Ask and You Will Receive

 Meditations on The Acts of the Apostles

February 15, 2021

Ask and You Will Receive

But the Lord said to Ananias, “Go! This man is my chosen instrument to proclaim my name to the Gentiles and their kings and to the people of Israel.

Acts 9:15

Read: Acts 9:10-19a

Jesus has a great sense of humor. Often his humor is seen in the stunning reversals from the norm used to accomplish his purposes. If I were to pick the one person who would have the greatest influence on building God’s new church I would have had several good candidates. Peter, John and Phillip immediately come to mind. And God did use them in mighty ways to build for His Kingdom. But the one who was picked is the one person who had dedicated himself to destroying the new church: Saul.

Who could have I chosen to be the most influential person to take the Gospel beyond Israel? Peter and John had already distinguished themselves as being inclusive when they went to Samaria to help Phillip, and Phillip was the one who went to Samaria first. No, God chose Saul.

Saul is the most hard-liner, fanatical, ultra-nationalist, super-orthodox Pharisaic Jew in Israel. Saul is the last person I would have chosen to invite foreigners into the Kingdom of God. But God picked Saul.

This little story of Saul coming to faith in Christ reminds me that God sees things in an altogether different way than I do. It is a reminder to pray intently and earnestly before making decisions so that I may have the mind of Christ and do things God’s way.

My Takeaway: Today’s passage also reveals that it is perfectly OK to enter into a discussion with and to ask questions of God. Ananias’ assignment from the Lord is another example of God going against the norm. God affirmed his call on the life of Saul, and Ananias was obedient. May our Lord find such obedience in me.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

 

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com.

 

Copyright © 2021 by Alex M. Knight

 

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.