God shapes our Lives

Do we get the significance of the truth that He works all things in our lives too, according to the counsel of His will? This truth does not apply to just the "big" things of His overall purpose but even to us! Do we really perceive our relationship to Him as being one of the Potter to the clay?

Ephesians 1:11-12 In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, ¹² in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory.

As He formed and shaped Adam and Eve, He is forming and shaping us, and it is our responsibility to accept and submit. Do we live our lives as though He truly is omnipotent, omniscient, and individually aware of us? Do we conduct our lives in such a manner that we fully understand that this awesome Being is actively and personally involved in what we do?

By viewing Him as Potter, do we grasp that He has every right to mold the clay into whatever form or state and make whatever use of it as He chooses? He can fashion from the same lump one person to honor and another to dishonor. He can determine our sex, race, ethnicity, level of wealth, or location. He is under no law or rule outside of His own nature and purpose. He is a law unto Himself, under no obligation to give an account of His actions to anybody else. He exercises His power as, where, and when He wills.

He is not merely overseeing our lives but actively participating in them, and He is ultimately responsible for what happens in them just as much as those national and worldwide occurrences that we hear in the news. The sovereignty of God is absolute, irresistible, and infinite. Our trust is to be in Him

Still hungry? Romans 16:3, Hebrews 6:17

A New Life

"At that time, I did not go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me; but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus." "I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.' And they were glorifying God because of me."-  Galatians 1:17, 22-24

Following his encounter with Jesus, Paul was struck blind for three days and, as instructed by the Lord, was led into Damascus.  There, God sent a man by the name of Ananias to come and baptized him as a new follower of Jesus Christ.  We also see that immediately Paul began to testify of his life change.  Now this had to be dumbfounding to the followers of Jesus in Damascus - I imagine they all knew of the old "Saul" as a religious terrorist, so they probably weren't sure how to take all this new "Paul."

After a short time in Damascus, he was sent to Arabia.  A desert. Wilderness.  Not surprising, when you think about how many great men of the faith in Scripture were sent into the wilderness at the beginning of their callings:  Moses, Elijah, even Jesus Christ.  And now we see Paul spending up to three years in the wilderness before going back to Damascus.

Interestingly enough, after he returned from the wilderness, Paul spent the majority of his first three years in his hometown of Tarsus just going about the work of ministry.  Imagine the people in his hometown who witnessed the change in this man!

"I was still unknown by sight to the churches of Judea which were in Christ; but only, they kept hearing, 'He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.' And they were glorifying God because of me." Can you imagine the joy Paul must have felt? To have gone from being someone hated and feared, to being someone who was sharing the joy of the Lord wherever he went?

If God's grace can be extended to a religious terrorist like Paul, what's your excuse?  Do you think the grace of God cannot be extended to you for the things you've done in your life, if God extended that to Paul? Of course, it can!

And another thing to realize - Paul's greatest influence in the lives of his contemporaries and in all of the lives of those who came after him - didn't happen overnight. It took 14 years of being a follower of Jesus Christ before Paul was seen as a leader in the church. This is his story.  Part One - his life before Christ.  Part Two - his encounter with Christ. - his life after meeting Christ as his Savior and Lord.

We all have a Part One in our life story.  What is your life story?

Still Hungry?  1 Thessalonians 2:14, Romans 16: 3, Acts 6:7

Paul- On the Road

“But it happened that as I was on my way, approaching Damascus about noontime, a very bright light suddenly flashed from heaven all around me, and I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ And I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus the Nazarene, whom you are persecuting.'" - Acts 22:6-8

Continuing from yesterday, this is Part Two of Saul’s story.  Up until now, he has described to us his life before he met Christ.  Now, he is describing that turning point in his life when he meets Christ. It was such a complete transformation that God would lead him to change his name to Paul.

Saul had been persecuting his fellow Jews who were followers of Jesus only in Jerusalem.  But now he wanted to take his persecution on the road.  So, he decided to go north to Damascus, to what is now modern day Syria. There, he would find more Jewish followers of Jesus, persecute them, bring them back, and have them imprisoned.  Now, take a minute to read today’s Scripture again before continuing to read the devotion.

What happened? Here was Saul, upholding traditional Judaism, on his way to persecute followers of the Way, when all of the sudden, Jesus Himself confronted him from heaven!  Christ said, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”  And believe me.  He had no doubt that this was the Lord talking to him. Imagine the conviction of sin that began to come over Paul as he realized the things he had been doing were not only bad, they were evil in the eyes of God. Read what Paul said in verse 9:

“And those who were with me saw the light, to be sure, but did not understand the voice of the One who was speaking to me. And I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Get up and go on into Damascus, and there you will be told of all that has been appointed for you to do.’ But since I could not see because of the brightness of that light, I was led by the hand by those who were with me and came into Damascus.”

Here was this zealot who had been charging to Damascus, along with those who were with him.  And now pitifully and humbly, he has to be led by the hand, because he was literally struck blind by the Light of Christ. Imagine the turmoil going on inside of him. Realizing he had been wrong about everything, this is where the beginning of repentant faith takes place. Until a person is convicted of their sinfulness compared to Jesus Christ, we never really understand the second part of the life story.  This was Part Two of Paul’s story.  By the grace of God, he had been called to follow Jesus who gave him this second chance.  It was God’s plan that was about to be fulfilled in Paul’s life.  And He wants to fulfill His plan in your life, too.  Stay tuned.

Still Hungry? Acts 9:3, Mark 1:24