Masters or Disasters ∙

Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you. – Ephesians 4:32

1 Peter 3:8-12

 8 Finally, all of you should be of one mind. Sympathize with each other. Love each other as brothers and sisters. Be tenderhearted, and keep a humble attitude.

 9 Don’t repay evil for evil. Don’t retaliate with insults when people insult you. Instead, pay them back with a blessing. That is what God has called you to do, and he will bless you for it.

 10 For the Scriptures say, “If you want to enjoy life and see many happy days, keep your tongue from speaking evil and your lips from telling lies.”

 11 “Turn away from evil and do good. Search for peace, and work to maintain it.”

 12 “The eyes of the Lord watch over those who do right, and his ears are open to their prayers. But the Lord turns his face against those who do evil.”

In the 1970s, a crisis flared up in American marriages. They were ending in divorce, separation, or deteriorating into dysfunctional bitterness at unprecedented rates. Social scientists began studying marriages in earnest. John Gottman was one of those researchers. He has continued his research for more than four decades.

In 1986, he and his colleague Robert Levenson set up a “Love Lab” at the University of Washington. They recruited newlyweds and observed them interacting, measuring heart rate, blood flow, and perspiration which measured their psychological activity. Six years later, they followed up with the couples to see if they were still together. They quickly divided them into two major groups: Masters and Disasters.

The Disasters were continually in fight-or-flight mode. They were aggressive and prepared to attack and be attacked.

The Masters, on the other hand, were calm and connected together. They demonstrated warm and affectionate behavior even when they disagreed. What made the difference? The Masters had created a climate of trust and intimacy that made them more emotionally and physically comfortable.

Delving deeper, he observed that the couples would make requests for connection. Gottman called them “bids.” They were looking to each other for signs of interest or support. Once a bid was made, their partner responded by either turning toward or turning away. These responses could be statistically measured. It turned out that the Disasters had “turn-toward bids” 33% of the time, while the Masters had “turn-toward bids” 87% of the time. The Masters were meeting their partners’ needs 9 out of 10 times.

Qualitatively speaking, it depends on what the couples bring to the relationship. They can either bring, enhance, and reinforce kindness and generosity or contempt, criticism, and hostility (https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/06/happily-ever-after/372573/).

21st-century America is characterized by divorce, separation, or simply two people living under the same roof in perpetual dysfunctional bitterness and strife.

The Father’s answer to this tragic human predicament lived out in time is very similar to what He provided for the eternal dilemma of sin, death, and separation from Him. He designed a way to resurrect people who were dead in their sins and give them the gift of eternal life. He bonded with us, the children of the King, and established eternal intimacy and affection. He placed us at His right hand in Christ Jesus. We are forever turned toward Him. Through redemption and transformation, it has already begun and will never end.

Ephesians 2:1-7

 1 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.

 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil – the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.

 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.

 4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much,

 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)

 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.

 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus

REFLECT & PRAY

Master or Disaster, choose wisely. Tomorrow is the first day of the rest of your lives. Haggai 2:19 From this day on, I will bless you.

Father coach me in the skill of practicing trust and intimacy with You and my indispensable companion on planet Earth.

INSIGHT

Genesis 2:18 The LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a companion for him who corresponds to him.”

The Father designed Adam and Eve to be partners and complement one another. The Hebrew word translated companion or helper is ‘ezer. The Father Himself is frequently designated a helper to each of His children. He is the one who does for us what we cannot do for ourselves, the one who meets our needs.

‘Ezer connotes an “indispensable companion.” The woman would supply what the man lacked in the creation design, and logically it would follow that the man would provide what she was lacking, although that is not explicitly stated here (ESV notes).

Paul encourages us as children of the King to find our way back to the Father’s original intent and design for marriage. It begins and is reinforced by abundant kindness, forgiveness, and tenderheartedness.

Ephesians 4:32 Be kind to each other, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God through Christ has forgiven you.

The Greek term translated as kindness is chrestos. Chrestos comes from the Greek verb chraomai, meaning to furnish what is needed. Profitable, fit, and good for any use. A healthy marriage is characterized by each partner providing what is necessary for the good of the other. Kindness also connotes being gently pleasant, soft, and mild, not harsh, stern, or severe.  

To live in kindness, abundant kindness, in the most important of all human relationships, marriage, is a decision each child of the King can make and reinforce repeatedly.

This is the skill in which the Masters of marriage became black belts. Anyone can do it. It comes down to choice, determination, and practice. As we learn and grow in this skill, we demonstrate for all to see the abundant grace of the Father God both now and for all time (Ephesians 2:7).

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© Dr. H 2023

Who is your tour guide? ∙

You can enter God’s Kingdom only through the narrow gate. The highway to hell is broad, and its gate is wide for the many who choose that way. – Matthew 7:13

Deuteronomy 30:15-20

 15 Today, I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster.

 16 For I command you this day to love the LORD your God and to keep his commands, decrees, and regulations by walking in his ways. If you do this, you will live and multiply, and the LORD, your God, will bless you and the land you are about to enter and occupy.

 19 Today, I have given you the choice between life and death, between blessings and curses. Now I call on heaven and earth to witness the choice you make. Oh, that you would choose life, so that you and your descendants might live!

 20 You can make this choice by loving the LORD your God, obeying him, and committing yourself firmly to him. This is the key to your life. And if you love and obey the LORD, you will live long in the land the LORD swore to give your ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

What is a tour guide? A tour guide is typically a resident of the local region, and they are very familiar with the surrounding areas. They give guided tours to individuals or groups of visitors. They are experts on the location’s history and offer enlightening information about points of interest at nature attractions, historic sites, museums, and scenic locations. They act as goodwill ambassadors for their region.

The enemy of our souls is a tour guide of sorts. But he has only one destination, the road that leads to destruction.

Similarly, the Lord Jesus Christ offers an alternative destination, eternal life, and life in the Father’s presence forever.

John 14:6 I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

Each child of the King can live a life guided by the Father. But it is a choice that each of us must make and reaffirm from time to time as needed.

The Father’s realm is the kingdom of God. He offers blessing and encouragement as we live out His guidance on earth.

“Every Christian should live a God-guided life. If you are not guided by God, you will be guided by someone or something else. The Christian who hasn’t the sense of guidance in his life is missing something vital” (Eric Liddell).

The Father’s people have always been a remnant, a small minority in this world. The reason is not difficult to discover: The way of life is narrow, lonely, and costly (Wiersbe).

REFLECT & PRAY

Proverbs 14:12 There is a way which seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

Father thank You for showing me the way to find You. Please teach me how to allow You to guide me in the way that You want me to go.

INSIGHT

We often find ourselves at crossroads in our lives and ponder which road to take. One may be complex and challenging, but it leads to life and the assured favor of the Father. The other may seem easy, attractive, or even necessary, but it leads to destruction and death.

Jeremiah was one of three writing prophets during the conquest of Judah by the Babylonians. During his 40 years as a prophet, Jeremiah repeatedly prophesied that without repentance, judgment was coming.

Tragically Jeremiah’s warnings were ignored, and the time of judgment had come. The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple were now certain. The Jewish people could not save their property, but they could save their lives.

“Jeremiah tells the people that God is setting before them the way of life and death. Death is the fate of those who stay in the city; those who leave and are taken captive by the Babylonians will escape with their lives. . . . God is on the side of the Babylonians for the historical moment, and the best that can be done for the Judeans is to convince them to capitulate to the Babylonians and thereby save their lives” (J. Andrew Dearman).  

Jeremiah 21:8-10

 8 Tell all the people, “This is what the LORD says: Take your choice of life or death!

 9 Everyone who stays in Jerusalem will die from war, famine, or disease, but those who go out and surrender to the Babylonians will live. Their reward will be life!”

 10 “For I have decided to bring disaster and not good upon this city, says the LORD. It will be handed over to the king of Babylon, and he will reduce it to ashes.”

“The choice presented to the people must have sounded like the advice of a traitor.  Jeremiah explained that those who refused to surrender to the Babylonians would die. Those who surrendered would be spared. They would escape with their lives (lit. “have his life as booty,” i.e., the spoils of war)” (F. B. Huey).

Narrow is the gate, hard is the way that leads to life, and those who find it are few (Matthew 7:13).

It is the difference between the long and the short way, the thoughtful and the thoughtless way. Very rarely, something may emerge complete and perfect in a flash, but most often it is the result of much effort and constant attention to detail. It is the difference between the disciplined and the undisciplined way. Nothing was ever achieved without discipline. Here we come to the heart of the matter. Who would ever take the easy, the short, the undisciplined way if they wish to follow their King (Barclay)?

“There is always a certain dramatic quality about life, for it has been said that all life is focused on our position at the crossroads. In every action of life, we are confronted with a choice; and we can never evade the choice, because we can never stand still. We must always take one way or the other” (Barclay).

Joshua eloquently challenged the Nation of Israel with the choices before them.

Joshua 24:15 If you refuse to serve the LORD, then choose today whom you will serve. Would you prefer the gods your ancestors served beyond the Euphrates? Or will it be the gods of the Amorites in whose land you now live? But as for me and my family, we will serve the LORD.”

In The Ways, John Oxenham wrote:

“To every man, there open a way and ways and a way.

And the high soul climbs the high way, and the low soul gropes the low.

And in between on the misty flats, the rest drift to and fro.

But to every man, there opens a high way and a low.

And every man decides the way his soul shall go.”  

The Lord Jesus Christ admonishes all children of the King to follow Him. But He tells us upfront that this requires faith, discipline, and endurance. The Father reserves His best for those who do. Regrettably, most follow the easy way. This is, of course, a difficult life choice, but it is well worth the effort.

Who is your tour guide?

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How majestic ∙

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens. – Psalms 8:1

Psalms 8:1-8

 1 O LORD, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth! You reveal your majesty in the heavens above!

 3 When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers – the moon and the stars you set in place –

 4 what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?

 5 Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.

 6 You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority.

Majestic 12 (or MJ-12) is a purported organization that appears in UFO conspiracy theories. The organization is an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by an executive order by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. It was tasked to facilitate the recovery and investigation of alien spacecraft. The concept originated in a series of supposedly leaked secret government documents first circulated by ufologists in 1984. Upon examination, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) declared the documents to be “completely bogus,” and many ufologists consider them elaborate hoaxes.

Majestic is a word that is sadly fallen out of everyday use in modern English. But even lamentable, with modern man’s rejection of the Father, our culture hardly has anything worthy of the term.

The  Hebrew term translated as majestic is addir. It has the sense of mighty, splendid, magnificent, excellent, that which inspires awe or reverence of the beholder. The Hebrew root connotes that which is superior to something else and, therefore, that which is majestic. In a word, “better than all.”

When we say that God’s name is majestic, we mean that everything about Him – His character, His actions, His thoughts, His desires, His plans, His words – is excellent, praiseworthy, and perfect (Stanley).

REFLECT & PRAY

The core of our faith is not knowing facts about the Father; it is about knowing the Father. It is all about a loving relationship with our majestic Father.

O Father may I love You so deeply and thoroughly that the mere thought of You brings joyful tears to my eyes and bursts forth in ardent, intimate praise from my heart.

INSIGHT

David often contemplated the majesty and excellence of the Father. The Psalms reflect his joyful love for the Father. The more he meditates upon the Father, more and more exuberant joy fills his heart. Finally, David’s heart bursts forth in words of praise and adoration. He praises the Father’s majesty, which is known in all the earth. David is saying, “People everywhere see how great you are.”

The Father’s name is majestic, surpassing all that is. His name is above all others and everything which is created. Majestic emphasizes the “beyondness” of the Father. Our hearts are to be filled with joyful affection for our loving, majestic, magnificent, awesome heavenly Father. It should erupt forth from our personal experience of Him. This is the best part of reverence and is essential to all true worship.

David’s worship is ardent yet intimate. David didn’t just know about the Father and His marvelous name; David knew the Father.

There was once a Shakespearean actor who was known everywhere for his one-man shows of readings and recitations from the classics. He would always end his performance with a dramatic reading of Psalm 23.

Each night, without exception, as the actor began his recitation – “The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.” The crowd would listen attentively. And then, after the Psalm, they would rise in thunderous applause in appreciation of the actor’s incredible ability to bring the verses to life.

But one night, just before the actor was to offer his customary recital of Psalm 23, a young man from the audience spoke up. “Sir, do you mind if tonight I recite Psalm 23?” The actor was quite taken aback by this unusual request, but he allowed the young man to come forward and stand front and center on the stage to recite the Psalm, knowing that the ability of this unskilled youth would be no match for his own talent.

With a soft voice, the young man began reciting the Psalm’s words. When he was finished, there was no applause. There was no standing ovation as on other nights. All that could be heard was the sound of weeping.  The young man’s recitation had so moved the audience that every eye was full of tears. Amazed by what he had heard, the actor said to the youth, “I don’t understand. I have been performing Psalm 23 for years. I have a lifetime of experience and training – but I have never been able to move an audience as you have tonight. Tell me, what is your secret?”

The young man quietly replied, “Well, sir, you know the Psalm . . . I know the Shepherd.”

You Alone

You alone are holy

You alone are worthy

Only You alone deserve my praise

So I come before You

I honor and adore You

You alone are worthy of my praise

Only You alone

Lord I praise You

With everything in me

Lord I praise You

With honor I will sing

You alone are holy

You alone are worthy

Only You alone deserve my praise

So I come before You

I honor and adore You

You alone deserve my praise

Only You alone

Only You alone

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yb9sE07i7kw

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© Dr. H 2023

Sound Beamer ∙

As I was on the road, approaching Damascus at about noon, a very bright light from heaven suddenly flashed from heaven all around me. I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” . . . The people with me saw the light but didn’t understand the voice speaking to me. – Acts 22:6-9

Deuteronomy 4:11-12

 11 You came near and stood at the foot of the mountain, while flames from the mountain shot into the sky. The mountain was shrouded in black clouds and deep darkness.

 12 And the LORD spoke to you from the heart of the fire. You heard the sound of his words but didn’t see his form; there was only a voice.

An Israeli company is debuting a device that transmits crystal-clear audio directly to your brain without headphones.

Israel’s Noveto Systems, developed a cutting-edge audio system, SoundBeamer. It creates a personal sound bubble that allows you to hear 3D audio while continuing to experience and hear other sounds in your space. According to Noveto, the product’s sensing module locates and tracks your ear position, creating sound pockets in your ears by sending ultrasonic sound waves. You can program the bubble to move with you. The sound is available in stereo or 360-degree spatial 3D mode.

Noveto CEO Christophe Ramstein says it’s difficult to explain the SoundBeaming experience because “the brain doesn’t understand what it doesn’t know.” Project manager Ayana Wallwater explains, “You don’t believe it because it sounds like a speaker, but no one else can hear it . . . [while] you’re in the middle of everything. It’s happening around you” (AP, November 2020).

Sound Beamer seems “straight out of a sci-fi movie.” However, it is an ancient technology that the Father God has used for millennia to communicate with His children.

The Scriptures are called the Word of God, and so they are. The Father provided the content to many different people in many different ways.

Hebrews 1:1-3

 1 Long ago, God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets.

 2 And now, in these last days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son, he created the universe.

 3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command.

REFLECT & PRAY

“The heart of every problem is a problem in the heart” (Wiersbe).

Father I see within myself how easy it is to be deceived by sin, harden my heart, and not hear You. Encourage me to keep my heart soft and my ears open.

INSIGHT

The Father is still speaking today. He speaks to us from His word. He speaks to us in dreams and visions. Some children of the King have the privilege of hearing His voice audibly or inaudibly within their minds and spirits.

But in order to hear, you have to be tuned in. And that is a matter of the heart. We must be willing to hear. And then willing to obey the truth that we are given. The book of Hebrews is explicitly clear concerning this.

“The writer to the Hebrews has just been attempting to prove the unique supremacy of Jesus, and now he replaces argument with exhortation. He presses upon his hearers the inevitable consequence of this unique supremacy. If Jesus is so uniquely great, it follows that complete trust and complete obedience must be given to him. If they harden their hearts and refuse to give him their obedient trust, the consequences are bound to be terrible” (Barclay).

Hebrews 3:7-13

 7 That is why the Holy Spirit says, “Today, when you hear his voice,

 8 don’t harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled and tested me in the wilderness.”

 9 “Your ancestors tested and tried my patience, even though they saw my miracles for forty years.”

 10 “So I was angry with them, and I said, ‘Their hearts always turn away from me. They refuse to do what I tell them.’”

 11 “So in my anger I took an oath: ‘They will never enter my place of rest.’”

 12 Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God.

 13 You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God.

Psalms 95:7 For he is our God. We are the people he watches over, the flock under his care. If only you would hear and listen to his voice today!

The Father is our Shepherd, we are His sheep. Invite Him to speak and be willing to hear and obey.

The Father has made us a fantastic offer. Any child of the King can accept it. He offers the blessings of a life that is far beyond the life that can be lived without Him (Barclay).

Job 4:12-19

 12 This truth was given to me in secret, as though whispered in my ear.

 13 It came to me in a disturbing vision at night, when people are in a deep sleep.

 14 Fear gripped me, and my bones trembled.

 15 A spirit swept past my face, and my hair stood on end.

 16 The spirit stopped, but I couldn’t see its shape. There was a form before my eyes. In the silence, I heard a voice say,

 17 “Can a mortal be innocent before God? Can anyone be pure before the Creator?”

 18 If God does not trust his own angels and has charged his messengers with foolishness,

 19 how much less will he trust people made of clay! They are made of dust, crushed as easily as a moth.

Today is always the right day to hear, trust, and obey. Tomorrow may never come.

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© Dr. H 2023

Selected and tasked ∙

Go, for he is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel. – Acts 9:15

Acts 9:10-16

 10 Now, there was a believer in Damascus named Ananias. The Lord spoke to him in a vision, calling, “Ananias!” “Yes, Lord!” he replied.

 11 The Lord said, “Go over to Straight Street, to the house of Judas. When you get there, ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.

 12 I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and laying hands on him so he can see again.”

 13 “But Lord,” exclaimed Ananias, “I’ve heard many people talk about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in Jerusalem!”

 14 “And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest everyone who calls upon your name.”

 15 But the Lord said, “Go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the people of Israel.”

 16 “And I will show him how much he must suffer for my name’s sake.”

Adults go through various stages of life. When they are young, their whole life awaits them, and they tend to think they will live forever. As they mature and grow older, they begin to think in terms of how much time they have left and what they want to do with the remaining years they have.

For children of the King, there is another factor, the Father’s call and purpose for our lives. Each of us was individually called and selected by the Father. Many believers of our generation entered the kingdom of God, hearing that God loved them and had a wonderful plan for their life. That is still true.

For the children of the King, “retirement” is not part of the Father’s eternal plan for them. Each of us should be asking, “Father, how would You have me invest the final years of my life on this planet?”

In Acts 13, Luke recalls two brief cameos of two of the Father’s servants: Ananias and Paul. Ananias was a Jewish believer, one of the early Jews for Jesus in the first-century Church. He was a willing disciple and only wanted to please his Father in heaven. He made himself available to do the Father’s will. He was willing to go and do whatever the Father had in mind.

But what the Father had in mind appeared on the surface to be dangerous, life-threatening, and seemingly absurd. Why? The Father tasked Ananias to speak with the Saul of Tarsus. Saul had a horrific reputation.

He categorically stated in Paul’s own words, “I used to blaspheme the name of Christ. In my insolence, I persecuted his people (1 Timothy 1:13). Luke records what he did.

Acts 8:3 Saul was going everywhere to destroy the church. He went from house to house, dragging out both men and women to throw them into prison.

Ananias was very reluctant to do so, as the Father requested. He was afraid, and he was reluctant to obey. Why? Paul was one of the leaders of the Jewish Inquisition. Paul came to Damascus to seek out and imprison Jewish believers, of which Ananias was one. His immediate goal was to avoid Paul at all costs. But the Father had something else in mind.

Acts 9:10-11

 10 The Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

 11 And the Lord said to him, “Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying to me right now.

Ananias might have thought, this is not a vision, this is a nightmare. Paul had a terrible record, and Ananias reminded the Father that this was so.

Acts 9:13-14

 13 But Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem;”

 14 “and here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

But something utterly marvelous happened to Paul, of which Ananias was totally unaware. The risen Lord Jesus Christ had miraculously confronted him on the road to Damascus. Paul repented and believed. And then, he was struck blind and had to be physically guided by hand to Damascus.

The Father often works in the background, preparing the stage for what comes next. It is sufficient to say that the Father had laid the groundwork for what would happen. Ananias knew none of this and had yet to read Acts 9. In fearful obedience (an interesting play on words), Ananias submitted and went. What do you suppose would have happened had Ananias refused? The Father would’ve found somebody else, and Ananias would have completely lost out on the benefit of the opportunity the Father had presented him. This might have changed the course of Ananias’s life for the worst.

REFLECT & PRAY

Fear is a dreadful emotion. Because of fear, we often avoid and resist the will of the Father. So it was with Ananias.

Father encourage me to submit in fearful obedience to Your will and call for my life.

INSIGHT

Imagine what it was like for Paul. As Saul of Tarsus, he was totally committed to defending what he thought was God’s truth. He would take on all comers.

He harshly confronted those whom he considered to be heretics, and he was all in. He was laser-focused, and he was ruthless.

He had no clue that his understanding of the Lord Jesus was entirely incorrect. He was not serving the Father God at all; he was actually working against Him. Paul had no idea. Out of nowhere, suddenly, Paul has a face-to-face, close encounter of the third kind with the risen Lord Jesus Christ. His entire belief system was challenged at its foundation and collapsed. Paul was left speechless and temporarily blind.

The first words he hears from Ananias are heartwarming, comforting, and assuring: “Brother Saul.”

Acts 9:17-18

 17 Ananias went and found Saul. He laid his hands on him and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”

 18 Instantly, something like scales fell from Saul’s eyes, and he regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.

Each of us has been selected and called. “I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. And when I run, I feel His pleasure” (Eric Liddell).

Isaiah 43:1 Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine!

Without a doubt, Ananias is one of the forgotten heroes of the early church. When the Lord Jesus Christ spoke to him in a vision, it must have sounded insane to him. He might well have approached Paul with suspicion, as one doing an unpleasant task; he might well have begun with recriminations, but no, his first words were: “Brother Saul.”

What a welcome! It is one of the most sublime examples of brotherly love. That is what the Father can produce.

The British evangelist Bryan Green tells that, after one of his campaigns in America in the 1960s, he asked at the last meeting that people should stand up and, in a few words, say just what the campaign had done for them.

In Christ, Paul and Ananias, who had been the bitterest enemies, came together as brothers. A girl stood up. She was not a good speaker; she could only put a few sentences together. And this is what she said: “Through this campaign, I have found Christ, and he made me able to forgive the man who murdered my father.” He made her able to forgive – that is the very essence of Christianity (Barclay).

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© Dr. H 2023