Today we see the total transformation of an opponent of the Gospel. Paul's life completely took a radical turn of repentance and he now became as bold for the new "Way" as he was against it. He was all in. When we have an encounter with God how do we leave? Do we go boldly giving credit of what God is doing? Rev 3:15 "I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish that you were cold or hot." - Ouch! The believers were at first reluctant to take Paul in. Forgiveness and trust are difficult and I believe they go hand in hand. They all worked through it, took Paul in and then took steps to protect him. Recognizing what God is doing is difficult when we have ideas of how it should go. We then see God doing signs and wonders. I see God still in the miracle business. How we view that will have a tremendous impact of what He is allowed to accomplish in our lives. His primary business is transforming lives from hopelessness to wholeness with New Life through the life cleansing blood of Jesus.
Thankfully,
Dan
Thankfully,
Dan
1 comment:
Love this chapter.. we see, like you said, the complete transformation of an individual. It's evidence that God can use absolutely anyone He chooses to do His Good Work! After reading this chapter, no one should feel they have an excuses to not be used by God, clearly He can use whomever He wills.
And like you were saying... It took the other disciples a while to accept this transformation... I'm sure we've all experienced that in our own lives in some way or other. We live one way for years, then God moves into our hearts and changes the way we do things.. It takes others a while to understand, so we should have a patient spirit and allow God to move in other's lives so that they can understand the new change in us.
After this change, we see that the church grows and has peace. "walking in the fear of the Lord and in comfort of the Holy Spirit, it multiplied." It goes to show that sometimes the least expected person can make a big impact in the church -- because it's not about the person, but about God living through their life.
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