May 5, 2018

I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:

TO CHANGE A PERSON (part 5)

ACTS 9:4 And he fell to the earth, and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? 5 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.

Saul was finding out, right here at the beginning of his spiritual journey, something that we all quickly find out. It really is hard to kick against “the pricks”. I can bear witness to that fact. That is one thing that God sometimes uses to change a person. You see, Paul had been doing his best to fight against God, God’s people, and God’s conviction. He had stubbornly kicked against everything that God had put in his life. However, the handwriting was on the wall. God always wins. We can kick, fight, ignore, play games, blame, etc., but our efforts are futile against God.

I always think about the testimony of Dr. Tim Lee. Having been raised in the home of a preacher, he began to run from God. God certainly tried to lovingly bring him back to a close relationship with God, but he continued to run. His running stopped on a landline in Vietnam. Oh, the thousands of people that have been saved over the years of Dr. Lee’s ministry. Oh, the lives that have been changed, since the day that God changed him.

Paul ended being blinded by the great light and was blind for a few days. He was helpless, lost, and alone. God brought the right people by in his life and a few years down the road, Paul is one of the greatest apostles of Christ in history. Paul then becomes instrumental in leading others to change in their lives. Paul described himself as the “chiefest of sinners”. You could say he went from a “chief sinner” to a “changed sinner”. Paul finally surrendered to the Lord. He quit fighting it, maybe that is you. Maybe you have been fighting and kicking against the “pricks”.

I don’t know if you have noticed this, but I always picture God the Father speaking to Paul on the road to Damascus. I have for some reason always thought that. But our passage says that it was God the Son. “I am Jesus”. Jesus having ascended into Heaven, now speaks from Heaven. He was saying, ‘Paul you think that your persecution will change my work, but I am here to change you’. This also proves that Jesus is alive and well in Heaven. He ascended into Heaven, but here He speaks audibly from Heaven. Just a little reminder that He is risen, ascended, and still reigning in Heaven.

I am persuaded that He is able to change a person.