Living in God's Light
"But rise and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make you a minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and of the things which I will yet reveal to you. I will deliver you from the Jewish people, as well as from the Gentiles, to whom I now send you, to open their eyes, in order to turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who are sanctified by faith in Me.’" (Acts 26:16-18)
From the very beginning, God has declared that we should live in the light. At the dawn of the creation of the world, God said these simple words, "Let there be light" in Genesis 1:3.
Light allows us to see what is already or actually there and without light we would not be able to perceive any of the good things that God does. This is true for physical things but it is also true for spiritual matters. We need God to open our eyes "to turn [us] from darkness to light" and to see the things that He has done and is now doing in our world today. Another word for receiving spiritual light is 'revelation', which is the unveiling or revealing of hidden truth.
Paul was very happy that God had not only opened his eyes to the truth of Jesus but that he was given another open door to publicly share about his conversion to faith. This time it was with King Herod Agrippa II, who was known to be an expert in Jewish laws and customs. Paul tells him that his manner of life was well known to the Jews from his youth and that he was not only zealous in carrying out the Law as a strict Pharisee but that he was aggressively willing to persecute and cast his vote against all the followers of Christ.
But God has His ways of getting our attention and changing our direction!
On the journey to Damascus, Paul was filled with threats of murder against the followers of the Way when Jesus came along and interrupted his malicious plans. Paul described the experience by saying that he "saw a light" and "heard a voice" saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Since a goad was a prodding tool that was used to deal with a stubborn animal, this reveals that Paul was wrestling inwardly about his own opposition to Jesus. Jesus was proving to Paul that what he was doing was wrong.
Sometimes we are so committed to doing right that we end up doing wrong and being the opposite of what we are trying to be due to our lack of light. In other words, we might be on point but off track so to speak. Paul was on point in his zeal for God but he was certainly off track in how he was living his life in opposing Christ and His followers. The Lord chose to make a final resurrection appearance to him to get him back on track.
Paul was able to see and learn two things with absolute certainty:
First, that Jesus was indeed alive from the dead.
Secondly, to mess with Jesus' followers was to mess with Jesus Himself.
What have you been assured of since God has opened your eyes? Are you able to share with boldness what you have personally seen and heard?
We all should have a testimony of God's grace and be willing to testify to the transformation that God has done in our lives. The Apostle John writes in his first epistle, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3).
Paul's life is an example that no matter what tradition of faith we come from or how religious we may have been, we all need to repent and put all of our trust in Jesus as the Savior of the world.
There are FIVE REALITIES that take place that Paul speaks of conversion:
1. REVELATION of the truth: Seeing God’s Light
2. RELEASE from Satan’s power: Hearing God’s Voice
3. REGENERATION of Man’s spirit: Being Born of God
4. RECEIVING God’s forgiveness: Being Made Holy
5. REWARD of God’s inheritance: Having True Hope
Jesus came for the poor in spirit and for those who knew they were sick and in need of help. When we see God's light, hear God's voice, and become born again, we are made righteous and holy and receive the promise of God's inheritance to come!
...So what kind of people does God save?
Job 5:15 But He saves the needy from the sword,
Psa. 7:10 My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
Psa. 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psa. 149:4 ...He will beautify the humble with salvation.
As Paul writes to his spiritual son Timothy, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Praise God that He comes to us and meets us right where we are at to save people just like you and me!
ACTS IN ACTION CHALLENGE POINTS
From the very beginning, God has declared that we should live in the light. At the dawn of the creation of the world, God said these simple words, "Let there be light" in Genesis 1:3.
Light allows us to see what is already or actually there and without light we would not be able to perceive any of the good things that God does. This is true for physical things but it is also true for spiritual matters. We need God to open our eyes "to turn [us] from darkness to light" and to see the things that He has done and is now doing in our world today. Another word for receiving spiritual light is 'revelation', which is the unveiling or revealing of hidden truth.
Paul was very happy that God had not only opened his eyes to the truth of Jesus but that he was given another open door to publicly share about his conversion to faith. This time it was with King Herod Agrippa II, who was known to be an expert in Jewish laws and customs. Paul tells him that his manner of life was well known to the Jews from his youth and that he was not only zealous in carrying out the Law as a strict Pharisee but that he was aggressively willing to persecute and cast his vote against all the followers of Christ.
But God has His ways of getting our attention and changing our direction!
On the journey to Damascus, Paul was filled with threats of murder against the followers of the Way when Jesus came along and interrupted his malicious plans. Paul described the experience by saying that he "saw a light" and "heard a voice" saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?' It is hard for you to kick against the goads." Since a goad was a prodding tool that was used to deal with a stubborn animal, this reveals that Paul was wrestling inwardly about his own opposition to Jesus. Jesus was proving to Paul that what he was doing was wrong.
Sometimes we are so committed to doing right that we end up doing wrong and being the opposite of what we are trying to be due to our lack of light. In other words, we might be on point but off track so to speak. Paul was on point in his zeal for God but he was certainly off track in how he was living his life in opposing Christ and His followers. The Lord chose to make a final resurrection appearance to him to get him back on track.
Paul was able to see and learn two things with absolute certainty:
First, that Jesus was indeed alive from the dead.
Secondly, to mess with Jesus' followers was to mess with Jesus Himself.
What have you been assured of since God has opened your eyes? Are you able to share with boldness what you have personally seen and heard?
We all should have a testimony of God's grace and be willing to testify to the transformation that God has done in our lives. The Apostle John writes in his first epistle, "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, concerning the Word of life—the life was manifested, and we have seen, and bear witness, and declare to you that eternal life which was with the Father and was manifested to us—that which we have seen and heard we declare to you, that you also may have fellowship with us; and truly our fellowship is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ" (1 John 1:1-3).
Paul's life is an example that no matter what tradition of faith we come from or how religious we may have been, we all need to repent and put all of our trust in Jesus as the Savior of the world.
There are FIVE REALITIES that take place that Paul speaks of conversion:
1. REVELATION of the truth: Seeing God’s Light
2. RELEASE from Satan’s power: Hearing God’s Voice
3. REGENERATION of Man’s spirit: Being Born of God
4. RECEIVING God’s forgiveness: Being Made Holy
5. REWARD of God’s inheritance: Having True Hope
Jesus came for the poor in spirit and for those who knew they were sick and in need of help. When we see God's light, hear God's voice, and become born again, we are made righteous and holy and receive the promise of God's inheritance to come!
...So what kind of people does God save?
Job 5:15 But He saves the needy from the sword,
Psa. 7:10 My defense is of God, Who saves the upright in heart.
Psa. 34:18 The LORD is near to those who have a broken heart,
And saves such as have a contrite spirit.
Psa. 149:4 ...He will beautify the humble with salvation.
As Paul writes to his spiritual son Timothy, "This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief.
Praise God that He comes to us and meets us right where we are at to save people just like you and me!
ACTS IN ACTION CHALLENGE POINTS
- Summarize your testimony in just a statement or two.
- Analyze the transformation that God has already done.
- Prioritize what God has promised to still do in your life.
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