Begin with 2 minutes of silence and stillness before God.

Father God, help me to quiet my spirit, to hear Your voice from Your word, and to respond as You desire.

Do you know a good storyteller? Are you a good teller of stories? I wonder if the art and skill of storytelling are eroding today. I tend to believe it might be.

If you know a good storyteller, you can immediately recall stories they shared and how they effectively captured your attention. It very much is an art, but also a refined skill. If a good storyteller came to mind, call or text them today. Tell them how much you appreciate their stories.

In Acts 22 we see Paul, who has now been arrested, effectively tell his story. In church circles, we would call this his testimony. It starts at the end of Acts 21 when “he motions with his hand to the people” and they got quiet, then in our reading of chapter 22 he speaks to them in Hebrew and “they became even more quiet.” Paul knows his audience and is drawing them in… then he tells his story. He speaks of his past (v3-5) his encounter with Christ (v6-11), his purpose/calling, and his next steps (v12-21).

God is the author of your story; do you tell that story?

Set aside some time today or this week to jot down the bullet points of your spiritual story (your past, your encounter with Christ, your purpose, where you are today on your journey, and what’s next)

Reflect back on your bullet points. Be bold and find a trustworthy friend whom you could tell your spiritual story to. I dare you! Do it this week! You will grow in this process.

Remember, it’s your story, and there are no wrong answers. Storytelling is a skill, and the more you tell a story, the better you get at it. Sharing your story can be an act of worship. As God used Paul, He will use you and your story to bless others.

Take 2 minutes to reflect in silence.

Reflection:

Prayer: God, thank You for my story, the highs, the lows, and how they have drawn me closer to You. Help me to inventory points in my life and have the courage to share those with others.

Family Devo: The Apostle Paul is Arrested

By: Scott Strahan

Leading up to the events of Acts 22, Paul has been busy traveling throughout the region visiting, ministering, and teaching people – not only Jews, but also those who were not Jews (called Gentiles, who Jews thought were unimportant to God and were not loved by God). Over time, the leaders of the Jewish people and many of the Jews themselves grew to hate Paul, not only because he was associating with and teaching Gentiles, but because he was teaching them about Christ and that Christ was the son of God. You see, the Jewish leaders and most of the Jewish people didn’t believe Jesus was God’s son – they rejected Him as the Messiah.

By now, Paul has been in prison multiple times. He has been stoned, beaten, and mistreated in many ways, all because he was telling others about Christ. He has just been arrested again, only after being attacked and nearly killed by a mob who wouldn’t even listen to what Paul was trying to say.

There’s a lesson in that: we should always be willing to listen to others, rather than shouting them down because they think or believe differently than us. Our beliefs should always be based on what the Bible (God’s Word) teaches, and in James 1:19 God’s Word tells us to be “quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger.” When we listen to others, we sometimes learn something, better understand them, or at least show that person respect by listening to how they feel.

The Roman guard who arrested Paul finally gave him an opportunity to speak, and the crowd began to listen. Paul told them about Christ, how he met Him, and how he learned about God’s plan for his life. This angered the mob because they hated him for talking about Christ. The guard then took Paul into the jail and was about to punish him violently (they called it scourging) when Paul informed him that he, too, was a Roman citizen. This alarmed the guard because it was unlawful to punish a Roman citizen too harshly. He decided to leave Paul in jail, and the next day he would call the Jewish leaders together to explain what Paul did that was worthy of punishment as harsh as scourging. Tomorrow, we learn what happened next!

Prayer: Dear God, thank You for Your Word, the Bible, and that You gave it to us so we can learn about You and how we should live and treat others. Lord, help us to always treat others with respect; when they say or do something that we disagree with or don’t understand, help us to use that opportunity to share with them what we believe and what the Bible says about it. Amen