Where God Guides He Will Provide! Acts 27

Paul Sails for Rome

Acts 27 When it was decided that we would sail for Italy, Paul and some other prisoners were handed over to a centurion named Julius, who belonged to the Imperial Regiment. 2 We boarded a ship from Adramyttium about to sail for ports along the coast of the province of Asia, and we put out to sea. Aristarchus, a Macedonian from Thessalonica, was with us. 3 The next day we landed at Sidon; and Julius, in kindness to Paul,allowed him to go to his friends so they might provide for his needs.4 From there we put out to sea again and passed to the lee of Cyprus because the winds were against us. 5 When we had sailed across the open sea off the coast of Cilicia and Pamphylia, we landed at Myra in Lycia. 6 There the centurion found an Alexandrian ship sailing for Italyand put us on board. 7 We made slow headway for many days and had difficulty arriving off Cnidus. When the wind did not allow us to hold our course, we sailed to the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone. 8 We moved along the coast with difficulty and came to a place called Fair Havens, near the town of Lasea.
As Paul nears Rome his final destination, we see two things happening.  One, he is getting special treatment, because he is a Roman citizen and appealed to Caesar for a fair trial.  Secondly, one can see God's hand is upon his life. For instance, God grants Paul favor for Paul with the Roman centurion, Julius.  Not only did Julius allow Paul to see his friends, but also found them an Alexandrian ship for them to sail on.  
We saw a foreshadowing of this when the Lord appeared to Paul in Acts 23 and said, 
"The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”
Because Paul is obeying God's guidance, God is providing for him.  One of the things I have found that is as we walk in faith, God provides unexpected people and timely provision along the way.  Julius knowingly or unknowingly provided special privileges for Paul that other prisoners did not get. Later in this passage, God uses Paul to save the ship from certain destruction, even though they didn't listen to him at first.  This created goodwill for Paul with all on the ship.
So what can we learn from Paul from this chapter?  Someone has said, "When God guides, God provides."  Part of the joy and excitement of the Christian faith is following God into the unknown and seeing him provide along the way. 
Stephen Curtis Chapman has a song, "The Great Adventure".  Here is a link of the video of the song, if you care to watch it. (warning this very much has an 80's feel to it LOL)
Here are some of the lyrics ...
"So come on, get ready for the ride of your life
Gonna leave long faced religion
In a cloud of dust behind
And discover all the new horizons
Just waiting to be explored
This is what we were created for, yeah
Saddle up your horses
We've got a trail to blaze
Through the wild blue yonder of God's Amazing grace
Let's follow our leader into the Glorious unknown
This is the life like no other
This is the great adventure.
 
Where is God leading you on in the Great Adventure of follow His Son.  Step out in faith and trust God's leading from the Holy Spirit as you follow Christ to wherever he wants you to go.  Where God guides He will provide. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Acts 22 - Paul Sees the Light

Image
6  “About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me.   7  I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me,  ‘Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?’  8  “‘Who are you, Lord?’ I asked.  “  ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth,  whom you are persecuting,’  he replied.   9  My companions saw the light,  but they did not understand the voice  of him who was speaking to me.  10  “‘What shall I do, Lord?’ I asked. “  ‘Get up,’  the Lord said,  ‘and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do. This is the famous story of the apostle Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus.  Paul was going there to persecute Jewish Christians and throw them into prison and he meets Jesus is a spectacular way.  Not only is he blinded by a briliant light, but he hears the Lord's voice audibly.  And the Lord asks him, "Lord, Lord why are you persecuting me!"  Paul thought he was serving the Lord, but he was persecuting him b
Read more

2 Timothy 4 - Fight the Good Fight! Finish the Race!

Click Here to Read or Listen to 2 Timothy 4 4 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. Paul gives a closing charge to Timothy. First of all, he is to preach the word. God's Word speaks to all situations and seasons. The Word of God will sometimes correct us. Our lives can get of out alignment with God's will as outlined in
Read more

Hebrews 6 - Have You Graduated From Elementary School of Faith Yet?

Click Here to Read or Listen to Hebrews 6 6 Therefore let us move beyond the elementary teachings about Christ and be taken forward to maturity, not laying again the foundation of repentance from acts that lead to death, and of faith in God, 2 instruction about cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, the resurrection of the dead, and eternal judgment. 3 And God permitting, we will do so. The author once again picks up with the theme of moving on to Christian maturity.  He teaches them to move on from the "elementary" teachings about Christ. What does he mean by that?  He gives clues by citing repentance, faith, cleansing rites, the laying on of hands, and teaching on the judgment and resurrection from the dead. We might call these the basics of the Christian faith. If you read through the Apostle's Creed, which our church confesses in our 8am service, it contains many of these core doctrines.  Click here to see the Apostle's Creed Written Around “When we consider the
Read more