Reading Plan: 

Acts 23

Take Courage

Author: Jessica Brinson  

In Acts 23, we meet Paul in Jerusalem. He is there to share the gospel and hopefully convert others to Christianity. Well, it doesn’t take long for him to instigate arguments, and needless to say, he kinda fails spectacularly at that mission.  

That night while he is in the barracks, Jesus comes to him. Luke doesn’t use the words vision or dream. Luke states in verse 11, “The following night, the Lord stood by him…” The Lord, Jesus, our Messiah was physically there standing beside Paul. Did he rebuke Paul for failing that day? No. He came up beside him and said, “Take courage.”  

Take courage.  

Long, long ago (six years almost to the day), I was interning at a church in Quakers Hill, Sydney, Australia. All the interns had many roles and many jobs that were not on the application, but we did them with smiles on our faces – mostly. Well, one of my apparent roles was to speak at the church’s Friday night youth group. Me. Jessica. Standing in front of teenagers. I was petrified. Put me in a small group setting, and that’s my cup of tea. But put me on a stage? I was sweating bullets.  

I prepared for weeks. I had this great vision of how AMAZING it was going to be. Well, uh, it wasn’t amazing. I dropped the ball.  

But there was another intern, Tyler Boles, who came up beside me after that night. He didn’t point out how I messed up, how the talk I prepared fell flat. He showed me my strengths and reminded me how to use those strengths in my talks to keep the attention of the kids while also staying true to the Bible.  

At that moment, he was showing me God’s grace. God used him to tell me, “Take courage.”  

We all have those days where we need someone to come up beside us, pat us on the back, and tell us it’s going to be okay. We might’ve messed up and not done something correctly, we may have had a terrible day and felt like a failure, and in those moments our Heavenly Father is with us.  

Isaiah 41:13 says, “For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear, I will help you.’” 

Matthew 28:20 says, “...And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”  

Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  

God’s got us in the palm of His hand. He’s got our backs. God always knows what is best for us, and we can always take courage in knowing that.  

Reflection:  

• How has God shown up in your life in a moment where you desperately needed encouragement? 
• When was the last time you encouraged someone? 
• This week how can you show up for others as an encourager and as a reminder of God’s unending presence in our lives?  
  

Family Content: 

Author: Carrington Stuart

• Today we’re reading a passage from the book of Acts about a man from the Bible that we talked about yesterday. Do you remember who it was? That’s right! His name is Paul! This chapter tells a story about Paul arguing with some people who did not believe in Jesus. Like we talked about last week, Paul told them his story about how Jesus changed his life and is now in heaven forever! These people did not believe his story and wanted to hurt Paul. Some men made a plan to capture Paul and hurt him, but God sent some good friends to protect Paul and keep him safe.
• The good friends who God sent to Paul made sure that nobody would hurt him and helped him to share his story about how Jesus changed his life! Sometimes other people will not be nice to you because they do not believe in Jesus. But just like God protected Paul, He will send you good friends who will be there for you no matter what! Do you have any friends who you talk with about Jesus? Are you a good friend to others? Do you protect them when others are not kind to them?
• This week, tell your good friends how grateful you are for them and how much you love them! Remind them that Jesus loves them too!
• Prayer: God, thank You for being there for me even when life is hard. I am so glad that You will never leave me alone. Help me to be grateful for the good friends who You have sent me and for giving me other people to spend time with! Help me to be a good friend to others and to never be afraid to tell others about Jesus. We love You very much! In Jesus’ name, Amen.