Wednesday, May 25: I even discovered an altar inscribed, ‘To an Unknown God.’ Acts 17
Side garden Cape Elizabeth Picture by Gail Prince
The Holy Spirit inspires our blog.
I felt Paul and the Apostles had it easy very early in life. How wrong I was.
Tuesday’s readings in Acts chapter 14
In those days, some Jews from Antioch and Iconium
arrived and won over the crowds.
They stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city,
supposing that he was dead.
But when the disciples gathered around him,
he got up and entered the city.
On the following day he left with Barnabas for Derbe. Acts 14
Paul today is in Athens. He proclaims Jesus to the Greeks and
When they heard about resurrection of the dead,
some began to scoff, but others said,
“We should like to hear you on this some other time.”
And so Paul left them.
But some did join him, and became believers. Acts 17
Why are we talking about this? We have spent almost six months talking about the Joy and Peace available to all who genuinely believe in the resurrected Jesus.
Think for a moment about the frustration Paul must have had. Here he was with the most incredible testimony man has ever heard of, and only a few in Athens, for example, joined him.
But,
That doesn’t stop Paul.
He knows he’s doing the work of the Holy Spirit, and, therefore, Paul, filled with the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit, continues to the next town to tell others of the good news.
Proclaiming Jesus in our life also has to be an objective with us, but I don’t think proclaiming Jesus is best accomplished by standing up in a crowd and saying, “Jesus is Lord.”
Saint Francis said, “When all else fails, use words.”
Your actions, concern, and the look of Joy and Peace on your face will say a lot more than your words.
It’s easy; really, I think many in our society today worship an unknown God.
Yes, they live the Christan life but refuse to acknowledge Jesus as the One who was the originator of this lifestyle.
Who loses?
Not God!
God loves everyone the same.
Everyone who worships the unknown god loses!
That in itself is a compelling statement, and as we have stated earlier, God gives us the complete freedom to accept or reject God. It is our free will that determines our relationship with God.
The loser is the one who lives in anger, fear, and greed, who has no use for their neighbor, and or who doesn’t even know who their neighbor is.
They lose now!
Not after death, as I thought for too long in my, yes my, life.
Never forget the words of Jesus on His Cross, “Forgive them for they do not know what they do.” Luke 23
I, we, honestly believe that if we truly knew the evil we were doing, we wouldn’t do it.
Gail and I traveled to Europe a few years ago, and the guide we had one day was from an Eastern bloc country that had been under Russian control. She talked about waiting a year to get a bike, years for a car, and other similar purchases, then the wall came down, and her world changed when she realized she didn’t have to wait long periods for goods.
Until the wall came down, she felt her life was the expected life of everyone in the world.
After the wall came down, she learned about a new life and embraced the freedom it offered.
Isn’t this the same with God? As the Greeks did, you can stop worshiping an unknown God, and seek a God who climbed up on a cross to demonstrate Their Outrageous Love.
What’s the downside?
By trying to grow in your love of God and love of your neighbor, you gain the love of yourself.
Not a phony Love of self, but the Love you were designed for from birth.
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
We would like to make a short history of the Gel because it speaks to the love of your neighbor.
As we reported in one of our first Blogs, I had been diagnosed with Arthritis in my right knee. The doctor, who I like very much, said I could come back for cortisone shots every six months and get a knee replacement in three to four years.
I left his office and said to myself, that won’t happen.
While playing golf with John Kohler, I told him about the results at the Doctor’s office, and John brought me the Gel he had used and had success with and told me to try it.
I thought this would never work, but I also believe that when someone gives me something like this, God is working in my life through this person, in this case, John.
I applied the Gel for two to three weeks, two times a day, and the pain was gone. I, of course, celebrated and thanked God for sending John and the healing Gel.
John stepped out of his comfort zone by giving me his jar and telling me to try it.
Two to three years went by, and I developed a sore hip. I applied the Gel twice a day for one or two weeks and,
Nothing!
The Holy Spirit kept me in Peace.
Our next-door neighbor had a sore knee, so I convinced him to try the Gel.
Louie Chabot read the directions, which I hadn’t, and applied the Gel four times a day.
Louie’s knee healed in two to three weeks.
Louie told me he applied the Gel four times a day, so the Holy Spirit encouraged me to try again.
I did!
A month later, my hips were pain-free.
I’m healed!
We’re retelling the story because when we wrote about it two weeks ago, thirty-two, it’s now up to fifty-one people asked for the name of the Gel.
Because John stepped out of his comfort zone and recommended a Gel that he thought could help, I and many others may be healed by the Gel.
This is the Love of neighbor we talked about earlier in this blog, and because John did what he did, more people, I pray, will also be helped.
Love of neighbor is not rocket science; it’s simply putting the other person first in your life.
