The Buck Didn’t Stop, It Just Kept Going…

PASSAGE OF THE DAY:
Acts 25 (click the link)


KEY VERSE:
After Festus had conferred with his council, he declared: “You have appealed to Caesar. To Caesar you will go!” (Acts 25:12, NIV)


THE BIG IDEA:
The Jews hate Paul and want him dead.  The problem is that they can’t put him to death because under Roman rule, only Rome has the last say on condemning someone to death.   So the Jews’ hands are tied if they want to get rid of Paul… for good.

The Romans can’t condemn anyone to death that is a Roman citizen without fair representation of the matter and without hearing the defense of the accused.  So Paul is a bouncing ball between the Jewish and Roman authorities… because no one wants to rock the boat and make a decision.

There was a delicate balance between the Jews and Rome. The balancing act for the Jewish Religious Party is that if they were to preserve their jobs and status with Rome, then they had to keep the Israeli people, who hated Rome, from rioting and having an uprising. On the other side were the Roman rulers, set up by Caesar, and to keep their jobs and their head, they had to keep the status quo steady and live in peace at all costs with the Jews.

So diplomacy reigns… except for Paul.  Jesus reigns supreme in his heart and His will for Paul will not be denied.  He was created to testify for the Lord and testify he did.  He makes everyone crazy!!!  Pharisees, Sadducees, Felix and Drusilla, Festus, King Agrippa and his wife Bernice, everyone is trying to think how the buck can be passed, because any decision for or against Paul could blow the atmosphere sky high… so the buck goes to Rome and to Caesar.

I want to laugh at this chapter.  Everyone is supposedly IN CONTROL, yet none of them really are… there is only one agenda being pushed here… the will of Christ Jesus for Paul’s life.  Jesus told Paul in Acts 23:11 that he would “testify at Rome.”  That’s where this buck is going to stop… because Jesus said so.


REFLECTIONS:
In our lives, no matter how hard the world tries to derail us, as long as we are pursuing the will of God, nothing in heaven or earth can stop us.  Jesus IS the ultimate authority and he will cause His purposes to come to pass.

I want to know that deep down.  I want to get that thought out of my head and experientially into my heart.

I am personally in a very strange place right now. My life has not worked out like I had thought it would or even have liked for it to.  Things seem to be moving “behind the scenes” without my moving them, beyond my control.  I’m uncomfortable with that… I like to know where I’m going and what’s going to happen, but at the same time, I have tremendous peace about it all as well.

I do believe God has my back and that he will guide my steps to where I need to be.  He did it for Paul, why not me.  I trust that.  I can’t wait to see where this buck stops… daily.  What will my “Rome” look like?


POINT OF ACTION:
Ask Jesus what His will is for you today and see him move “behind the scenes” to get you there.


PRAYER:
Holy Spirit of Jesus, you are my Guide and Shepherd.  My life is yours. Your will is my delight.  Let me move with you and hear your heartbeat for me, my family, my church and the world.  Point me to whatever endeavor you have in your master script for my life today.  I thank you ahead of time for the direction and grace your Holy Spirit will provide.  Make my life match the words of a song I heard recently… “Let my common soul reveal Your Majesty.”  Let your will be done in my life, TODAY, on earth, as it is in Heaven.


WHO AM I?
I’m June Criner and I have a granddaughter that will be two years old tomorrow.  Her name is Emily Grace. She is such a joy for all of us in the family and so much fun.  Her daddy (my son Michael) named her and she is definitely a “daddy’s girl.”  When I see them together I see the kind of relationship that “my daddy,” my Heavenly Father, wants to have with me.  The way he looks at her, how he gently helps her, and how he hangs on all her words.  I guess I was too busy with life when my own son was growing up to see all these little things that mean so much.  I’m sure they were there, but I was moving too fast to see them, too self-engrossed and hung up with making a living.  I thank God he didn’t wait until it was too late to let me see these things.  I relish being with Emily, playing with her and seeing her discover the world slowly, like it should be done. Thank you Jesus!