What I read today
Nehemiah 4; Job 30; Habakkuk 1; Acts 14; 2 John
Handling adulation and praise are often more difficult than handling failure. Success can quickly go to your head leading to pride and ultimately a hard fall. In offices and job sites countless people walk around and take credit for every success whether or not they actually deserve credit.
In Acts 14 vs. 8-20 Paul comes across a man who had never been able to walk. Paul was given the ability to heal people as a way of showing Jesus power over all things. Paul knew it wasn’t a gift to be used to draw people to him. It was a gift to be used to attract people to Jesus. So he asks Jesus to heal the man, and he does.
Suddenly, the people try and worship Paul and Barnabus.
It happens in churches everywhere. The worship is more about the man in the pulpit than it is about the man on the cross. I remember a church I attended when I was younger. A pastor took a call to another congregation. Before his leaving over 200 people a week packed into this little church. After he left attendance dropped to 80 each week.
Where does your true worship lie? Is it with the man on the cross or the man on the pulpit?