Threats

Acts 14:19

“Then some Jews came over from Antioch and Iconium and won the crowd over.  They stoned Paul and dragged him outside the city, thinking he was dead.”

The other day I was followed by an angry driver.  It all started when he stopped in the middle of the street and I went around him.  I guess I was following too close because he was going super slow or maybe he was just super mad.  Anyway, he followed me and my wife for about 15 minutes all over our neighborhood.  He finally turned away and quit following us and we all went home.  The whole thing had us paranoid and looking around at every corner. 

Paul and Barnabas had a similar thing happen to them.  The Jews in the cities they were preaching in did not like them at all.  In fact, they stirred up the people in three different places and it resulted in them running out of town on two occasions and getting stoned on the third. So Paul and Barnabas went back into the city and ended up staying there for a long time.  Verse 21 tells us that they strengthened the disciples and encouraged them to remain true to the faith.  Most interesting was the fact that the Jews were the ones stirring up the crowds in all three cities.  

Being a Christian in today’s world can give you a target on your back.  Just ask any teenager bold enough to live the faith in Christ out loud at school.   What you will find is the same people that keep mocking you waiting to trip you up.  There won’t be any stoning, but given a good dose of ridicule and you will feel like you have just been hit with a stone.  Mike Tyson said that everybody has a plan until you have been hit in the face.  What will you do when those modern day Jews come to ridicule you?  They can show up at your job, at the coffee shop, and they can even follow you in some cases.  Will you have the resolve to stand up and remain true to the faith or will you crumble in fear and deny your faith in Christ like Peter did before Jesus was crucified?  Threats will come and when they do, Satan knows your weak spots and he is looking for a place to pounce on you. 

Today strengthen yourself in your faith and train yourself in the Word of God. Can you survive the test long enough and pass it?  Can you have the strength to turn that test into a testimony?   We often don’t rise to the occasion, we fall to the level of our training.  Are you in shape enough to withstand an attack?  Time to learn what God says about you and stand on the promises in His word.