How you doin? Paul's saga continues in Jerusalem. Acts 23 today. The very first verse makes me jealous (or have zeal). "Paul
looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have
fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.”
(23:1) AWESOME!!!!!!! I love the closeness that obedience creates with
God. I can recall the times that I did something that was pleasing to my
patents. That feeling of closeness and love was quite memorable. The
times I've experienced God's pleasure with me are immeasurably more
memorable and impacting. God leaves a mark. I can't say that in times of
obedience to God that I haven't received a similar response from people
around, even close to me. "At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth."
(23:2) Stacey and I take our shots to the mouth. The up coming
conference is the latest demonstration of obedience, which allow for
people to strike us. Paul's response in verses 3-8 is priceless. I so
long to comfortably say "I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good
conscience to this day".
As far as taking shots or being struck on the mouth, verse 11 explains very well how Paul endures his continued mistreatment. "The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take
courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also
testify in Rome.” COME ON!!!!!!! God is present future. Paul knows he's
getting out of Jerusalem, because God tells him he's to testify in Rome.
Obviously if Paul wasn't going to make it out of Jerusalem, God
wouldn't be telling him about Rome. AWESOME!!!!!!! I can relate to this
in Stacey's and my life. God gave us both a glimpse of our future, which
includes conferences, worship, retreats, and anything that assist in
the Kingdom of Heaven being brought and known on earth as it is in
Heaven. SAY WORD!!!!!!! So as we learn from this experience of bring the
Welton's to our church, we will "take courage" and believe that God is
present future. We are in the very beginning of our process and I love
it. DIG IT!!!!!!! Well, I need to stop before my cheeks actually do
catch on fire. They feel like they're going to. God is AWESOME!!!!!!!
And so is the process of learning how to follow Him. Have zeal for your
process today.PS How you doin? We're finishing breakfast and Paulie's fake crying and saying, "wa, wa, wa, boohoo, boohoo... I love Jesus". Stacey turns and looks at us wondering what's going on and I said "he's bustin on me from yesterday". Stacey burst out laughing and said "that's the funniest thing I've ever seen". Talk about getting smacked in the mouth. I have an encounter with the Holy Ghost and am delivered from the grip of fear and my son and wife make fun of my response. BRUTAL!
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