Luke the beloved physician wrote how, “certain of the vagabond Jews, exorcists, took upon them to call over them which had evil spirits the name of the Lord Jesus, saying, We adjure you by Jesus whom Paul preaches. And there were seven sons of one Sceva, a Jew, and chief of the priests, which did so. And the evil spirit answered and said, Jesus I know, and Paul I know; but who are you? And the man in whom the evil spirit was leaped on them, and overcame them, and prevailed against them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. And this was known to all the Jews and Greeks also dwelling at Ephesus; and fear fell on them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was magnified”, and in chapter nineteen and verse eighteen of the book of Acts Luke shared how “many that believed came, and confessed” where we read:
And many that believed came, and confessed, and showed their deeds.
The verse begins, “And many that believed came, and confessed, ...” Luke began with the words, “and many that believed came” which means “and a great, numerous and abundant number of people who trusted in, relied upon, clung to and had confidence in Jesus arose and appeared”, “and confessed” or “and professed, acknowledged openly and joyfully”. Luke shared how a large number of people “trusted in and relied” upon Jesus Christ and professed openly their commitment to Him.
The verse goes on to say, “... and showed their deeds.” Luke continued with the words, “and showed” or “and announced, made known, reported, brought tidings and rehearsed” “their deeds” which means “the believers in Jesus' acts, transactions, business and mode of functioning”. Luke shared how the people who believed in Jesus demonstrated their belief by their acts and practices.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we learn how a great number of people in “Ephesus” “believed” in Jesus as their “Savior and Lord”, and they demonstrated their trust in Him by their acts and works. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they truly rely upon, trust in and cling to Him, their lives will change accordingly. Things they once did, they no longer do. Words they once said are no longer said. Attitudes are altered, and where they were at one time angry, mean or depressed, Jesus changes their lives. Paul wrote, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new” (2 Corinthians 5:17), and anyone who yields themselves to Jesus will be changed like these “Ephesians” and they and others around them will see and know the difference in their lives.
Next time Luke shares how, “many of them also which used curious arts brought their books together, and burned them”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
See more devotionals on the website "thewordfortodaywithray.com" or look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment