Christianity Oasis Forum

[cimi]

February 26
Thursday


CHANGED
PERSPECTIVE

READ:
Acts 17:16-23
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his
spirit was provoked
within him when he
saw that the city was
given over to idols.
__Acts 17:16
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
As an early riser, my wife enjoys the quiet moments before the house wakes up and uses it to read the Bible and pray. Recently she settled into her favorite chair, only to be confronted by a rather messy couch left by "someone" watching a football game the night before. The mess distracted her at first, and her frustration with me interrupted the warmth of the moment.

Then a thought hit her, and she moved to the couch. From there, she could look out our front windows to the sun rising over the Atlantic Ocean. The beauty of the scene God painted that morning changed her perspective.

As she told me the story, we both recognized the lesson of the morning. While we can't always control the things of life that impact our day, we do have a choice. We can continue to brood over the "mess," or we can change our perspective. When Paul was in Athens, "he was greatly distressed to see that the city was full of idols" (Acts 17:16 NIV). But when he changed his perspective, he used their interest in religion as an opportunity to proclaim the true God, Jesus Christ (vv.22-23).

As my wife left for work, it was time for someone else to change his perspective__for me to let the Lord help me to see my messes through her eyes and His. __Randy Kilgore

````````````````````````Dear Lord, grant us the wisdom to change``````````````````````
````````````````````our perspective rather than linger over messes.````````````````````
````````````````````````help us to see__and fix__the "messes"`````````````````````````
`````````````````````````````````we make for others.``````````````````````````````
______________________________________________________________________________________
Wisdom is seeing things from God's perspective.

***************************Today's Bible Reading __ Acts 17:16-23******************************
16 Now while Paul waited
for them at Athens, his spirit
was provoked within him
when he saw that the city
was given over to idols

17 Therefore he reasoned in
the synagogue with the Jews
and with the Gentile
worshipers, and in the
marketplace daily with
those who happened to be
there. 18 Then certain
Epicurean and Stoic
philosophers encountered
him. And some said, "What
does this babbler want to
say?" Others said, "He
seems to be a proclaimer of
foreign gods," because he
preached to them Jesus and
the resurrection, 19 And they
took him and brought him
to the Areopagus, saying,
"May we know what this
new doctrine is of which
you speak? 20 For you are
bringing some strange
things to our ears. Therefore
we want to know what these
things mean." 21 For all the
Athenians and the
foreigners who were there
spent their time in nothing
else but either to tell or to
hear some new thing.

22 Then Paul stood in the
midst of the Areopagus and
said, "Men of Athens, I
perceive that in all things
you are very religious; 23 for
as I was passing through
and considering the objects
of your worship, I even
found an altar with this
inscription: TO THE
UNKNOWN GOD.
Therefore, the One whom
you worship without
knowing, Him I proclaim
to you.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>INSIGHT<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
The Areopagus (vv.19,22) was like an ancient philosophical think tank
There the wisest thinkers and philosophers of the day would assemble
to wrestle with important ideas and teachings. This made it the ideal
place for Paul to present the good news and teachings of Jesus.