Foundations Feb 5, 2011

Saturday, February 5, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Revelation 6-7

SCRIPTURE READING

Acts 17:22-23 (NIV); Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: “Men of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: To an Unknown God. Now what you worship as something unknown I am going to proclaim to you.”

Paul was a wise teacher, always speaking against the backdrop of society. Though he’d been raised in Judaism, he did not allow his own background to stifle the effectiveness of his message to the Gentiles. What would they have cared had he started preaching to them about Moses, Abraham and David? The revelation of Jesus in the Scriptures (Old Testament) was paramount for the Jewish convert, but would not have stirred a Gentile to the same degree.  Before preaching to the civil and religious leaders of Athens, Paul walked the city. He interacted with the laymen in the marketplace, and saw their temples and their idols. He got to know the people and their ways, and used these very things to teach them the truth about God. The Greeks cared about intellect and philosophy, so Paul spoke to them in such a way as to stir their minds to the truth. He quoted their own poets, and used the natural world that they marveled at in order to point them to the supernatural God who created all things.

As we interact with people it is important that we get to know them. We need to show interest and seek to learn about them. Jesus called us to live differently from the world, but he still called us to live IN the world. We will be most effective living out our calling when we learn to truly love those around us.

PRAYER and MEDITATION

1)   Meditate on today’s scripture and thoughts. What does the Holy Spirit tell you, or convict you of?

2)   How have you neglected to show interest in the people that God has placed in your life? Confess and ask God to give you a revelation of the value He has placed upon them.

3)  Think about the people in your life who don’t know the Lord. Ask the Spirit what you can do to reach them most effectively.

4)   Meditate on your call to live differently while still IN the world.