Astounded at the teaching. Acts 13.

What do you think of, when you read about the miraculous happenings in Acts? One thing that comes to my mind, is that I don't see this happening much today. We do get reports from other countries, from missionary efforts, that there are astounding miracles taking place. We hear it from certain quarters of the church in America, too. This makes me wonder about my own receptiveness to the idea of miracles today.

But another thought is that in a missionary effort, it's sometimes not enough to teach the Word. There's a need for the stamp of authority to it. Certainly the primary purpose of the signs and miracles in Jesus' life and in these Acts we've been reading through, is to attest to the authority of the teaching of the good news. With that in mind, I was struck by this verse describing the conversion of the Roman governor, Sergius Paulus:

Then when the proconsul saw what had happened, he believed, because he was greatly astounded at the teaching about the Lord. (Acts 13:12, NET).

For Serguis Paulus, it was not the blinding of Elymas that astounded him, but the teaching about the Lord. The blinding was the catalyst so that he could accept the astounding teachings about Jesus, as having real authority.

For many of us, the attesting miracle that gives authority to our testimony about Jesus, is the change that has taken place in our own lives, or the lives of close brothers and sisters. In the living of your life each day, let that change show through. Share your faith by letting people know you better. Sometimes you'll have to talk about it. Be ready. Sometimes it'll be apparent in your actions. Live uprightly. Most of all, keep reading the text, so that you know well the teaching of the Lord, and you live well by the teaching of the Lord. OK, I'm done preaching.

As in previous chapters of Acts, there are many items of interest and teachings to absorb and apply, so feel free to comment on any aspect of what you've discovered in chapter 13.