Ch5: Episode 2: From the Wrong Path to God's Calling: Paul's Conversion

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Welcome back to the Gifts of No Return.

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We're in Episode 2, Paul's Conversion.

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It's where we will explore the timeless and unchanging nature of God's call

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in our lives. I'm your host, Connie Morris, and in our last episode,

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we introduced the theme of God's gifts and callings of today.

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And so today we're going to be diving right into the transformation of the conversion

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of Paul, as is recorded in Acts chapter 9, verses 1 through 19. 1-19.

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So our theme for this episode is From the Wrong Path to God's Calling.

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I think we all have a story similar to that, which is awesome how God can redeem

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all of us. We all have a story.

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We'll look at Paul's background as persecuted to Christians,

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persecution of Christians, his dramatic encounter with Jesus on the road to

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Damascus, and the incredible transformation that follow.

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This story is a testament to the fact that no one is too far from God's reach

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and that his call can reach, his call can transform any life.

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So let's explore this incredible journey together.

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It's when we say yes to God, and we're going to cover different aspects of Paul

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from the good, the bad, to the ugly.

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And I added some things in there Just to make it interesting Now a lot of times

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we don't know the background of a person So I added a little things in this devotional.

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This episode that's probably not in my devotion, I like to keep those straight

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and clear because I pretty much know the story.

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But when you have an episode or podcast, many people probably don't know the background of Paul.

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So I'm going to take a little time right now just to give you a little background

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about Paul to make it interesting.

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Paul is one of the characters I like. You hear me say that of almost all biblical characters.

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Characters so the good thing about pa before

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we get into the biblical reading um like

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i said it could be acts 9 1 through 19

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we probably stop at 12 but keep your bible

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open find your favorite trance your favorite

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translation and we'll start there later but let me take a little time out and

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tell you a little bit about pa and how god could have used him you know we all

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have a story and so So never shut anybody down because we all have a story, right?

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So the good thing about Paul is that Paul was highly educated.

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He was knowledgeable in the Jewish law. He was a devout Pharisee.

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So we hear about the Pharisees and the Sadducees in the Bible a lot.

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So he was one of those Pharisees. He had a deep understanding of the scripture

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and he had a passion for the Jewish faith.

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You know, so you can see once he had an understanding for the scripture,

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you can see how God can use him for spreading the gospel.

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He was an effective communicator. And so he can speak to both the Jews and the Gentile.

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And so he understood the Jewish covenant for for the for Jesus.

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All right. So he had a good knowledge of working knowledge of the scripture.

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So that was a positive. That was a good. What was the bad thing about Paul?

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Paul, before his conversion from Saul, he was a fierce persecutor of Christians.

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He was known for his relentless efforts to hunt down and imprison followers of Jesus.

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He believed he was defending the Jewish faith. He saw that the followers of

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Jesus was a dangerous sect, which could mean a cult.

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So he said, they are interrupting our flow, so we're going to arrest them and put them to jail.

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So he had a bad reputation of being a persecutor of Christians.

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That was widely known. And so already he was a deep understanding of scripture

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and he was already popular for just being on the opposite side of what represented Jesus.

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Right. So he was already popular, already known.

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So God always used the ones well known too. Right.

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And the ugliest thing about him was that he was, he was zealous and he would use extreme measures.

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And he was one in the Bible, if you go to Acts, I think it was Acts 6 or so,

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where Stephen was stoned.

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I mean, he was a witness to the stoning of Stephen, which was the first Christian martyr.

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And so he was marked by violence after that. So that was his ugly.

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But we can see that God was still a redeemer. God had the ability to redeem

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and transform Paul from this ugly mark on his record.

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So Paul's zealous nature combined with his education and his passionate personality

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made him an effective and tireless missionary once he encountered Christ.

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His life story is a powerful testimony to the idea that Christ can use all aspects

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of our lives, the good, the bad, and the ugly, for his greater story.

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What is a Pharisee? A Pharisee is someone who observes the law and their traditions.

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So they were, they focused on the letter of the law and not the spirit of the law.

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So those are the people who I would say, my idea, they're super spiritual.

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So you have to follow the letter of the law. You violated the letter of the law.

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I don't know if you saw the movie, A Patch of Christ, and they were all in their

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little garb, the Pharisees, and they were all critical of Jesus.

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You know, so the letter of the law instead of the spirit of the law.

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So another familiar person who was a Pharisee was Nicodemus.

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Remember, he went at night to see Jesus. And later he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

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And so that's a powerful story.

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So let's go to, let's read.

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We're going to not read it in its entirety, but just in part.

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So let's go to Acts 9, chapter 9.

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So let's begin by understanding Paul's background before his conversion.

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So we got a little bit about his background.

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So let's walk through his conversion.

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About what happened to his conversion. Let's walk it through slowly,

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step by step, and get an idea of how God just changed his, how God changed him from Saul to Paul.

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Let's go to verses 1 and 2. It says, meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out

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murderous threats against the Lord's disciples.

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He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus

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so that he found any that who belonged to the way,

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whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

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So he was still, and this was shortly after he had witnessed the martyr of Saul, not Saul, of Stephan.

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So he saw that and that pretty much kind of kept him on fire.

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And now he says, anybody, I want to have warrants for the arrest of anybody. Okay.

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And so Saul's zealous persecution of Christians set the stage for his dramatic transformation.

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His intent was to eradicate the followers of Jesus, reflecting a heart filled

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with opposition and hostility towards the early church.

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But then something extraordinary happened on his way.

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He said, belonging to the way, God stopped him on the way. God has a way of

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intercepting our lives.

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And it all seemed to make sense when we think about it, like 20-20 vision, they say.

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On the way to Damascus, Saul had a life-changing encounter.

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I just want to pause here and just, if you can reflect, even if you can reflect

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on how God caught your attention, and if he hasn't caught your attention yet,

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get ready, get ready, get ready. how God caught your attention.

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You were about your business, thought you were going to do one thing,

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and then God stopped you.

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He was on his way. He was going to get warrants for the disciples who belonged to the way,

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but on his way, God stopped him and he had a life-changing encounter. counter.

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Let's see what happened to Paul, verses three through six.

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As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him.

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He fell to the ground and he heard a voice say to him, Saul,

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Saul, why do you persecute me?

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Who are you, Lord? Saul asked.

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I am Jesus whom you are persecuting. He replied, now get up and go into the

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city and you will be told what you must do.

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Now in another translation, which I love is in the King James translation, it says in verse six,

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it says, and he trembling and astonished said, Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?

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And the Lord said to him, arise and go into the city and it should be told thee what thee should do.

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So there was two different responses depending on the translation.

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Who are you, Lord? And that one response, what would you have me to do?

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So either way, he didn't say anything wrong.

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Out of the ordinary, otherwise, this was Jesus talking.

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What I thought was interesting is that he heard and he recognized the voice of Jesus talking to him.

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So that shows that Jesus, that we all have the.

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The opportunity to know the voice of God, that we as his children,

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whether we on the way or in the way, we can know, we know the voice of our Lord.

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I love that. This encounter with Jesus was not just a momentary vision.

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It was a divine intervention that would redirect Saul's entire life.

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The bright Light, light, and Jesus' voice stopped Saul in his tracks,

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leading to his immediate physical blindness, symbolizing his spiritual transformation.

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Now, Saul wasn't walking alone. And so other translation says that some heard

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thunder, but Saul heard the voice of Jesus. Jesus, have that happened to you

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where you heard the voice of Jesus?

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You were at a place that you weren't supposed to be.

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And yet you heard the voice of the Lord telling you it's time for you to go.

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And then you left that place and then something happened.

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Maybe there was an event where you could have been injured.

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Even on your way home, you heard a voice.

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And so I hear this a lot. Like I said, I'm a retired police officer and I pick

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someone up, maybe make an arrest, and they'll say, something told me not to do this.

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Remember, they're on their way to jail. They had an encounter with the police

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and they said, something told me not to do this.

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And that's the Lord giving them another direction. So we do have these encounters.

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Encounters might be not so dramatic as Saul or Paul, but we have these encounters

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where God does interrupt our life.

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But this encounter caused, we'll call him Saul now, he lost his sight.

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But yet he heard the voice of God and he got directions.

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And he had to follow these directions. These directions were specific.

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I want to read them again. It says, I am Jesus who you are persecuting.

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Now get up and go into the city and you will be told what you must do.

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And here it goes. It says, Saul's companions were speechless,

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witnessing the sound, but not seeing no one.

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So let's go to, let's see what they witnessed.

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Go to verses 7 through 9. It describes this moment.

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Let's read it. The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless.

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They heard the sound, but did not see anyone. one.

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Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing.

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So they led him by the hand into Damascus.

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For three days, he was blind and did not eat or drink anything.

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So during these three days, Saul was in a state of reflection and dependence on God.

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His physical Physical blindness mirrored his need for spiritual sight.

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It was a period of waiting and transformation, preparing him for the mission ahead.

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Isn't that interesting? God just dropped him to his knees, lost his sight,

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and gave him immediate directions on what he needed to do.

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And he did it. Enter Ananias, a disciple in Damascus.

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And God called Ananias to go to Saul.

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So at the same time, Saul was having an encounter with Jesus on the road,

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in the way, on the road, on the way, on the way.

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Then Ananias was also having an encounter with Jesus.

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Look at Jesus multitasking. He knows how to get some things done.

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Let's read verses 10 through 12. In Damascus, there was a disciple named Ananias.

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The Lord called to him in a vision.

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Ananias? Yes, Lord, he answered. The Lord told him, go to the house of Judas

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on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul,

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for he is praying in,

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In the vision, he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight.

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So you got two things. Look at this. This is powerful.

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It's all over there praying. Now he's a praying man. He went from being a man,

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a killing man, killing people who love Jesus, to a man who heard the voice of

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Jesus, to a man praying to Jesus.

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Whoa come on now and then

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Ananias is saying like okay yes Lord

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I hear you so despite Ananias hesitation

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Ananias obeys God's command

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but let's hear let's go to verse 13 to 15 let's hear this conversation what

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Ananias says Lord Ananias answered I have heard many reports about this man

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and all the harm he has done to your holy people of Jerusalem.

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And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.

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But the Lord said to Ananias, go.

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This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their

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kings and to to the people of Israel, I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.

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And the goal is with an explanation mark, like, okay, I know the story, so just get to it.

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Ananias' obedience was crucial for Saul's conversion.

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When Ananias said, when he sent God, Jesus said, go,

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he said, When you hear from the voice of the Lord And he speaks right in your

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spirit When he says go You just move Because it was important It was urgent

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that Ananias get to it Because that's who Jesus was counting on To go lay hands on Saul So Ananias'

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obedience was crucial In Saul's conversion So when Ananias laid hands on Saul.

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Something miraculous happened happened?

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What happened? Let's look at verse 17 through 19.

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When Ananias went to the house and entered it, placing his hands on Saul,

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he said, brother Saul, wow, it changed.

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The Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here,

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has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit. I want to pause here.

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He says here, brother saw the Lord Jesus who has sent you here,

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Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming

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here, has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

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Not only was his eyes, he was able to see again, but he was filled with the Holy Spirit.

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The Holy Spirit was, he was endued with power from on high to do the work of the ministry.

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Wow. God didn't just save him.

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He gave him the power to do the work of the ministry.

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And it says here immediately something like scales fell from his eyes.

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So he was blinded spiritually, but also physically.

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But to see scales fall off his eyes, that had to have been something to see for Ananias.

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So like scales fell off his eyes and he could see again he got up and not only that he was baptized,

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and after taking some food he regained his strength so this when we read the

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bible too fast we missed some of the important details three days he didn't

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eat so it's similar like a little It was a mini fast,

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three days, probably only if he had water, just fasted.

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He was waiting because this was a dramatic experience for Paul.

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Ananias comes in and he lays hands on Paul.

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Ananias lays hands on Paul. He's now seen physically, spiritually,

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filled with the Holy Spirit, and now he's baptized. times.

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So Saul's transformation was complete.

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From persecutor of a Christian, he became a devoted follower of Christ,

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ready to proclaim the gospel.

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His new mission was to spread the message of Jesus to the Gentiles,

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kings, and to the people of Israel.

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Paul's conversion teaches us that no one is too far from God's reach,

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regardless of their path.

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God's call can transform any life.

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This story is a powerful reminder that God's grace is sufficient to redirect

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our path, no matter where we have been or what we have done.

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Isn't that powerful?

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No matter where we have been or what we have done.

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I just want to backtrack a little bit. When Paul immediately obeyed the voice of the Lord,

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it showed that Paul recognized immediately Jesus' authority,

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his submission to his will.

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So he surrendered everything, everything that he thought was right,

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he surrendered it to God right away, right to Jesus right away. He obeyed right away.

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He went right into obedience.

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He didn't understand anything. He didn't have any further questions.

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He just says, okay, that what would you have me to do was enough to just,

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it was a way that Paul surrendered to in obedience.

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His transformation and repentance Repentance was all done in that one word,

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what would you have me to do?

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And that is a model for believers.

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It exemplifies a posture of true discipleship, one who's willing to ask God

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for direction and to follow his will, regardless of personal plans,

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previous way of life, his attitude towards humility and readiness to be used by God for his purpose.

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Submitting to God and his will to be ready to follow his guidance no matter where it leads.

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This marked the beginning of Paul's new life as an apostle, which made him one

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of the most influential leaders, figures that spread the gospel.

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So what happens with him when he started spreading the gospel,

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right? Right. So what's some practical applications that we can use in our lives

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from just learning about a past?

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So there's so much more I want to cover, but I don't want to make this hour long episode.

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So practical applications that we can use, that we can learn from Paul.

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First of all, I want you to identify areas in your life where transformation is needed.

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There's nobody's perfect, only Jesus. Reflect on parts of your life that may

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need God's transformative power.

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Just a quick reflection. Consider habits, attitudes, past experience that's

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holding you back from fully embracing what God has called you to do.

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You know, this is the episode or this is a series, Gifts of No Return.

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What God has called you to do. He did not change his mind. He didn't revoke it. He didn't rebuke it.

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It's embracing God's unchanging car.

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So what's holding you back from following God's fully, following him fully and

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embracing his car? Number two, reflect on how God's grace can redirect your path.

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God's grace is sufficient.

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Spend time in prayer and meditation and asking God to reveal his purpose for you.

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Trust in his ability to guide you, even if the path seems uncertain.

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And the path is always going to seem uncertain. So remember,

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we don't lean on our own understanding.

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We lean on his understanding, his wisdom, his knowledge, his understanding.

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If he would have told me what I was going to be doing, I don't think that that

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would be something I would choose.

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If Paul knew that walking that certain street, he was going to meet Jesus,

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you think he was going to walk that certain street?

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God has a plan for us, and he doesn't tell us the whole plan.

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He tells us part by part by part. You see, Paul had a heart.

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He had it all description and we knew all about Jesus.

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But when he met him, he asked right away, what will you have me to do?

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That would be a good question.

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Lord, what would you have me

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to do? And God will begin to give you the instructions on that next step.

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Gifts of no return. Number three, seek God's guidance.

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And be open to change.

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Be willing to listen to God's direction, even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone.

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It always means stepping out of your comfort zone.

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How do you think? And you got to read the book of Acts. So hopefully I'm encouraging

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you to pick up your Bible.

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Paul's story is exciting because every zone he went in was uncomfortable because

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he had a reputation for killing Christians. So how does that change?

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Because Jesus calls you, that means people are going to say,

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yeah, okay, yep, Jesus called you, so you're good to go. Come on in.

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The apostles had to look at him, you know, look at him kind of like kind of

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on the side eye, however they say that.

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Looked at him suspiciously for a little while. A couple of apostles stood up and believed him.

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It took a little while because he had a bad reputation.

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But after a while, his reputation began to change because his fruit of what

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he was doing began to change.

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He did suffer a lot for Jesus.

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Embrace the changes he brings into your life as part of his divine plan.

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When you seek God's guidance to be open for change, just be ready for change.

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Some changes are suddenly and some are gradually.

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You might not notice them right

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away, but people around you will begin to notice that you have changed.

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Your hearing from God will begin to change.

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Your friends around you, your notice will begin to change.

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Your tastes begin to change. What you thought was fun is no longer fun.

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You know, you thought that miniskirt was cute. Now it's not cute anymore.

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You know, things begin to change.

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Things will begin to change.

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Diary of a Black Woman written by a Black woman. I know the stories.

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I have stories I want to share. I will share a lot of it.

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I got some things coming up that's going to bring out a lot of my story,

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but it's not on this episode.

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Number four, act in faith and obedience.

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It says take practical steps to align your life with God's calling.

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What are those practical steps? Only you know.

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Only you know. And I think it does start out first with identifying the areas

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in life that you need you need help with, right?

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And then reflecting on how God's grace can redirect you.

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But sometimes you know in your heart what you need to do.

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And a lot of times we think we have to do something great and I got to get my act together.

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Well, sometimes God can get your act together if you just ask.

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Sometimes he'll get your act together if you don't ask. It's just depending on, he knows.

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Because if you're listening to this podcast, then you know you know that it's

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getting close to you turning things over to Jesus.

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It's just the little things that no longer...

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Interests you, then you start to, start to draw away from it.

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Sometimes it's age and sometimes it's like, it's maybe you, we can,

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friends happen to lose a friend.

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You can lose a foe. Things get a little kind of, I hate to use the word crazy,

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but life gets to be real different out there. And you're like,

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this ain't worth it anymore.

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You know, it's just not worth it anymore. more. And so act in faith and obedience, take practical steps.

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And finally, this one is follow the example of Paul who responded to God's call

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with immediate action and commitment.

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A good question. I just said, Lord, what would you have me to do?

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You can still, maybe you're doing ministry and you're not having one of these

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transformative feelings that Paul had.

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Paul had like the light came on from heaven. God's voice came from heaven.

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What would you have me to do? Lord, what would you have me to do?

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It could just be a little tweak in here and there, right? And so it's just something that you can do.

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But we're only on episode one on Paul. We got two more. We're going to talk

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about Gideon. Then we have Deborah.

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This was a short devotional, on, but these are the ones that really changed

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my life. It kept me focused, and I always liked Paul.

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And so I think that wraps up. I have some decrees. I'm trying to see if there's anything else.

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When Paul changed his life for Jesus, I want to just share some things that

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happened with him. that his life never, never was the same.

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He endured suffering, you know, 2 Corinthians 11, 22 to 23 to 28,

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but he counted it all joy.

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He influenced Christianity. He wrote pretty much, we got Paul epistles,

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pretty much a lot of the New Testament, but yet he died.

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He had an enduring legacy. he died preaching the gospel.

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So Paul's life changed dramatically after his encounter with Jesus and his subsequent

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submission to God's will.

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He went from being a fierce persecutor of Christians,

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to becoming a tireless apostle of Christ, spreading the gospel across Rome Empire

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and leaving a lasting legacy on the Christian faith.

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His transformation exemplified the power of God's grace and the radical change

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that can occur when someone surrenders their life to Jesus.

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So I want to just go over these decrees. Are you ready to surrender your life to Jesus?

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So let's just do about four decrees. I'm just going to say them over you.

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A decree for transformation.

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So I decree that like Paul, my past will not hinder my future in Christ.

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I embrace the transformation power of God's grace in my life,

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trusting that he can use all my experiences for my greater purpose.

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Decree for divine guidance. I decree that I will seek and follow God's guidance in my life,

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remaining open to his direction and willing to step out in faith.

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A decree for obedience.

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I decree that I will act in faith and obedience to God's will,

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aligning my actions with his divine plan for my life.

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I decree for confidence in God's call.

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I decree that I will embrace my unique calling with confidence.

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Knowing that God's gifts and callings are irrevocable, and his purpose for me

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is unchangeable, unchanging.

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So as we conclude this episode, take some time to think about how God's grace has worked in your life.

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How has he transformed you and what areas he still needs to touch?

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Remember, God's call is powerful and can change the direction of your life.

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In our next episode, we'll explore the story of Gideon, focusing on how God's

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call can overcome our fears and insecurities.

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Ladies, Gideon's journey from

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fear to faith is a testament to God's empowering presence in our life.

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Thank you for joining me on this episode of Gifts of No Return,

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Embracing God's Unchanging Call.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe and share it with others who might

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benefit from this message.

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Thank you for listening and God bless. And this is Connie Morris,

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Diary of a Black Woman podcast.

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Until next time, see ya.