Serving the Lord requires courage and a team willing to deal with the mess.

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Now, consider this question for a moment, “Have you ever fought against God?” Most of us would say no because we are still alive, right? However, we are, in our humanity, predisposed to rebel against God. The sinful nature within us wants to rule. Saul was no different, and he would later admit that he went too far in his religious zeal. 

Many Christians fled Jerusalem when persecution began after Stephen’s death, seeking refuge in other cities and countries. Saul was tracking them down without apology or remorse for the families he was destroying. Even traveling 150 miles to Damascus in Syria to bring Christians back in chains to Jerusalem. 

Paul (formerly Saul) later wrote to the Church in Rome, “Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then, those who are in the flesh cannot please God.” (Romans 8:7) That sounds harsh, but it is true. 

To believers dispersed around the known world because of persecution, James says, “Adulterers and adulteresses! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever, therefore, wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4:4) This one makes sense.

Saul radically made himself an enemy of God by attacking the faithful followers of Jesus. So, as he neared the ancient city in Syria, he discovered God would not have it anymore and that He had other plans for Saul. The resurrected LORD confronts him, radically interrupts his plan, and interjects His own. Are we fighting against God in some way? I hope not because He fights back.

References:

Romans 8:7

James 4:4

Hebrews 10:24-25

John 1:12–13

1 Timothy 1:15

Proverbs 16:18–20

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It is said in Numbers 12:3, "Now the man Moses was very humble, more than all men who were on the face of the earth." But even in his humility, this does not mean he was in some way without error. God calls him out, and he pushes back, giving the LORD God several excuses. It seems foolish to fight God, but a few men in the Bible do. If God speaks to us from a burning bush, we would be well to do what He says, right?

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How far would you go to save a life? What would you give us for others to know the hope of Jesus? Do we sing with integrity, "I surrender all," or would it be more honest to sing "I surrender some."

Is there anything more important than God in your life? I hope not. But are there things that distract you from fully following Jesus in complete abandon? Probably. Jesus said, “Whoever desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me. For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” This can be a devastating question to our daily “status quo.”

After Paul's conversion to Christ His family heritage, education, and position in the community and the Sanhedrin meant nothing to him anymore. Jesus is now his everything! Paul said about his own life, "But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith; that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death, if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead." (Philippians 3:7–11)

Are we willing to surrender everything to be truly obedient to God? Does the thought of that overwhelm us? Does it frighten us? Think about that for a moment. Paul also said, "I have been crucified with Christ; 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 for me. (Galatians 2:20) How for would you go for a lost soul. Jesus left heaven for you. (See Philippians 2:5-8) Will you go to your neighbor with the glorious gospel of Jesus?

Isaiah 55:8–9

Proverbs 16:9

Matthew 25:23

Matthew 28:18–20

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Have you ever known someone who says they are a Christian but who does not act like someone who is in a relationship with the Holy God of the universe? Have you ever wondered if they were saved in the first place? I have, and the jury is still out in many of those cases. Yet the truth of who they are loyal to will be revealed eventually. You can't deceive God.

Jesus said, “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’" (Matthew 7:21-23)

This verse causes me distress, for Jesus says many will come who He never knew. But they thought they knew Him did the works. It looks as if everything about our faith can be faked in this life but will be found in the next. Now, when someone comes out of their old life, they are in for the fight of their lives with their old way of thinking and doing that they must repent of. (Change their mind about.)

I have known many new believers who were a train wreck during the early years of their newfound faith in Jesus. I was one of them and still have an extra measure of grace for the new believer in Jesus. However, they need to know what is right and wrong, and, when confronted with an error, how they respond and let everyone know who they are. There is no room for easily offended in the Kingdom of God. Right is right, and wrong is wrong.

1 Corinthians 12:1

1 Corinthians 12:13–14

Ephesians 4:4–6

Galatians 3:26–29

James 4:1–3

Ecclesiastes 12:14

2 Corinthians 10:4–5

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It has been said that a deceleration of faith will require a demonstration of faith. God has created you and me for His good purpose. You might say that life is a proving ground where God daily prepares us for what He has prepared for us.

"For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." (Ephesians 2:8–10) God calls us out of our bondage to sin to serve Him with our newfound freedom.

References:

1 Kings 19:11–12

Romans 8:26

James 4:10

1 Peter 5:6–7

Matthew 21:44

Isaiah 61:1–3

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Tragedy in our lives can change everything we know and depend on. As we have seen in our modern world, it does not take much to unravel the usual and mundane day-to-day and replace it with panic and chaos overnight.

Stephen’s death was not in vain in God’s eyes. It is the tipping point of the New Testament, and God uses all these things for His sovereign purpose. As you can imagine, the warfare gets quite brutal as the Gospel goes out into the communities surrounding Jerusalem and beyond. We see not only human but spiritual (demonic) conflicts arise in the early church. Things quickly change from a celebration of the resurrection of Jesus and a new movement of hope for all mankind to a fight for freedom and survival.

We need to remember that although, for the moment, we have freedom as believers, the world's view of Jesus has mostly stayed the same. They hate Him; therefore, they hate us. Paul reminds us, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being ready to punish all disobedience when your obedience is fulfilled. (2 Corinthians 10:2–6)

He also writes, "Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (Ephesians 6:10–13)

I find it ironic that the man who started a movement of hate and violence against the church becomes the one who writes about our spiritual conflict in the world as someone who was on both sides of the conflict. Paul is a traitor to the kingdom of darkness and becomes a warrior for the King of the kingdom of light! Who do you serve? What say you?

Referances:

2 Corinthians 10:2–6

Ephesians 6:10–13

Romans 1:32

John 16:1–4

Romans 8:18

1 Corinthians 2:9

2 Corinthians 4:17–18

Hebrews 7:25

2 Corinthians 1:3–5

Acts 1:8

Romans 10:17

Luke 10:17–20

1 John 4:4–6

Romans 8:37

1 Corinthians 2:1–5

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Have you ever thought you knew God's plan for your life, only to have everything change? Me too!

Thank God for the kindness of friends, family, and even strangers when life comes crashing down. We make plans and often have great hope for the future, but in reality, we can only experience the present, and life in the present sure has a way of shattering our hopes and dreams. (I am looking forward to Heaven.) Things often do not work out how we plan them, and those disappointments can be heart-wrenching and defeating. 

Regardless of what is or is not happening with our plans, we have hope in God. Even when we are running on fumes as one letdown after another steals something deep from our souls. John writes, “I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life. And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.” (1 John 5:13-14) No matter what happens, we have the hope of eternal life and have confidence that God hears us.

We have a loving hope in desperate times. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you,  who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time. (1 Peter 1:3–5)

You and I can trust God through change, for He has our best in mind. Even when it is a long and painful journey to get there. “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

References:

1 John 5:13-14

1 Peter 1:3–5

Jeremiah 29:11

Hebrews 13:1–3

2 Corinthians 5:20

Romans 12:9-13

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We all have a tipping point. A moment where a choice will be made and culture changes. Malcolm Gladwell defines a tipping point as "the moment of critical mass, the threshold, or the boiling point." The world is more fragile than we think, and so are most people. Pushing a group or person over the edge of sanity or reasonable behavior does not take much today, especially when most people are on the edge of a break anyway while others are just looking for a reason to start a fight. 

The problem is the crowd can push us where we know we should avoid going. In Exodus 23:1-2 we read, “You shall not circulate a false report. Do not put your hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness. You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.” Yet, in today's media-feeding frenzies, many follow the crowds, creating one cultural tipping point after another. How? By normalizing ungodly attitudes and behavior. Making sin normal.

God told the early church to go into the world with the Good News of the Gospel—they were also, as we are, given divine power to do so. Jesus said, "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8) There is a purpose of the power of the Holy Spirit in the church! They were supposed to go out from Jerusalem, but they stayed! So, something had to change. They needed a push over the edge, and they got one, starting with the murder of Steven.

The fantastic news of Jesus, combined with the work of the Holy Spirit, convicts the world of sin, righteousness, and judgment. (John 16:8) Some embrace the conviction and repent in the hope found in Jesus, while others can become bitter, angry, vile, and, in some cases, violent to the message and messengers of the Gospel. Remember, Jesus said, “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. (John 15:18–19)

References:

Exodus 32:9-10

Isaiah 6:9-10

Leviticus 26:40–42

Luke 19:41–42

John 5:39–40

Luke 22:66-69

Luke 23:34

John 15:21

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