Acts 9:20, "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God." Paul goes from persecutor of the church to the preacher in the church. The Lord met Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul sees the Lord, The Lord sends Ananias to Paul for some more direction and immediately Paul begins to preach that Jesus is the Christ. The church begins to prosper under Paul's preaching of Jesus. And isn't that exactly Who he s to be preached today. I love when God came to Ananias to prepare him to go to Paul. Ananias was hesitant because Paul had been the persecutor of the church. But God told Ananias that Paul was a chosen vessel to preach to the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. And that is exactly what Paul ended up doing! God has it all mapped out! We will miss out on His divine will though if we are not walking with Him. We must seek Him in His Word and in prayer so that we don't miss His will. Let's have a plan to seek Him for this year and stick to the plan. Amen!
"Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?" And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!""
â€â€Genesis‬ â€18‬:â€12‬-â€15‬
"How many times do we laugh and doubt when God calls us to something hard or incomprehensible? We wonder if God is capable. We deny His power and allow Satan to rob our joy that God can do ANYTHING He wants to do.
The back and forth between Abraham and the Lord BLOWS my mind. "Suppose there should be 40, suppose there should be 35, suppose 30?" Yet God answers and continues the back and forth with Abraham. His patience with us is full of grace upon grace.
The end of Gen 19 is such a testimony to what's happening on our world today; people are being warned, Christian's are still holding on to idols, and God is coming... "So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.""
â€â€Genesis‬ â€19‬:â€14‬-â€17‬ â€
Genesis 18-19: I feel very humbled by reading these chapters because I see just how broken and flawed we are as humans. I am perplexed by Lots response to offer up his two daughters when the people of Sodom came after the two angels that were there in his home and even when his daughters chose to trick their fathers into sleeping with them so that they could populate and how their offspring went on to be leaders of their cities (or tribe). I'm left questioning why God saw Lot and his family fit to be spared considering the things that they also did that were questionable. But the conclusion that I am left with is that we are all very flawed, but He is a perfect God. I'm reminded that we all fall short of the glory of God and how God can use even our flaws and turn them for good. Only God knows why He will allow some things for a time being, but He is so very gracious to us. These chapters just make me even more grateful for His goodness and humbled to see how lost and flawed we as humans are and how much we need Him and to seek His goodness and direction in our lives.
Acts 9: It is just amazing all of the details that were orchestrated to fullfill the Lord's ministry through Saul. God could use Saul (Paul)in a great way because of his past. He was widely known to be relentless in his pursuit to persecute Christians, so when Saul changed his ways, it was so impactful to those who witnessed the shift. It was an actual miracle! The details of how God appeared to him while on his way to go bring the hammer down on more Christians- how God blinded him and surrounded him by ight and he was affraid knowing without ANY doubt that the Lord was speaking to him and his immediate response to ask the Lord what He wanted him to do! That was so compelling! In the blink of an eye he went from doubting to beleiving! Also the detail of having witnesses of what happened- the men who were with Saul saw him fall to the ground and they heard the vouce of the Lord but saw no one. They were astonished at what they were witnessing and Saual couldn't see so they had to lead him into Damascus, so they knew something extraordinary had happened! Saul didn't eat, drink, or see for 3 days. The detail of the Lord appearing in a vision to Ananias and telling him to go and find Saul who would be praying in the house of Judas and to lay his hands upon him and that Saul's vision would be restored- that the Lord was going to give Saul a vision to know that Ananias would come and lay his hands upon him to restore his vision. And so when Ananias went to Saul, and did just what the Lord had shown was going to happen, I bet Saul was amazed at that. God was unlike anything he had ever encountered! There are no words to describe what Saul must have been thinking and feeling- utterly amazed and in awe I would say! Another amazing detail was that God told Ananias that God would show Saul the great things he would suffer for his name's sake and surely when Saul began preaching Christ, he went full force, no turning back, although it became evident that he would have to suffer. People wanted him dead, and yet, he just pushed on keeping his focus on sharing Christ with as many people as he could. It's just so inspiring. Saul was sold out for the cause of Christ with no doubt, just devotion! And God- orchestrated all of the details so profoundly and beautifully!
Acts 9:15-16 "Go thy way; for he is A CHOSEN VESSEL unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ForbI will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
Acts 9:22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
It was Christ IN Saul, empowering him. We see Christ's strength and unwavering pursuit to save lost souls through Saul by the power of His Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!
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Acts 9:20, "Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God." Paul goes from persecutor of the church to the preacher in the church. The Lord met Paul on the road to Damascus, Paul sees the Lord, The Lord sends Ananias to Paul for some more direction and immediately Paul begins to preach that Jesus is the Christ. The church begins to prosper under Paul's preaching of Jesus. And isn't that exactly Who he s to be preached today. I love when God came to Ananias to prepare him to go to Paul. Ananias was hesitant because Paul had been the persecutor of the church. But God told Ananias that Paul was a chosen vessel to preach to the Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. And that is exactly what Paul ended up doing! God has it all mapped out! We will miss out on His divine will though if we are not walking with Him. We must seek Him in His Word and in prayer so that we don't miss His will. Let's have a plan to seek Him for this year and stick to the plan. Amen!
"Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, "After I have grown old, shall I have pleasure, my Lord being old also?" And the Lord said to Abraham, "Why did Sarah laugh, saying, 'Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?' Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, according to the time of life, and Sarah shall have a son." But Sarah denied it, saying, "I did not laugh," for she was afraid. And He said, "No, but you did laugh!""
â€â€Genesis‬ â€18‬:â€12‬-â€15‬
"How many times do we laugh and doubt when God calls us to something hard or incomprehensible? We wonder if God is capable. We deny His power and allow Satan to rob our joy that God can do ANYTHING He wants to do.
The back and forth between Abraham and the Lord BLOWS my mind. "Suppose there should be 40, suppose there should be 35, suppose 30?" Yet God answers and continues the back and forth with Abraham. His patience with us is full of grace upon grace.
The end of Gen 19 is such a testimony to what's happening on our world today; people are being warned, Christian's are still holding on to idols, and God is coming... "So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, "Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!" But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, "Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city." And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife's hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, "Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.""
â€â€Genesis‬ â€19‬:â€14‬-â€17‬ â€
Genesis 18-19: I feel very humbled by reading these chapters because I see just how broken and flawed we are as humans. I am perplexed by Lots response to offer up his two daughters when the people of Sodom came after the two angels that were there in his home and even when his daughters chose to trick their fathers into sleeping with them so that they could populate and how their offspring went on to be leaders of their cities (or tribe). I'm left questioning why God saw Lot and his family fit to be spared considering the things that they also did that were questionable. But the conclusion that I am left with is that we are all very flawed, but He is a perfect God. I'm reminded that we all fall short of the glory of God and how God can use even our flaws and turn them for good. Only God knows why He will allow some things for a time being, but He is so very gracious to us. These chapters just make me even more grateful for His goodness and humbled to see how lost and flawed we as humans are and how much we need Him and to seek His goodness and direction in our lives.
Acts 9: It is just amazing all of the details that were orchestrated to fullfill the Lord's ministry through Saul. God could use Saul (Paul)in a great way because of his past. He was widely known to be relentless in his pursuit to persecute Christians, so when Saul changed his ways, it was so impactful to those who witnessed the shift. It was an actual miracle! The details of how God appeared to him while on his way to go bring the hammer down on more Christians- how God blinded him and surrounded him by ight and he was affraid knowing without ANY doubt that the Lord was speaking to him and his immediate response to ask the Lord what He wanted him to do! That was so compelling! In the blink of an eye he went from doubting to beleiving! Also the detail of having witnesses of what happened- the men who were with Saul saw him fall to the ground and they heard the vouce of the Lord but saw no one. They were astonished at what they were witnessing and Saual couldn't see so they had to lead him into Damascus, so they knew something extraordinary had happened! Saul didn't eat, drink, or see for 3 days. The detail of the Lord appearing in a vision to Ananias and telling him to go and find Saul who would be praying in the house of Judas and to lay his hands upon him and that Saul's vision would be restored- that the Lord was going to give Saul a vision to know that Ananias would come and lay his hands upon him to restore his vision. And so when Ananias went to Saul, and did just what the Lord had shown was going to happen, I bet Saul was amazed at that. God was unlike anything he had ever encountered! There are no words to describe what Saul must have been thinking and feeling- utterly amazed and in awe I would say! Another amazing detail was that God told Ananias that God would show Saul the great things he would suffer for his name's sake and surely when Saul began preaching Christ, he went full force, no turning back, although it became evident that he would have to suffer. People wanted him dead, and yet, he just pushed on keeping his focus on sharing Christ with as many people as he could. It's just so inspiring. Saul was sold out for the cause of Christ with no doubt, just devotion! And God- orchestrated all of the details so profoundly and beautifully!
Acts 9:15-16 "Go thy way; for he is A CHOSEN VESSEL unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: ForbI will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake."
Acts 9:22 But Saul increased the more in strength, and confounded the Jews which dwelt at Damascus, proving that this is very Christ.
It was Christ IN Saul, empowering him. We see Christ's strength and unwavering pursuit to save lost souls through Saul by the power of His Holy Spirit! Hallelujah!