“Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And he said, "Here I am, Lord." And the Lord said to him, "Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight." But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on your name." But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. For I will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name." So Ananias departed and entered the house. And laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus who appeared to you on the road by which you came has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit." And immediately something like scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he rose and was baptized; and taking food, he was strengthened. For some days he was with the disciples at Damascus.” In this story I see me as Ananias, one who sees others as out of reach. Fearful to share what God is telling him to do. I see a few points in this story. 1. God will make it clear who he wants to you to share God with. Ananias was told by God directly who to go share with in verses 11; it was Saul later to be known as Paul. I think I can relate this because there are definitely times God nudges me to ask people in my life about their faith or even dig deeper with someone I currently have a relationship with. One thing is for sure God has you in that person’s life for a purpose. Maybe it’s the Coworker, Family member or longtime friend. 2. Doubts of what God can do in this person’s life will creep in. We might not want to share with others because of fears, insecurities or doubts. That’s exactly what Ananias was going through in verses 13-14. He was fearful because of the stories and reputation of Saul persecuting Christians at this time. I know my flesh in this area makes me doubt in many ways. Maybe I don’t want to share with someone because I’ve already tried; I think that there is no way this person would listen to me, or fear what they will think of me. 3. God calls us to obedience and trust in what he can do. We are called to go and make disciples. (Matthew 28:18-20). In verses 15-16 God says to go and proclaim his name and that the ones who we are proclaiming to will be useful instruments that will be sharing with others of great importance. Saul was chosen to share with the nation of Israel, Gentiles, and Kings. So remember that next person you share with could be close to someone of much importance. I think of the story JP, our young adults pastor, tells that there are many places we can go that he cannot. You and I are close to people that a pastor can’t share with. So that one person we share with may seem like just a small impact of one person but there is no telling what kind of impact that us sharing and being obedient can make down the road. 4. God does amazing things with people. I stand in amazement of how fast God changes Saul in verse 18 it says that the scales on Saul fell immediately and he could see again. The change was so fast! Maybe you have seen it in your life but it’s even more awesome to see it in others when their whole viewpoint on how they live for Christ changes. Saul went from killing and persecuting Christians to becoming the most influential teacher (next to Jesus) to ever to live. Most of the New Testament was written by him. The amazing impact that God has given us as a Gift to change this world is amazing. We all have sinned; we all fall short of the glory of God. The sins that you and I committed required a payment and God in his Love, while we were still sinners, paid that payment by dying on the cross for your sins and mine. Past Present and Future sins--and by trusting in this we can be assured of our salvation in Heaven. Go and share this Gift.
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If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. The events that have taken place this past weekend are heart breaking and bring a sense of mourning to us as a nation, people and church. The loss of life is something to not be taken lightly for we are all made in the image of God and with this truth brings a sense of reverence and sacredness of human life. The acts of violence that have happened these past few days are based on ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism is defined as “the conviction or the feeling that one’s own ethnic group should be treated as superior or privileged.” This is a reality that is occurring within the world and we as Christians are called to be salt and light within the world in which we indwell (Acts 17:26). If we have placed our faith in Christ for the forgiveness of our sins and restored relationship with the Lord, we are now ambassadors for Christ and God makes His appeal through us (1 Cor. 5:20). We are then formed together into one body, the universal church and expressed in local congregations. The local church is to be underneath the headship of Christ and underneath the authority of His Word (Colossians 1:18, 2 Tim. 3:16-17, Rev. 22:18-19). Local congregation of believers are absolutely not perfect but are meant to be embassies of the kingdom of God here on earth. Notice in Colossians 3:1 that Paul is speaking to those who have been raised with Christ and in 3:12 that Paul deals away with any type of ethnocentrism. If we are to be about racial and social justice, which we absolutely should be for every human life is made in the image of God, we must also fight for racial and ethnic harmony in our churches. There are only two races that we can see in Scripture, those who are in Christ and those who are not. If we are in Christ, we must understand that our lives are two fold in that we are interning for Heaven in this imperfect world and we are striving to be a people who reflect the kingdom of God in the understanding that the church is made up of every nation, tribe and tongue in heaven (Rev. 7:9). How does this work practically?
Piper, John. Bloodlines: Race, Cross and The Christian. Wheaton: Crossway. 2011.Pg. 115.
Psalm 8 This Psalm starts out by saying “O LORD, our Lord.” The two words for lord are not the same in Hebrew. The first one, with all caps, is a translation of the name YAHWEH. That’s not a generic name for God, but the personal name of Israel’s God (Exodus 3:14, “I am who I am”). So read it like this, “O YAHWEH, our Lord (our Master, our King, our Ruler), how majestic is your name in all the earth.” That’s the main point of this psalm. The goal is that we stand in awe of him and worship. David also uses this Psalm to show us God’s majesty and how he relates first to children and second to people in general. Verse 2, “Out of the mouth of babies and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.” The contrast here is pretty stark. Babies are weak; they don’t have wisdom or knowledge. They are dependent on others. How do they “still the enemy and the avenger?” God is making whatever comes out of their mouths strong. David wants us to see that God, in his majesty and greatness, make babies the means of his majestic triumphs. God chooses to defeat his enemies with babies…not just with babies but with what babies say. Weird right? What David is showing us is that God conquers his foes through the weakness of the weak. He chooses the weak to put to shame the things which are mighty. If we look at the second half of this Psalm, David describes God as the majestic Creator who makes stars with his fingers. David goes into to detail about how infinitely great God is and man, by comparison, is nothing. Then there’s verse 6, “You [O God] have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet.” Really? We are nothing compared to God. We are like a baby. So not only does God defeats his foes with the weakness of children, but he rules his world with the weakness of man. How awesome and majestic is our God?! What we regard as weak, God makes victorious. So remember, God’s glory is most visible, not in our own efforts and strength, but in our weakness and total dependence on Him. God All-Sufficient, The Valley of Vision, pg.214 |
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