Bonfire

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 19:11-20

TO CHEW ON: "Many of those who believed now came and openly confessed their evil deeds. A number who had practiced sorcery brought their scrolls together and burned them publicly." Acts 19: 18-19a

Paul went back to Ephesus. His powerful sermons and miracles had made him famous. God worked so mightily through him that people took clothes that Paul had touched, laid them on sick people, and they were healed.

"Healings" by Christoph Weigel - 1695

When some Jews in the city tried to heal and do exorcisms (make evil spirits leave people) in Jesus’ name, like Paul did, the evil spirits knew they were fakers. The demon-possessed people beat up the imitation healers.

"Sons of Sceva" by Christoph Weigel - 1695

God’s power working through Paul caused all the new believers to respect God very much. Instead, of covering up past sins, they publicly confess the wrong things they have done. People who were once involved in sorcery (magic and the occult) collected their scrolls and burned them in a huge bonfire.

"The burning of the scrolls" - Artist unknown

God’s presence and power still makes us aware of the sins (wrong things) in our lives. Sometimes God reminds us of wrong actions we have done (stealing, lying, gossip, cheating). At other times He makes us aware of our wrong attitudes (jealousy, hatred, fear, envy). Ask God to show you if there are any sins in your life that need a “bonfire.”

PRAYER: Dear Jesus, please show me if there are things in my life that I need to confess and destroy. Amen.

MORE: Confess and Destroy1. In Paul’s day people destroyed the scrolls they had used for sorcery (witchcraft). What are some things in our lives that don’t please God which we may need to destroy?

2. Some people may argue that destroying perfectly good CDs, DVDs, videos, books and magazines is a waste. Instead, they say, you should just give them away to someone who isn’t bothered by them. What do you think?

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 Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Fortune-teller

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 16:16-22

TO CHEW ON: "She kept this up for many days. Finally Paul became so annoyed that he turned around and said to the spirit, “In the name of Jesus Christ I command you to come out of her!” At that moment the spirit left her." (Acts 16:18)

Paul went on two more mission trips. On one of them he took Silas as his helper. They visited the city of Philippi and met with the Christians there.

Every day as they walked to their prayer meeting, a slave girl followed them. She made money for her owners by telling fortunes. Every day as she walked behind Paul and Silas she shouted, “These men are servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to be saved.”

What she said was true. But Paul knew the spirit who inspired her to say it was not the Holy Spirit but an evil spirit. One day he had had enough. He turned around and commanded the evil spirit to come out of her. (A word that describes casting an evil spirit out of someone is exorcism.) The spirit did come out of her. But when the spirit was gone the slave girl could no longer tell fortunes.

"Exorcism" by J. C. Weigel - 1695

What happened next? (Acts 16:22)
1. The slave girl’s owners thanked Paul and Silas for getting the spirit out of her.
2. The slave girl’s owners dragged Paul and Silas to the city authorities. They said Paul had wrecked their business.
3. The slave girl beat up Paul and Silas.

"Paul and Silas arrested" - Artist unknown

Paul and Silas helped the girl by getting her free from the evil spirit. But they also got in trouble for doing it. Are we willing to do the thing God wants us to, even if it means we’ll get into trouble?



PRAYER: Dear Jesus, help me to brave to do things that honor You, no matter what the consequences. Amen.


MORE: What About You?


1. What are some fortune-telling activities we have today?

2. Have you ever taken part in them?

3. What would you do if:

• your friend wants to visit the lady who reads palms at the fair?

• a bunch of friends pull out a Oija board at a party?

• you get a horoscope calendar as a gift?

ANSWERS

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

From Problem to Praise

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Acts 13:6-12

TO CHEW ON: "But Elymas the sorcerer (for that is what his name means) opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith." Acts 13:8

What happens on mission trips but problems?

Barnabas and Saul (from now on called Paul - Acts 13:8), were invited by one of Cyprus’s government officials, Sergius Paulus, to talk about God. But one of the servants, Elymas who was a sorcerer told his boss not to listen to them and not to believe in God.

Then the Holy Spirit showed Paul whose side Elymas was on. So Paul went to him and said, “You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right.” To prove God’s power was behind his words, Paul told Elymas he would go blind - and he did.

The Conversion of the Proconsul - By Raphael, 1515-1516

When Sergius Paulus saw God’s power, he believed in God. Isn’t it just like God to turn a problem into praise!

We should not be surprised if we get resistance when we’re telling people about Jesus. Satan, Jesus’ enemy and ours, doesn’t want people to know about Him or trust Him. But we don’t need to fear Satan or be silenced by problems he puts in our way. Instead, we can pray for wisdom to know how to react. We can also pray for God to turn our problem into praise.

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to trust Your power when problems come against me. Amen.

MORE: Sorcerers and Sorcery
1. - Look up sorcerer in the dictionary.
- What is sorcery?
- Are there still sorcerers today?
- Some storybooks have characters who are sorcerers in them. What do you think about reading such books?

2. Continue drawing Paul’s trip on the map by drawing a line from Salamis to Paphos where this story happened.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Prison Prayers

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 2 Chronicles 33:7-13

TO CHEW ON: "And when he prayed to him, the Lord was moved by his entreaty and listened to his plea; so he brought him back to Jerusalem and to his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord is God." 2 Chronicles 33:13

“The Assyrians are coming!” A messenger blurted the news to King Manasseh.

Manasseh called his priests and told them to pray to the gods, check the omens, and make sacrifices. But not to the God of heaven. For Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and Judah’s king, was not like his dad. Instead of worshiping God, he rebuilt hilltop shrines where people went to pray to statues of Chemosh and Baal.

Illustration by Annie Vallotton from the Good News Bible
© American Bible Society 1976, 1992, used with permission.

He sacrificed his own sons to idols, was deeply into witchcraft and even built idol altars in the temple. God had tried to talk to Manasseh and the people, but they refused to listen.


The sacrifices Manasseh made that day did no good. He was captured by the Assyrian generals, chained and taken to prison in Babylon. There, in a dungeon and all alone, he had time to think. He remembered the things his father Hezekiah had taught him. He knew what he had done was displeasing to God. Maybe it wasn’t too late. Maybe God would still take him back.

One day he cried out to God. He told God how foolish he had been. He begged God to save his life and set him free.



Soon after the prison keeper unlocked his cell and sent him home. Oh joy!! Now he knew that God was real and powerful. When he got back to Jerusalem, he demolished the idols, shrines and altars. He cleaned up the temple. He told the people that from now on, they were to worship only the Lord God of Israel.

Sometimes God uses hard things like sickness, accidents, tragedies and facing the consequences of our choices to bring us back to Him. How much better to serve God all along than to risk such problems. But then, better the problems that bring us back to God than being separated from Him forever and ever.

PRAYER: Dear God, thank You for using even troubles to bring us back to You. Amen.

MORE: God’s Invitation
Over and over in the Bible, God invites us to come back to Him if we have gone away. 1 John 1:9 is such an invitation. Can you fill in the missing words from this verse. Use the word bank, below, if necessary.

If we 1. ___ our sins, he is faithful and just and will 2. ____ us our 3. ____ and 4. ____ us from all unrighteousness.

Word bank:
sins   purify
confess   forgive

ANSWERS

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Accurate Predictions

TODAY’S SPECIAL: Joel 2:28-32


TO CHEW ON: "And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions." Joel 2:28

If someone asked you, “What will happen next week?” could you tell them? What if they asked about tomorrow, or even later today?

Without God’s help, people have no way of knowing the future. But when God’s Spirit tells people what to say about the future, as He did to the Old Testament prophets, we get accurate predictions.

God gave Joel words to say about the distant future. He told about a time when God would pour out His Spirit on all people – old and young, women and men.

Hundreds of years later a small band of Jesus’ followers were gathered in a Jerusalem room. Jesus had recently died, risen again and gone back to heaven. Just before He left, Jesus told His followers to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit.

That’s what they were doing this day when suddenly there was the sound of wind and the sight of fire tongues sitting on each person’s head. Then people began praising God in languages they didn’t know. Later when Peter explained to onlookers about what had happened, he said Joel’s prophecy – our today’s Bible reading – had come true right in front of them.


There are many more prophecies in the Old Testament. Some, like Joel’s have already come true or been fulfilled. Others have still not happened. When we read these prophecies, we must remember two things:

1. Each event predicted by God through His prophets will someday happen. Jesus will return to earth. We will each stand before God. The earth will not stay the way it is.

2. These things could happen any time. Am I ready? Are you? Find out how to get ready.

PRAYER: Dear God, You know everything. Please help me to be ready to face the future You have predicted. Amen.



MORE: Counterfeit Prophets
Most of us would love to know the future. There are lots of ways people try to discover or predict it. Many of these involve the occult: astrology, tea leaf reading, palm reading, Oija board, I-Ching, fortune telling, tarot cards. Can you think of more?

The Bible tells us to avoid these things. If you have done any of them in the past, stop! Talk to God and your parents about them. You might also want to get rid of any materials (cards, books, etc.) you have used in trying to predict the future in this way.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's. 

Saul the Desperate

TODAY’S SPECIAL: 1 Samuel 28:3-20

TO CHEW ON: "He inquired of the Lord, but the Lord did not answer him . . . . Saul then said to his attendants, 'Find me a woman who is a medium, so I may go and inquire of her.'” 1 Samuel 28:6,7

The Philistines were threatening again and Saul was terrified. He wanted to talk to God and find out what to do. But Samuel had died, Saul had killed the priests, and no prophet came with any message. God was silent.

In desperation Saul asked his servants to find a medium. A medium was a person who could contact the spirits of dead people and get messages from them. But this power came from Satan and not God. God had commanded Saul to rid the land of all mediums and spiritists.

Still Saul’s men managed to find a medium. Saul disguised himself and went to her house. He persuaded her to try to bring up the spirit of Samuel so Saul could talk to him.


Soon the woman saw something coming out of the ground. And then Samuel’s voice filled the room, “Why have you disturbed me?”

“The Philistines are threatening again,” said Saul. “I need to know what to do.”

Then Samuel gave Saul a message he probably didn’t want to hear.


With that Saul fell on the floor, weak and paralyzed with fear. The knowledge he got through the medium didn’t help. It only made him more afraid.

True to the prediction, Saul and three of his sons were killed in battle the next day. Here is how the Bible talks about his death: “Saul died because he was unfaithful to the Lord; he did not keep the word of the Lord and even consulted a medium for guidance and did not inquire of the Lord. So the Lord put him to death . . .” (1 Chronicles 10:13,14)

PRAYER: Dear God, help me to stay away from the things and practices that don’t please You. Amen.

MORE: Occult warning
The world of the occult is fascinating, but dangerous. Here are some things to keep in mind when tempted to get involved in occultic practices like horoscopes, telling fortunes, talking with spirits, palm readings, witches, warlocks, I-Ching, seances, the Oiji game, Wicca etc.

1. These practices are condemned many times in the Bible. Some places are Leviticus 19:31, Micah 5:12 and Revelation 21:8

2. Satan is known for lying. Though the things we learn from the occult about ourselves, others and the future may seem accurate, we need to remember the source of that knowledge – Satan. Talking about Satan, Jesus said, “. . . there is no truth in him. When he lies he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” John 8:44

3. If you have occultic objects and books in your home, in your room or in your desk or locker at school, be like the Christians in Ephesus (Acts 19:19), and get rid of them.

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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.


Adult readers - DAILY DEVOTIONS FOR ADULTS  are available too at Other Food: daily devo's.