The
Lord Had Spoken To Him
At once he began to
preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. All those who heard him
were astonished and asked, “Isn’t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem
among those who call on this name? And hasn’t he come here to take them as prisoners
to the chief priests?” Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the
Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
After many days had
gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him, but Saul learned of
their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to
kill him. But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket
through an opening in the wall.
When he came to
Jerusalem, he tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not
believing that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him
to the apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and
that the Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly
in the name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in
Jerusalem, speaking boldly in the name of the Lord. He talked and debated with
the Hellenistic Jews, but they tried to kill him. When the believers learned of
this, they took him down to Caesarea and sent him off to Tarsus.
Acts
9:20-30
Chuck Colson died.
Colson was the man who headed the so-called “Dirty Tricks” for President Nixon.
Yet, most of his adult life was spent running Prison Ministries. Yet when he
died, he was noted for running “Dirty Tricks.” This is the same kind of thing
that happened to Paul. Paul had been Saul, and had used his power to find and
punish Christians. On the road to Damascus, he was blinded and turned to Jesus.
His life changed.
Like Paul, we don’t
need to parade our failures or pretend they didn’t happen. Instead, we can
thank the Lord that through His grace and power, our past is forgiven, our
present is changed, and our future is bright with hope for all He has prepared
for us.
Only
Jesus can transform our life.
Our
Daily Bread – October 13, 2013