Acts 9:19-25\u00a0<\/b>\u2013\u00a0and after taking some food, he regained his strength.\u00a0 Saul spent several days with the disciples\u00a0in Damascus.\u00a020\u00a0At once he began to preach in the synagogues\u00a0that Jesus is the Son of God.\u00a021\u00a0All those who heard him were astonished and asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?\u00a0And hasn\u2019t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?\u201d\u00a022\u00a0Yet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.\u00a0 23\u00a0After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,\u00a024\u00a0but Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.\u00a025\u00a0But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201c<\/span>and after taking some food, he regained his strength.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 Saul had fasted for three days and so he needed a time of recuperation.\u00a0 He had not only fasted from all food, but also from all drink.\u00a0 Add to this all he had just been through.\u00a0 Remembering that he had been an enemy of the Lord\u2019s, persecuting His people, the whole of the three days fasting, contemplating the new direction of his life and praying continuously must have simultaneously been exhilarating, bewildering and maybe frightening.<\/p>\n \u201cSaul spent several days with the disciples\u00a0in Damascus.\u00a020\u00a0At once he began to preach in the synagogues\u00a0that Jesus is the Son of God.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 The original twelve apostles (even traitor Judas Iscariot) had received face to face, live with Jesus training.\u00a0 Wow!\u00a0 Paul (Saul) also was taught face to face by Jesus.\u00a0 He didn\u2019t have the three years with Jesus during His earthly ministry, but he would have a lot of one-on-one training with Jesus.\u00a0 In fact, like the first apostles were personally called by Jesus, so was Paul.\u00a0 Paul was not brought to Christ by any man, but by Jesus Himself. In\u00a0Galatians 1:11-12<\/b>\u00a0Paul lets the Galatians know that the Gospel he preached to them was not a Gospel taught to him by any man, but was received directly from Jesus.\u00a0 In fact, after Saul was converted by Jesus he did not seek teaching from any man, but grew in the Lord as he sought Jesus in prayer and received great revelations from Him (Galatians 1:16<\/b>).\u00a0 Receiving a godly education is a marvelous thing, but Paul savored that He was directly saved and taught by Jesus.\u00a0 In reality, no-one truly grasps the deep meaning of the Word unless taught by God (John 14:26, 1 Corinthians 2:13-14<\/b>).<\/p>\n Saul had been called to preach first to the Gentiles.\u00a0 Yes, also to Jews, but his main ministry was to the Gentiles and their rulers.\u00a0 Yet he first went to the synagogues to preach to them.\u00a0 We understand that he did have authority from Jesus to also preach to the Jews.\u00a0 Paul loved his people the Jews.\u00a0 He loved their customs and traditions.\u00a0 It is easy for us to understand.\u00a0 Even today we see that a person whose eyes are opened and come to Jesus often struggle to leave behind the traditions and culture that have been so much a part of their lives.\u00a0 How much more so Saul since the Jews were the keepers of The Law and who had symbols and types of so much of what Jesus fulfilled.\u00a0 He loved them so much that in\u00a0Romans 1:1-5<\/b>\u00a0he writes that he would suffer being accursed if only his people, his race, the Jews, could be saved.\u00a0 Wow!<\/p>\n \u201cAll those who heard him were astonished and asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this name?\u00a0And hasn\u2019t he come here to take them as prisoners to the chief priests?\u201d<\/i>\u00a0 When we see a rock star, or rap artist, or anyone famous who comes out of a life of debauchery to live for Jesus, we are amazed.\u00a0 The original, and sometimes continuing platform they have to speak to large numbers of people can be a wonderful witness to many people.\u00a0 Lives can be changed.\u00a0 Paul was Jewish rock star.\u00a0 He was a Jew among Jews and now he was preaching Jesus.\u00a0 He had been at the murder of Stephen and had agreed with it.\u00a0 He had hated those of The Way and now He was of The Way.\u00a0 Yes people took notice.\u00a0 Yet, though Saul amazed many, the reaction to his first sermons was not overwhelming conversion but instead aversion.\u00a0 He went first to the Jews, but he was called to be the apostle to the gentiles.<\/p>\n \u201cYet Saul grew more and more powerful and baffled the Jews living in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.\u00a0 23\u00a0After many days had gone by, there was a conspiracy among the Jews to kill him,<\/i>\u201d As the Lord taught and grew Saul the message he preached became more and more powerful.\u00a0 Saul was an expert in the Hebrew scriptures of God and he was able to show the Jews through their own scriptures how Jesus is the Messiah.\u00a0 Yet when the Jews were confounded and had no answers to Jesus, or to Stephen, they resorted to murder.\u00a0 They feared that Saul that would lead the people to Jesus.\u00a0 So, common to how they treated their own prophets, Jesus and Stephen, they plotted to kill Saul.<\/p>\n \u201cbut Saul learned of their plan. Day and night they kept close watch on the city gates in order to kill him.\u00a025\u00a0But his followers took him by night and lowered him in a basket through an opening in the wall.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0 True to their modus operandi the Jews colluded with the government to kill Saul (2 Corinthians 11:32<\/b>).\u00a0 However Saul was warned and so the people who he had led to the Lord protected him by lowering him through an opening in the city wall so that he could depart unnoticed.\u00a0 Once again a person being used of God is invincible as long as the ministry the person is called to is incomplete.\u00a0 Not untouchable, but invincible, because God is that person\u2019s defender and protector.\u00a0 Family,\u00a0Hebrews 13:8<\/b>\u00a0states \u201cJesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Just as God has always made the people he uses invincible during their ministry, so He does for us.\u00a0 Not that there is not trouble or harm, but we cannot be stopped, though perhaps delayed, and we cannot be killed while our ministry remains to be completed.\u00a0 God the Father, Jesus the Son, and God the Holy Spirit are with us.\u00a0 We are protected by them and they will never stop loving us and so they never stop providing for and protecting us.\u00a0 We need only be busy in His will for our lives and to patiently and unshakably stay true to Him and to what He has for us to do.\u00a0 Family, the true superhero of this world is Jesus and we are His people.\u00a0 May we walk in the preordained footsteps that He has given us.\u00a0 In them we find all the great promises He has given us through Jesus our Lord and Savior.\u00a0 Praise our faithful God! Praise God, praise God, praise God!<\/p>\n Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acts 9:19-25\u00a0\u2013\u00a0and after taking some food, he regained his strength.\u00a0 Saul spent several days with the disciples\u00a0in Damascus.\u00a020\u00a0At once he began to preach in the synagogues\u00a0that Jesus is the Son of God.\u00a021\u00a0All those who heard him were astonished and asked, \u201cIsn\u2019t he the man who raised havoc in Jerusalem among those who call on this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,129,1969,104,100,94,17,10],"class_list":["post-1598","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-corinthians","tag-galatians","tag-hebrews","tag-john","tag-micah","tag-psalm","tag-romans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1598"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1599,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1598\/revisions\/1599"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1598"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1598"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1598"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}