“Stand Firm in Thessalonica”

Scripture: Acts 17:1-9; 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15; 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

As in all ministry, there will be some days that we see as successful, and others that are not so good, and not so successful. The life of the early apostles, if we only consider their human experiences, would seem to tell us that the failures would far outweigh the victories. There would be all kinds of opposition to the Good News that they brought – they would be thrown out of synagogue after synagogue, they would be arrested for more reasons that we can count, they would be beaten, and imprisoned, and ridiculed, and eventually, nearly all of them would be executed for sharing their faith in Jesus Christ.

And Paul’s experiences would be no different - but for him, every single person who came to the Lord Jesus would be a victory that overshadowed 100 failures, beatings, and rejections. He knew that satanic influence was constantly ruining lives, and every life that he could win for Jesus was one more defeat for the dark prince. The apostle had once been a champion for the Law, which he now sees as Satan’s lie, intended to draw people away from the Lord’s salvation, and he worked diligently to reverse all of the harm he had once done.

Today, we find him in Thessalonica, and after a pretty fair start, things would begin to go south very quickly.

Read Acts 17:1-9

The city sat on a major east / west Roman road that led from Greece to the Middle East. It knew the influence of many cultures, as it was on the same route as Corinth and Philippi, and would be an ideal place for Christianity to begin to take a hold in Greece, in Europe, and to spread to the far reaches of Asia. But it would also be a hot seat of opposition and oppression to the teachings of Jesus.

And it all begins in the local synagogue. He was given a chance to be heard, at first, and for 3 days, he would share the glory of Jesus Christ with all who gathered there. There would even be a few converts, both Jews and Gentiles, as well as a few “prominent women”! Isn’t that interesting – not only were Jews participating in synagogue, but so were some Greeks, and very possibly, some independent business women. This would not be the norm for the Jews, but we need to remember that we are in Greece now, not in Judea, and it is very possible that some customs had been modified for local purposes.

And the glory of Jesus Christ began to come to fruition in the lives living in this Grecian city. But the opposition also began to immerge and organize, and it was initiated, not in arrest and the courts, but in mob rule. John Wesley would also know earth’s violence through thugs who were paid by wealthy men when the Anglican Church could no longer keep his radical teaching in check.
But when the mobs began their search for Paul and his associates, they were nowhere to be found. So the anger was turned upon the people who had supported them, and fed them, and housed them, and believed in all that they had taught.

And when Jason and others, who accepted and supported God’s messengers, were dragged before the courts, what was the charge? Essentially that the ones they really wanted had been causing trouble all over the world, and now they are here “rabble rousing”, and Jason was one of the people who were giving them sanctuary and support while they were spreading the venom of Christianity!
But then, Christianity has always been about the dramatic change that brings healing to our broken lives. From a world’s perspective, that may look like “trouble”, when it is actually the gift of showing us the way out of this troubled existence.

People have always had difficulty in understanding the significance between the blessings of God and the curse of earth. And they are still getting it backwards!

Read 2 Thessalonians 2:13-15

Paul had written this letter to set the record straight, to correct a number of lies that had begun to spread regarding the day when Christ would return to redeem the Church. He not only has been denouncing the lies, he is also encouraging the church of Thessalonica to remain faithful and true to the word of God that came to them from Jesus Christ Himself.

And not only is he reassuring the church, he praises God for all who have come to a saving grace by faith in Christ. By way of this prayer, Paul is acknowledging the fact that faith comes, not by our efforts, but through the power of the Holy Spirit. He admits that the preaching and teaching that he and the others have offered, has certainly had an influence on the growth in faith for many, but even at that, he takes no credit for what has come to these people of God.

Let’s think about this for a moment. The Jews, as we know, were “chosen” by God as his own people, a people who the Lord expected to use his blessing to bless others. (Genesis 12:3) Paul had been chosen to be God’s man to the Gentiles in a very dramatic and traumatic way. (Acts 9:15) And now we read that God has chosen these people to be saved through the power of the Spirit.

But why does the Lord choose certain people over others? For their elevation? For their glory? Truthfully, we aren’t chosen by God for our own purposes. It isn’t to give us bragging rights, it isn’t to give us certain privileges, it isn’t for our glory, it isn’t even for our own salvation! It is for our service in the name of Jesus Christ, to continue his ministry and mission to the people of earth. We are chosen to work on behalf of our Almighty God. (1 Peter 1:2)

Read 1 Thessalonians 2:13-16

He encourages the faithful Thessalonians by reassuring them that they are growing in the word of God, and not in the word of men. And that growth comes from their expression of faith. And how does that reveal itself?

Paul observes that even though the church in Thessalonica is relatively new, they are following in the traditions and ways of the churches that are already well founded in Christ’s ways. They haven’t been “filling in the gaps” of what they have been learning, but still have questions about some of the details, and that is good. They haven’t become distracted by false teachers. They haven’t fallen back into their old ways, influenced by the culture of this very metropolitan city. Their faith is remaining strong, and is growing.

He also tells them something that they already knew so well – that they have remained strong, in spite of the persecution and conflict that the world, as well as the Jewish leadership, has been throwing at them. Satan never gives up, and will use such subtle techniques as doubt, fear, false teaching, complacency, and human reasoning (which always seems to be in conflict with divine reason!) to steer us away from God’s way and purpose. And it will come from the most unexpected sources – sometimes even from inside the church!

The Thessalonians were growing in Christ, and were experiencing new life in him. Of course, walking with Jesus is not always a walk of peace and acceptance! More times than not, it brings hatred and oppression upon us. Since the beginning of the Church, the world has always thought, and said, that Christianity is for the weak and narrow minded, the ignorant, the unexciting people of earth. But the truth is that faith in Christ will bring both excitement and conflict, hope and struggle, and all kinds of emotional ups and downs – not all that different than a life without Jesus. But the one great difference, is that walking with the Lord brings a sense of peace and purpose and eternity regardless of the victories and defeats that come our way.

But this has been the story of the Thessalonians – what about our story? Have you even been asked “How is your faith today?” And if I asked that question right now, what would your answer be? Would you say “I guess it’s pretty good”, would you say “I’ve had better days”, would you say “I’m trying!” But the truth is that wishy-washy answers like these, indicate that our faith is still shallow and marginal. The best answer would be “I am blessed by my Lord and Savior Jesus!”

Our faith must be deep, trusting, seeking, striving, growing in our understanding of what Jesus has taught, and what it must mean for each of our lives. It can never be a compromise with the ways of earth, it can never be a straddling of the spiritual fence that divides the faithful from the rest of humanity. It is, admittedly, a fine line, but a line nonetheless. Without full and true faith in Christ, it’s a line that nothing of God can cross, it’s a line that prevents the Spirit from working within and through us, it’s a line that bars the truth of God from our life, and our walk in “faith” becomes a lie. (John 14:16-17, 19-21)

Which side of the Lord’s “Line” are you on? Is your faith as firm and strong as that in the Thessalonian church?
In Joshua 24:14-15, the servant Joshua challenges the people to “choose for yourself this day whom you will serve”, and it is a challenge and call for each of us, too. Which God you will choose to serve – one of the gods of earth, or the one true God of the universe? And remember that it must be one or the other, for it can never be a little bit of both!

“Prayers in Philippi”

Scripture: Acts 16:11-34

Paul had made plans to carry his mission to the east, into Asia, but we read that the Holy Spirit had other ideas, and kept him from striking out in his own direction. (Acts 16:6-8) So he had remained in the area we now know as east central Turkey, until a vision came to him of a man from Macedonia pleading for the apostle to come and help them. Paul quickly changed his plans, and set out for the southern area of Greece.

This is one more indication of the huge change that had come over him. Paul had always been his own man, letting nothing deter him from his self-determined missions against the Church. But now, he followed the leading of the Holy Spirit, and readily submitted to the plans of Almighty God, in all that he did. And this new allegiance to God’s way, in what is known as Paul’s Second Missionary Journey, would encounter some very interesting twists and turns. So let’s begin with his stay in Philippi.

Read Acts 16:11-15

Philippi, even though it was located in southern Greece, was not only a major metropolitan city, it was also a Roman colony. So Paul, as a Roman citizen, would understand the Roman culture. But we also notice that there is no mention of a synagogue. This wouldn’t necessarily mean that there were no Jews living here, for when there was no building for worship, there would be a “place of prayer”, usually just outside of the city.

Another thing we notice is that Paul begins to speak “to the women who had gathered there”. Not the men! Remembering the Jewish custom of worship, the women never gathered with the men – not in temple, not in synagogue, and not in places of prayer. But something called Paul to go to the women on this day, which in and of itself, is also strange for a Jew, but not quite as strange for Rome. Paul began his testimony with whoever happened to be near, and whoever would listen.

The next unusual twist, is that Lydia was a merchant dealing in purple cloth. She was a business woman who, we can assume, was wealthy in her own right. Purple dyes for coloring cloth was rare and very expensive, and therefore, so was the cloth. And this wealthy woman, living in a metropolitan city, under the influence of the Roman culture, was already a worshiper of Jehovah God. Paul then proceeded to tell her about the Son of God, who wished to become her God, too.

And she gives her life to Jesus Christ. As far as we know, this is Paul’s, or anyone else’s for that matter, first baptism and conversion to Christ in the European continent. She accepts the Lord, as does her entire household, which would include her entire family, servants, and any others who were there. She would be a woman of influence, and her invitation to Paul and his entourage to stay in her home would be the first of many invitations, and the first of many conversions by her witness. The Lord chose Lydia to be the first among many.

And there would be others in Philippi!

Read Acts 16:16-21

And there would be troubles, too. Sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ will always bring opposition. On this day, when the men were on their way to the place of prayer, they were met by a slave girl with a false spirit that allowed her to predict the future. Her owners used her to tell fortunes to others, and they made a lot of money from this ability. But on this day, the fortunes that she was sharing had nothing to do with her master! She was loudly proclaiming, to let everyone know, without cost, just who these men were, and why the people should listen to them!

Now think about this for a minute – how would you feel if you had an employee who was making lots of money for you, who suddenly started giving your products away for free? And then imagine if someone convinced the employee to stop working for you all together?

We might think that this was a great story about how a woman, enslaved by a demon, and being taken advantage of by greedy men, had been freed from her bondage. And think again, that she was acting as a herald, or even a prophet for the evangelists, following them wherever they went. Even the lowest of low can be used in the Lord’s mission to the people of earth!

First the wealthy, then the poorest; first the freed, then the enslaved. In Galatians 3:26-29, Paul writes “There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” So it isn’t only Jesus who never discriminates against anyone - anyone who will come to him by faith, and anyone who will proclaim his holy name to the world in obedient faith. We too must follow that example every moment of our lives.

But after several days, Paul commands the spirit to leave her, and while we may regret the fact that she has lost her ability to see into the lives of others, her freedom from that dark spirit is still the great gift that Paul had been called to offer to people throughout the world. She had been released to live freely in the love of Jesus Christ, and I think we can rest assured that she did.

But here’s the rub! Her masters weren’t so happy about her freedom! They had lost their business, their income, their control, and they haul Paul and Silas into Roman court. The two men are found guilty, and sentenced to be stripped and flogged, and imprisoned in the inner part of the prison – the equivalent of our solitary confinement – and to be held in stocks.

Not exactly an enviable position!

Read Acts 16:25-28

But Paul and Silas, the great evangelists that they were, simply saw this as a new venue to proclaim the greatness of their Lord Jesus. They began singing, and praying, and revealing the mighty name of Jesus to the other prisoners, and the foundation of the prison is literally shaken, the doors fly open, and the chains of every person held there fall away.

Can you imagine the fear that gripped the jailer – to wake up to the violence of the moment, believing that every man under his charge had run for the hills? And then to realize that no one had left, that his life was still safe? And it all came to be through the rejoicing that had filled the two men, and their God who freed every prisoner, then convinced them all to stay where they were. This is one mighty God.

How far will we go to celebrate our Savior? Will it be where we are safe and secure, or are we prepared to rejoice in our Christ, even in times of dire circumstances? If we are truly faithful to our Lord, it will be every moment of every day of the rest of our life!

Read Acts 16:32-34

The jailer would come to Paul, throw himself at the apostle’s feet, and ask “What must I do to be saved?” He would learn the truth of Jesus Christ that very night, and then would take the two men to his home, to his family, where they all would hear the message of Jesus Christ, and come to the Lord. We might have felt sorry for Paul and Silas earlier, but their arrest and beatings were the means for another family to give their lives to Jesus, and to discover the glory of his life and his eternity.

God doesn’t let us suffer the hatred of earth for no reason – if we will but continue to praise him, to believe in him, to trust in his word, to know that his grace will abound to us even in times of trouble, he will show us the most powerful example of his authority and call that we will ever know.

Do you believe and trust in the truth of God that we learn through the teaching of Jesus Christ? Are you willing to proclaim him to the world? Are you prepared for anything that they can throw at you because of your faith in Christ? Are you ready to receive the animosity and persecution and anger of your family and friends and world authority on behalf of Jesus? Will you accept your cross in honor of the life that Jesus has freed you to live in him?

If you can say “Yes” to this, then you are ready.
If not, then it’s time to get ready. Today.

“The Christians of Antioch”

Scripture: Acts 11:19-30

For the past three weeks, we have seen how the Lord can bring life changing ways to the lives of the most unusual people. Peter, a crude fisherman, was changed, first at Pentecost, and again when he visited Cornelius in Caesarea. Saul, a ridged Pharisee, was changed dramatically during his journey to Damascus, where he would continue his persecution of Christians, and his change brought him to become one of the foremost evangelists for Jesus.

Our Almighty God has been in the life-changing business since the beginning of time, and will continue to do so until time is no more. He has changed your life and mine, and will continue to reveal his never changing will to us until the day we join him in Paradise. Today, we begin a series to examine the changes that came to the people who Paul witnessed to in a number of cities throughout Gentile territory.

Today, our journey with Paul takes us to Antioch. The faith was already beginning to take hold in the city before Paul arrived, but the hope that grows in those who choose to follow Jesus Christ knows no bounds.

Read Acts 11:19-21

There are a few lessons that we need to learn from this passage.
First, The Word of the Church was being spread because of persecution. In recent past messages, we have discussed this incredible truth – that peace and contentment are the enemies of our faith, and that, strangely enough, opposition to the faith seems to be its greatest promoter! There’s an old saying that "the Lord comforts the afflicted, and afflicts the comfortable" – the point being that our Almighty God has no need of our contentment; that he will always work in the most powerful ways when his Church is under attack, and when his besieged people open their lives to him in faith.

Second, the very ones who were spreading the good news of Jesus Christ are unnamed. The unfortunate tendency that lives within each of us is that we like to be acknowledged for the good things we do. It’s not necessarily out of pride (although it certainly can be, and at times, it absolutely is!), but more likely, it’s that we want to know if we have made a difference. Either way, we want to know if others were blessed by our actions, or at least that they have noticed that something new has occurred. This is the problem, that it is all about what we have done, and not what the Lord has done through us. It’s all about who is going to get the credit, who is to be glorified. Anonymity in mission must always be our best friend!

Third, the Word of God was being shared with both Jews and Gentiles. Chronologically in the Book of Acts, this comes after Peter and Paul began to understand the importance of allowing Gentiles into the faith. But if we consider the timing associated with the stoning of Steven versus the more than three years of preparation that Paul needed, we discover that this would have begun a few years before Paul’s mission. So inclusion of Gentiles into Christ’s Church began, in all probability, right here in Antioch.

And Fourth, Antioch would probably be our last choice for a mission trip. It was cosmopolitan, it was pagan, it was a large city involved in international trade, and it was immoral in the extreme. Not an especially easy place to be a witness for Christ, but it was the most fertile mission ground that will ever be found! It would become a home for the missioners, an opportunity for growth in the faith, and a constant source of opposition to the truth of Christ for many years to come.

Antioch would be a precursor to all that the Church would experience and endure for the rest of time.

Read Acts 11:22-26

The Council heard that Gentiles were being welcomed into the faith, so they sent Barnabas, the “Son of Encouragement” (Acts 4:36), to investigate. He recognized two facts right away: he saw that the Holy Spirit had been working in mighty ways within this largely Gentile city, and he also saw that this new church needed a strong leader to provide focus and coordination for these evangelistic efforts.

He approved of the witness that was at work, and encouraged the faithful to continue in their work of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ. He not only had no concerns that Gentiles were coming to Christ, he saw it as a miracle at work.

But something was lacking – a single and central source of guidance was needed, and the Council of Jerusalem was too far away to contribute to this task. But, remember that Barnabas would be the one who stood by Paul when he came to the Council, and who seemed to have the most trust in this new apostle. He knew the strength of Paul’s resolve and the truth in his new found faith in Christ, and he recognized the man as the ideal person to lead the church in Antioch. And it didn’t hurt that Paul was as comfortable in dealing with Gentiles as he was with the Jewish community.

And believers would begin to be called “Christians”. But just as John and Charles Wesley’s Holiness Club members would be called “Methodists”, both terms were intended to be slighting nicknames. “Methodist” implied a disdain for the strict adherence to form in the Holiness meetings, and “Christian” came from a Latin word meaning “Those Christ folks”. While both were meant to be jokes, they would be claimed by the movements, and have come to mean far more than simply a humorous pun.

More and more persecution came against the faith, but by the power of the Spirit, hatred was turned into hope, ridicule was turned into joy, old and little gods were replaced with trust in the One and Mighty God – and all because persecution chased people out of their comfort zones!

Maybe we all need to have our “pots of contentment” stirred up a bit!

Read Acts 11:27-30

The Church was growing, but why would Prophets be needed at this time? Why not the Apostles from Jerusalem?
The Apostles were responsible for the faith – to ensure that false teaching was caught early and then corrected. But the concern of the Prophets was to reveal and open understanding of what was to come by faith. Agabus was one who came to help the Church in Antioch, by revealing that a famine was on the way. Now while this verse may seem to be disconnected from what follows, it isn’t.

The city of Antioch was situated on a major river, and they might have survived the famine easier than other areas of the empire. So the important issue here is how the Church of Antioch responded to the needs of others. They apparently didn’t even wait for the famine to grow in its intensity – they began making plans immediately to help the faithful wherever they may live. They were living out the call of Christ to love one another as he had always loved. (John 13:34-35) They saw themselves as a part of the greater Church, and they were ready to live in unity with the rest of believers, regardless of what that may require of them. (Ephesians 4:11-15)

The Church of today could learn some vital lessons from the Church of that day. Unfortunately, all too many people think we should forget the past, that it’s irrelevant, and that we should strike out in a whole new direction. But the truth is that it isn’t only God who never changes, it is also the Church that must stay true to the historic ways of the Lord’s truth, and to the call he has placed on each and every one of us.

Yes, we must reach out in new ways, but not in new theology.
Yes, we must proclaim Christ in ways that the current culture will understand and celebrate, but not with cultural and societal standards.
Yes, we must search for new ways to express our faith, and to worship in our faith, while never sacrificing the teachings of Jesus Christ.

The Christians of Antioch would withstand persecution, and opposition, and false teaching, but through the leadership of men like Barnabas and Paul, they would stand firm and live in the faith that Jesus had established.

May we do as well as they did.

“Up and Down the Road”

Scripture: Acts 9:19b-30, Galatians 1:14-18; 21-24

Last week, we experienced the vision that completely changed Peter’s understanding of who was unclean and who wasn’t. And within minutes, the Lord gave him the opportunity to put this new appreciation for people into motion. He came to understand just how worthy the Gentiles were, and he began to share the grace and glory of Jesus Christ with the world, one Gentile after another.

We also saw the incredible change that God made in the life of Saul, a Pharisee who was committed to the Law of Moses, but who now was even more committed in the Life of Jesus Christ. We have seen how that new way of Jesus was working in Peter’s ministry, and today, we begin to see what this change would mean for the new disciple, Paul.

Read Acts 9:19b-25

He spent some time regaining his strength, and I don’t doubt that he needed that time! Imagine the stress that this encounter with the Lord must have created. Meeting Jesus, discovering that his mission to stamp out Christ-centered faith was a huge mistake, being struck blind, losing his independence, and receiving healing from prayers offered by one of the very people he had intended to arrest for heresy! Are there any of us who wouldn’t be emotionally and spiritually drained after going through all of this?

He would remain in Damascus for several days, preaching in the very synagogues where he had planned to find, arrest, and convict the faithful for blasphemy. Can you imagine the fear and consternation in the hearts of Jesus’ followers - first, when Paul, the Persecutor, walked into their house of worship, and second, when he began to proclaim, with power, the glory of Jesus Christ? I have no doubt that they didn’t trust their ears OR the words. But they were honest and truthful words, just the same.

And the power and impact of his preaching would continue to gain authority. Jews who had never come to Christ, began to believe because of his witness. The greatest hater of Jesus, and of all who followed him, and of all that he had taught and represented, had now become his greatest advocate! And it all happened through the love and grace of Jesus Christ. (Jeremiah 32:17; Matthew 19:26)
But after many days, and we’ll hear more about that lengthy period later, the Jewish authorities and teachers decided that they would have to silence this turncoat. When the Lord called Ananias to minister to Saul, the man was told “This man is my chosen instrument … [and] I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.” And he would – both serve and suffer. He would preach and amaze everyone, while the Jewish authorities and the Romans would do their worst to end this upstart’s ministry.

But Paul had received three more gifts from God, in addition to faith – they were courage and boldness in the power and authority of God, as well as the call to ministry in the name of Jesus Christ, and nothing would deter his new found mission. God had a plan for him, and as part of that plan, he was about to learn what the hatred of earth felt like, as well as what the Lord could do through the faithfulness of a few believers. And as far as the Divine Plan was concerned, it wasn’t time for Paul’s experience with Jesus to end just yet.

Read Acts 9:26-30

Have you ever had one of those days when nothing seemed to go right? Everything you try fails; every decision you make doesn’t work the way you wanted it to; every place you go is nowhere near to where you are supposed to be. Ever had one of those days?

Same with Paul! He had welcomed Jesus into his heart and life, and the believers of Damascus just couldn’t believe that it was true. “This is the Persecutor - no one makes such a dramatic turn-around in such a short period of time. He must be up to something, and it won’t be for our good!”
The Jewish leadership wasn’t very happy either. He’s supposed to be one of us! What is he doing, talking in such glowing terms about this Jesus? He’s supposed to be arresting these people, not encouraging them and adding more to those lying ways.
But he would not be deterred. He had come to the truth of Jesus, and he just couldn’t turn back. William Barkley writes in his commentary on Acts of the Apostles (page 75), “Counterfeit Christianity is always safe; real Christianity is always in peril.” For Paul, as well as the Church of today, no truer words were ever spoken.

And the uncertainty over his new-found faith would continue. Even the Council of Jerusalem didn’t trust him. They knew his past all too well, and it was speaking much louder than his present. A few weeks ago, I think I mentioned that when we visited our son and his family in Ohio, he had been asked to preach at their church’s Sunday evening service, and his message was “It isn’t where you’ve been that is important, it’s where you are going!” Unfortunately, most people tend to focus on the former, and tend to ignore the latter! It’s far easier to make our judgement on what we know someone did, instead of on what the Lord is going to do through them!

But the Lord, just as he had sent Ananias into Paul’s life, he now sends Barnabas to encourage and support him. We first read about Barnabas in Acts 4:36-37. He was a Levite from Cyprus, whose name was Joseph. He was a faithful believer, who helped others whenever and however he could. The apostles saw a gift within him, and renamed him “Barnabas”, which means “Son of Encouragement” – seems like the right person to send and stand with Paul! His words of introduction and his very obvious heart for Jesus were all that it took to set the record straight regarding Paul’s new faith. But that doesn’t mean that all opposition vanished – Paul had been testifying to anyone who would stand still long enough to listen, and one of these groups were the Greek speaking Jews. They would be intellectuals like Paul, they would understand Greek philosophy, like Paul, they loved to debate issues of the day, like Paul, but they didn’t like Paul’s understanding and life in Jesus. They would debate any issue, but this thought that the old law was outside of God’s desire was just too much. And they planned to bring an abrupt halt to this profanity.

And the believers helped him to escape the “coming wrath” of the Jews.

Read Galatians 1:14-18

Paul’s ministry, and his struggle, had begun. But how did he get there? What would it take for any of us to begin a full and faith-filled walk with Jesus?

We are all sinners in need of the Lord (Romans 5:8), but when the Lord’s time arrives, we still have to make a decision – to either begin to love the Lord and his ways, or to continue to love the ways of earth. And if we are honest with ourselves, the Lord is the only rational choice. For Paul, and for many of us, Jesus’ call on our lives doesn’t always make sense at first, but the choice must still be in the Lord, rational and sensible or not! It will always bring his best to life within us.

For Paul, he began sharing his encounter with Jesus on the road, and in it, he freely described his former life and how it led him further and further away from the truth he was pursuing. Been there? I’ve done that - how about you? I’m not suggesting that we focus on the life we used to live, but if we forget just how far it took us from the love of Christ, we just might fall back into the old ways. There’s an old saying, that if we forget our past, we will be doomed to repeat it. Paul seemed to understand this long before anyone actually said it! So must we.

But should we just continue sharing Jesus without really examining our lives? Paul spent three years reflecting and remembering and studying and praying before he ever went back to Jerusalem to officially become a disciple of Jesus Christ, and only then to enthusiastically begin his evangelistic career throughout the Gentile world. He was getting to know the new “him”, and to let the Lord continue to reshape him, and remake him, before he took to the road again, but this time, it would be in praise of God and his New Lord Jesus, instead of in discrimination against him and his people.
And we, too, need to be certain of what the Lord God is calling each of us to do before we set off, following our own road of uncertainty.

Read Galatians 1:21-24

And in these final verses for today, we discover that Paul had finally arrived. Even those who he didn’t know, and who didn’t really know him, began to understand the change that had come into the man’s life. He had traveled the road in both directions – at first, to destroy, and now, to build up. And this was a far better path to travel, one that he would never deviate from.

That’s a good lesson for all of us – to trust in God’s way, and to stay true to it, regardless of where it takes us, or what it demands of our lives.