March 23, 2020

“And the night following the Lord stood by him, and said, Be of good cheer, Paul: for as thou hast testified of me in Jerusalem, so must thou bear witness also at Rome.”
‭‭Acts‬ ‭23:11‬ ‭

If you go back to chapter 21 of the book of Acts you’ll find that on two separate occasions Paul was warned by the Holy Spirit (Acts 21:4, 10-12) not to go to Jerusalem. They wanted to kill him in Jerusalem. For reasons I can’t really figure out Paul goes anyway. He gets beaten, he gets arrested, and now in chapter 23 we see him on trial, and there is a group of men that have vowed not to eat until Paul is dead. Now if I were God I’d have something to say to Paul, probably something along the lines of “I told you not to go” “I warned you but did you listen to me? Oh no wouldn’t listen to me.” I’m not God though (shocker right)
Acts 23:11 is awesome! How many times have we heard the comforting voice of God when we made a mistake? When we messed up? It’s not an I told you so voice, or a condemning voice. It’s a calming, encouraging voice. Be of good cheer. It’s a soothing voice, but it’s also a personal voice. God didn’t just say “Be of good cheer” He said “Be of good cheer, Paul.” How sweet the voice of God is but how much sweeter is it when He’s speaking to you. And then God says I’m not done with you Paul. I have more for you Paul “so must thou bear witness also at Rome.” Maybe you’ve made a mistake and feel like God is done with you, maybe you feel like God has the attitude of “I told you so” “you should’ve listened to me” but God wants to personally speak peace to you. Do you believe that? Do you know as long as there is breath in your lungs God has a purpose for you? I hope this brings “Good cheer” to you today.

Frank Newsome