A Devotional Study of the Living Word of God

Psalm 119:74 Knowing God and knowing the people of God is a most blessed experience one can have this side of eternity. When there is involvement with the Word of God, there will be biblical Fear of God and we will be Spiritually equipped to be have gladness of heart collectively.

Good Morning

Folks, are you anxiously awaiting for Jesus Christ to return? Do you look for Him daily? Do you question His return? Or, worse – do you even care? We all have busy schedules, kids to school, careers to control, jobs to find, places to travel, the list of things are endless. We just don't have time to be looking for Jesus and as a result we look for churches that are soft on the gospel, soft on teaching and soft on looking for His imminent return. I call these churches “Churches of the comfortable gospel” They talk about Jesus, sing about Jesus, encourage one another in Jesus and a host of other biblical traits about Jesus, but these churches never focus on Justification, Sanctification or Glorification. Oh! Don't take me wrong here, justification and sanctification are talked about, but not taught. The one main ingredient left out is, “glorification”. Basically, this is looking for Jesus and looking for Jesus includes prophesy. These churches can be readily identified, they are mega in size, people flock to them because there is no threatening in-depth study that hold the congregation accountable for the future. Notice what the bible clearly says in: Titus 2:11-15 “For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ...” You can read the following two verses on your own. It is the grace of God that trains us in justification, sanctification and glorification.

Acts 23

Acts 23:24-30 Claudius sends the apostle to the governor; Felix. He states that he came to Paul's rescue because he had heard that the man was a Roman. Lier, lier, pants on fire. Claudius did not find this out until he was about to have Paul scourged. For career minded people a little lie here or there is normal. In today's world it is always the easiest thing to do. As long as you have the cart and the horse, it does not matter whether the horse is in the front or the back as long as it is believable.

Acts 23:31-34 Paul's journey to Caesarea was uneventful, the only question that Felix is requiring is that of Paul's citizenship and birth place. Tarsus, of Cilicia – Roman occupied or controlled land about three hundred miles North from where Felix is in Caesarea. The Roman barracks at Antripatris is but a small trip to Caesarea and being satisfied with this information, Felix went back to bed.

Acts 23:35 Herod's headquarters, or Herod's Palace. This is the very place that Felix was living in Herod's Palace. The Praetorium is one of the outer buildings on the palace compound. Could have been a holding place for prisoners who's cases were waiting to be heard, or it could have been a reasonable accommodation setup for people who had business or appointments with Felix. Matthew Henry's commentary states that God always provides the best accommodations for persecuted saints.