There is a meme that has been doing the rounds for years now:
"Satan knows your name, but calls you by your sin.
Jesus knows your sin, but calls you by your name."
See, no one has ever been saved by telling them what they are.
But by sharing with people what they can be,
that brings hope.
And it is hope that prepares people from the earliest times for the good news of Jesus' salvation.
In Acts 10 we read that the people of Damascus were afraid of the "new" Saul.
Would it then not be the man who brought so much cruelty among the believers in Jerusalem?
His actions clearly showed who he was.
But Barnabas takes him under his wing, introduces him to the apostles, tells them about Saul's encounter with the Living Lord on the road to Damascus and how he was already hard at work spreading the good news.
He makes them think that this story can have a different ending.
He already sees what Saul can be and I want to believe that this established Saul's faith in it that much more.
"After that, he was accepted as one of them..."
verse 28
"When his friends learned of the plot (to murder him), they got him out of town..."
verse 30
Friends that you walk with for many years are wonderful. They have known you for a long time and believe that they know you fully.
But friends who honour the growth in you, no matter how long you’ve known them, are a wonderful arrow in your quiver against the attacks of evil. They are the ones who face the danger of every day with you and plans how to get you to the other side of this dark shadow.
If I can remind you of the plan the Lord has for you, what He knows you can be and what He speaks about you when you are
too tired or
too busy or
too angry or
too doubtful or
too afraid to remember,
then I’m helping to write His story for your life.
May I never be
too tired or
too busy or
too angry or
too doubtful or
too afraid to remind you.
"Remember Your word to Your servant, for You have given me hope."
Psalm 119:49 NIV
Your inspiration for the week: Don't stop praying