He Changed Me: He Is Risen

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Acts 9:1–6 (CSB)
1 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem. 3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said.
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied. 6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The cost of following Jesus in the Middle East

He Changed Me: The Text In Its Context

Acts is a historical record of the acts of the early church written by Luke. Having described the first major result of Stephen’s martyrdom—the ministry of Philip the evangelist—Luke now takes up a second consequence of the martyr’s death, in the person of a ‘young man named Saul’ (7:58). Saul was an up-and-coming defender of his faith. He approved of killing heretics like Stephen and was eager to see the Christian church in Jerusalem destroyed. As he tells us himself, he was motivated in all of this by an extreme zeal for the traditions of his fathers (Gal. 1:14), for, according to the ‘strictest sect’ of the Jews’ religion, he ‘lived as a Pharisee’ (Acts 26:5).

Conversion Is An Intensely Personal Experience

Paul’s conversion on the road to Damascus has often been seen as the best example of what it means to come to Jesus. The transformation of Saul of Tarsus into Paul the apostle has long been regarded as the great example of what it means for someone to be converted to Christ. The ‘Damascus road experience’ has often been thought of as a standard for true conversion to Christ, as if anyone who did not have a dramatic conversion was possibly not truly converted.
Yet Scripture shows that conversion don’t have to be as dramatic as Paul’s. The Philippian jailer is dramatic, but not identical to Paul’s experience.
Acts 16:27–33 (CSB)
27 When the jailer woke up and saw the doors of the prison standing open, he drew his sword and was going to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
28 But Paul called out in a loud voice, “Don’t harm yourself, because we’re all here!”
29 The jailer called for lights, rushed in, and fell down trembling before Paul and Silas. 30 He escorted them out and said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”
31 They said, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with everyone in his house. 33 He took them the same hour of the night and washed their wounds. Right away he and all his family were baptized.
Think of Nathaniel’s peaceful realization that Jesus is God John 1:43-51
John 1:43–51 (CSB)
43 The next day Jesus decided to leave for Galilee. He found Philip and told him, “Follow me.” 44 Now Philip was from Bethsaida, the hometown of Andrew and Peter. 45 Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the one Moses wrote about in the law (and so did the prophets): Jesus the son of Joseph, from Nazareth.” 46 “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Nathanael asked him. “Come and see,” Philip answered. 47 Then Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said about him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.” 48 “How do you know me?” Nathanael asked. “Before Philip called you, when you were under the fig tree, I saw you,” Jesus answered. 49 “Rabbi,” Nathanael replied, “You are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel!” 50 Jesus responded to him, “Do you believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than this.” 51 Then he said, “Truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
Or the Eunuch meeting Phillip in Acts 8:36-40
Acts 8:36–40 (CSB)
36 As they were traveling down the road, they came to some water. The eunuch said, “Look, there’s water. What would keep me from being baptized?” 38 So he ordered the chariot to stop, and both Philip and the eunuch went down into the water, and he baptized him. 39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord carried Philip away, and the eunuch did not see him any longer but went on his way rejoicing. 40 Philip appeared in Azotus, and he was traveling and preaching the gospel in all the towns until he came to Caesarea.
How about Lydia in Acts 16:14-15
Acts 16:14–15 (CSB)
14 A God-fearing woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth from the city of Thyatira, was listening. The Lord opened her heart to respond to what Paul was saying. 15 After she and her household were baptized, she urged us, “If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my house.” And she persuaded us.
All conversions lead to faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, as well as repentance from our sin. But Paul’s conversion is unlikely to ever be repeated. Actually I believe it it cannot be repeated. Why? Because it was effected by a personal post-resurrection appearance of the risen Christ which had the express purpose of setting him apart as an apostle! (22:14–15; 26:16–18; 1 Cor. 9:1; 15:7).
The first step in anyone’s salvation, is the sovereign initiative of God. For Paul, that was a unique self-revelation of the risen Christ in the blinding light of his glory. For all who will ever come to Christ, it is the invisible, effectual calling of the Word and Spirit of God, together with the Spirit’s regeneration of the heart and the subsequent conscious turning of the sinner to the Lord in the repentance and faith of gospel conversion to Christ.

God Chooses Who He Calls

Acts 9:1–2 (CSB)
1 Now Saul was still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord. He went to the high priest 2 and requested letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them as prisoners to Jerusalem.
Saul was not a nice guy, he knew the OT really, really well. The Pharisees were rigorous legalists, known for their knowledge of Scripture. They followed elaborate rules and regulations for faith and life. But I would not feel comfortable asking somebody like Saul to lead a Bible Study or teach a Sunday School class. They knew their Bible well but their hearts didn’t belong to God. Saul had zero love in his religious zeal and knowledge.
Jesus said
Matthew 23:27–28 (CSB)
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which appear beautiful on the outside, but inside are full of the bones of the dead and every kind of impurity. 28 In the same way, on the outside you seem righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Saul and the Pharisees strayed from the truth of the Bible and tried to make righteousness something they could earn and control by following rules. Their doctrines took away entirely the foundation of the true religion, which is faith being regarded as righteousness.
Romans 4:3–5 (CSB)
3 For what does the Scripture say? Abraham believed God, and it was credited to him for righteousness. 4 Now to the one who works, pay is not credited as a gift, but as something owed. 5 But to the one who does not work, but believes on him who justifies the ungodly, his faith is credited for righteousness.
Saul embraced the beliefs and lifestyle of the Pharisees. He correctly realized that these followers of the way (Christians) were a dangerous threat to that way of life. He was desperate to crush it—he breathed out ‘murderous threats’ against the church. He was obsessed about this.
Acts 26:10–11 (CSB)
10 I actually did this in Jerusalem, and I locked up many of the saints in prison, since I had received authority for that from the chief priests. When they were put to death, I was in agreement against them. 11 In all the synagogues I often punished them and tried to make them blaspheme. Since I was terribly enraged at them, I pursued them even to foreign cities.
I wouldn’t have called Saul to teach, but thankfully I don’t pick who is called and who isn’t. We can all agree that Saul was a bad, bad man. But God called that man to reach the Gentiles with the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. And that man was redeemed- Paul the Apostle who was used by God to bring the Gospel to the world.

Jesus Identifies Himself With His Church’s Suffering

Acts 9:3–5 (CSB)
3 As he traveled and was nearing Damascus, a light from heaven suddenly flashed around him. 4 Falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?”
5 “Who are you, Lord?” Saul said.
“I am Jesus, the one you are persecuting,” he replied.
Jesus’ love for us is shown in how He identifies Himself to Paul. Paul had never physically persecuted Jesus, he had gone after the men and women who were following Jesus’ teachings. But Jesus states that when you persecute a believer, you are in active rebellion against God Himself. AMEN?
God is now ready to appoint a highly trained, full-time missionary to the Gentiles. He selects Saul of Tarsus and changes his life to fit this role.

Jesus Transforms and Commissions Paul!

Acts 9:6 (CSB)
6 “But get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do.”
The Lord told Saul to get up and go into Damascus, where he would be told what to do.
Jesus also told him that he was to be his ‘servant’ and ‘witness’ to bring the nations ‘from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God’ (
Acts 26:17–18 (CSB)
17 I will rescue you from your people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them 18 to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a share among those who are sanctified by faith in me.’
Every call leads to personal transformation as the Holy Spirit works in us and changes us from the inside out. Paul’s change was immediate and seemingly seems to have touched every area of his life. I have experienced some immediate changes on coming to Jesus. Some took longer. And some are still in process.
Even though Paul had an immediate transformation it took time before he actually answered God’s call. There were many practical changes which needed to be made in his life and he had a lot to do in order to win the confidence of the Christians he had been so bent on persecuting. This would take time. In fact it was to be some thirteen years before he was set apart for his ministry as the apostle to the Gentiles (13:1–2).
The Lord has a plan for everyone who trusts in him, but the path of discipleship is one of growing knowledge of Christ and widening obedience to his revealed will. The first steps in Paul’s journey were taken in helplessness and vulnerability, as in his blindness he reflected on the meaning of his past and the prospect of his future.
Much later in his ministry Paul was inspired by God to write the following words.
Ephesians 5:1–2 (CSB)
1 Therefore, be imitators of God, as dearly loved children, 2 and walk in love, as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
Jesus Christ suffered for us. And we need to

Suffer For Jesus

Acts 9:10–17 (CSB)
10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.”
“Here I am, Lord,” he replied.
11 “Get up and go to the street called Straight,” the Lord said to him, “to the house of Judas, and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, since he is praying there. 12 In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and placing his hands on him so that he may regain his sight.”
13 “Lord,” Ananias answered, “I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. 14 And he has authority here from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name.”
15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
17 Ananias went and entered the house. He placed his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
“this man is my chosen instrument to take my name to Gentiles, kings, and Israelites. 16 I will show him how much he must suffer for my name.”
“Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”
The spread of Christianity into the world is accompanied by the suffering of those who proclaim Christ’s name. And Paul did suffer mightily for Jesus.
2 Corinthians 11:23–28 (CSB)
23 Are they servants of Christ? I’m talking like a madman—I’m a better one: with far more labors, many more imprisonments, far worse beatings, many times near death.
24 Five times I received the forty lashes minus one from the Jews. 25 Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I received a stoning. Three times I was shipwrecked. I have spent a night and a day in the open sea. 26 On frequent journeys, I faced dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my own people, dangers from Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers at sea, and dangers among false brothers; 27 toil and hardship, many sleepless nights, hunger and thirst, often without food, cold, and without clothing. 28 Not to mention other things, there is the daily pressure on me: my concern for all the churches.
All of that and more he gave to God as a sacrifice.
Philippians 2:17–18 (CSB)
17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. 18 In the same way you should also be glad and rejoice with me.

Rejoice In Sacrifice! Live Love! Because He Is Risen! Contemporary Application

Saul did not decide after long deliberation to switch sides and volunteer to become a Christian missionary. He did not feel regret for the deaths and suffering that his zealous faith wrecked on Christians. He was convinced that these were actions that brought God glory! The only explanation for Saul’s dramatic transformation is that Christ intervened directly to call him.
The calling had a purpose. Paul received salvation when he met Jesus on the road to Damascus. But the ultimate reason that Jesus appeared to Saul was not his own personal salvation but to give him the mandate to preach salvation to others. And Paul received the Holy Spirit to enable the completion of that commission.
Every Christian has received that same commission and that same Spirit.
John 20:21–22 (CSB)
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
This is how we can follow Jesus in His Sufferings!
Luke 9:22 (CSB)
22 saying, “It is necessary that the Son of Man suffer many things and be rejected by the elders, chief priests, and scribes, be killed, and be raised the third day.”
This is how we can view our troubles and trials as joy!
Romans 8:18 (CSB)
18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is going to be revealed to us.
This is why even as we are tired and hurt while doing what God has called us to do we can keep on going on!
Matthew 28:16–20 (CSB)
16 The eleven disciples traveled to Galilee, to the mountain where Jesus had directed them. 17 When they saw him, they worshiped, but some doubted. 18 Jesus came near and said to them, “All authority has been given to me in heaven and on earth. 19 Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe everything I have commanded you. And remember, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
Some disciples had doubts after seeing Jesus rise from the grave, as they were about to watch Jesus ascend to heaven! Do you have doubts that you can do what God has asked of you? It is ok! Just keep doing the best you can do while seeking to follow the Spirit’s lead.
If I judged Paul on who Saul was- if he showed up at church this morning I would let him teach sunday school based on who he was. If I based my call to serve this church on who I was, there would be no way that I would have accepted that call. In many ways we shouldn’t even judge ourselves based on where we are today. We need to judge based on our trajectory- where we are headed.
Not who he were yesterday, or who we are today. But on the changes God has made in us from who we were yesterday. Than we need to make every effort to continue those changes into the men and women God calls us to be.

Points To Ponder

“Satan’s Strategy Session” by Kenneth O. Gangel

As the story goes, Satan had called a meeting of his senior demons, a strategy session with the particular intent of devising new ways to keep people from trusting Jesus Christ for salvation. With a series of clever overhead transparencies the boss explained the dilemma—too many leaving the fold of darkness and choosing to follow the giver of light.
When he opened the meeting for discussion, he precisely asked the demons to suggest concrete ways they could act on earth to choke off these despised “conversions” in some effective way. The first volunteer proposed, “Tell them there is no God.” That suggestion fell on deaf ears, for the demons knew well that many choosing to remain in the fold of darkness would never sink far enough to adopt such a ludicrous idea.
The second speaker offered, “Tell them the Bible is not true.” This provoked several minutes of discussion because such a tactic had been used with some success down through the years and the idea of elevating it to a long-range strategic plan seemed to incur some favor.
Tabling the idea for a moment, the chairman heard yet a third suggestion which immediately brought a diabolic smile to all the faces at the meeting: “Tell them it’s all true, and even tell them they need to be saved—but not now.” Some might believe there is no God. A greater number reject the authority of the Scripture. This delaying tactic, this intent to cause well-meaning people to procrastinate any choice on the gospel, to put off turning to Jesus until too late, this could work with untold millions.
As the story goes, the demons approved suggestion three, and the chairman declared the meeting adjourned.
Fictitious nonsense to be sure, though Satan’s legions have probably used all three tactics with great success to keep people chained in darkness. Here is a chapter about light. The light of Jesus shining from heaven on Saul. The light of Ananias openly receiving his new “brother” and assisting him to faith. The light of Peter traveling to visit saints, healing and raising them as he went. The light of Dorcas caring for those who could not care for themselves.
We should see ourselves in this chapter, perhaps more than once. Some of us may have had dramatic conversion experiences. Others may feel neglected, unnoticed by fellow Christians as we try to serve God faithfully wherever he has placed us. Please notice our title again, especially the appearance of the last word in the plural. Yes, Saul was now God’s chosen instrument, but so was Ananias, and Peter, and Dorcas. Christians should not try to be somebody else nor to do what God has called someone else to do. God calls and gifts us to be ourselves, even if those selves do not look much like the popular models of a particular era, place, or denomination.
[Kenneth O. Gangel, Acts, vol. 5, Holman New Testament Commentary (Nashville, TN: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1998), 149–150.]

“Contemporary Significance” by Ajith Fernando

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF divine initiative in salvation. In our study of Acts 4:12 we noted that our inability to do anything for our salvation should cause us to be humble; no genuine Christian has any reason for arrogance. When someone asked Mahatma Gandhi what he thought about E. Stanley Jones, Gandhi replied, “He’s a good man, but he’s too proud of his religion.” When Jones was told about this, he said that Gandhi was right according to his own convictions. To Gandhi salvation was the result of hard work. Earning salvation was as difficult as trying to empty an ocean of water with one’s hands. According to such a scheme, anyone who says that he or she is assured of salvation will be justly called arrogant.
But according to the Christian scheme, salvation is a gift of God; we do not deserve it and it is freely given to us by God, who takes the initiative by seeking us and bringing us to himself. In other words, we have no grounds for feeling superior to anyone. This truth we must demonstrate in an age when Christian belief about full assurance of salvation is considered arrogant by pluralists, who see the pursuit of salvation as something generated from within.
Another significant inference from the fact that God takes the initiative to save the least likely people, such as Saul the persecutor, is that we cannot pronounce anyone hopeless as far as conversion is concerned. As we face irreligious people or the followers of New Age thinking or any other religion, we may think that they are impossible to bring to Christ. As Paul said in 1 Timothy 1:16, the fact that the worst of sinners could be converted is a sign that the least likely people can be saved. Such realities should encourage us to dream about, pray for, and work toward the conversion of resistant people and enemies of the gospel.
Leading people to personal encounter with Christ. Our task as witnesses is to lead people to Jesus so that they will encounter him as their Savior and Lord. We may discuss religion, argue for the truth of it, and seek to persuade people about its relevance and power. But the end that we aim at is to introduce people to Jesus. This is why it is advisable to help those who are ready to accept the Christian way to pray a prayer of seeking salvation. We may have them repeat words after us. However we do it, our aim is to lead them in this encounter with Christ to talk personally to him.
We must never take it for granted that all to whom we minister have a personal relationship with God. My mother led me to such an encounter when I was a religious fourteen-year-old, who was already knowledgeable of the Scriptures and active in church. When I was in seminary, a fellow student who had been nurtured in an evangelical background testified in class that he had encountered Christ for the first time a few days before. The Emmanuel Methodist Church in Madras, India, was finding it difficult to maintain its property because it had a small congregation. They were preparing to sell some of the property when someone suggested to the pastor, an American missionary, to have some revival meetings in the church. He invited a Baptist preacher, very different to him in theology and outlook, to preach at these meetings. On the first night when that preacher invited those who wanted to be born again to come forward, the first one to go up was the pastor of the church! He met Christ personally, and his ministry was so transformed that the church became and still is, a few decades after his retirement, one of the great centers of Christian witness in India.
The importance of surrender. Christians have debated whether presenting the Lordship of Christ is an essential part of the gospel presentation. Some are afraid it will take away from the primacy of grace to say that for salvation one must submit to the Lordship of Christ. This pitfall will be avoided if we realize that everything we do, even exercising saving faith, is done because of God’s initiative and enabling. Not to present the need for total surrender to Christ is to present a gospel without a key aspect of Christianity. Those who respond to a gospel that did not present the necessity of surrender may feel as if they have been tricked into accepting a gospel without having been shown “the fine print” about what a Christian commitment implies.
The place of encouragers today. We can imagine Saul’s despair, loneliness, and disappointment when other Christians rejected him. He later expounded deeply about the “in Christ” existence, according to which earthly barriers are broken because we are one body in Christ. Yet the members of that body did not trust him. How many bright new Christians face such loneliness and disappointment! It can lead to despair and bitterness. But God often provides a way of healing in the form of an encourager. Would that there were more Ananiases and Barnabases in our churches!
The risk Barnabas took was immense. Was Saul a spy? His fiery enthusiasm and outspoken boldness would have provoked negative reactions in some of the more sober elders. Who is this young upstart, who goes to extremes in everything he does? He must be an unbalanced individual, for once he was violently opposing Christianity and now he is vigorously defending it. Yet Barnabas stuck his neck out to support Saul. He was willing to take that risk. When we glorify risk-taking today, most often we do so about our personal exploits. Here is another type of risk-taking: accepting new people and pushing them forward. This is Christian risk-taking. Because Christianity is a religion of love, some of our greatest exploits are ventures of love. Taking the risk of believing people is one such venture.
Barnabas also encouraged Saul by telling the apostles Saul’s story. In order to be able to do this, he had first listened to that story. Often leaders are so interested in telling their own story that they have no time to listen to those of others. By telling the apostles Saul’s story, Barnabas acted as a public relations man for the junior person. Normally public relations work is done for leaders by the juniors, but here that order is reversed. Paul often did the same sort of things in his letters. He gives, for example, glowing tributes of younger, lesser-known people, such as Titus and Timothy (e.g., 2 Cor. 8:16–24; Phil. 2:19–24).
Avoiding the trap of individualistic conversion. Given the great blessings that come from conversion, it is possible to place so much emphasis on these that converts forget that they are people under a commission. For Saul conversion and commission went together. We must teach converts about Christian service and get them active the moment they come to Christ.
The conversion of the great Indian evangelist Sadhu Sundar Singh (1889–1929) was remarkably similar to that of Saul. He too was a young man who vehemently opposed Christianity until he had a vision of Christ that transformed his life. When his family members, who were Sikhs, realized that the conversion he professed was not a passing fancy, they poisoned him and sent him away from home. He landed at the doorstep of the home of a pastor, desperately ill. The doctor who saw him gave up hope that he would recover. “But as he lay, there came to him the profound belief that God had not called him out of darkness to die without witnessing to his faith in Christ, so he began to pray with all his remaining powers.”50 He recovered and launched out on a life of witness. Donning the garb of an Indian holy man, he traveled the length and breadth of India barefoot, preaching the gospel. This earned him the name “the apostle of the bleeding feet,” for his feet, unprotected from the hostile elements, sometimes bled. His realization as he lay dying was that he was “saved to tell others” the gospel.
God’s redemptive acts and the pluralist attitude. The notion of the absolute authority of Paul’s writings goes against the grain of the contemporary mood. Modern-day pluralists hold, like the Hindus held for centuries, that truth is subjective. They place little stock in historical events like the commissioning of Paul. To them ideas are important, not events. Events may illustrate ideas, but they do not win salvation and endow a person with authority.
As we look at Scripture, we see that God’s approach to salvation is through events. Theologians speak of “salvation history” and of “the God who acts.” The Bible teaches that God acts decisively through key redemptive events, such as the Exodus, the giving of the law, the Conquest, the incarnation and life of Christ, his death, his resurrection, his ascension, Pentecost, the conversion/call of Paul, and the second coming of Christ. We must seriously reflect on these basic dealings of God with humankind if we are to be biblical in this pluralistic age. We must see that Christianity is based on objective historical events.
[Ajith Fernando, Acts, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1998), 305–308.]

Question Needing Answers

Read some of the other passages related to Saul’s conversion and note the similarities and differences: Acts 22:1–21; 26:12–23; Romans 1:1–5; 1 Corinthians 15:8–10; Galatians 1:11–24; Philippians 3:4–11; and 1 Timothy 1:12–17.
What are some of the similarities between Saul’s conversion experience and other conversion experiences? What are some differences?
What does this passage teach about God’s grace in salvation?
What does this passage teach about Jesus?
What practical lessons might be learned from Ananias’s inclusion in this story?
What about Jesus’s commission of Saul most resonates with you?
Has God ever told you to wait for instructions? How do you react to having to wait on God?

A Week’s Worth of Scripture

Monday John 20:21–22 (CSB)
21 Jesus said to them again, “Peace be with you. As the Father has sent me, I also send you.” 22 After saying this, he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.
Tuesday Isaiah 49:1–4 (CSB)
1 Coasts and islands, listen to me; distant peoples, pay attention. The Lord called me before I was born. He named me while I was in my mother’s womb. 2 He made my words like a sharp sword; he hid me in the shadow of his hand. He made me like a sharpened arrow; he hid me in his quiver. 3 He said to me, “You are my servant, Israel, in whom I will be glorified.” 4 But I myself said: I have labored in vain, I have spent my strength for nothing and futility; yet my vindication is with the Lord, and my reward is with my God.
Wednesday Philippians 1:27–30 (CSB)
27 Just one thing: As citizens of heaven, live your life worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or am absent, I will hear about you that you are standing firm in one spirit, in one accord, contending together for the faith of the gospel, 28 not being frightened in any way by your opponents. This is a sign of destruction for them, but of your salvation—and this is from God. 29 For it has been granted to you on Christ’s behalf not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for him, 30 since you are engaged in the same struggle that you saw I had and now hear that I have.
Thursday 1 Thessalonians 2:1–12 (CSB)
1 For you yourselves know, brothers and sisters, that our visit with you was not without result. 2 On the contrary, after we had previously suffered and were treated outrageously in Philippi, as you know, we were emboldened by our God to speak the gospel of God to you in spite of great opposition. 3 For our exhortation didn’t come from error or impurity or an intent to deceive. 4 Instead, just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please people, but rather God, who examines our hearts. 5 For we never used flattering speech, as you know, or had greedy motives—God is our witness—6 and we didn’t seek glory from people, either from you or from others. 7 Although we could have been a burden as Christ’s apostles, instead we were gentle among you, as a nurse nurtures her own children. 8 We cared so much for you that we were pleased to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own lives, because you had become dear to us. 9 For you remember our labor and hardship, brothers and sisters. Working night and day so that we would not burden any of you, we preached God’s gospel to you. 10 You are witnesses, and so is God, of how devoutly, righteously, and blamelessly we conducted ourselves with you believers. 11 As you know, like a father with his own children, 12 we encouraged, comforted, and implored each one of you to walk worthy of God, who calls you into his own kingdom and glory.
Friday 2 Corinthians 3:12–18 (CSB)
12 Since, then, we have such a hope, we act with great boldness. 13 We are not like Moses, who used to put a veil over his face to prevent the Israelites from gazing steadily until the end of the glory of what was being set aside, 14 but their minds were hardened. For to this day, at the reading of the old covenant, the same veil remains; it is not lifted, because it is set aside only in Christ. 15 Yet still today, whenever Moses is read, a veil lies over their hearts, 16 but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. 17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 We all, with unveiled faces, are looking as in a mirror at the glory of the Lord and are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory; this is from the Lord who is the Spirit.
Saturday 1 Timothy 1:12–16 (CSB)
12 I give thanks to Christ Jesus our Lord who has strengthened me, because he considered me faithful, appointing me to the ministry—13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer, a persecutor, and an arrogant man. But I received mercy because I acted out of ignorance in unbelief, 14 and the grace of our Lord overflowed, along with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus. 15 This saying is trustworthy and deserving of full acceptance: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners”—and I am the worst of them. 16 But I received mercy for this reason, so that in me, the worst of them, Christ Jesus might demonstrate his extraordinary patience as an example to those who would believe in him for eternal life.
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