day no. 14,929: rulers must rule by the rules of the Ruler

2 Samuel 23:1-3
Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,

The Spirit of the Lord spake by me,
and his word was in my tongue.
The God of Israel said,
the Rock of Israel spake to me, 
He that ruleth over men must be just,
ruling in the fear of God.

A ruler is a measuring stick. It is organized according to standards and is then itself a standardized way of evaluating other things by measuring them.

A ruler of people is also a measuring stick. He has standards by which he is evaluated and must himself subscribe. He must abide by the rules of the Ruler of all peoples in order to rule his assigned people rightly. 

But no earthly authority is absolute. It is only authoritative inasmuch as it has been given its authority by the Authority.

In order to lead men, you must lead justly, which means by the standards and measures assigned by God, the Ruler of all rulers and the Establisher of all rules.

All rulers will one day be measured by the Ruler for how well they ruled.

day no. 14,928: to because or not to because

Acts 28:3-6

When Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks and put them on the fire, a viper came out because of the heat and fastened on his hand. 4 When the native people saw the creature hanging from his hand, they said to one another, “No doubt this man is a murderer. Though he has escaped from the sea, Justice has not allowed him to live.” 5 He, however, shook off the creature into the fire and suffered no harm. 6 They were waiting for him to swell up or suddenly fall down dead. But when they had waited a long time and saw no misfortune come to him, they changed their minds and said that he was a god.

Imagine the scene:

"So a snake bit him? He must be a murderer condemned by God to die."

"He diidn't die? What? He's alive and well. Never mind, he must be God."

There are those whose loyalty is only one misfortune away from evaporating and those whose opposition is only one miracle away from repenting. These are those in whom no stock should be placed. They will applaud you one day and jeer you the next. Their support cannot be assumed and their praise should not assure you in the least. They like what they like as long as they like and don't like what they don't as long as they don't. They will elect you today and impeach you tomorrow. They will promote you this moment and plot to take you down the next.

Do not place your stability in the hands of fickle men.

day no. 14,927: the winds of change and the moving of the Spirit

Acts 27:4-20

And putting out to sea from there we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were against us. 5 And when we had sailed across the open sea along the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy and put us on board. 7 We sailed slowly for a number of days and arrived with difficulty off Cnidus, and as the wind did not allow us to go farther, we sailed under the lee of Crete off Salmone. 8 Coasting along it with difficulty, we came to a place called Fair Havens, near which was the city of Lasea.

9 Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, 10 saying, “Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives.” 11 But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said. 12 And because the harbor was not suitable to spend the winter in, the majority decided to put out to sea from there, on the chance that somehow they could reach Phoenix, a harbor of Crete, facing both southwest and northwest, and spend the winter there.

13 Now when the south wind blew gently, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to the shore. 14 But soon a tempestuous wind, called the northeaster, struck down from the land. 15 And when the ship was caught and could not face the wind, we gave way to it and were driven along. 16 Running under the lee of a small island called Cauda, we managed with difficulty to secure the ship's boat. 17 After hoisting it up, they used supports to undergird the ship. Then, fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis, they lowered the gear, and thus they were driven along. 18 Since we were violently storm-tossed, they began the next day to jettison the cargo. 19 And on the third day they threw the ship's tackle overboard with their own hands. 20 When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days, and no small tempest lay on us, all hope of our being saved was at last abandoned.

The story of the book of Acts can rightly be called, "the movement of the early church by the power of the Holy Spirit." We observe the Holy Spirit alive and at work in aiding the apostles in laying the foundations and building the bulwarks of the early church. But the latter part of the book of Acts could just as easily be called, "the movement of many boats by the power of the wind." As much as the Holy Spirit is the main character just off stage in many of the anecdotes in the book of Acts, so the wind and the weather of the world in which the apostles lived is also a central character in the rest of the story.

And God, by His Spirit, is involved in all of it. It is fitting that the word for, "wind," and the word for, "Spirit" are the same. In this regard, and in light of God's sovereign control of all nature and the supernatural, it stands to reason that the Holy Spirit is the main character in every regard of this book of the Bible. We see Him moving through mighty miracles and mighty winds. He is at work, influencing the inner workings and outer circumstances of the all the men involved.

As much as the Holy Spirit comforts His people, He stirs up difficulties for them to endure. He provides comfort and stability within the storms He is stirs up.

day no. 14,926: true and rational words

Acts 26:24-26

And as he was saying these things in his defense, Festus said with a loud voice, “Paul, you are out of your mind; your great learning is driving you out of your mind.” 25 But Paul said, “I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words. 26 For the king knows about these things, and to him I speak boldly.

The Christian faith is true and rational and reasonable. It does not require hitting eject on reality, but rather requires the humility to submit oneself to reality. It does not have its foundation in floating hypotheticals or unsubstantiated claims. It is based on real, tangible evidences. It is supported by the weight of gravity and the importance of the observable.

It may sound crazy to those not used to thinking and it might look fuzzy to those not used to seeing, but it does not require crazy pills or fun house mirrors to be observed. This is plain sight kind of stuff.

And that is why we speak boldly!

Christianity is not irrational. It is logical, consistent, careful and clear. Our appeal isn't merely to take a stab in the dark and hope for the best, but to enlighten the darkness and to stop stabbing indiscriminately. The call, however, is not to refrain from stabbing altogether, but rather to stick the tip of the blade into something solid on which a clear picture of reality can hang all of its weight.

day no. 14,925: the help that comes from God

Acts 26:22

To this day I have had the help that comes from God, and so I stand here testifying both to small and great

If Paul's life is a picture of what it looks like to have God's help, many at this point would say they'd rather NOT have God on their side: arrested, abused, despised, misunderstood, shipwrecked, etc... "If that's God's help, I'd hate to see His opposition!" some might say. But Paul sees all circumstances as God's provision and his current situation as being exactly where God wants him to be. When you submit yourself entirely to God's will, you may not know where you will end up, but you can be assured wherever it is, it is in God's will. You lose the benefit of predictability, but you gain the benefit of acceptability. Wherever you are, it must be where you're supposed to be, whatever you have, it must be what you're supposed to have, whatever you lack, it must be what you're supposed to lack, etc... When you do godly things by God's means, you never have to doubt if what you have or where you are is outside of God's plan for your life.

On the contrary, if you aim at godless ends or strive to achieve good and godly ends by ungodly or godless measures, you will often be left in doubt. The good that you have is not rightfully yours and the bad you endure is your own fault.

day no. 14,924: root quality determines fruit quality

Acts 26:20
They should repent and turn to God, performing deeds in keeping with their repentance.  

Repentance always looks like something. Our theology flows out of our fingertips. What you believe is how you behave. What you think is what you do. 

Before when you thought a certain way, you acted a certain way. If the way you think has been changed (repent literally means, "change your mind"), the way you behave should be changed. If your ways are not affected, your will and worldview has not really changed.

Matthew 3:8
Bear fruit in keeping with repentance.

Your beliefs are the roots that feed the branches that produce the fruit. The quality of the fruit is an indication of the quality of the root. The fruit is a product of what nourished it.

You reap what you sow. The seed determines the crop. The harvest is a reflection of the heart.

day no. 14,923: unreasonable

Acts 25:27
For it seems to me unreasonable, in sending a prisoner, not to indicate the charges against him.

This line of thought needed to be followed further upstream. It does seem unreasonable to send a prisoner to trial without indicating what he is being brought to trial for. However, doesn't it seem equally as unreasonable to detain someone and hold them as a prisoner without having a charge against them in the first place?