10Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus
named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, "Ananias."
And he said,
"Here I am, Lord."
11So the Lord said to him, "Arise and go
to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called
Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. 12And in a vision he has
seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him, so that
he might receive his sight."
13Then Ananias answered, "Lord, I
have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in
Jerusalem. 14And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind
all who call on Your name."
15But the Lord said to him, "Go, for
he is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the
children of Israel. 16For I will show him how many things he must
suffer for My name's sake."
17And Ananias went his way and entered
the house; and laying his hands on him he said, "Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that
you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit."
18Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales,
and he received his sight at once; and he arose and was baptized.Acts 9:10-18
Hebrews 11 is called the heroes of faith chapter and many are mentioned
starting with Abraham onward. I think Ananias belongs in the heroes of our
faith. Look at what he was asked to do. He was asked to restore the sight to a
man who had been persecuting those of the Christian faith. Saul held coats while
Stephen was being stoned! We can understand when Ananias questioned God's
command to restore his sight. Imagine that during WWII Hitler was struck down
and lost his eye sight and a Jew was asked to go in and restore his sight. I
think that is a good analogy to what Ananias had to do. He was a man of faith
and followed God's orders.
There are many heroes of faith. Martin Luther, John Calvin, John Wesley and
the list goes on and on. During the years of civil war in Sudan, I am sure there
were many heroes of faith. While in Werkok, I meet one of those heroes - Bishop
Nathaniel Garang. He stayed in southern Sudan during the long years of war and
helped keep the light of Jesus burning during a very dark period of time. I
loved sitting around the campfire listening to his stories. I was impressed by
the respect shown to him by his fellow Sudanese.
Let us always pause and give thanks for those who have labored to uphold the
faith during difficult times. One day we may be called to stand up for our faith
during a difficult time and we can draw courage and strength from those who have
gone before.
Mike McMahon
"Cowards die many times before their death; the valiant never
taste of death but once." - William Shakespeare
Prayer Power
Lord, thank you for the stories of heroes in the Bible that we may learn from
and use as examples to follow. Thank you for all the many heroes of faith that
shine brightly to inspire us onward to the goal - to know You and share your
story with a lost and fallen world. Amen.
"We all stumble in many ways."James
3:2
We all know the story. Peter, the bold and fiery disciple, pledged to be with
Jesus and die for him. (Peter said to Him, "Lord, why can I not follow You now?
I will lay down my life for Your sake." John 13:37). During the first trial
before Annas Peter denied knowing Jesus and during the second trial before
Caiaphas Peter denied him two more times. In John 21 after his resurrection,
Christ asks Peter three times, "Do you love me?" Christ was reaching out to
bring an obviously heartbroken Peter back into the fold. Peter got over his
failure and went on to fulfill his destiny in Christ and become the "rock" of
the church that Christ had predicted he would become.
How often do we let our failures in life define who we are? How often do we
let our past failures continue to haunt us and chain us to our past? Satan wants
to keep us bound up and feeling guilty, but Christ came to free us from
condemnation. If we remain chained to our past failures, we cannot be useful to
Christ in the present. We need to know the truth that we all will stumble, but
Christ is there to pick us up, forgive us (he already has), and set us back on
the path of righteousness in Christ. We need to remember Paul's words, "one
thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to
those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the
upward call of God in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 3:13b-14). We need to not let
our past make us feel guilty and prevent us from working for the kingdom of
God.
Mike McMahon
"The church of Jesus Christ is a fellowship of forgiven
failures." - Jon Bloom
Prayer Power
Lord, please help us to forgive ourselves as you have already forgiven us.
Help us to not be chained to our past but know the reality of the future we have
with you. Amen