There Are No Accidents

 After being without the internet for a week, I am glad to have it back and be able to make a new entry on this blog!

Acts 18:2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome.

Aquila and Priscilla had been through a lot of turmoil when the Apostle Paul met them.  

They had been uprooted from their home and their livelihood in Rome for no reason except that they were Jews.

They had to travel to find a new safe place to live, which ended up being in Corinth.  

 It had to have been a traumatic and emotionally challenging experience for Aquila and Priscilla.

But it was no accident that Claudius commanded all the Jews to leave Rome at this very time in history.

It was no accident that Aquila and Priscilla chose to settle in Corinth when forced to leave Italy. 

It was no accident that Paul’s travels brought him to Corinth after Aquila and Priscilla had settled there. 

It was no accident that they and Paul had the same trade so that Paul could not only stay with them but also work with them to support himself while he shared the gospel with the people of Corinth.

It was no accident that the Apostle Paul was able to establish a church there in Corinth that met, where else, but in the house of Aquila.  

There are no accidents with God.

Even the Emperor of Rome himself, a hater of the Jews, was part of God's "no accident" plans for Paul, Aquila and Priscilla, and the newly formed church in Corinth. 

"And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good ..." (Romans 8:28). 

Paul knew this from his personal experience, and we can trust that word for ourselves as well, because there are no accidents with God. He plans and uses even what seems bad to turn our situations into good outcomes if we are loving Him and living for Him.

I don't know about you, but I need that reminder regularly.

There are no accidents with God in control of my life.

The Capital-Letter-L Life

Acts 5:20 Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.

I really like the way my Bible has this verse that tells what the angel told the apostles when he miraculously released them from the jail cell that eventful night.  They had been arrested because of their activities in ministering to people.

The angel said to tell the people all the words of this Life (with a capital “L”).   

That capital-letter-L-life is a good enough life to be capitalized. 

It is not just a plain, ordinary life.   

We don’t know exactly what the apostles said about “this Life,” but as I think about what I know and have experienced for myself as a follower of Jesus, several things come to mind.

"In Him [Jesus Christ} was life..."  (John 1:4). 

The life of Christ becomes light for others. "... and  the life was the light of men." (John 1:4). 

In faith in Jesus Christ, I find eternal Life. "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life"  (John 3:16).  

Jesus came to give me abundant Life. "I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10).  

I can only have capital-letter-L Life by having the Son of God in me. "Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:12).

The bottom line is that the capital-letter-L Life carries a lot of meaning and is to be desired over all other little-letter-l life.