Week 10 in Review

As some of you may know, at our house we have a "haunted" TV. We call it that because every once in a while it will turn itself on. Last night it happened again, and for some reason it was tuned to TBN. They were showing a cartoon about the conversion of Saul/Paul. If you need a refresher, here's the passage from the Bible, in Acts 9:

Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?"

"Who are you, Lord?" Saul asked.

"I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting," he replied. "Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do."

The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless; they heard the sound but did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, but when he opened his eyes he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind, and did not eat or drink anything.

In Damascus there was a disciple named Ananias. The Lord called to him in a vision, "Ananias!"
"Yes, Lord," he answered.

The Lord told him, "Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. 12In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight."

"Lord," Ananias answered, "I have heard many reports about this man and all the harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And he has come here with authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on your name."

But the Lord said to Ananias, "Go! This man is my chosen instrument to carry my name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for my name."

Then Ananias went to the house and entered it. Placing his hands on Saul, he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord—Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you were coming here—has sent me so that you may see again and be filled with the Holy Spirit." Immediately, something like scales fell from Saul's eyes, and he could see again. He got up and was baptized, and after taking some food, he regained his strength.


I never took the time to really reflect on how this affected him emotionally. The zeal for persecuting Christians and hatred towards them he had! It's hard to grasp how humbled he was. What shame he had about what he had done. Has anyone ever regretted his former life as much as Paul? Has anyone ever been turned around as much as Paul? The tears he must have shed when he realized he had been persecuting the Lord! Everything he held dear was crushed. He lost his entire life. I can see a pain in Paul's life that must be deeper than anyone else I can imagine. I see a very tender spot, a deep pain, but also a love and humility that shines through in his inspired writing. I'm really looking forward to meeting him in heaven. Maybe we can talk about what happened and how he felt when he was in Damascus.

I just spent an hour writing 1500 words to a friend! And I did talk about the time I was born again. I felt like Paul, too. What a wasted life until that point. But what love and forgiveness! Here's an excerpt:
I experienced God at a level of intimacy I'd never experienced. We were so close. I was so in love. I had never realized how much he cared for me! That he had been directing all the events in my life to bring me to him!
In him I found infinite comfort, infinite security, infinite love. My wounds were deep, and he healed them.

How 'bout you? Have you ever experienced his love to a point where it had you floored? Where you had to cry? Where you felt joy?
If not, you can freely experience that! He wants to give it to you more than you want it! But you miss out because you aren't thirsty for it. You have not because you ask not. But don't be worried. He can give you the thirst, too, if you ask for it! How thirsty are you? However thirsty you are is how much you'll drink. If you're a little thirsty, you'll drink little. If you're very thirsty you'll drink a lot. If you kinda sorta want to be filled, you'll kinda sorta be filled. If you really want to be filled, you'll really be filled.

John 7:37-38
"If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

John 4:13-14
"Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."