Good Deeds are not Enough

³⁰What then shall we say? That the Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have obtained it, a righteousness that is by faith; ³¹but Israel, who pursued a law of righteousness, has not attained it. ³²Why not? Because they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works. They stumbled over the "stumbling stone." ³³As it is written:
"See, I lay in Zion a stone that causes men to stumble
and a rock that makes them fall,
and the one who trusts in him will never be put to shame."

Here the Bible clearly displays that it is not works that saves us, but faith that gives us righteousness. There is nothing that we can do to “earn” our way into Heaven. Only through faith in Jesus Christ can we gain the righteousness to enter. So if you are listening to society and believing that “I’ve been good, I’ve done good things, that’s good enough” then you are sadly mistaken. God is not “santa claus”, there is no good or bad deeds, you can’t be good enough to overcome sin, only the sacrifice of Jesus Christ could pay that debt. So don’t count on your “good deeds”, increase your faith and accept Jesus today, before it’s too late.

Romans 8 - Set Your Mind on the Right Path

Romans 8.

“ ⁵Those who live according to the sinful nature have their minds set on what that nature desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires.”

This is what separates us from animals and also gets us in and out of trouble. We have the ability to control our actions and CHOOSE what to follow. We can listen to society tell us we “deserve” things and to think about “ourselves”, which leads us into following and focusing our minds on our sinful desires, which damage our souls and leads to destruction. But, thank the Lord, that doesn’t have to be the case.

We have the ability, thanks to Jesus Christ, to focus our minds and lives in accordance with the Holy Spirit, follow what the Spirit desires, and it will lead us to eternal salvation through Jesus Christ.

It is this simple, what you focus your mind on will determine where you will follow and how you live. Focus on sinful things and you will continue to sin. Focus on negative things and you will be negative. Focus on the Lord and you will follow the Lord. Don’t blame it on your upbringing, your situation, your lack of education, etc., each of us have a choice and are accountable for our own actions, which way will you choose?

Romans 7 - Why do I do the Things I do?

“¹⁵I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do.”

Here Paul is pouring out his heart saying what we all struggle with. It is our sinful nature that keeps us from doing what we know is right AND heads us right down that path of sin that we know is wrong.

Isn’t that how it is for Christians all over? It is difficult to understand why we want to do the good and right things, but we don’t YET we definitely don’t want to do the wrong or sinful things, but that’s exactly what we do. Doesn’t make sense, does it? That is the sinful nature, our flesh, that makes it feel so “natural” to do the wrong thing, and love it.

So if we know this, and this is our sinful nature, how can we stop it? Well, we can’t, but Jesus can. “²⁵Thanks be to God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” That is why He came to die for our sins, to hold the power over sin and death, so we may be forgiven and live eternal. So we too must die to our sinful flesh daily and follow Jesus. Where we lack the power, He has power in abundance and is longing to share. So when we find ourselves being drawn to the sinful things, we need to turn it over to Jesus and let His power and love fill us with the strength to resist temptation and turn from sin. If we do, He will rescue us from sin, if we don’t we will be right back in the same boat we were before we accepted Jesus, on the highway to hell. We don’t have to be strong enough to fight, we just have to know where to go to find someone who is, Jesus Christ. Amen?!

Romans 6 - Wages of Sin is Death

“²³For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

There it is black and white, our darkest hour and brightest moment all in one verse. As we have discussed, all have sinned, so if we all sin and the wages of sin is death, then we all deserve to die. That is what we deserve but, praise the Lord, that’s not where it ends.

We also have a gift from God, eternal life. Therefore, we don’t have to die, because God has provided a gift of eternal life to us, so even though we sin and deserve death, God gifts us life, better than we deserve.

How do we get eternal life, what is God’s gift? Jesus Christ our Lord. As the Bible says in John 3:16 God gave us His son Jesus as a sacrifice, a gift, that Jesus would suffer and pay the price for our sins, death. But Jesus arose from the grave, conquered death, so that we may live, and live abundantly and eternal, He conquered the grave for all of us. That was God’s gift of eternal life through Jesus and He gave it to ALL of us who want it and have the faith to believe. Thank you Jesus, I am not worthy, but You love me anyway. Bless the Lord!

Romans 5 - God is Good

“ ¹Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, ²through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. ³Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; ⁴perseverance, character; and character, hope. ⁵And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

There it is, not by our works, but by our faith that we are justified and gain access to grace, only through Jesus. Additionally, we are to rejoice in our sufferings! Rejoice? We are supposed to be happy that we suffer? Yes. Because, as the verse says, it is through our sufferings that we gain perseverance; through perseverance that we gain character; through character that we gain hope; and that hope in the promise of Jesus Christ will never disappoint, for God is good. He loves us so much that He poured His love into the Holy Spirit as a gift to us. The Holy Spirit that serves as a guide in hard times, a comfort in struggles, strength in our times of weakness, and gives us access to the Creator of the universe! Praise the Lord, thank you God for your love and grace, which I don’t deserve, but You give willingly anyway. God is indeed good!

Romans 4 - Hope Beyond Hope

“¹⁸Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, "So shall your offspring be." ¹⁹Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead—since he was about a hundred years old—and that Sarah's womb was also dead. ²⁰Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, ²¹being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.”

What an awesome encouragement to us all, a testament of God’s goodness in all situations AND an example of how we should approach ALL situations with God in control. As the verses state, Abraham had no reason to believe it possible that he would be the father of many nations, other than the fact that God said so and he held to that faith and was rewarded with God’s goodness.

We all face troubled times, many of us are doing so now, but let me tell you something, God is there for us. Deuteronomy 31:6 states, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." So, like Abraham, we may be facing things that logically appear to be hopeless (financial, relationship, abuse, hunger, etc.), but like Abraham we must have faith in the Lord our God, praise Him for His goodness in ALL things, thank Him for what He has done and for His promise to us. We must trust in the Lord and “against all hope” rest in the truth that He loves us, gave His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, and He is the same now that He was then with Abraham. God will not forsake us, we are His children, He will always be with us.

So if you are facing that “hopeless” situation, cover it now with the blood of Jesus, take it to the Lord our God and leave it at His feet, not to worry about it anymore. He will provide if you ask Him and let Him. Remember Philippians 4:6, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.” He is waiting for you now. God bless and keep you.

Romans 3 - Two-Fold Blessing

Romans 3.

“²³for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”. I have used this verse many times in my texts and sermons, and it still speaks to me today. All (not some, not a few, not most, but ALL) have sinned. This is a pertinent reminder to us when we are quick to judge and condemn (as discussed in yesterday’s post). Before we jump to criticize, we should check ourselves, for we are not without sin either and that’s how Paul used it in context. He stated that we are all sinners, Jews and Gentiles alike, that one person is not above the other. We have all sinned and deserve death, no law or good deeds can absolve us from that, only grace from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and our faith in Him can save us. So keep that in mind as a “self-check” before we go off to judge or gossip about others, but also keep it in mind as encouragement for when we fail. Everyone has sinned, we all have failed God at some point, but that doesn’t have to be the end. Thanks to Jesus, we have the opportunity to ask for forgiveness then get back on track, closer than ever to God and become stronger for our failures and shortcomings. So this verse can be a two-fold blessing (and many more really), a “self-check” for pride and ego, and an uplifting encouragement of hope for those fallen. Thank you Lord for being so good all the time. Amen.

Romans 2 - Judge not

Romans 2.

^“1You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge the other, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. “

It can be very easy to judge others, even unintentionally, because of their actions. The public opinion is that Christians have an unfortunate way of doing this more than others, however, it is wrong (see more judgment). Because we are Christians we should be even more forgiving that others, for it was Jesus Christ who died for us and the forgiveness of our sins. It is especially a turn off to non-Christians when we act “holier than thou” and turn around and do the same things ourselves, which is what verse 1 addresses. If we continue to judge, without changing ourselves, there will be trouble.

“⁵But because of your stubbornness and your unrepentant heart, you are storing up wrath against yourself for the day of God's wrath, when his righteous judgment will be revealed. ⁶God "will give to each person according to what he has done."

We will be judged by the measure we have judged and by what we have done. Therefore, when the opportunity arises, pray for the Holy Spirit to give you a heaping portion of compassion and mercy, for you never know when you might require the same. Also keep in mind that we are sinners too, and Jesus died for our sins, for our forgiveness, so we, in turn, should be ready to forgive, not judge, others. Amen?!

Romans 1

“¹⁶I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile. ¹⁷For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: "The righteous will live by faith."

Praise the Lord! Jesus Christ is not just for the Jews but for all of us who will accept Him. Paul says “everyone who believes”! Not only a certain class, race, gender, nationality, but for everyone! Additionally, Paul states that the gospel reveals the righteousness from God and it is founded by faith in Jesus Christ. It is not by our own deeds we become righteous, but only by the blood of Jesus. And to that end, we must move forward and “live by faith” and like Paul do so unashamed, for faith in the word of God, in His promise to us, in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, in His glorious return is how we live and are sustained. Praise and thanks be to the Lord, our God. So hold your head up high, be bold and empowered by the Gospel of Jesus Christ, for it is in Him the only hope that is needed by the lost and dying world.

Acts 28 - Healing

“ ²⁷For this people's heart has become calloused;
they hardly hear with their ears,
and they have closed their eyes.
Otherwise they might see with their eyes,
hear with their ears,
understand with their hearts
and turn, and I would heal them.”

Paul is quoting Isaiah in these verses and they stood out to me and go along with yesterday’s reading and message. When we ignore the warnings and close our ears and eyes to God, we are further entrenched in our sin. It then appears that there is no hope or no way back, but look at what God says to us, “and turn, and I would heal them”! You see, as I said yesterday, it is not too late to seek God, through Jesus Christ. He is longing to have a relationship with you, longing to forgive you and HEAL you from the sins that plague your life.

As Pastor Brett discussed last night, sin has a way of appearing alluring, seeming to be all we want, but once we commit sin, it traps us and destroys our lives, but Jesus Christ has already paid the price for our sins, we are not bound to them, we can let them go and turn them over to God, wash in the blood of Jesus and stand renewed and strong. Satan will tell us there is no way out, that it is too late, that God has forgot us and this is how it’s supposed to be, what we deserve, that is a lie! Hebrews 13:5 God says “…Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you”, never will He forsake or leave us. Hallelujah, praise the Lord! God is waiting for us to turn back to Him, ready to forgive us and heal us of our sins and hurts, but we have to make the first step.

If you are facing this now, please seek the Father and let Him heal you and make you whole, as long as you’re breathing it’s not too late. I pray to God to give you the strength to go to Him now, break the ties of sin that bind you, and receive healing from our loving, forgiving Heavenly Father, and I pray this in the name of Jesus Christ the Son and our Savior, amen!

Acts 27 - I Ignored the Warning and am in Trouble, is it too Late?

This chapter tells of Paul’s journey as a prisoner sailing to Italy. A journey wrought with troubles and disaster, but also with good glory to God. You see, it was another example of God taking a bad situation and using it for good and His glory. In verses 10-11 Paul, a prisoner, warned of impending trouble with a storm, and the Centurion would not listen. ¹⁰"Men, I can see that our voyage is going to be disastrous and bring great loss to ship and cargo, and to our own lives also." ¹¹But the centurion, instead of listening to what Paul said, followed the advice of the pilot and of the owner of the ship.”

Then, as Paul had warned, the storm showed up. “¹⁸We took such a violent battering from the storm that the next day they began to throw the cargo overboard. ¹⁹On the third day, they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. ²⁰When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.”

After many days of the storm, Paul addressed the people again, this time clearly telling them that God had told him through an angel of what would happen. “²¹After the men had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: "Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. ²²But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed. ²³Last night an angel of the God whose I am and whom I serve stood beside me ²⁴and said, 'Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar; and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.' ²⁵So keep up your courage, men, for I have faith in God that it will happen just as he told me. ²⁶Nevertheless, we must run aground on some island."

Then the storm raged on and the men were getting afraid and hopeless. “³⁰In an attempt to escape from the ship, the sailors let the lifeboat down into the sea, pretending they were going to lower some anchors from the bow. ³¹Then Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, "Unless these men stay with the ship, you cannot be saved." ³²So the soldiers cut the ropes that held the lifeboat and let it fall away.” This time the centurion listened to Paul, a prisoner, for Paul brought the hope of God.

Next, Paul, a prisoner, took the lead and used the situation to spread the word of God and give God glory and thanks, while bringing more hope to them all. “³³Just before dawn Paul urged them all to eat. "For the last fourteen days," he said, "you have been in constant suspense and have gone without food—you haven't eaten anything. ³⁴Now I urge you to take some food. You need it to survive. Not one of you will lose a single hair from his head." ³⁵After he said this, he took some bread and gave thanks to God in front of them all. Then he broke it and began to eat. ³⁶They were all encouraged and ate some food themselves.”

Finally, salvation was in sight, land was close as Paul had said, but “⁴²The soldiers planned to kill the prisoners to prevent any of them from swimming away and escaping. ⁴³But the centurion wanted to spare Paul's life and kept them from carrying out their plan. He ordered those who could swim to jump overboard first and get to land. ⁴⁴The rest were to get there on planks or on pieces of the ship. In this way everyone reached land in safety.”

You see this entire story was an example of how God can take a bad situation and turn it into good for His glory. A lowly prisoner offered advice based upon the will of God and no one listened. Then, because no one listened to the warning from God, trouble arose, but there were further opportunities to seek salvation by turning around and seeking the will of God, just as the centurion did through Paul, especially in the end by sparing Paul’s life. Even though the centurion was in command, he still knew that the situation was beyond his control, he knew he should have listened to the warnings, but didn’t. However, instead of following his earthly pride and command, he relented to Paul, the lowly prisoner but also the messenger of God, and because he turned, his life was spared.

We face the same trials in life. We get warnings from God either directly, through leaders, or even through unexpected places (like a “lowly prisoner”) and we have the opportunity to listen and avoid trouble or ignore the warnings and suffer the consequences; however, because God loves us dearly, He gives us second chances. As you notice, in the story, the storm didn’t stop immediately, it was a consequence of ignoring God’s warning, BUT God did give a way out IF you will listen and turn to Him.

Some of us are facing that exact situation right now, and I say to us all, turn to God. Satan will tell you that you already messed up, that it’s too late, but Satan is a liar. God gave the soldiers and centurions another chance in the midst of the storm, and God will give us the same, but we must turn NOW and seek His will. It may not stop the troubles immediately, but it will keep them from getting worse, just as in the verses today. My prayer is that God will be with you during whatever you are facing and that you will take the opportunity to let Him shine to you and through you in this time of trouble; for God is good all the time, and all the time God is good.

Acts 26 - Sin is not the End, if You Give God a Chance!

Paul became one of the greatest Christian leaders of all time, but we couldn’t see that from his beginnings. In the following verses Paul, on trial, tells of his past before Jesus.“ ⁹"I too was convinced that I ought to do all that was possible to oppose the name of Jesus of Nazareth. ¹⁰And that is just what I did in Jerusalem. On the authority of the chief priests I put many of the saints in prison, and when they were put to death, I cast my vote against them. ¹¹Many a time I went from one synagogue to another to have them punished, and I tried to force them to blaspheme. In my obsession against them, I even went to foreign cities to persecute them.”

As one can see, Paul, then Saul, did many things to persecute Christians. If we were in that point in time looking for a great Christian leader, would we have chosen one who has done those things listed above (one who went all over the land to persecute Christians and cast votes to put them to death)? Absolutely not! I wouldn’t have, but God can see through all things and use everyone and anyone, regardless of their past and mistakes, for His glory. Just as He did with Saul, turned Paul. Who would think that an avid Christian opponent would be one of the strongest Christian leaders and writers? God and only God could have seen it.

So now I say to you, God can use you too, if you let Him. You see, Satan wants to say that you are worthless, that you let God down, that you can’t be forgiven, you’ve done too much or its too late, that God doesn’t want you, that is a lie! God does not like the sin, but He LOVES us, just as He loves Paul. How much does God love each and every one of us? Enough to send His Son Jesus to die for us! John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” God loves you, wants to have a relationship with you, wants to help you be all you can be for Him, but you have to take the first step. You’ve made mistakes, done the wrong things, then do as Saul did, cast them at the feet of Jesus, truly repent of your ways, ask for forgiveness, then build a relationship with God, through Jesus, and allow Him to wash you in His blood, pay the price for your sins, forgive you for your transgressions, and allow Him to help you do great things for His glory. If God can change a Christian killer to a Christian leader, what great things does He have in store for you?

I know this is a long post (and I’m making it longer) but I really needed to hear this today and it is no coincidence that God had me write on past mistakes, forgiveness, and moving on to do His will. Please pray for my family for we need it today. Thank you all, and God bless each and every one of you.

Acts 25 - Lessons of Paul

“ ¹⁰Paul answered: "I am now standing before Caesar's court, where I ought to be tried. I have not done any wrong to the Jews, as you yourself know very well. ¹¹If, however, I am guilty of doing anything deserving death, I do not refuse to die. But if the charges brought against me by these Jews are not true, no one has the right to hand me over to them. I appeal to Caesar!"

If I am understanding this scripture correctly, Paul is standing before Festus, being falsely accused by the Jewish leaders, simply because his preaching of Jesus was contrary to what they believed. So they did what they could to have him tried and put to death and have the Roman courts turn him (Paul) over to them (the Jews). In these verses, Paul, clearly states that the Jews are on a “witch hunt” by saying that he has done nothing wrong, and everyone knows it. But he also says he will die if they can find him guilty, he is willing to die for Jesus. But he is also appealing to the court of the land that it is completely absurd to hand him over to death for false charges, clearly showing that the Jewish leaders, though they can not prove any charges, simply want him dead and quiet. Therefore, Festus agrees and agrees to have a trial in the Roman courts.

It is important to note these 4 key things. Paul was in trouble for his outward, feverous teaching of Jesus Christ. If he was quiet and stayed in his own comfort zone, there would have been no trouble, but there also would have been no saved souls.

Next, there were many who opposed him, especially religious leaders. The truth is the truth, regardless who agrees or not. Jesus Christ is Lord and the ONLY WAY to the God, period, but there will be those, even other religious leaders who would say differently, you must know and hold fast to the truth.

Then, Paul new his persecutors had nothing on him, so he called them on it. Many believe Christians to be weak and cowl easily to opposition, quite the contrary, we are very strong for it is God who empowers us. When you are doing God’s will, don’t be afraid to stand strong and fight for what is right.

Finally, God used the government to protect Paul from religious persecution. This is essentially what we fought for in America from the birth of our country, where we have the freedom to worship our God, the one true God, without being persecuted by those who disagree. We are allowed, for now, to openly worship God without fear of retribution; however, it will not always be so.

The Bible foretells of a time when we will no longer have such freedom, and it is already happening throughout the world. This is why it is so important for us to exercise this right of freedom, openly worship and praise our God, show others of His greatness, and share with them the truth of Jesus Christ, stand strong and not back down, as Paul did, all while we still can freely. Amen?!

Acts 24 -

Acts 23 -

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Acts 20

Acts 19

Acts 18