Acts 9:32-43 And it came to pass, as Peter passed throughout all quarters, he came down also to the saints which dwelt at Lydda. 33 And there he found a certain man named AEneas, which had kept his bed eight years, and was sick of the palsy. 34 And Peter said unto him, AEneas, Jesus Christ maketh thee whole: arise, and make thy bed. And he arose immediately. 35 And all that dwelt at Lydda and Saron saw him, and turned to the Lord. 36 Now there was at Joppa a certain disciple named Tabitha, which by interpretation is called Dorcas: this woman was full of good works and almsdeeds which she did. 37 And it came to pass in those days, that she was sick, and died: whom when they had washed, they laid her in an upper chamber.

The Apostle Paul tells us that we belong to Christ. He alone is Master, not any earthly person whether it’s Paul, Apollos or Peter. In fact, we are bought by Him at a price. Jesus Christ paid the ransom for our sins by His life and death! He alone, both divinely God and fully man, is the mediator between God and man. We owe our salvation to Him. We are to serve Him for all that He has given us on earth and in heaven.

Faithful Living in a Faithless World

The Book of Daniel is set during the Babylonian captivity. Daniel was a teenager when he was deported out of his homeland in Jerusalem in 605 B.C. He was among the first group of exiles. The invading Babylonian army besieged Jerusalem and finally destroyed it and the Temple in 586 B.C.

That began 70 years of God’s chastening hand upon His wayward people who had sinned against Him by going a whoring after idols for centuries. The Northern Kingdom had already been destroyed in 722 B.C. The worship of God has become a mockery to Him. They had only “a form of godliness” and God is not mocked. He saw through their hypocrisy. Because God loved His people, He chastised them.

Every servant of God serves Christ as his Master whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas (Peter). God’s people must not regard them as the Master. God’s servants carry out their Master’s will. With the correct understanding, division and strife will cease in the church, arising from factions…
As such, all division must cease, rather enjoy what God has put in place to further the faith and interest of His people. May God’s people give honour and glory to Him as they enjoy all His benefits. Amen.

By five thoughts of self-exaltation, Lucifer was cast out from heaven – Isaiah 14:12-15 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit. Sin did not begin on earth with the fall of Adam and Eve but with the fall of Lucifer who later came as the serpent to tempt Adam and Eve (Genesis 3).

Ecclesiastes 6:3-7

3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he. 4 For he cometh in with vanity, and departeth in darkness, and his name shall be covered with darkness. 5 Moreover he hath not seen the sun, nor known any thing: this hath more rest than the other. 6 Yea, though he live a thousand years twice told, yet hath he seen no good: do not all go to one place? 7 All the labour of man is for his mouth, and yet the appetite is not filled.

The wisdom of God is revealed in His written Word. Believers are to take the time to consider because it is most profitable to the human soul. Faith in God’s Word is the beginning of wisdom. And appropriating God’s wisdom makes one wise unto salvation, understanding the things in the spiritual realm that impact the physical realm. The things that make for true peace and joy in the heart surpasses the blind accumulation of riches for mortal security.

The Apostle Paul quotes Job 5:13 “He taketh the wise in their own craftiness: and the counsel of the froward is carried headlong.” The admonition is that God’s people be wise in the things of God. To take hold eternal life through salvation in Jesus Christ. To put aside the wisdom of this world and to take the time to imbibe the wisdom of God.

The Apostle Paul speaks of the body of Christ, the household of God, the saints as the temple of God in Ephesians 2:19-22 too. Each person individually as together as a building wherein God dwells, built upon Jesus Christ as the foundation.

Ephesians 2:19-22 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; 20 And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; 21 In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: 22 In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.