Transformed Life

Romans 1: 1-4

Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God the gospel he promised beforehand through his prophets in the Holy Scriptures regarding his Son, who as to his earthly life was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was appointed the Son of God in power by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.

What a wonderful picture the Lord paints for us here in these scriptures pertaining to Paul. When Jesus appeared in all His Glory before Saul (Paul) at his conversion, he had no idea what he was getting into. All he knew was he saw Jesus Christ, the one he was persecuting, transform his life right before his eyes.

Out of all the people Jesus could have picked for the job, he picked Paul. Why would he pick such a horrible, wretched sinner like Paul? Because like Paul, we are all sinners and fall short of the glory of God. We might look at murder as a worse crime than stealing, but in God’s eyes sin is sin. That doesn’t change the fact that murder is still bad just like stealing is, it just means that to God, if you commit one you commit them all. It separates us from God forever. That’s why he sent Jesus to cancel our sin debt. I believed Jesus chose Paul because he wanted to show how much he loves us and will forgive us of all our sins when we accept him as Lord.

When people say, “Oh, I could never follow God and serve in ministry,” we continue to accept the lie from Satan saying we aren’t good enough. We have done too many wrong things to deserve God’s love. If we look at ourselves as dirty rags and realize that we have an awesome God that loves us, then we will have complete joy in our lives for what Christ did for us at the cross. Paul realized this and changed the world around him in his lifetime. Even though he died for his faith to Christ, the world would feel the impact of his loyalty to the gospel. Many people are now saved because of the foundation he and so many other first century Christians did for the sake of the gospel.

Dear Jesus, thank you so much for paying for my sin debt. Thank you that I can come humbly before you and know you as my Savior and King. Please help me to remember the precious sacrifice you made for me at the cross. Help me to live out my faith everyday for your glory. In Jesus name, Amen!

I Don't Have to be Afraid

Acts 27: 21-22

After they had gone a long time without food, Paul stood up before them and said: “Men, you should have taken my advice not to sail from Crete; then you would have spared yourselves this damage and loss. But now I urge you to keep up your courage, because not one of you will be lost; only the ship will be destroyed.

Paul had faced many trials in his life. This scripture tells us about his journey to Rome, but it was short lived due to a hurricane that shipwrecked him on a little island known as Malta.

Without Paul and the crew being shipwrecked, something might not have taken place. An angel of the Lord appeared to Paul and told him to not be afraid and that he would stand trial before Caesar. Think about it in today’s world. That would be like you or me standing trial before the President of the United States. I think any one of us might be afraid or at least a little nervous.

Many of us might miss the point of this scripture and skip through it. But sometimes God decides to send storms in our lives for a reason. God wasn’t punishing or wanting to kill Paul. He was simply allowing Paul to see His awesome power. Even though the ship was damaged, nobody was killed or injured.  It’s the same in our spiritual life. Even though the body or the flesh may fail, our spirit will live on forever. Remember, no matter what we face or go through there is a God who loves you and will take care of us even to the end.

Dear Jesus, thank you so much for your protection today. Thank you for allowing me to not go through any storm alone. I don’t have to be afraid because I know and trust you will take care of me. In Jesus name, Amen!

Put on Love

Acts 24: 14-16

However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets, and I have the same hope in God as these men themselves have, that there will be a resurrection of both the righteous and the wicked. So I strive always to keep my conscience clear before God and man.

Have you ever been wrongly accused of something that wasn’t true? How did that make you feel? Did you have a hard time recovering from it?

Paul was constantly under attack for his sold out love for Jesus. He was falsely accused on several occasions and wrongly mistreated. He spent many months and years in prison. He was always facing problems not just in his own life, but also with the new churches.

I think it is easy to forget that when we are sold out for God we will be treated unfairly and often our reputation can be ruined. What is more important to you? Is the approval of man more important or is God’s? I think the answer is quite simple. All you have to do is look around you and you will see how sold out you are for God.

If you pursue money and materialistic wealth more than you pursue saving souls than we don’t have a time problem we simply have a love problem. Jesus says in Revelation speaking to the church in Ephesus that we have lost our first love. When we take the focus off of what Jesus did for us on the cross and focus on our problems, than we are nothing more the clashing cymbals. Always remember to put on love and let it go with you everywhere you go. No matter what people might think or say about you, do what is right and God will honor you for your faith.

Dear Jesus, thank you so much for loving me. Thank you for giving me an opportunity today to share my faith with others. Help me to return back to my first love and to keep you first in all things. In Jesus name, Amen!

Encouraging Words

Acts 11: 22-24

News of this reached the church in Jerusalem, and they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw what the grace of God had done, he was glad and encouraged them all to remain true to the Lord with all their hearts. He was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

Has there ever been somebody in your life that has encouraged you over the years? Somebody who has been someone you can turn to when times get tough? I’m sure from time to time we all get a little disappointed. Maybe it’s your job or a friend that has hurt you. Whatever it is, we all need encouragers in our lives.

In this passage, we continue to see the growth of the church throughout the known world at the time. We continue to see even with some like Stephen and others that were persecuted and killed that the church continued to move forward and not backward. It would seem that with every persecution and every murder of Christians, the church would be even more bold and courageous than ever before.

We need to remember that spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is an encouraging thing. Sharing the love of Jesus to people that might not ever have heard of the gospel is an incredible task and should be taken with devout faith and commitment. We should always be an encouragement to others by sharing God’s Word and loving one another. Even though the church might be persecuted and look down upon by society, we should always lend a helping hand and encourage others to do the same.

Dear Jesus, help me to be more encouraging today wherever I go. Help me to encourage my fellow brothers and sisters in Christ to carry out the gospel message to people that need to hear it. Give me the boldness and the courage to be a light in this world. In Jesus name, Amen!

Act on Your Faith

Acts 9: 19-20

Saul spent several days with the disciples in Damascus. At once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God.

Saul, otherwise known as Paul, had a remarkable conversion with the Lord. Saul was very devoted to his beliefs, but his beliefs led him to believe that it was right to persecute and murder Christians. Not everything we believe is the truth. We need to make sure that what we believe is directly from the Word of God.

After Paul’s conversion, he spent several days with the disciples. This scripture says, at once he began to preach in the synagogues that Jesus is the Son of God. Notice here that there was no hesitancy by Paul. He simply acted on what he saw and believed. We don’t have that luxury of seeing the Lord like he did yet, but that shouldn’t stop us from sharing the gospel.

Some people have the belief well I have to see it to believe it. How foolish that is! Do we see the wind or see the air we breathe? Without air we couldn’t breathe yet we know it exists. Jesus said, “Blessed are those who don’t have to see and believe.” Just because we can’t physically see Jesus right now doesn’t mean everything stops and we make excuses. We should be actively going out and sharing our faith and believing what the scripture says with the help of the Holy Spirit. That is the only hope for our nation and the world.

Dear Jesus, help me to act on my faith daily. Help me to not make excuses for not sharing my faith with others today. Give me opportunities today to make a difference in someone’s life today. In Jesus name, Amen!

First of Many Steps

Acts 5: 29-32


But Peter and the apostles answered, “ We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. He is the one whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things; and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him.”


These verses should tell us who our God really is. He’s not interested in man’s ability. If he was he would have used great and mighty men to share the gospel, but instead God used ordinary men like us to carry out His plan.

At times, Peter was very outspoken and had a bad temper. But that didn’t stop Jesus from making Peter the rock that He would build his church upon. If you were Peter, how would you feel if Jesus said that to you? You see, Jesus knew that Peter loved him. But Jesus was only interested in seeing how obedient Peter was going to be until the end. Remember, Peter didn’t get it right the first time. He denied Jesus three times when Jesus was arrested, but now Peter was ready to accept his purpose.

So the question for us is, are we ready to accept God’s plan and purpose for our life? Like Peter, we might not get it right the first or for some of us maybe several times, but eventually through growing and maturing in our faith, we will be ready to accept God’s purpose for our life. Peter had a huge mission to fulfill, but his mission is the same one that we have; to tell others about Jesus and how much he loves us. Today, make a point to thank God for sending his Son Jesus and paying the ultimate sacrifice for our sins.

Dear Jesus, thank you so much for your love and forgiveness. Thank you for allowing me to have a purpose in your great plan. I pray that today I will take the first of many steps to accomplishing your will for my life. In Jesus name, Amen!

Preach the Gospel!

Acts 4:31-32
³¹ After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.³² All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had.

Acts 2 through 4 shows a very exciting time in the life of the new believers. Peter and John had faced some adversity, but God prevailed and they left to testify what the Lord had done on their behalf. Word spread like fire through Jerusalem what had happened on the Day of Pentecost and thousands were repenting of their sins and joining the fellowship of new believers daily.

Peter and John, even when faced with threats to not testify of what Jesus had done for them, simply couldn’t listen to what man had to say, but only to what God had to say. God’s plan relied on the apostles to preach the gospel to as many as they could. As the church began to grow, new challenges arose, but the message of Jesus Christ became uncontrollable and the religious people didn’t like it.

Many Pharisees and Sadducees continued to deny that Jesus was and is the true Son of God. They continued to plot how to kill new believers and  weaken the churches’ efforts to preach the gospel. One thing is for sure, without the help of the apostles and the new believers; it would have been more difficult for the gospel to spread like it did. We as Christians should continue to pray like they did for boldness to preach the gospel to the all the nations no matter what the cost.

Dear Jesus, thank you for coming and dying on the cross for my sins. I repent and turn from anything that would hinder my relationship with you today. Please help and protect those that carry the good news to the utter ends of the earth. Give them renewed strength and zeal to finish the work that you have for each one that is called by your name. In Jesus’ name, Amen!