Daily Devotion

River of Life Christian Church ︳www.rolcc.net/english Acts 13:13-23 From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem.  From Perga they went on to Pisidian Antioch. On the Sabbath they entered the synagogue and sat down.  After the reading from the Law and the Prophets, the synagogue rulers sent word to them, saying, "Brothers, if you have a message of encouragement for the people, please speak."  Standing up, Paul motioned with his hand and said: "Men of Israel and you Gentiles who worship God, listen to me!  The God of the people of Israel chose our fathers; he made the people prosper during their stay in Egypt, with mighty power he led them out of that country, he endured their conduct for about forty years in the desert...  "From this man's descendants God has brought to Israel the Savior Jesus, as he promised." When Paul and Barnabas were moving forward, John left them.  This John was also named Mark, and his departure dealt a heavy blow to Paul.  When a ministry is in its infancy, it's frustrating to experience departure of coworkers.  Not only will it inflict deep guiltiness, the enemy will also attack and accuse those involved.  When you encounter such a situation, you can learn a few things from this passage. First, this is a process of growth in life.  To Paul, he needed to learn through the hard way how to work with others; to Mark, his youthful temperament needed to be dealt with.  Regardless of what happened, God's hands were still guiding them.  Therefore, when we confront such defeat, may God give us an open heart and bring ourselves before His working hands.  Whenever I read about Paul, Barnabas and Mark in the Bible, it reminds me of all types of brothers and sisters in the church.  Mark returned later and wrote the Gospel of Mark before God, and in the later letters we also see that his relationship with Paul was restored, and he became a good coworker of Paul.  Therefore, we don't need to be in despair because there's always hope that we will ultimately see God's hand working in everyone's life, and our hearts will once again rejoice. Second, we need to continue to serve loyally.  The ploy of the enemy is always to have us give up, so we must not fall for it.  Paul gave us a great example - Even though he encountered defeat in ministry, he still continued to take any opportunity to preach the gospel.  Loyalty is the most important test in serving God, because ministry is about the Kingdom of God, not about our feelings.  The most important thing is always whether the Kingdom of God can continue to expand, so may God place such faith inside us.    Pray with Pastor Tong Liu     Lord, I want to especially pray for brothers and sisters who are encountering defeat in life or ministry.  May you comfort and encourage them again through this passage, so that they will understand this is a process for growth in life.  Help them not to feel frustrated or fearful, but let them keep on moving forward by depending on you, so that they will ultimately experience breakthrough in life.  I thank you and I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!