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Daily eMail Devotional
Friday, July 2, 2010
Acts 17:10-14 And the brethren immediately sent away Paul and Silas by night unto Berea: who coming thither went into the synagogue of the Jews. These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. Therefore many of them believed; also of honourable women which were Greeks, and of men, not a few. But when the Jews of Thessalonica had knowledge that the word of God was preached of Paul at Berea, they came thither also, and stirred up the people. And then immediately the brethren sent away Paul to go as it were to the sea: but Silas and Timotheus abode there still.Back in the summer of 1986 (long before many of you were even born!), my wife and I were discussing what we should name the new church we were about to start and what we should chose as a theme verse for the church. You all know the name –Ohana. We chose this name because of what we wanted the church to be – a family. We wanted this church to build and minister to families. We hoped that we would become like a family, growing together and serving together. Over the years, God has given us that and more. We have seen families growing closer together in the Lord, and this church has truly become family.
We chose the theme verse Acts 17:11 because we wanted to build a church based upon the foundations of God’s Word. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17). It is the Word of God that changes lives. We wanted Ohana to be a church of the Word. We preach it. We teach it. We use it for everything we do. What do you do with it?
Our passage tells us that the “noble” people do three things with the Word of God. First, they receive it. You cannot receive what you don’t hear! “So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) The firs step is to be in church to receive the Word. This is where most Christians fall short of nobility!
The second step is to have a ready mind. The word “readiness” means to have a “predisposition for, to have a passion before”. The idea of this word is expressed in Ezra 7:10 where he said “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” You need t come to Bible predisposed to do what it tells you. You need to have a passion to obey it.
The final step is to search the Scriptures daily. That is why you have these devotions. You need to have daily time in God’s Word; reading it and studying it for yourself as well as reviewing what you have already learned through the messages you have heard. How about you? Are you one of the “Noble” people that God is talking about?
Aloha in Christ,
Pastor Wayne
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