Tag Archives: faith

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – A Truth That Will Change Your Life

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Nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 8:39

Friend to Friend

One blessing of being in women’s ministry is the friendships I have with other women in ministry. We are our own little band of sisters. Sisters with a mission! We cheer for one another, cry with one another, laugh with one another, pray for one another, and rejoice with one another.

One sister I’ve had the opportunity to lock arms with for the journey is named Renee. Renee works for an international women’s ministry and is a talented God-fearing, Bible-teaching speaker and writer.

Several years ago, Renee traveled across the country to speak at a women’s retreat. When she got there, a few unexpected circumstances caused her to send out an “SOS, pray-for-me-now” email to her ministry sisters.

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Long, Satisfying Life

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“If you want a long and satisfying life, closely follow my instructions” (Proverbs 3:2).

A famous children’s specialist declared, “When it comes to a serious illness, the child who has been taught to obey has four times the chance of recovery that the spoiled and undisciplined child has.”

Every parent should consider well the implications of that statement. We have all been taught that one of the Ten Commandments was for children to obey their parents.

But it is doubtful that many of us have ever considered that obedience might mean the difference between the saving or losing of a child’s life.

The hymnwriter who said that we should “trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus” well knew what he was saying. A “long and satisfying life” certainly would be synonymous with a “happy life.”

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman – Learning Meekness

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Read: Acts 9:9-31

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. Acts 9:23-25

What humiliation! Here Paul was, equipped to win the day for Jesus Christ. He was going to show the world how much he could do for this new Master that he had found. But instead he finds himself humiliated, cast off, rejected, repudiated. His own friends finally have to take him at night and let him down over a wall. He walks away into the darkness in utter, abject failure and defeat.

The amazing thing is that many years later, as he is writing to the Corinthians and looking back over his life, he recounts this episode. He says, You ask me to boast about the most important event in my life? The greatest event in my life was when they took me at night and let me down over the wall of Damascus in a basket. That was the most meaningful experience I have ever had since that day when I met Christ… (2 Corinthians 11:32-33).

Is that not amazing? Why would this be so? Because then and there the apostle began to learn the truths which he records for us in the third chapter of Philippians, where he says, Whatever gain I had, I learned to count as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus… (Philippians 3:7-8 RSV). That is, All the things that I felt were so necessary to do what God wanted I had to learn were absolutely useless, worthless. I did not need them at all. Everything that I thought I had and needed to serve him I had to learn I didn’t need at all. The beginning of that great lesson was the night they let me down over the wall in a basket. There I began to learn something. It took me a long time to catch on. But there I began to learn that God didn’t need my abilities; he needed only my availability. He just needed me, as a person. He didn’t need my background, he didn’t need my ancestry. He didn’t need my knowledge of Hebrew. He didn’t need my knowledge of the Law. He didn’t need these at all. In fact, he didn’t have any particular intention of using them to reach the Jews, he was going to send me to the Gentiles. And though he did not understand it fully then, he began to assume the yoke of Christ and to learn that which Jesus Christ says every one of us must learn if we are going to be useful to him.

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Presidential Prayer Team

Presidential Prayer Team; J.R.- Flight of Folly

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What comes to mind when you hear the term “repo man?” A burly, tattooed guy in his tow truck, scouring a neighborhood for a car whose owner is past due on his payments? These days, a “repo man” is more likely to be at a coffee shop with a smartphone. Some lenders are now installing “starter interrupt devices” on vehicles. Miss a payment, and they will disable your ignition remotely using GPS. You won’t be going anywhere. They used to say, “You can run but you can’t hide.” Nowadays, you can’t run, either.

But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord.

Jonah 1:3

Jonah foolishly thought he could run from the presence of the Lord. Although the task God had assigned to him was difficult and dangerous, it was ultimately intended to bless Jonah. But stubbornly, he ran…until God brought his diversionary adventure to a quick end.

The Lord may allow you to run for a short season, but in His time He will draw you back. His ultimate purpose in doing so is not punishment, but to lead you “in the way everlasting” David described in Psalm 139. Today, pray that America’s citizens and leaders might turn to, not away from, the Lord’s presence.

Recommended Reading: Psalm 139:1-12, 23-24

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Greg Laurie

Greg Laurie – God’s Definition of Prosperity

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So I am eager to come to you in Rome, too, to preach the Good News.—Romans 1:15

Prosperity is a very popular word today. Some preachers talk a lot about prosperity, and sometimes we refer to this as the prosperity gospel. This is basically the idea that God wants everyone to be in perfect health all the time, that sickness is always outside the will of God, and if you are sick, then you should just claim health, and you will be better. It is also the idea that God wants you to be very wealthy. But this is not what the Bible teaches.

Now, the Bible isn’t saying that we should all live in abject poverty and have nothing. But the Bible is saying that God’s definition of prosperity may be different than our definition of it. Prosperity doesn’t necessarily mean that everything is going easy and well. Prosperity means that you are in the will of God.

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Kids 4 Truth

Kids 4 Truth International – God Is Quick To Forgive

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“Then David said unto Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the LORD.’ And Nathan said unto David, ‘The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.'” (2 Samuel 12:13)

Have you ever been really angry with someone, and then been forced to tell that person right away that you will forgive him or her? Maybe your brother left your favorite toy out in the rain overnight and ruined it, or maybe your sister borrowed your favorite sweater without asking and spilled spaghetti all over it. Then–as mothers tend to do–your mother insists that your sibling should apologize, and that you must forgive as soon as an apology is offered. Has that ever happened to you? If so, you know how hard it can be to be able to get over something and forgive someone right away.

No one has ever hurt you more than you hurt God every time you sin. Whether by speaking unkindly to someone, lying to your parents, or even just daydreaming about doing some sin that you might not really ever do, you are sinning against the God of all heaven and earth. And just as it would be a much greater evil to call your mother “stupid,” than it would be to call your cat “stupid,” any sin you do against the God of heaven is far more evil than anything that anyone else has ever done against you.

Yet God is quick to forgive , and He does not have to have anyone tell Him to do it. David, one of the godliest men who ever lived, committed a dreadful sin when he took Bathsheba, another man’s wife, for himself and had her husband murdered. When confronting David about his sin, the prophet Nathan told him a story about a poor man who had one little sheep and made that sheep his pet and best friend. Nathan said that poor man loved his sheep so much that he would let her come to the table with him and would feed her from his own plate. He would also let his little sheep sleep in his bed at night. Nathan said the poor man treated his little sheep as though she were his own daughter. But one day a rich man needed to prepare a great feast for a visitor. Rather than slaughtering one of the many sheep he had in his own flock, he took the poor man’s beloved pet sheep and slaughtered her for the meal.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Jerry Bridges – Holiness Day by Day Devotional – Freedom or Chaos?

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Today’s Scripture: Psalm 19:8

“The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart.”

My son visited a country in which automobile drivers are undisciplined and “free spirited.” He saw cars stopped at a railroad crossing for a passing train. Instead of lining up behind one another to cross in their proper turn, several cars lined up across the entire road. Each driver wanted to be first to cross when the crossing guard was raised. But when the train had passed, cars were also lined up completely across the road on the other side of the tracks. “Freedom” quickly turned to chaos!

That kind of thing happens in a much more serious way when we insist on unqualified freedom from God’s law. We have indeed been set free from the bondage and curse that results from breaking the law. And we’ve been called to freedom from works as a means of obtaining any merit with God. But we haven’t been called to freedom from the law as an expression of God’s will for our daily living.

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The Navigators

The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Doing the Impossible

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Today’s Scripture: Nehemiah 1-2

The Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love. – Psalm 147:11

God has a way of unexpectedly breaking into our lives. Sometimes it comes as a new revelation of Himself. Or it may come as something He wants us to do.

Such was the case with Nehemiah. Everything in his life was just fine until the day he asked one of his fellow Jews how things were going in Jerusalem. That’s when God set him on an entirely new course and led him to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

When I became a Christian, I got hooked up with The Navigators to learn the basics of the Christian life. One summer at The Navigators’ conference center in Colorado, I had a job buffing and waxing the floors. One day the conference director asked me to preach the next morning on the subject of the quiet time.

Continue reading The Navigators – Leroy Eims – Daily Discipleship Devotional – Doing the Impossible →

BreakPoint

BreakPoint –  What Should Christians Do about the Media’s Liberal Bias?

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When liberal journalists come out and confess their bias, it’s tempting to say, “The first step to recovery is admitting you have a problem.” But don’t. This is good news.

Writing at the New York Times recently, columnist Nicholas Kristof took that hard first step. The title of his piece says it all: “A Confession of Liberal Intolerance.”

“We progressives,” he writes, “believe in diversity, and we want women, blacks, Latinos, gays and Muslims at the table, so long as they aren’t conservatives.” (Or, one might reasonably add, evangelical Christians).

Kristof and fellow liberals profess a love for tolerance and diversity. But when it comes to the most important kind—diversity of thought—he admits that the gatekeepers in academia and the media actively stigmatize those who hold views different from their own.

“We’re fine with people who don’t look like us,” he writes, “as long as they think like us.”

Universities, once recognized as bastions of tolerance and diversity, bear perhaps the greatest blame. Kristof cites studies showing that just 6 to 11 percent of humanities professors are conservatives. Fewer than one in ten social-studies professors call themselves conservative. For perspective, consider that twice that number identify as Marxists!

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Moody Global Ministries

Moody Global Ministries – Today in the Word – THE IMPERATIVE OF LOVE

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Read 1 Corinthians 13

What would you expect to pay for a scoop of gourmet ice cream? How about $816? The Scoopi Café in Dubai offers the “Black Diamond,” which is ice cream flavored with Madagascar vanilla, Iranian saffron, black Italian truffles, and edible, 23-karat gold sprinkles. This treat comes with a Versace bowl and spoon that the customer keeps. It’s the most expensive ice cream in the world!

The most, the best, the highest—we find superlatives fascinating. When Paul wrote that he would describe “the most excellent way” (12:31), our ears perk up. This chapter is an encomium, that is, a poem written to praise an abstract idea or quality. Paul used poetic techniques such as hyperbole and metaphor to make his points more vividly.

First, he described the worth of love (vv. 1–3). Its value is incalculable, to the point where anything else, lacking love, is worthless or empty. He used examples that we might (and the Corinthians did) think of as spiritually impressive, which made his conclusion that much more shocking. Second, Paul defined or explained love (vv. 4–7). The Greek word is agape, meaning love that is selfless, self-sacrificing, warm, and full of good will and brotherly affection. It prioritizes the well being of others. This list should take our breath away! Who among us can claim to live like this? Only by the power of the Spirit can we grow in this direction.

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Denison Forum

Denison Forum – BAYLOR UNIVERSITY REPORTEDLY FIRES PRESIDENT

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The Baylor University Board of Regents reportedly fired school president and chancellor Ken Starr today. The university is refusing to comment on these reports, though a variety of sources have confirmed the president’s dismissal.

Baylor has been accused during Starr’s tenure of failing to respond to rapes or sexual assaults reported by at least six female students. At least eight former Baylor football players have been accused of violence against women. Two of the players were convicted of raping Baylor co-eds. Critics allege that President Starr’s response to the victims has been muted and legalistic.

Baylor is the world’s largest Baptist university and the oldest continuously operating university in Texas. The school has committed $5 million to efforts to change how it responds to reports of sexual assault. Baylor also hired the Pepper Hamilton law firm to investigate the scandal; regents received the firm’s report on May 13.

Sources indicate that head coach Art Briles and athletic director Ian McCaw will continue at the university barring evidence that they were engaged in a cover-up. Apparently the regents concluded that the president should be held responsible for the scandal.

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Charles Stanley

Charles Stanley – Our Inseparable Relationship

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Romans 8:31-39

God is love. His nature requires that He care for His creation unconditionally. This means that no matter what people do, think, or say—even if they reject Him—the Lord will not stop loving them.

After reading that last sentence, there are many people who are going to think of a dozen reasons why they are an exception. So let me make this clear: God loves each and every one of us, and the only thing preventing us from experiencing that love is our own response. We will believe either our feelings or the truth of Scripture.

Paul points out that God is on the side of the believer. (See Rom. 8:31.) He gave up His Son Jesus Christ to death so that we could be purified and enter into a relationship with Him. Jesus’ sacrifice itself is proof of God’s love, but there are many additional expressions of His care for us. The Lord has a purpose and plan for every person’s life. Through His sovereign control, He works every situation—good and bad—to our benefit (Rom. 8:28). He is a loving Father who not only is interested in what happens to us but also is actively involved in our daily life.

Some people read and intellectually believe every word of the Bible but still feel unloved because they judge themselves unworthy. Their doubt acts like a dam, keeping the flow of God’s care from their hearts. The barrier will hold as long as the person believes he or she must deserve His love. But no sinner deserves pure love. God knows that and freely gives His love to us anyway. It is our choice whether to accept it.

Bible in a Year: Ezra 1-4

 

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Our Daily Bread

Our Daily Bread – Why Me?

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Read: Ruth 2:1-11 | Bible in a Year: 1 Chronicles 19–21; John 8:1-27

Why have I found such favor in your eyes? Ruth 2:10

Ruth was a foreigner. She was a widow. She was poor. In many parts of the world today she would be considered a nobody—someone whose future doesn’t hold any hope.

However, Ruth found favor in the eyes of a relative of her deceased husband, a rich man and the owner of the fields where she chose to ask for permission to glean grain. In response to his kindness, Ruth asked, “What have I done to deserve such kindness? . . . I am only a foreigner” (Ruth 2:10 nlt).

When we come to Him in salvation, we are under His protective wings.

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John MacArthur

John MacArthur – Drawing Near – Marveling at God’s Forgiveness (Matthew)

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The twelve apostles included “Matthew the tax-gatherer” (Matt. 10:3).

Never lose your sense of awe over Christ’s forgiveness.

Matthew describes himself as “Matthew the tax-gatherer” (Matt. 10:3). He is the only apostle whose name is associated with an occupation. Apparently Matthew never forgot what he had been saved from, and never lost his sense of awe and unworthiness over Christ’s forgiveness.

This is how he set the scene of his own conversion: Matthew 9:1-8 tells us Jesus forgave the sins of a paralytic man and then healed him of his paralysis. When the Jewish scribes accused Him of blasphemy for claiming to have the authority to forgive sins, He said to them, “Why are you thinking evil in your hearts? For which is easier, to say, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, and walk’?” He wanted them to know His miracles testified of His deity. As God, He could as easily forgive sins as He could heal diseases.

Immediately after that account, Matthew gave the account of his own call. It’s as if he wanted his own salvation to serve as an illustration of Christ’s ability to forgive even the vilest of sinners. Matthew 9:9 says, “As Jesus passed on from there, He saw a man, called Matthew, sitting in the tax office; and He said to him, ‘Follow Me!’ And he rose, and followed Him.”

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Wisdom Hunters

Wisdom Hunters – Autonomy Needs Accountability 

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Late one afternoon, after his midday rest, David got out of bed and was walking on the roof of the palace. As he looked out over the city, he noticed a woman of unusual beauty taking a bath. 2 Samuel 11:2, NLT

Leaders who rise in their responsibilities at work require more—not less accountability. When someone believes no one is watching their behavior, their behavior can quickly become corrupted. Autonomy is not an excuse for sloppy living, but an opportunity to expand service to others and to grow in grace and humility. If a person trusts themselves alone to be alone, without any moral guardrails—they are set up for pride’s fall—humility chooses to be accountable.

David talked himself into thinking he could handle autonomy without accountability. Instead of being in charge and leading the charge with his fellow soldiers—he disengaged from the action. He foolishly assumed his position and power elevated him above the need to answer to others for his actions. David forgot a fundamental lesson from his days as a shepherd—a sheep that strays away on its own is exposed to life threatening influences. He allowed his affections to chase after the lust of the flesh—instead of submitting to the Spirit. Accountability gladly depends on others.

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open” (Luke 8:17).

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Turning Point

Today’s Turning Point with David Jeremiah – Love and Respect

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Nevertheless let each one of you in particular so love his own wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Ephesians 5:33

Recommended Reading

Ephesians 5:25-33

The Bible opens and closes with a wedding. In the earliest pages of Genesis, God brought Adam and Eve together and officiated the first marriage in history. At the end of the Bible, the Lord Jesus and His Bride, the Church, are united at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Additionally, Jesus performed His first miracle at a wedding; and according to the book of Ephesians, marriage is emblematic of the relationship between Christ and His Church.

Marriage, it seems, is worth fighting for. It’s worth fighting for in our culture, and it’s also worth fighting for in our own lives. Most marriages go from the dream stage to the disappointment stage to the disillusionment stage. There’s not a perfect husband or wife on earth, and no one can live up to our moonlight ideas of romance. But the next stage is the most important—the decision stage. We have to choose to love the one we’ve married.

If you’re discouraged with your marriage, don’t give up. Give it to Him. The Creator of weddings is the Corrector of marriage. He can help you love and respect your husband or wife.

A Single Thought: Respect is a crucial ingredient in any successful relationship—families, coworkers, and friends all need to value one another.

Read-Thru-the-Bible

Nehemiah 8 – 10

http://www.davidjeremiah.org/

Joyce Meyer

Joyce Meyer – Only God Can Change You

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The Lord will sustain, refresh, and strengthen him on his bed of languishing; all his bed You [O Lord] will turn, change, and transform in his illness. I said, Lord, be merciful and gracious to me; heal my inner self, for I have sinned against You.—Psalm 41:3-4

Don’t obsess over your faults, or you will never enjoy the life that Jesus died to give you. Only God can change you, so talk to Him about your desires. The Word says that those who wait on the Lord will change (see Isaiah 40:31).

Meanwhile, quit taking your flaws so seriously. Don’t let discouragement or depression rob you of your energy and make you angry. If you do, you may take that anger out on other people and miss the blessings God has in store for you today. Enjoy yourself, and lighten up! Take the right steps today toward the change you want to make by asking God to help you all day long.

From the book Starting Your Day Right by Joyce Meyer.

http://www.joycemeyer.org

Girlfriends in God

Girlfriends in God – What Will You Do With Your Pain?

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He gives strength to those who are tired and more power to those who are weak.

Isaiah 40:29

Friend to Friend

I love a great movie! To me, a movie is great when good wins over evil, the right guy gets the right girl, nobody gets hurt and everyone lives happily ever after. A bit naive, I know. But I have decided that there is enough harsh reality ripping through daily life without paying to see more on a movie screen.

With these criteria in mind, I went to see the movie “Sea Biscuit.” There I was; popcorn in hand, minding my own business and enjoying my brief respite, when his words slammed into my soul, yanking me back to the tenacious essence and interminable power of truth.

“You don’t throw a whole life away just because it’s banged up a little.”

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Campus Crusade for Christ

Campus Crusade for Christ; Bill Bright – Practicing the Presence of God

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“How precious it is, Lord, to realize that You are thinking about me constantly! I can’t even count how many times a day Your thoughts turn towards me. And when I waken in the morning, You are still thinking of me!” (Psalm 139:17,18).

Our sons, Zac and Brad, have helped me to understand, in some small measure, the truth of this promise, for in the course of a single day, I will lift them up in prayer many times. I am finite, but God is infinite. My love for our sons is limited, but his love is inexhaustible and unconditional. It is because of God’s love in my heart that I am able to love my sons unconditionally, even as He loves me.

What a comforting, encouraging thought, that the omnipotent Creator, God, who possesses all power and control of creation, loves me enough that He is constantly thinking about me. When I allow Him to do so, He talks to me, expressing His love, wisdom and grace from His Word, through divine impressions and the counsel of wise and godly friends. His eyes run to and fro throughout the whole earth to make Himself strong and mighty in my behalf (2 Chronicles 16:9).

Just as He is constantly thinking about me, I have been admonished to pray without ceasing. To talk to Him, to think about Him all the time – as difficult as it may sound – is a joyful reality to those who practice the presence of God, is that the kind of relationship you are experiencing day by day? If not, it can be.

Bible Reading: Psalm 139:1-10

TODAY’S ACTION POINT: Mindful that God loves, cares and thinks about me constantly, I shall seek to live the supernatural life by practicing His presence, by praying without ceasing and by claiming His supernatural power by faith.

 

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Ray Stedman

Ray Stedman -Beloved Enemy

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Read: Acts 9:1-19

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, Ananias! Yes, Lord, he answered. The Lord told him, Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight. Acts 9:10-12

Paul has been converted. Now he is a Christian. And what is the first thing he experienced as a Christian? The life of the body of Christ. That is wonderful, is it not? Two unknown, obscure Christians are sent to him. He meets them and is immediately helped by the strengthening that can come from the body, from other Christians. First there is a man named Judas. That is all we know about him. Saul is led to his house whom he has never met before. While he is there a man named Ananias is sent to minister to him.

Is there not a joyful, poetic irony about this, that the Holy Spirit has chosen two names which are tainted names elsewhere in the New Testament, Judas and Ananias. These names belong to two other people: Judas the betrayer of our Lord; and Ananias, the first Christian to manifest the deceit and hypocrisy of an unreal life. Yet, here are two people, bearing the same names, that are honored and used of God. It is just a little touch, but it seems so much like the Holy Spirit to use names like this.

Continue reading Ray Stedman -Beloved Enemy →