Category: Giving All For Our Faith

Acts 14:19 (NKJV) 19 Then Jews from Antioch and Iconium came there; and having persuaded the multitudes, they stoned Paul and dragged him out of the city, supposing him to be dead.

They thought he was dead, and they left him there.

Wow! Talk about giving everything to live and preach Christ.

Paul was stoned for his faith. I can’t even imagine what it would feel like for one stone to hit me hard, let alone many stones at once; enough to kill me. It’s beyond what I can even imagine.

We, as God’s children, may not get stoned physically like Paul. But some may stone us, symbolically-speaking, as we face persecution of varying kinds for our faith. And it crushes our heart.

Paul was left there, presumed dead.

But, when the disciples gathered around him, he got up and went with them. The next day he left with Barnabas to preach.

How? How can anyone get right up and go on working, especially after such a beating?

He was miraculously raised from the dead or healed for sure! Praise be to God! And it was not going to stop him from doing what He was called to do.

God had a plan for Paul, and no one was going to take him out before it was finished, no matter how badly they wanted him dead because of the words he spoke.

Don’t think for a moment that our enemy, the devil, does not want us dead.

He wants to beat us down, keep us there, and cause us to give up. And He uses people and situations to try to take us out.

Maybe someone today has been left for dead from the abuse of hurtful words or some other kind of painful situation.

Maybe someone had to deal with difficult conditions at work, or in school. Maybe our own family has stoned us to death with their actions toward us.

What if we told you that God wants to raise you up today, just like He did Paul and bring healing to you?

He wants to take you places and open doors for you to walk through. You just need to trust Him.

Your faith in Him needs to grow. Stop listening to the stone throwers. Stop trying to get back in with them so they can just keep abusing you.

You might have been left for dead; but you have a Father who loves you and will not turn His back on you. He has a plan and it’s not finished.

Rise up from where you have taken that last stone. Put one foot in front of the other, and don’t look back. God has places for you to go and things for you to do. Amen.

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