Daily Devotional Thursday 28th May 2020
by William Moody
Acts 19:17–22
17 And this became known to all the residents of Ephesus, both Jews and Greeks. And fear fell upon them all, and the name of the Lord Jesus was extolled. 18 Also many of those who were now believers came, confessing and divulging their practices. 19 And a number of those who had practiced magic arts brought their books together and burned them in the sight of all. And they counted the value of them and found it came to fifty thousand pieces of silver. 20 So the word of the Lord continued to increase and prevail mightily.
A Riot at Ephesus
21 Now after these events Paul resolved in the Spirit to pass through Macedonia and Achaia and go to Jerusalem, saying, “After I have been there, I must also see Rome.” 22 And having sent into Macedonia two of his helpers, Timothy and Erastus, he himself stayed in Asia for a while.
(ESV)
After the incident with the sons of Sceva (v14-16), fear came over the people of Ephesus (v17). We need to pray for days like this when people have a fear and Christ’s named is held in high esteem. It is a frightening thing when people are casual and not serious about the things of God.
Ephesus was a city gripped in evil but now God was at work. There was a great turning away from evil in the city (v18-19). 50,000 drachmas’ worth of scrolls was a lot. One drachma was a day’s pay.
Trusting in Jesus means being ruthless in dealing with all that is evil and sinful in our lives. Are there things of this world that you should be discarding that you are holding unto and hindering your spiritual walk? Pray about this.
God’s word was spreading (v20); lives were being transformed by grace. Again we need to pray for God’s word to transform our community. Pray that as God’s word is taught currently online or being shared informally by God’s people, that the Holy Spirit will breath on it powerfully to bring people to Christ. Today the Word is going out but is it going out with the great power of the Holy Spirit? This is what we need.
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