Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / September 28 - Acts 9

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September 28 - Acts 9 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it is Sean here. It is a Thursday.
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  It is the 28th of September. And hello, good to have your
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  company. You and I are going to hit one
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  of these great big pivot points today in the Bible.
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  Today is the day that we continue to hear about this dude
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  named Saul who is walking the streets, grabbing Christians,
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  dragging them out of homes and throwing them in jail, and even
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  officiating at the execution of some of them.
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  He is 1 smart guy. He is trained in the ways of the
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  Pharisees and he is on a mission from God.
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  He thinks that boy is his world about to be turned on its head.
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  It's probably even a good reminder for us that even when
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  we think we are on a mission, we should stay open to hearing that
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  still small voice or that loud, clear voice from the sky that
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  might just redirect us and all of our efforts into a different
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  way of serving God scary stuff. Anyway, this is not our story
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  today. This is Saul's story, so join me
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  as we read this story together as told in Acts Chapter 9.
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  Meanwhile, Saul was uttering threats with every breath and
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  was eager to kill the Lord's followers, so he went to the
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  high priest. He requested letters addressed
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  to the synagogues in Damascus asking for their cooperation and
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  the arrest of any followers of the way he found there.
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  He wanted to bring them, both men and women, back to Jerusalem
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  in chains. As he was approaching Damascus
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  on this mission, a light from heaven suddenly shone down
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  around him. He fell to the ground and heard
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  a voice saying to him. Saul, Saul, why are you
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  persecuting me? Who are you, Lord Saul asked and
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  the voice replied, I am Jesus, the one you were persecuting.
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  Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you
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  must do. The men with Saul stood
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  speechless, for they heard the sound of someone's voice, but
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  saw no one. Saul picked himself up off the
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  ground, but when he opened his eyes he was blind, so his
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  companions led him by the hand to Damascus.
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  He remained there blind for three days, and did not eat or
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  drink. Now there was a believer in
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  Damascus named Ananias, and the Lord spoke to him in a vision,
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  calling Ananias. Yes, Lord, he replied.
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  The Lord said, go over to straight St. to the House of
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  Judas. When you get there, ask for a
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  man from Tarsus named Saul. He is praying to me right now.
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  I have shown him a vision of a man named Ananias coming in and
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  laying hands on him so he can see again.
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  But Lord, exclaimed Ananias. I've heard many people talk
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  about the terrible things this man has done to the believers in
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  Jerusalem, And he is authorized by the leading priests to arrest
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  everyone who calls upon your name.
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  But the Lord said, go, for Saul is my chosen instrument to take
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  my message to the Gentiles and to kings, as well as to the
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  people of Israel, And I will show him how much he must suffer
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  for my name's sake. So Ananias went and found Saul.
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  He laid his hands on him and said, Brother Saul, the Lord
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  Jesus who appeared to you on the road, has sent me so that you
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  might regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
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  Instantly something like scales fell from Saul's eyes and he
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  regained his sight. Then he got up and was baptized.
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  Afterwards he ate some food and regained his strength.
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  Saul stayed with the believers in Damascus for a few days and
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  immediately he began preaching about Jesus in the synagogue,
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  saying he is indeed the Son of God.
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  All they heard him were amazed. Isn't this the same man who
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  caused such devastation among Jesus followers in Jerusalem?
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  They asked. And didn't he come here to
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  arrest them and take them and change to the leading priests?
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  Saul's preaching became more and more powerful, and the Jews in
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  Damascus couldn't refuse his proofs that Jesus was indeed the
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  Messiah. After a while, some of the Jews
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  plotted together to kill him. They were watching for him day
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  and night at the city gate so they could murder him, but Saul
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  was told about their plot. So during the night, some of the
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  other believers lowered him in a large basket through an opening
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  in the city wall. When Saul arrived in Jerusalem,
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  he tried to meet with the believers, but they were all
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  afraid of him. They did not believe he had
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  truly become a believer. Then Barnabas brought him to the
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  apostles and told them how Saul had seen the Lord on the way to
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  Damascus and how the Lord had spoken to Saul.
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  He also told them that Saul had preached boldly in the name of
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  Jesus in Damascus. So Saul stayed with the apostles
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  and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in
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  the name of the Lord. He debated with some
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  Greekspeaking Jews, but they tried to murder him.
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  When the believers heard about this, they took him down to
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  Sesarea and sent him away to Tarsus, his hometown.
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  The church then had peace throughout Judea, Galilee, and
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  Samaria, and it became stronger as the believers lived in the
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  fear of the Lord, and with the encouragement of the Holy
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  Spirit, it also grew in numbers. Meanwhile, Peter traveled from
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  place to place, and he came down to visit the believers in the
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  town of Lida. There he met a man named Aneus
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  who had been paralyzed and bedridden for eight years.
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  Peter said to him, Aneus, Jesus Christ heals you get up and roll
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  up your sleeping mat, and he was healed instantly.
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  Then the whole population of Leider and Sharon saw Aneus
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  walking around, and they turned to the Lord.
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  There was a believer in Jopper named Tabitha, which in Greek is
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  Dorcas. She was always doing kind things
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  for others and helping the poor. About this time she became ill
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  and died. Her body was washed for burial
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  and laid in an upstairs room. But the believers had heard that
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  Peter was nearby at Lida, so they sent two men to beg him
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  please come as soon as possible. So Peter returned with them, and
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  as soon as he arrived, they took him to the upstairs room.
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  The room was filled with widows who were weeping and showing him
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  the coats and other clothes Dorcas had made for them.
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  But Peter asked them all to leave the room.
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  Then he knelt and prayed. Turning to the body, he said,
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  get up Tabitha, and she opened her eyes.
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  When she saw Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped
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  her up. Then he called in the widows and
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  all the believers, and he presented her to them alive.
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  The news spread through the whole town, and many believed in
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  the Lord. And Peter stayed a long time in
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  Joppa, living with Simon, a Tanner of hides.
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  Lord, you see people in the way that you see them, in the way
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  that you know them deep in their hearts.
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  To us, Lord, some people seem irredeemable and just not worth
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  our time. But here you show us that even
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  someone as hell bent on destroying your church as soul
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  can be transformed into one of your most powerful servants.
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  So, Lord, help us reserve judgment.
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  Help us to love and accept. Help us to welcome and include
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  so that your spirit can have its way amongst us and the people
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  around us, and that we can show the world a different way of
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  being. Where forgiveness and kindness
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  is our natural posture. We just thank you for showing us
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  your kindness and forgiveness first.
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  We love you, Jesus, and we pray all of this in your name.
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  I'm in.