Acts 25

 Scripture - The next morning he took his place in the courtroom and had Paul brought in. The minute he walked in, the Jews who had come down from Jerusalem were all over him, hurling the most extreme accusations, none of which they could prove. Acts 25:6-7

Observation - Here we have Jesus' words from the Beatitudes coming true - "Not only that—count yourselves blessed every time people put you down or throw you out or speak lies about you to discredit me. What it means is that the truth is too close for comfort and they are uncomfortable. You can be glad when that happens—give a cheer, even!—for though they don't like it, I do! And all heaven applauds. And know that you are in good company. My prophets and witnesses have always gotten into this kind of trouble."

Application - Though we should not necessarily seek out or willingly bring on condemnation by others, the truth is that often when we are witnessing with our lives and words, conflict with those who hold to the status quo will arise.  It has been said that our task is to "comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable."  Again the afflicting is not done maliciously, it happens when the "the truth" (and Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life) is too close for comfort.  It raises the question, "if we are sailing through life, with no rough seas, are we being faithful to the gospel?"  Have we accommodated too much to the prevailing culture?

Prayer - Dear God, you know that I would rather have smooth sailing than rough seas.  Help me to not desire the easy way so much that I fail to be faithful to your truth.  Help me to see challenges that come from faithfulness, not as things to be despair over, but as things to be cheered.  For you love faithfulness over all else.  I pray in Jesus' name.  Amen.