Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Journey through Acts 9 - a Transformed Heart





This is Day one.  :)

I love infomercials.  I can't help it.  Especially the ones that involve before and after pictures.  Just the other day I was up very early, flipped on the TV and I saw the most ripped individuals sweating to death while doing The Insanity Workout (which I have now ordered and am praying I can do it!)  The after shots and the stories of the participants were amazing.  Most of them started out very overweight and out of shape, but in just 60 days, most had lost 20 or so pounds and were stronger than they ever imagined they could be.  


Transformation.  I don't think there's a greater transformation story than that of Saul in Acts 9.  As you may already know, Saul is called Paul later in Acts 13:9.  

Basically the story is this, Saul is fired up - he hates this new faction of believers rising up declaring Jesus as the Messiah.  He goes to the high priest and requests letters granting him the right to arrest, or possibly kill these people and then he sets out on his deadly mission to bring Jerusalem its new prisoners.  

Have you ever met someone who was too smart for their own good?  This was Paul.  He was Roman by birth and was afforded all the tutoring and fine things available.  He was very religious and prided himself on his intellect.  He once even referred to himself as "of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, an Hebrew of the Hebrews; & a Pharisee."  He certainly thought alot of himself.  He probably thought his life was perfect, that he had 'it all'.  But, he didn't know what God knew...that Saul was in dire need of Transformation.

With his destination close at hand, Saul was blinded by a bright light.  Falling to the ground, he heard a loud voice say, 'Saul, Saul why are you persecuting me?'  I'm sure Saul was thinking he had everything together - he did all the right things, ate all the right foods, talked to all the right people and yet something horrible was happening to him (or so he thought).  He knew of nothing else to say except, 'who are you'??

I love that!  "Who are you?"  I can admit that so often when blinding trials come my way, I'm the first one to throw blame on others - my husband, my kids, the neighbor down the street with the largest dog in the world, or even satan.  And most of the time, I'm right.  I mean, God would never put me through 'the crap of life'!  Would He?  Surely, it has to be because of something else...I've done everything right!

Have you ever said this to yourself?  Be honest!  There comes those times when we really have to take a good, long look at ourselves.  When nothing else seems to be working, we should sit down and reevaluate ourselves, our hearts, and our relationships with Jesus.  Sometimes, we are in need of Transformation and we don't even know it.


God is ever changing us, He is working in us every day that we live to make us a better version of ourselves.  Only He knows the greatness He designed you to be and He wants to share that with you.  He wants you to merge into a blinding light for all mankind; shining the light of Jesus through to every soul on earth.  Sometimes, we need a fire lit under our butts to do so.  And sometimes...He has to light that fire.    

Friend, if there is something in your way today I urge to take a few minutes with the Lord.  Have a frank, open discussion with Him.  Ask Him to show you 'who He is'!  I promise He will.  He will flood your heart with peace unlike you've ever known before.  Let Him transform you - let Him open your eyes, hearts and ears to His word.  Know that even though you may be blinded by life, God is there to transform any situation - He will bring good out of it.  

Don't give up.  


Please join us tomorrow for day 2.  

(ETA: I am not an affiliate of The Insanity Workout nor do I receive any compensation for clicks to the site or orders placed from their site.  I included the link in case you were curious or had never heard of it.) 


















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