Shaun and The Word

Divine Set up 3: If you don’t sow, you can’t reap

Genesis 8:22

“While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

And cold and heat,

And summer and winter,

And day and night

Shall not cease.”

• We are talking about Divine set ups and what that means is the providence of God in putting us in situations, or with people in order for us to get, grow or learn from so that we will be prepared for where He is bringing us.

Galatians 6:7-9

Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary.

• Paul makes it clear here that this sowing and reaping law/principle goes beyond the ground and the seed

Divine Set up 2: You can run but you can’t hide

Deuteronomy 4:9

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them.

• When we talk about Divine set ups we are saying that God has a way of putting people in your life, or you in a situation in order to get you or give you what you need to get you where you need to be.

Genesis 50:20

You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.

• Joseph recognizes that the Lord had put him in the right situations, around the right people, at the right times to get him to the place he needed to be

James 1:19-20

My dear brothers and sisters, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, because human anger does not produce the righteousness that God desires

• Testimony about sharpening my knife on the electricians cart.

Ephesians 4:26-32

Be angry, and yet do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not give the devil an opportunity. He who steals must steal no longer; but rather he must labor, performing with his own hands what is good, so that he will have something to share with one who has need. Let no unwholesome word proceed from your mouth, but only such a word as is good for edification according to the need of the moment, so that it will give grace to those who hear. Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.

Anger in your heart exposed!

• The anger Paul is speaking about here is not a revenge type of anger or a retaliation, but a anger that is affiliated with love. One that causes a disturbance within when you love someone or something and it is far from what it is meant to be.

The Lord provides for all of our needs:

2 Timothy 3:16-17

“All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work”

The testimony about being called to school and then getting laid off from my job and starting community college.

Well I ended up getting my old job back at a very large local A/c company and they put me at the Port Orange Halifax remodel. Now when I used to work with them before I was a wild, wild kid who ran his mouth all the time and was angry and hard to be around.

Now I go back almost a year later and I am completely changed. I mean completely. I was enrolled in college, I was a youth pastor, I had been delivered of so many things and the Lord was daily growing me and teaching me.

Could you imagine the people I had worked with for years previously when I came back and was a totally different man. Unbelievable experience.

The Lord began to teach me so much. I really began to get deeper and deeper in the knowledge of the word of God and it was in this time that I truly learned how to hunger for God in His word and in Prayer.

The Lord put me with the man that years earlier that would come up to me and tell me, God had a plan for me. This man Henry Rivera would begin to pour into me a passion and desire for more of God and to trust God and His word. FAITH!!

Matthew 13:3-9

“Then Jesus told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. He who has ears, let him hear.”

• The Sower- The Son of Man/Any one sowing the word of God

My friend Henry would sit with me in the car at break time, at lunch time, before and after work and pour this verse in to me. He would really show me what it meant to sow the word of God in to peoples hearts for you never know what God is going to do. He would say, “BE LIKE JOHNNY APPLE SEED!

He kept saying this parable over and over again because the truth is God’s word does not return void. God’s word does produce supernatural results in the life of the one who have prepared their heart to receive it by faith. The problem is not in the seed, nor the sower but the ground in which it lands. This is the one and only area we can do something about.

The Apostle Paul says in 2 Timothy 1:12 “I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him for that day”

 The Apostle Paul is saying, “To know JESUS is to TRUST HIM!” You have to know HIM! YOU HAVE TO KNOW HIM! FOR KNOWING JESUS IS TO TRUST HIM!

The Lord brought brother Henry into my life to sow the seed of salvation and then years later to sow the seed of faith and fire. You see after I surrendered my life I would felt called to go to new heights. Go to the Bible College, to do this and to do that, but it was all so far out of my league out of my level of comfort or normalcy. That time with brother Henry was a time of preparation. A time of getting a hunger to KNOW JESUS, and to KNOW HIM is to TRUST HIM!

One day during lunch we both had been fasting and praying and seeking the face of God. I mean the Lord was freshly pouring out in that car that day. All of a sudden Brother Henry looks at me and said, “God is going to enlarge your borders, He is going to bring you to places you never thought you would go, and He is going to use you to preach to the nations. A international ministry!”

I remember sitting there overwhelmed by the Lord’s presence but feeling as though what Henry was saying was far from what I could ever accomplish. Some 17 years later here I sit, having preached in nations around the globe, having a International ministry where we serve as missionaries to the nation of Vietnam and train national pastors and leaders. What Henry saw that day was God’s seed of purpose for me, what I had that day was a heart filled with good ground.

Everyday of our life we have to hunger for Jesus, we have to thirst for His word and we have to know Him. For knowing Him is trusting Him! Trusting Him and His word brings a supernatural return. 30, 60, 100 fold.

Never in a million years would Brother Henry had known that the 18 year old, drop out, hung over addict, who was so angry, doing construction A/C duct work that he kept sowing the seed of the WORD of God in would become a Dr. in ministry, serving in a closed nation where generations will be impacted with Gospel message through that ministry.

The Divine Exchange 7:

Our loneliness for His family!

John 1:12-13

Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God

• The home unit in the majority of Americans lives is broken or dysfunctional. IN a survey from 2015 it was reported that 56% of teenagers from ages 15-17 had never understood or known what a whole family unit was like. Either their parents where never married, divorced or had been separated for a period of time. That is 1 out of every 2 kids that knows some level of division or brokenness.

Mark 3:31-35

There came then his brethren and his mother, and, standing without, sent unto him, calling him. 32 And the multitude sat about him, and they said unto him, Behold, thy mother and thy brethren without seek for thee. 33 And he answered them, saying, Who is my mother, or my brethren? 34 And he looked round about on them which sat about him, and said, Behold my mother and my brethren! 35 For whosoever shall do the will of God, the same is my brother, and my sister, and mother.

• In first-century Graeco-Roman and Jewish society, it was a person’s family that primarily determined identity and social standing.

Matthew 10:37

He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.

• With the commitment to the Lord above everything else comes an access to all the Lord would have for you

Matthew 19:29

And every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.

• This is not that you ever stop being important to the natural family unit or have obligations to the natural family unit, but if obeying the Lord causes you to have to leave, or be dismissed from a family unit because of your obedience to Jesus not to worry there is a 100 fold reward.

John 19:25-27

But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He *said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” Then He *said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

• You see when we make the decision to surrender to Jesus and make Him LORD over all we enter into a family

Psalm 68:6

God sets the lonely in families,

he leads out the prisoners with singing;

• When I was preparing to go to Bible college I thought I could preach at a church to earn money to help me through school

Ephesians 2:19

Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,

• Once again I found myself in a lonely isolated place on the other side of the world

His Healing for our sickness!

1 Peter 2:24-25

He Himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds you were healed. For you were continually straying like sheep, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Guardian of your souls.

• I just listened to a song and in that song it has a line that says, “You (Talking to the Lord) will never run out of miracles.”

Matthew 8:14-17

When Jesus came into Peter’s home, He saw his mother-in-law lying sick in bed with a fever. He touched her hand, and the fever left her; and she got up and waited on Him. When evening came, they brought to Him many who were demon-possessed; and He cast out the spirits with a word, and healed all who were ill. This was to fulfill what was spoken through Isaiah the prophet: “He Himself took our infirmities and carried away our diseases.”

• Jesus’ compassion here is revealed

Isaiah 53:4-5

However, he was the one who lifted up our sicknesses,

and he carried our pain,

yet we ourselves assumed him stricken,

struck down by God and afflicted.

“But He was pierced through for our transgressions,

He was crushed for our iniquities;

The chastening for our well-being fell upon Him,

And by His scourging we are healed.”

• One translation uses the word took up, another uses the word lift off. This gives a beautiful image of what exactly an exchange looks like.

• Testimony about my mom being healed while in Bible College

The Lessons Appointed for Use on the

Sixth Sunday of Easter

Year A

Acts 17:22-31

1 Peter 3:13-22

John 14:15-21

Psalm 66:7-18

The Collect

O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

The First Lesson

Acts 17:22-31

Paul stood in front of the Areopagus and said, “Athenians, I see how extremely religious you are in every way. For as I went through the city and looked carefully at the objects of your worship, I found among them an altar with the inscription, ‘To an unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, he who is Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in shrines made by human hands, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mortals life and breath and all things. From one ancestor he made all nations to inhabit the whole earth, and he allotted the times of their existence and the boundaries of the places where they would live, so that they would search for God and perhaps grope for him and find him—though indeed he is not far from each one of us. For ‘In him we live and move and have our being’; as even some of your own poets have said,

‘For we too are his offspring.’

Since we are God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the deity is like gold, or silver, or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of mortals. While God has overlooked the times of human ignorance, now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed, and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.”

The Response

Psalm 66:7-18

Jubilate Deo

7 Bless our God, you peoples; *

8 Who holds our souls in life, *

9 For you, O God, have proved us; *

10 You brought us into the snare; *

11 You let enemies ride over our heads;

12 I will enter your house with burnt-offerings

13 I will offer you sacrifices of fat beasts

14 Come and listen, all you who fear God, *

15 I called out to him with my mouth, *

16 If I had found evil in my heart, *

17 But in truth God has heard me; *

18 Blessed be God, who has not rejected my prayer, *

The Epistle

1 Peter 3:13-22

Now who will harm you if you are eager to do what is good? But even if you do suffer for doing what is right, you are blessed. Do not fear what they fear, and do not be intimidated, but in your hearts sanctify Christ as Lord. Always be ready to make your defense to anyone who demands from you an accounting for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and reverence. Keep your conscience clear, so that, when you are maligned, those who abuse you for your good conduct in Christ may be put to shame. For it is better to suffer for doing good, if suffering should be God's will, than to suffer for doing evil. For Christ also suffered for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, in order to bring you to God. He was put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit, in which also he went and made a proclamation to the spirits in prison, who in former times did not obey, when God waited patiently in the days of Noah, during the building of the ark, in which a few, that is, eight persons, were saved through water. And baptism, which this prefigured, now saves you-- not as a removal of dirt from the body, but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ, who has gone into heaven and is at the right hand of God, with angels, authorities, and powers made subject to him.

The Gospel

John 14:15-21

Jesus said, ”If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you.

”I will not leave you orphaned; I am coming to you. In a little while the world will no longer see me, but you will see me; because I live, you also will live. On that day you will know that I am in my Father, and you in me, and I in you. They who have my commandments and keep them are those who love me; and those who love me will be loved by my Father, and I will love them and reveal myself to them.”

The Divine Exchange 5:

When speaking about Divine exchange we are talking about the Lord taking something from us and giving us something from Him in exchange. One of the key verses that gives a great oversight of this exchange is found in

2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Now the Divine exchange does not stop at that but continues on to so much more the Lord has for us.

Galatians 2:20 “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Ephesians 2:4-7 “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.”

Isaiah 53:8-9

By oppression and judgment he was taken away;

and as for his generation, who considered

       that he was cut off out of the land of the living,

stricken for the transgression of my people?

9    And they made his grave with the wicked

and with a rich man in his death,

• The call to go to Bible college but not feeling like I could do it or even felt worthy of it

Having the feeling of not

The Divine Exchange 4:

He was rejected so that I can be accepted

When speaking about Divine exchange we are talking about the Lord taking something from us and giving us something from Him in exchange. One of the key verses that gives a great oversight of this exchange is found in

2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Now the Divine exchange does not stop at that but continues on to so much more the Lord has for us. We are so limited in our understanding of just how much the Lord wants to impart to us. As a child of God journeys with Him, through His Holy Spirit, He speaks to certain areas in order to offer an exchange. In this episode I am going to share how the Lord dealt with me about rejection, and took it away from me and gave me His acceptance.

When my mother was pregnant with me, my dad who was married at the time left us to return back to his wife. My mom was distraught but the Lord truly did a work in her life and in our life. I grew up without a dad in my life and to never even meet him or see him or even hear his voice brought a lot of hidden issues. One of those main issues is a since of rejection.

The idea of feeling rejected comes from a dad who had me but made the decision to never want to be a part of my life. What also tags along with rejection is feeling unlovable. The idea that you are not lovable and if anyone really got close to you or knew you, they would reject you and leave. When I got saved I had this love inside of me and looked to lavish it on everyone, but I noticed I was not able to receive that type of love in return from others. It was as if I had this huge wall up all around my heart and mind and would allow love to go out but would not allow any to come in. 

One afternoon I was praying and the Lord showed me this verse and it turned me upside down.

Matthew 13:45-46, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.”

If you look back over Matthew 13 and follow the parable of the sower, it will be easy to know that the Son of Man is the Sower mentioned in it. Thus in reference to that parable it would only be logical to assume Jesus would be the Merchant in this parable. With Jesus being the Merchant lets follow the story, A Merchant went seeking fine pearls. If Jesus is the Merchant and HE has come seeking for fine pearls, what would be the pearls? What is it that caused Jesus to come seeking? What has peeked His interest or what is valuable to Him? Yes, you guessed it. PEOPLE! Jesus came seeking to save people. To gather people. To bring people unto Himself.

Now, the parable does not stop there. It goes so much deeper. It says that the Merchant goes out seeking fine pearls and when He found ONE pearl of great value, He went and sold all that He had and bought it. He went looking for fine pearls, when He found 1, HE gave everything to make that 1 His. Well I read that and just started crying because I knew that I had been saved. I knew that Jesus gave everything to make me His. I knew that but the Holy Spirit made it very clear to me that if it was just me, if I was the 1 pearl He would still give everything to make me His. That is still an overwhelming thought. If you or I was the only 1 that would ever come to faith in Jesus, He would still give His life for us. That is how valuable we are to Him. That is how much He loves us.

This set me free. The Holy Spirit was saying Shaun I want to take your rejection, and give you my acceptance. I want you to know deep down inside of you that you are lovable and accepted.  How could this exchange even be offered. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks about how the Messiah’s ministry would provide such an exchange.

Isaiah 53:1-3

“Who has believed our message?

And to whom has the arm of the Lord been revealed? For He grew up before Him like a tender shoot, And like a root out of parched ground;

He has no stately form or majesty That we should look upon Him,

Nor appearance that we should be attracted to Him. He was despised and forsaken of men, A man of sorrows and acquainted with grief;

And like one from whom men hide their face He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.

It says in no uncertain terms that this Messiah would simply be despised, forsaken and rejected. Jesus the Creator of the world would come unto His own and in John’s gospel it says, His own would rejected Him. In Mark’s gospel it says even His own family rejected Him and thought He was out of His mind. Later on in the Gospels some scholars believe it references His father turned from Him.

Mark 15:34 “At the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani?” which is translated, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

They believe that it was at this point that Jesus endured the entire portion of humanity’s sin and thus causing the Father to turn from Him in rejection of sin. Jesus was despised, forsaken and rejected. He endured that so those who like me feel unlovable, rejected or forsaken could receive His exchange. The Exchange is being accepted and loved by the FATHER!

John 15:9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you; abide in My love.”

Jesus said, that HE LOVES US, just like the FATHER has loved Him. He commands that we live in that love. LIVE IN that LOVE! You see Jesus took our rejection, so we could have His acceptance. My dad left me, my dad didn’t love me, and it left me with a rejected spirit. Feeling unlovable, but once I realized that for the first time in my life someone truly knew me, knew everything about me, and yet wanted to be with me and would give everything to make me His, it gave me an opportunity to offer Jesus my rejection, so I could receive His acceptance. To be loved and able to receive that love is priceless.

The merchant went out looking for fine pearls, when He found one, He went and gave everything to make that ONE His very own. He knows you, He loves you and He wants you so bad that HE would be despised and rejected so we could be accepted.

Divine Exchange 3:

When speaking about Divine Exchange, I am saying the Lord Jesus came to live our life and die our death so that we could have His life. Throughout Scripture there is an implementation that He takes what we have and gives us what He has, an exchange.

For example in 2 Corinthians  5:21 “He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him”

Paul says Jesus who knew no sin, became sin for us. HE took from us sin and in return or exchange has given us His righteousness. Isaiah’s prophecy speaks about this particular ministry of the Messiah in Isaiah 61.

Isaiah 61:3 “to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful head dress instead of ashes,  the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified”

What is implied is the people of ZION are mourning and the Lord’s Messiah is going to take some things off of them and exchange it with what He has for them.

• Comfort for mourning,

In the New International Version it says, He will provide for and bestow on them. I love that because it clarifies the process. The Messiah will make a way for the exchange to take place and will not just give the exchange but will do so with JOY. TO bestow something on someone is like a judge at a beauty pageant awarding the winner of the pageant with a crown. It is a joyful event. The judge takes great joy in giving the prize away, bestowing on the winner. What a joy!

After I felt this call into ministry, and it was confirmed by my pastor I really struggled with it because I still struggled with some sinful behaviors. I was addicted to chewing Tabaco, I cussed all the time and I had lustful thoughts in my heart all the time. I truly didn’t think I was ready or even worthy of being used by God. But, the good thing was I just was summoned to pray and prepare. What was about to happen over the next couple of weeks was nothing short of a miracle. The Lord took my addiction and in exchange gave me freedom. Addiction is so different then just a sinful act. It is like being a slave to sin. Almost like you are forced to do it as though you no longer have control over it. Addiction to anything seems demonic at it’s core because it is like you are being controlled.

John 8:33-36 “They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?” Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. 35 Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. 36 So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

Jesus tells those who were following Him that if they held to the truth they would be set free. They said we have never been captive, bound or slaves to anyone, why do You talk about freedom. Jesus said, everyone who sins is a slave to sin and when the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. Again this is what is seen in Isaiah’s prophecy as what the ministry of the Messiah will offer.

Isaiah 61:1 “To proclaim liberty to captives And freedom to prisoners”

Isaiah 53:7-8  “He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, Yet he opened not his mouth: He is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, And as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, So he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment:

Did you hear it? The Messiah would bring deliverance to the prisoner, to those in bondage and chains. In Isaiah 53 it explains how. He Himself would be bound, would be in chains, would be imprisoned. He took our bondage, our chains, so that we could have His freedom. 

JOHN 18:12 “So the Roman cohort and the commander and the officers of the Jews, arrested Jesus and bound Him.”

JESUS paid the price for us to be free. He takes our bondage, our chains, and gives us His freedom. Who the Son sets free is FREE indeed.

 Divine Exchange 2:

This episode I take a moment to explain my thought process behind the first several episodes and the track we are on. I sure pray this is a blessing and encouragement to both you now and those who will listen in the future.  

My call in to ministry. I totally felt like I was not worthy, or had anything to offer the Lord or His people. I mean I just got saved and was still on prohibition from my DUI. My life was still changing and it was changing quickly. The next morning after the Lord had spoken to me from Mark’s gospel I remember waking up and my dog had ate my entire can of Copenhagen tobacco Snuff, my mom took my last couple of dollars I had laid on the table and then getting in the work truck and telling my cousin whom I worked with that I believe the Lord might be calling me to serve Him. I will never forget what he said. He looked across the front seat of the truck as I leaned against the door craving a dip of snuff and said, “DUH, I thought you knew that.”

Apostle Paul must have felt some of the same feelings of not being worthy to serve Jesus. Grace is an amazing thing that our life and mind can’t fully comprehend. Paul had been persecuting the Church of Jesus and was doing it with zeal. He was present at the stoning of Stephen and then went on a rampage soon after chasing, capturing, and trying in his own ability to destroy the people of the WAY.

In Acts 9 it records the events, “As he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and 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?” And He said, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do.”

Paul who was named Saul would never be the same. His life was interrupted by GRACE. He was a murder of God’s people, He was working against the very plan of God and the people of God, but Jesus stops Paul in his tracks to tell Paul that He wanted him. Jesus Himself said that Paul’s attacks were attacks directly on Him, but Jesus still wanted him and had a plan for his life. Saul was blinded and led to Damascus and for 3 days stayed there until the Lord sent His servant to go and pray for Paul and tell him what lied ahead.

Paul would write in 1 Timothy 1:15, “It is a trustworthy statement, deserving full acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, among whom I am foremost of all.”

Paul had to feel just awful when he found out that he was actually working against the Lord and killing the people of God. No wonder he saw himself as the chief of sinners. I heard a testimony by a Israeli pastor talking about his time in the IDF air force and how one of his fellow soldiers was doing a fly over patrol and saw a brigade of tanks rolling across the mountains. He had to act quick and used no time to report back but acted quickly and destroyed the tanks. He returns to base expecting to be the hero only to find out that he had destroyed his own brothers. This must have been the same feeling Paul had. BUT GOD and His Holy Spirit could exchange sin, shame for righteousness.

That afternoon it only seemed obvious to me to go to my pastor and share with him what I felt the Lord calling me to do. I shared with him that I simply wanted to start mowing the Church’s yard for I felt like that was the only thing I could offer the Lord and if He could use a nice looking yard at the Church and someone seeing that and coming to the Church to know Him then it is all worth it. Now mind you this property at the Church would literally take me 2 ½ to 3 hours to cut it by push lawn mower. It was huge. He told me that was a great offer and I should be baptized. Going to my pastor and telling him I wanted to serve by mowing the Church’s yard

Visiting so many friends and family with my pastor to tell them about what Jesus had done.

My pastor telling me the best advice I have ever had for ministry and in serving the Lord, “PRAY”.