God Running is a place for anyone who wants to love Jesus more deeply, follow Jesus more closely, and love people the way Jesus wants us to.

Acts 18:7-11

And he left there and went to the house of a man named Titius Justus, a worshiper of God. His house was next door to the synagogue. Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized. And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Acts 18:7-11

Do You Own a Cat?

Do you own a cat? Even though your cat might enjoy eating it, would you agree that the biological limitations of your cat’s brain make it incapable of understanding how to read a Bobby Flay recipe and prepare his Ancho and Honey-Glazed Salmon ? Or why and how you drive your car? Or why you would take him to the vet for his shots? If God exists as the Creator of you and of me and the entire universe and everything in it. If God created every photon, quark, electron, and neutrino in the universe, wouldn’t it be likely that the biological limitations of our brains prevent us from understanding God? And why and how God does things?

This is Paul’s situation in our passage. In earlier chapters we’ve seen how Paul’s already been beaten and imprisoned and publicly berated. One time he was even stoned and left for dead. But after all that, God says to Paul, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.”

And Paul–even though he likely didn’t see how this made any sense whatsoever given his recent experiences with extreme persecution–obeyed. Paul obeyed, even though he didn’t understand.

And he stayed a year and one half, teaching the word of God among them.

“Father, have mercy on us. We’re like little children down here. We don’t always understand You and Your ways. Bless us with great faith in You always, and especially when You ask us to do something that doesn’t make sense to us. Fill us with Your Holy Spirit and lead us and guide us in Your ways and in the way You would have us go.

“In Jesus’ name we ask this of You.

“Amen.”

Notes:

Image of cat and owner by Jonas Vincent via wikimedia commons

Available on Amazon! Love Like Jesus: How Jesus Loved People (and how you can love like Jesus) Love Like Jesus begins with the story of how after a life of regular church attendance and Bible study, Bennett was challenged by a pastor to study Jesus. That led to an obsessive seven year deep dive. After pouring over Jesus’ every interaction with another human being, he realized he was doing a much better job of studying Jesus’ words than he was following Jesus’ words and example. The honest and fearless revelations of Bennett’s own moral failures affirm he wrote this book for himself as much as for others. Love Like Jesus examines a variety of stories, examples, and research, including:

• Specific examples of how Jesus communicated God’s love to others.
• How Jesus demonstrated all five of Gary Chapman’s love languages (and how you can too).
• The story of how Billy Graham extended Christ’s extraordinary love and grace toward a man who misrepresented Jesus to millions.
• How to respond to critics the way Jesus did.
• How to love unlovable people the way Jesus did.
• How to survive a life of loving like Jesus (or how not to become a Christian doormat).
• How Jesus didn’t love everyone the same (and why you shouldn’t either).
• How Jesus guarded his heart by taking care of himself–he even napped–and why you should do the same.
• How Jesus loved his betrayer Judas, even to the very end.

With genuine unfiltered honesty, Love Like Jesus, shows you how to live a life according to God’s definition of success: A life of loving God well, and loving the people around you well too. A life of loving like Jesus. (Kindle, hardcover, and paperback now available on Amazon.)