Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  2024  Dat 51

February 20;        Acts 17:16;         106/260;        ‘Provoked’

Acts 17:16 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.

Once you become a sincere Christian, who desires to do the Lord’s work, seeing the deception that the devil uses to hinder people from walking close to the Lord, your spirit becomes provoked.  ‘Provoked’ means stirred or to rouse to anger.  Idolatry today is anything that takes up the majority of your time and keeps you away from the things of God.  When your spirit becomes provoked, what can you do?  You surely can pray for those whose priorities are not biblical.  If you get an opportunity, do what Paul did and share the Word with them.  If they do not know Jesus there are areas in their life which cause pain and hurt.  Your kindness to them and sharing the truth of the gospel in love can set them free.  So often people have a wrong concept of the Lord.  They think the only things He wants them to do is go to church, read their Bible and pray.  The Lord surely wants them to do this, but they have plenty of time to enjoy the things they currently enjoy.  If the person is sincere and ‘means business’ with Jesus, in a relatively short period of time their priorities will change and Jesus will become the most important part of their life.  God’s Word, learning how to pray biblically and attending a church where you will grow spiritually and be with godly people who are nice and ‘regular,’ will become the focus of their life.  The unsaved get Christianity and religion confused.  Christianity has the power to completely change their life.  Jesus said the truth will make you free. Get provoked and help them meet Jesus.