Sin has no power in me. It is dead in this body. Thank you.
The Present. That's all I have to worry about now. I know full well that as each new train case comes my way, I can give it to God, and we can carry it together--he'll give me the strength to hold on. So I don't have to worry about that. I don't have to bother my poor small finite head about such things.
At present, all I have to worry about now is getting a start on my day. School and UV. And then whatever God says I should do next. Lord, this is my training right here. I pray that what I learn today would stick with me and I would be able to use what I learned when it is needed. Thank you for... oh everything we spoke about last night. These next opportunities to do Your will. This day is surrendered to you. Do what you will, and I will follow with a contented heart.
Love,
Acts 8:1-25
So Saul's actually doing God's will even when he wasn't a Christian. He persecuted the church, the church was scattered, and people still preached Christ wherever they went. They weren't hiding, exactly. They were the first missionaries! Stephen's death started a chain of events that honestly have never ended. How cool is that? The works going on now are a result of Stephen's testimony centuries ago.
Nothing can come between God and His will. Persecution is opportunity.
Ok, haha. So I see that I'm starting to read about Simon the Sorcerer, and I'm like, oh here we go. This is going to be like Mary Magdelene's conversion but different. Simon thought he was the stuff, performing all this magic. But Phillip came and all Simon's followers disappeared! Here is where I expected Simon to get all mad and stuff, but then it says he became a follower of Phillip/Jesus, too. He followed Phillip around, marveling at what he could do. He wasn't copying everything Phillip was doing like the priests in Egypt. It might be because he couldn't do that stuff, or because he was humble and knew this was from a different Source than his magic.
And yet, Simon was naive and thought he could buy the power the apostle's power of laying on hands. But when the apostles rebuke him, he repents, and tries to learn. :-)
Humility. Even when Simon makes a mistake, he humbly asks to be forgiven, and moves on with his new knowledge.
Revelation 15
So the last seven plagues are preparing to be let loose. The people who have "somehow" survived the beast and his mark praise God in all his faithfulness and holiness and righteousness. This is coming from the lips of people who have had to depend on God for survival. Wow that sounds familiar, doesn't it? Does the name Corrie ten Boom ring a bell?
The glory and power of God gives off smoke! That's ridiculous. Actually, how cool is that!
God is in control. He is glorious. So glorious it smokes! Hehe...
Proverbs 9
I'm definitely simple. not nearly as wise as sometimes I think I am. But I am a little wise, because I fear the Lord, and the "fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom." (co-op verse :-)
I just noticed: Wisdom and Folly shout the same thing: "Let all who are simple come in here!" But the roads lead to completely different places. Makes me think of that riddle Brandon told us. A fork in the road, two houses with a liar and a truth-teller, one road leads to heaven, the other to destruction. Ask each man one question to find out which way to go. What is that question? Hehe. Folly doesn't know the way to life; she only knows how to get to death.
Lord, please give me an ear for Wisdom!
Hebrews 11:1-2 Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for.
Sure of what we hope for and certain of what we don't see. What do we hope for? Eternal life. God. Being right with the Maker of the Universe. Faith says we can be sure of that. We can be sure of eternal life, and a relationship with God. (Yessss...) What don't we see? A LOT. God. Jesus. Angels. Demons. Satan. The Holy Spirit. The whole picture. The WHY of life. But we can be certain of God and all the spiritual participants of this war. We can be certain that the whole picture is beautiful. We can be certain that God is the Why of life. We can be certain of the beginning of the world and the end of the world--all it takes is faith.
This is what the ancients were commended for. So true. Not even just the ancient ancients. I can think of some "recent" followers of you that had a tremendous amount of faith. Lord, even if I never get into a single history book (except for yours, of course), I pray I would follow you with the faith of an Ancient.
Saul/Paul's Conversion
Before Stephen: Saul is a zealous Pharisee.
Stephen's death: Saul gives approval, holds coats while others stone Stephen.
Persecution: Saul arrests many Christians, scattering the churches.