We can do the wrong thing for what we think is the right reason.We can do the right thing without totally understanding OR We can do the right thing with understanding through the Word of God and the prompting of Holy Spirit.
Pray for discernment!
We see things now as through a dusty glass but in eternity we will see everything clearly.
Those who have been forgiven much…love God so much!
The account of Jesus praying to His heavenly Father in the garden of Gethsemane is the ultimate example of faith and trust. Knowing He faced unparalleled suffering and death, Jesus "fell on his face and prayed, saying, 'My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will'" (Matthew 26:39). I can only imagine the fear and dread Jesus must have felt as He anticipated His crucifixion, but He ultimately trusted the redemptive plan of His Father. Our Savior's strength to face His destiny came from dependence upon the Father and submission to His will. First5
“There is always light. If only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.” Amanda Gorman
When we know that the light is here, now, we embrace the permission to be present. In the small world where we live. And from this grounded place, we quite literally can make a difference in the small world where we live and breathe. Sabbath Moments
Let us take this, from Steven Charleston into our weekend, “I pray for your peace in troubled lands, in places where people fear each day, in cities or villages under threat of danger. I pray your peace into the hearts of those who hate, into the minds of those who live in anger, of those who long for revenge. The hot winds of war sweep over so many lives, dear God, terror and cruelty following in their wake, I do not know what else to do, but stand here making my appeal to heaven. Peace I pray. Peace against all the odds, peace without compromise, peace strong and enduring, peace so children never worry as they go to sleep.” (Episcopal bishop and citizen of the Choctaw Nation)
You are no longer you. You are God’s child. And God fights for you. You no longer swagger in false strength; you move forward in God’s power. You need not fear your future. God has gone ahead of you. He has prepared the way and paved the path. God never gives up on you. Max Lucado
Acts 9:3-9
3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. 4 Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?” Then the Lord said, “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. It is hard for you to kick against the goads.” 6 So he, trembling and astonished, said, “Lord, what do You want me to do?” Then the Lord said to him, “Arise and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.” 7 And the men who journeyed with him stood speechless, hearing a voice but seeing no one. 8 Then Saul arose from the ground, and when his eyes were opened he saw no one. But they led him by the hand and brought him into Damascus. 9 And he was three days without sight, and neither ate nor drank. The New King James Version
Light suddenly and overwhelmingly enveloped Saul. A Life of Redemption and Transformation followed. This experience of Jesus’ glory is so overwhelming that it forces Saul to the ground. Jesus’ repetition of Saul’s name may suggest a sense of urgency or of compassion. A repetition of a name occurs at several key points in the old testament when God directly calls someone to a special office or role.
Jesus both confronts Saul’s sin and commissions him for apostolic ministry.
In persecuting the Church, Saul persecutes Jesus Himself. Saul’s question, as well as Jesus’ response with the words “I am” (egō eimi in Greek), may be an allusion to Moses’ encounter with Yahweh in the burning bush. Like Moses, Saul is here being called by Yahweh to rescue a people (in Saul’s case, the Gentiles).
Saul’s experience recalls imagery of the old testament callings of Moses, Samuel, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Here, Luke ties the Damascus Road experience more closely to Daniel’s visions in which people were aware of a supernatural presence they could not see (Daniel 10:7).
Saul’s physical blindness may be the result of the intense glory of Jesus’ appearance, or it may be an outward manifestation of his own spiritual blindness that he (ironically) has just begun to see for the first time. It could also be Jesus’ way of humbling Saul. Jesus had just turned Saul’s understanding of God, Scripture, and his own identity and values upside down. Faithlife Study Bible
For three days Saul took no food, and it pleased God to leave him for that time without relief. His sins were now set in order before him; he was in the dark concerning his own spiritual state, and wounded in spirit for sin. When a sinner is brought to a proper sense of his own state and conduct, he will cast himself wholly on the mercy of the Saviour, asking what he would have him to do. God will direct the humbled sinner, and though he does not often bring transgressors to joy and peace in believing, without sorrows and distress of conscience, under which the soul is deeply engaged as to eternal things, yet happy are those who sow in tears, for they shall reap in joy. Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary
Acts 22:9 “And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.
Acts 22:11 And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.
Acts 26:14 And when we all had fallen to the ground, I heard a voice speaking to me and saying in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’
1 Corinthians 15:8 Then last of all He was seen by me also, as by one born out of due time.
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