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Us pray. And there came thither certain Jews from Antioch and Iconium, who persuaded the people and having stoned Paul, drew him out of the city, supposing he had been dead. Acts 14:19. Meditating on the events of Acts 14, I have decided to double down and fix myself steadfastly on my course of action. I will not deviate from the original plan you have given me. I realize my calling to be a resource and a solution to someone's problems. As I am building my life, I will not be surprised by the rocks of jealousy and envy that get hurled my way, and even as some connect and cause pain to me, I thank you that like Paul, you will place a team around me of individuals who are like-minded and who will help mend and heal the wounds I just received. I will remain thankful and faithful for the rich relationships you are continually placing around my life. I am blessed indeed. In Jesus' name, Amen. Thank you for praying with me today. Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought to you by Bibleinnear. Com. I'm Cheryl McClellum, host of the Cold Case podcast, Zone 7.

Join us every Wednesday to hear cases like the Long Island serial killer. Here, Carrie Lawson, daughter of the notorious serial killer, BTK, weigh in on the accused Long Island serial killers children. You show genuine interest, and you can't fake it, but these guys can see right through to your soul. You have to be walled-off prepared. And if you don't know your stuff, they're going to just call you out and they're going to be like, Nope, I'm talking to somebody else. I'm not talking to you. Here, great insight from one of New York City's finest, Detective Joe Jackalone, a cold case expert. As well as I do, cops weren't even aware of it back then, so they're going to have some difficulty putting those cases together unless, of course, he confesses. Listen to his own seven with Cheryl McCleom on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Hello, I'm Bishop TD, Jake. I want to welcome you to my new podcast with pray. Com called Sleep Psalms.

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Your eyes and focus on God. Picture Him as your shepherd that knows you and surrender to him. Each episode guides you on a serene exploration of Psalms. Thankfully calming every nerve and restless, mind turning adventure that keeps you up in the middle of the night, transposing you into the safety of his arms. He is going to lay you down in green pastures and restore your soul. Join me and let the Lord be your shepherd tonight. Listen to sleep songs with Bishop T. B. Jakes on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Our world is blaring with the white noise of pop culture, politics, and products. Don't you think it's time for a message that goes beyond the pointless chatter? You've perfected us by that one sacrifice. I can live in freedom and be the Christian you've called me to be. Introducing Sunday Service, a podcast that brings the world's most respected pastors, teachers, and leaders with messages of hope, grace, and peace. Grow your faith and be inspired to tackle life's greatest challenges. So Jesus, he is initiating life. He's giving life. Find answers to some of life's deepest questions.

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Gods and stones. In our last story, Paul and Barnabas began their journey to preach the gospel in parts of Greece and Rome. Although they were met with some opposition, the Lord moved. Now Paul has met with some of the greatest challenges he has ever faced, inspired by the Book of Acts.

Hello, I'm Jack Graham with today's episode of The Bible in a Year podcast. Thank you for joining us. We're so thankful for the millions and millions of people who have downloaded this app, pray. Com, and are enjoying and experiencing together the word of God. In our previous episode, we heard how Paul and Barnabas, prompted by the Holy Spirit, traveled to Cyprus. There, they preached the message of Jesus in the synagogues across the island, winning many to Christ. We also heard how Paul stood against a magician, a false prophet named Bart Jesus. Hebrews, rebuking him and judging him with blindness because he tried to prevent people from turning to Jesus. We saw Paul defending their ministry to the Gentiles, who were just as much a part of God's plan for salvation as the Jews. Today, we'll hear as Paul and Barnabas preach in Iconium and Lystrae. They'll see many turn to Christ, but also face great opposition. Paul will feel the sting and the pain of persecution as his body endures torture for the sake of the Gospel. So let's hear now the word of God.

A war for the hearts of God's people emerged from Iconium. Paul and Barnabas entered into the city with words of love, knowledge, and forgiveness. Both Jews and Gentiles felt their hearts melt due to the mercy of Jesus. People who felt far off from God were brought near. People who were trapped in a cycle of destructive sin were restored. Jesus was being glorified. However, there was a den of wolves seeking to take the sheep of God away. Certain Jewish leaders spread words of discouragement among the people. They added to the grace of Jesus by saying that there were still works that could get you into heaven. They came off as holy but Paul could see the truth. They were men taking the place of God. They thought they could ascend to perfection by their good deeds, but they were painfully and utterly wrong. Nevertheless, a great deal of people began to believe these Jewish leaders. Their minds were poisoned by false teachings. The city was divided and growing restless. Soon there was a large call to have Paul and Barnabas stoned. So they fled to Listera before more chaos would emerge. However, Listera would prove to have its own demons waiting.

Paul and Barnabas arrived on the shores of Listera with hope that people could be saved by Jesus. As they were walking, they came across a man who could not use his feet. He was crippled beyond repair and had never truly been able to walk since birth. Paul knelt down to him and said, Stand and walk. So the man was healed. The crowds gathered and watched Paul heal this man through the power of the Holy Spirit. But they saw no spirit. They saw Paul, they saw Barnabas. The Gods have come down to us, they shouted. It is Zuse and Hermes. Then the men of the city prepared bulls and cabs to offer up at the temple of Zuse. Paul and Barnabas watched in terror as men and women bowed to them as gods. They could barely stand the weight of their worship. It was too much to bear. The two men ran to the steps of the temple of Zuse. Stop, they shouted. People were about to prepare a sacrifice when Paul tore his robes to reveal his bare chest. I bleed as you do, Paul yelled. We are men. We are men who bring you the good news of the living God, the only God.

But even as Paul spoke these words, they seemed to fall on deaf ears. Night fell and all the chaos of the day had ceased for a moment. Paul slept soundly in his bed, finding a brief moment of peace under the stars. The silence was broken by footsteps coming closer to Paul. He awoke to a small lamp hanging over him. It was the elders from Antioch. They had found him. Before Paul could move, they grabbed him and bound him with ropes. Paul struggled to break free, but the men had tied his hands and feet together. They drugged him for miles back to Antioch. The morning was breaking and Paul had been tied to a post outside the city. He looked around. Large stones caked with dried blood sat on the floor. Paul knew this place. He was well acquainted with a stoning arena. The first stone was a direct blow to the head, but not strong enough to knock him out. Paul peered up at the angry stairs of Jewish leaders. One of them wound up and threw the stone directly at his rib cage. Paul heard two of his ribs snap underneath the weight of the rock.

He gasped for air and coughed up blood. Then a third stone was thrown. This time it hit him in the eye, sending his thoughts swirling into madness. A barrage of stones came afterwards. Paul screamed as his bones snapped into the hurled stones. Soon Paul was reduced to an unconscious and limp body. His breathing had slowed and he was completely covered in blood. Thinking he was dead, Paul was left on the side of the gate outside Antioch. Hours had passed and Paul was just beginning to regain feeling in his limbs. As he did his best to prop himself up against the wall, he saw some of the believers running up to him. They took him in and nurse his wounds back to health. Paul rested all day and then was back to preaching the next day. He would not allow broken bones and torn skin to prevent him from preaching the gospel. A whipped back did not prevent Jesus. He carried his cross forward with intent to put an end to shame and sin. Paul would do the same. No amount of pain would keep him from following Christ.

Our reading today in the Book of Acts finds Paul and Barnabas in Iconium, having fled there when Jews and Antioch stirred up persecution against them. In Iconium, they preached in the synagogue, and many Jews and Greeks alike came to faith in Jesus. Clearly, the Holy Spirit was moving through these men, and the message of salvation in Christ alone was being embraced by more and more people. But The Holy Spirit was not the only one movie, as is always the case when God is at work, the enemy is at work as well, trying to destroy the good things of God. We heard that unbelieving Jews in Iconium began to stir up anger against Paul and the other Christians. They poisoned the minds of the Gentiles against these men. Paul and Barnabas remained there for some time to make sure the truth was clearly taught and the new believers were grounded in the faith so that when they left, they would not be shaken by lies or by the false teachers. Finally, their enemies tried to have them stoned so that they had to flee and they went to Listera, where they encountered a man who was unable to walk.

His feet had not worked since he was born. Paul looked upon him with compassion and spoke to him saying, Stand upright on your feet. This miraculous healing got the attention of the people of Listera, but they misunderstood what was happening. These Greeks believed in many gods, and when they saw the healing, they began to praise Paul and Barnabas, believing they were Hermes and Zuse, Greek gods. At first, Paul and Barnabas did not understand what was going on, but when the priests of Zuse brought bulls and calves to offer sacrifices to them, they were horrified, tearing their clothes as a sign of their rejection of such blasphemy. Paul then spoke to them, urging them to see they were not gods, but mere men. He then preached a simple message to them in terms that related to their pagan understanding. We read in Acts 14:15-17, these words, We bring you good news that you should turn from these vain things to a living God who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. In past generations, he allowed all the nations to walk in their own ways. Yet he did not leave himself without a witness, for he did good by giving you reins from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.

Paul was getting on their level. He is building a bridge to share the gospel. This is an important aspect of how we share our faith. While the core message of Jesus and the gospel of his grace never changes, we always look for ways to reach our culture with the message of the Gospel. We bring the message of good news in the context so that heroes can comprehend it. Yet still, even after their protest and witness to the truth of the God who is, many still wanted to see them as gods. We're told they were scarcely able to stop them from offering sacrifices. For many in the crowd that day, they were simply not ready to comprehend or receive the gospel. The truth is, we can speak the words of truth that we are called to deliver, but we can't force anyone to believe or understand them. We then heard how the Jews in Antioch and Iconium were determined to stop these men. They came to Lestra and took Paul by force to stone him. Paul had seen this happen before. Surely he remembered how he had led similar rage when he was persecution the church.

Now Paul himself was the target of the persecution. He was stoned and dragged out of the city and left to die. But the disciples gathered around him, and Paul rose up, pressed down but not crushed, persecuted but not abandoned, struck down but not destroyed. Most people would have run as far away as possible, but not Paul. He entered the city again, and the next day went to Derby to continue preaching the gospel. There was no stopping his mission, and there is no stopping the good news of Jesus Christ. He and all the believers understood their trials and tribulations were a part of following Jesus. They were willing to take up the cross in order to proclaim the cross. And they knew it's worth it all to give our all to follow Jesus. Let's pray. Dear God, we thank you for the scripture and the powerful testimony of the Apostle Paul, his resilience and perseverance in the face of trials. Thank you for so many who have gone before us in martyrdom and faith to live faithfully for you to proclaim your words so that we could be delivered the truth of the gospel. May we also be faithful in our own generation and courageous to boldly share Jesus Christ, and it is in his name that we pray.

Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Jack Graham of Dallas, Texas. You can download the pray. Com app and make prayer and Bible study the priority of your life. If you enjoyed this podcast, tell someone about it. Pass it on. Let others know because it is our desire to get God's word to as many people as possible as fast as possible. If you want to know more about what it means to be a Christ-follower, what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, then go to jackgraham. Org. We have many resources that are available for you there. I also want to invite you to something very special to join me and my wife, Deb, on a trip to Israel in 2024. We leave on April the first for a 10-day journey, a trip that you will never forget, the trip of a lifetime. We also have a trip to Alaska, a Bible study cruise to Alaska that goes in July. We would love to have you for one of those or both. Go to jackgram. Org or Prestonwood. Org for information. God bless you. This episode is sponsored by Metta Share, an innovative healthcare solution for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.

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