Day 17, Paragraph 17 of Weekday Blog #1

*Starting our morning and day off great with the 10-minute Weekday Blog*

Our first DAILY blog for each Weekday in JUNE!

Thank you for joining us for this
ground-breaking JOURNEY...
through the 1st CHAPTER of Keith's book,
“Keep the FAITH…Keep Your VISION”!

If you will read this book in its entirety, then you will be equipped
to begin walking with the confidence and authority that Jesus Christ came and died to provide for us, in order that we may work *with* Him, be *fulfilled* in our work, lead a *successful life*, and...
      

Day SEVENTEEN,
Paragraph SEVENTEEN:

    
Saul of Tarsus (later to be known as the Apostle Paul) was dramatically confronted with an important truth prior to his conversion. Acts 9:1-5 brings this truth to light saying, "And Saul, yet breathing out threatenings and slaughter against the disciples of the Lord, went unto the high priest, And desired of him letters to Damascus to the synagogues, that if he found any of this way, whether they were men or women, he might bring them bound unto Jerusalem. And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven: And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? And he said, Who art thou, Lord? And the Lord said, I am Jesus whom thou persecutest: it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks." (Acts 9:1-5)

Question to ponder:

In Acts 9:5, what does Jesus mean by "...it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks"?  _________________________________________

Keith's "Comments from the Author":

"If you read yesterday's message about the bully who picked on my brother at the school bus stop, you see a modern day bully who compares to a bully in the Bible who was consumed with finding, imprisoning, and destroying the followers of Jesus Christ. His name was Saul of Tarsus. Not only was he consumed with these evil tasks, but he had been given the money, written permission, and troop support to pull it off. Although the High Priest and his ruling party had been able to manipulate Rome into doing their dirty work for them, having Christ crucified, they made a monumental mistake! They underestimated how deeply Jesus Christ had impacted the people of the region! And, now, the Person of the Holy Spirit had come to continue carrying the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to people near and far, all over the world. It would be Saul's lack of knowing and understanding this fact that, ultimately, led him to the life-altering encounter he had with the One Who confronted him, face to face, similar to how I stuck up for my brother at the bus stop. Now, concerning what Jesus meant by saying to Saul, '...it is hard for thee to kick against the pricks', there's a definite image that I received the first time I studied this Scripture passage. When I was a young boy, I used to camp out with a few of my friends in my neighborhood. One evening, just as the sun was starting to set, the guys and I launched out on one of our deep-woods adventures, exploring some new terrain. Before we realized it, we had gotten ourselves trapped in a thick briar patch that we were standing in waist-deep. Of course, having left our hunting knives back at the campsite, we were forced to kick our way through those thick briars until we could reach a clearing. So, now, sporting jeans with thorns and holes all in them, and drops of blood running down our legs, we all came to the conclusion that we would never again go somewhere without making sure to carry along our hunting knives. When you find yourself in a painful, no-escape, 'prickly' situation, confronted by a commanding force that leaves you basically powerless, you begin to get the picture of what it means to 'kick against', as Jesus said, 'the pricks'. In essence, what Jesus was saying to Saul was, 'Because you have chosen to persecute Me, by choosing to fight against My children, now you have to deal with me!' If you find yourself trapped, in any way, by sin, you will know just how painful a life can be that runs contrary to the life-giving ways of Jesus Christ. We encourage you to seek to find wisdom and understanding from the Word of God to be sure you will not be one who is, 'destroyed for lack of knowledge: because thou hast rejected knowledge...' as Hosea 4:6 clearly explains. What are you waiting for? There's no better time than n-o-w. Selah. Amen (so be it)!"

"And Jesus came and said to them, 'All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. 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, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age. ."  (Matthew 28:18-20)


*We look forward to joining with you again tomorrow, and please take a few minutes to invite for your friends who are lost, or who just need encouragement! God bless and keep you!*

_____________________________

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Your friends & servants in Christ,

Take me back to the top of this post.

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