The Road to Damascus

Galatians 1:11-13 - But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. For you have heard of my former conduct in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God beyond measure and tried to destroy it.

It's been awhile since I wrote about Paul, once known as Saul, who persecuted Christianity and imprisoned many because of his hatred towards it and those who followed Christ. Many people have Damascus Road experiences. Some great, some not...but both kinds life-changing. Either way, the revelation of Christ occurred. 

Saul was on his way to Damascus one day to persecute Christians some more. The Lord intervened, the light of His presence blinding Saul for a time, and confronted him: "Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? ... It is hard for you to kick against the goads." (Acts 9) Saul fell immediately to the ground, frightened. This was the revelation he received from Jesus Christ! He appeared to him. 

This so shows that even the most hardened, stubborn, proud and arrogant person can be touched by the presence of God. Acts 9 explains the entire account. Within the verses there is one little word that amazes me. In verse 11: So the Lord said to him [Ananias], "Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judah for one called Saul of Tarsus..." 

Two things pop into my head. The street name was Straight.  Straight; good, well; bow, kneel, give, set forth, settle. Webster describes it as: going an undeviated direction, properly ordered, without extraneous matter. Isn't that what happened to Saul? And doesn't that pretty much sound narrow? It is settled we will change, we will give ourselves into the act of bowing to Christ. Saul saw the light of Christ and fell to his knees. In just a moment he he submitted. Sometimes we can be in a situation where we might be scared straight, like Saul, that he changed his attitude drastically. 

I find it interesting that we are told to walk the straight and narrow road to life, through Jesus. Bear with me. Point number two is Christ is our strait gate. In the King James Version: Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat... (Matthew 7:13) Strait in this context means narrow and one root word is to abide, establish, present; and another root word means the same as straight, to settle, set forth. Webster's strait means narrow, constricted, tight, difficult. 

Straight or strait...a choice we make when confronted with the truth. Have we been confronted by the Lord Jesus Christ? Has He shone His light in our lives, opened our eyes to see His truth, caused us to bow before Him, like Saul, and turned our walk to a good, settled, undeviated direction, oftentimes difficult and seemingly narrow?

Following Christ is considered narrow by many. Either it's narrow by design, we choose to do it; or it's narrow as in narrow-minded, not a desired place to be, too many constraints, by those not willing to follow. 

Yes, it's a narrow, difficult road we travel when we choose Christ. And Saul, who eventually became the Apostle Paul, turned from his evil ways and followed hard after Jesus. He totally humbled himself and bowed before God. He suffered his own persecution. It is believed he was martyred.

I believe in the days ahead we will see more demands for Christianity to be silenced. The world will become more intolerant. These are both exciting and disturbing days. Exciting because the Bible tells us that this will happen in the last days. Disturbing because we will see many continue to scoff at the truth. It's sad to see Christ denied by so many when all God wants is for all to receive life.

Paul, as well as every person who truly has been born again, as Jesus says we should, had an encounter with Christ, that Damascus Road experience. While ours might not be on a road, it might be in prison, in a difficult situation, a dream or through illness or addiction. He does try to get everyone's attention. It's a shame we sometimes have to undergo a difficulty to receive Christ. However, like Saul, it was life changing. 

As Saul, he stopped kicking against the goads! Jesus would have used the word goad in this context which means: a spiked stick used for driving cattle. The more resistance, the more goading. Saul stopped resisting the truth of Jesus Christ. It's good to know, however, that Jesus keeps on calling those who continue to kick.

Saul changed. Saul became Paul. He went from persecuting Christians to preaching the Gospel. He went from believing a lie to preaching the truth. He was guided by the devil and then led by Christ. He went from death to life. Hallelujah. This can happen to anyone. If it can happen to the worst of the worse, it can happen to anyone!

Paul said these words below. Once he knew the truth, where it would take him, the end results, he remained steadfast. A lesson for all of us who believe.

2Timothy 4:7-8 - I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.

Yes, Big Change!

Acts 8:3,9:1 - As for Saul, he made havoc of the church, entering every house, and dragging off men and women, committing them to prison. Then Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest...

My mind bounced quickly from one thing to another. Everything is connected! And somehow it all goes back to God. Everything, it seems, is connected to Him. But I haven't always thought like this. I believed differently. My idea of truth was different. 

I was contemplating a statement in our Bible Study Fellowship notes, Lesson 4. God proved His love and concern for human suffering at the cross. To save sinners from the judgment we deserve, God willingly gave His Son to suffer for us. Had His love been less--had there been another way--God would never have sent His beloved Son. Until we receive God's love by faith in His gift of Him Son, we are all perishing.

I began to think of times when "good" people die and "bad" people live. Take a car accident. You have an intoxicated driver who crosses over the middle of the road to oncoming traffic and kills the driver of the other vehicle but he/she survives. Doesn't seem fair, does it? We don't know the mind of God in this. We do know that there is great sin in this world, of which we all are guilty. Neither of these people were good in God's eyes (and why God provided a way). In this instance the one who lives will live with the guilt of what he/she has done the rest of their life. Quite a burden. However...through this, the person might seek God, receive His forgiveness and begin to serve Him. This person's sin can be forgiven. 

I thought of Saul. He persecuted Christians. It's one of my favorite stories. One day on his way to do more persecuting, he had an encounter with God:
As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven. Then he fell to the ground, and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” 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.” 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.” (Acts 9:3-6)

In an instant Saul changed...big time. This is how we all are before we know the Lord. All of us. Saul's name was then changed to Paul. A Matthew Henry commentary says this about his name change: He had two names, a Hebrew name, Saul, and a Roman name, Paul. He was to be sent out to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles so He used his Roman name.

God changed Saul and then used the man who hated Christians to point people to Christ. So it shows He can use anyone...after they have been changed...forgiven, humbled and ready to serve God. In fact later in the New Testament Paul is speaking and he states: This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief. (1Timothy 1:15)

I think back before I knew Christ. How I pushed Him away. Walls went up around my heart and spirit. I was not going any further in knowing Him than my intellectual understanding. I was not going to let my heart know Him. This is kicking against the goads! I could say I was a chief sinner too. Many are in this place. Many are even farther away in full rejection of Him. This is rejecting Him. We can choose to continue to reject or we can allow Him to change us. It's for our own good that He does. I just know that my heart changed in a split second and it allowed God to enter in and do even greater changes. Any heart can be changed in an instant. Nothing is impossible with God.

Going back to the BSF note. We all deserve God's judgment. God does not relish in seeing people die. But it happens. It happens to "good" people as well as "evil." But think about what God did for us. He willingly gave up His own Son to suffer for us, to be the sacrifice for our sins...if we would turn to Him, humble ourselves and serve Him. He willingly gave His Son. And His Son willingly obeyed His Father. For us.

Saul/Paul underwent a big change. God can do this in all of us. It's a very good thing. It's life saving, eternal. 

Acts 9:20-22 - Immediately he preached the Christ in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed, and said, “Is this not he who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that he might bring them bound to the chief priests?” But Saul increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that this Jesus is the Christ.

The Wisdom of God

1Corinthians 2:9-10 - But God has revealed [the things which God has prepared for those who love Him] to us through His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God. 

I didn't know where I would be headed as a simple thought caused me to start pounding away at a blog. The power of God at work!

I remember years ago occasionally feeling as though I needed a boost of spirituality. I wonder if even back then God was preparing me for a day later in life when He would make Himself so very known to me? So often we don't look at circumstances in our lives as a touch from God...until we actually know Him. Oh, how different life is when we submit to Christ and are filled with His Holy Spirit. The things that come alive on a daily basis. We look at all things through different eyes, sometimes to the questioning minds of friends who do not understand why we bring God into our conversation.

When I was in this "religious" mood I felt as though I needed to read the Bible. I'd grab the old Bible given to me by my grandmother and start in Genesis. It went okay until I'd hit the "begats" in Chapter 10! That's when I'd become discouraged and stopped. I know I did this several times. Oh, had I just skipped them begats and pursued more of Genesis!! Although it didn't read then like it does now, it might have piqued more interest.

How I wish I'd known then what I know now. How I wish I'd had a heart and mind to understand the Word when I was younger. How different would my life have been? What changes would I have made earlier? How different would my work, family and relationships ethics/morals have been?

There's no point dwelling on those things because there's no way of changing them. God grabs of those whom He has chosen when His time is right. What I'm thankful for today is that a change HAS been made and I can go forward in my pursuit of Him and His wisdom.

There's a difference between reading God's Word as I did as a child and young adult without the help of the Holy Spirit and attempting it on one's own. It may not hold your attention; it might not even speak to you. Let me tell you it wasn't until I came into relationship with the Lord that I couldn't get enough. I started a Bible study within weeks and it was delightful. I was like a sponge devouring, learning and most importantly,  understanding. Oh, the wisdom that comes...and not of my own doing...it comes from that relationship with Christ.

Today as I read the Word or study it in classes or just mull things over in conversations with friends, I'm still awed by the newness of it. The Spirit of God always shows something new, even in scriptures which have been read over and over. The Word of God is timeless and always for now! I've often sensed that although we read a verse, a paragraph, a chapter or a book, God has so much more between the lines. I don't know how else I  can explain it. It's only for Him to open up our minds to grasp that between-the-lines information. That's what the Holy Spirit will do when He believes that now is the time to open up a marvelous truth to add dimension to something in our life.

I'm one to highlight and write notes in the margins of whichever Bible I happen to have in my hand at the time. I try to always use the same one because of all these notes. You don't want to lose them! As I was searching for an example of a nugget of wisdom scribbled amidst the scriptures this morning, I suddenly found myself in 1Corinthians. It speaks of Christ, the wisdom of God!! Forget the nugget! Get to the point!

The Apostle Paul is telling the church in Corinth about Christ and the wisdom that comes from Him. Paul was originally Saul, a Jew and persecutor of the followers of Jesus. But when He was miraculously set free from his old nature by the power of God, he became a major spokesperson for Christ. Like many of the other disciples/apostles, the wisdom they received came from the power of God upon their receiving, by faith, Jesus Christ. Many followers were uneducated which is how so many amazingly listened to these men as they preached Christ. The words they spoke were far superior than their backgrounds would suggest.

Paul wrote in 1Corinthians 2:4 that the words he spoke were not persuasive in human wisdom but as a demonstration of the Spirit of God. He stated later to his listeners that their faith should not come from man's wisdom either but from the same power of God. That comes when we choose to believe and receive Christ as Lord and Savior of our lives.

The wisdom of God, he points out, is a mystery. But it is revealed through the Spirit. The Spirit searches the deep things of God. The only way we can know the things of God...understand them...is by His Spirit. That's why reading the Word at first meant nothing to me. Oh, one might read the Bible and understand some of the stories but it will be surface understanding. I'm not in any way trying to say I'm smarter. I'm trying to say that true understanding comes from the Spirit of God which comes when a relationship, a true desire to know and follow Jesus Christ, is determined.

1Corinthians 2:11 - For what man knows the things of a man except the spirit of the man which is in him? Even  so no one knows the things of God except  the Spirit of God. 

When we receive Christ into our lives we are given the mind of Christ. We are given gift of the Holy Spirit to discern and to learn the things of God. This is not some arrogant type of belief. It is not out there to cause people to harumph and mock. It is told to us in His Word. It is there for anyone to take hold of if they want to receive Christ and take hold of that special Holy Spirit power. 1Corinthinas 2:14 tells us that the natural man does not (always) receive this information because it is considered foolishness to them. 

There is nothing greater than receiving Christ, receiving the gift of His power and wisdom and especially having that eternal life with Christ. If you have ever had that desire to be "religious" and read the Bible but it has not captured your attention, ask Jesus to show you who He is for you!

1Corinthians 2:12-13 - Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, that we might know the things that have been freely given to us by God. These things we also speak, not in words which man's wisdom teaches but which the Holy Spirit teaches, comparing spiritual things with spiritual.

Count It But Loss

Philippians 3:8 - Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.

I think it was Glenn Beck who first made mention this past summer of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's book The Cost of Discipleship. I just know that a very good friend suggested I read it. I had already considered it, so her suggestion pushed me to get out and buy it. One cost might be summed up in the phrase count it but loss. But let me tell you, if we choose to be determined to do that, we will have help.

I think of Pentecost and the disciples turned apostles. Jesus had ascended to heaven then returned to appear one last time before the disciples. He explained what all that had happened meant and told them to wait in Jerusalem until where they would be endued with the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 24:49). Then they would be ready to be loosed into the world, to preach and teach Christ Jesus through the power of God, not in their own strength.

And then I recall Paul who could not contain himself in his witness of Jesus Christ whom he had seen with his own eyes and listened and learned from Him. There are several books in the Bible called the Prison Epistles written by Paul during his times in prison to document this. He did not complain about his ordeals. Nothing was more important than his determination to share Christ...which he did. He was prepared to give his life for the sake of the Gospel and in time became a martyr.

I wonder where I stand? We've been so far removed from those days it's hard to fathom being in that type of circumstance. There could come a day when our faith is put on the line but it's hard to imagine. Yet there are some today who are missionaries in remote parts of the world and who are willing to give their lives. My brother-in-law is one and he has been in some tough circumstances. But he labors in the love of Christ. And when I picture him I picture his great big smile!

Remember, this Paul was once Saul, a Pharisee who would not listen to reports of this Messiah who did not conform to his idea what a messiah would look like. As Saul he persecuted Christians and their way of thinking. His life--and his name--however, was so changed by the power of God, he became dedicated to Christ, so much so that he was willing to count his life as loss. We are told to do this...not necessarily literally, although that can happen, but spiritually: The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life (John 12:25). Our lives should be worth nothing in the worldly sense. The world has little to offer compared to what we can attain through the knowledge of God. We are nothing without Jesus.

What happens if we do count it all but loss? I like what the Word tells us...you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you; and you will be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth (Acts 1:8). Yes, the Holy Spirit will give us utterance but I believe He will also give us the power to endure whatever might come to us in life. He will help us in that moment of counting it all but loss. We will know, only in part, what Jesus Himself endured for us. However, we first must have a relationship with God to know Him, to understand Him and love Him and understand what we are to sacrifice. Power comes to those who have that relationship. The Word says there comes a day when men's hearts will fail them because of fear (Luke 21:26). Why? Because they haven't known the things of God, were not prepared for the some of the greater troubles of the world and did not have the power of God through the Holy Spirit to help overcome those things.

Boy, this was not anywhere near to what I was going to write! 

Back briefly to the Cost of Discipleship. Bonhoeffer's book describes the cost one might have to pay for holding to Christian views, following Christ, and is something some face today as Christianity is being opened up to those in oppressed countries where the name of Jesus is basically forbidden. Who knows that a day might come when we will be faced with circumstances unthinkable. Those in this country who stand firm in Christ in a country slowly pushing God aside for the sake of tolerance and embracing religious diversity could be faced with difficulties, certainly, as is already seen, offense.  

“I shall have no right,” Bonhoeffer wrote to Niebuhr before leaving America, “to participate in the reconstruction of Christian life in Germany after the war if I do not share the trials of this time with my people."... Bonhoeffer never regretted this decision, not even in prison, where he wrote in later years: “I am sure of God’s hand and guidance... You must never doubt that I am thankful and glad to go the way which I am being led. My past life is abundantly full of God’s mercy, and, above all sin, stands the forgiving love of the Crucified.” (Emphasis is mine.)

This sounds like something Paul might have written. Bonhoeffer counted it all as loss and we are also if we have come to know Jesus. If we do not we don't know Him. That is a difficult thing to write! Bonhoeffer writes about two forms of grace. I can tell you this, one grace counts it all as loss, while the other does not. More on that some other time. These forms of grace fit right in with counting our lives as nothing, sacrificing ourselves...all for the cause of Jesus Christ and His Gospel message...or not.

Glenn Beck has chosen in his own way to count it all as loss being part of the meager crowd not afraid of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mainstream media wouldn't think to bring up this subject knowing full well they would be charged with criticism by many people. And there are many, even some religious leaders, who think Beck is way off base in his boldness. Should there be a time when Beck is stopped, I guarantee, like Paul, he will find another means to speak! He is adamant about this country turning back to God. I don't look at Beck as a Savior and I don't idolize or worship him. But he has found a need to do this considering the direction our once predominantly godly nation has gone and considering this direction could continue to wander farther away from God. Beck chooses to count it all but loss. Is there anyone out there who will do the same? 

Stay tuned...

Philippians 1:20 - I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death.