Acts 9:10-22

And devotions, it's so good to have you this morning. Ellie asked if she could do coffee and devotions. So, are you excited to do coffee and devotions this morning? No? Well, at least you're honest. Well, we are at Acts chapter 9, verses 10 through 12 this morning. Good morning. Good morning. Good morning. It's so good to have you. This is where every day we get together.
We get into God's Word and we grow in our love for the Lord together. And this year, 2022, we'll go all the way from Acts to Philemon. Yeah, all the way from Acts to Philemon. Why don't we go ahead, have something to drink. We'll pray and we'll get into God's Word. Okay, you ready to pray? Okay, let's pray. Father, we thank you so much for this day and we thank you for your word. We pray now that as we read your word that you would teach us and care for us. We pray that you would let us have faith in you. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.
All right, we're at Acts chapter 9 and verses 10 through 22. You ready, Elbow? Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. What was his name? Ananias. That's right, Ananias. And to him the Lord said in a vision, Ananias! And he said, Here I am, Lord. What did Ananias say? Here I am, Lord. That's right.
So the Lord said to him, Arise and go to the street called Straight. What was the street called? Straight. Why do you think it was called straight? Because the road was straight. Yeah, the road was straight. Do you know that the road is still there today in Damascus? Yeah, the road's still there.
And inquire at the house of Judas of one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying. And in a vision he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hand on him so he might receive his sight. So what did Saul have a dream about? Saul had a dream of a man named Ananias. Ananias, right? And what was Ananias supposed to do? He was supposed to put his What is he supposed to do? He's supposed to put his hands on Saul. Yeah, he's supposed to put his hands on Saul. Then Ananias answered, he said. You ready to hear what Ananias said?
He said, Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priest to bind all who call on your name. But the Lord said to him, Go, for he is a chosen vessel of mine to bear my name before the Gentiles, kings and children of Israel. Yeah, for I will show him how many things he must suffer for my name's sake. Is suffering easy? You think it's easier sometimes, do you cry? Yeah, suffering isn't always easy, it can be hard.
And here, Saul was the one who was persecuting Jesus, making his people suffer, and now he's going to be the one who's going to suffer for Jesus' name. And Ananias went his way and entered the house, and laying his hands on him, he said, Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me..." Oh, don't touch that, don't touch that. has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.
Immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he received his sight at once, and he arose and was baptized." So he had scales on his eyes. And as soon as Ananias touched him, what happened to the scales on his eyes? What happened to the scales? They fell off. Yeah, the scales fell off his eyes.
And he arose, whoop! And he was baptized. Do you know what baptized means? What? It means that they put water on him. And they put Jesus' name on him. They put God's own name on him. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Yeah. That's right, he was baptized because now he was in Jesus. So, when he had received food, he hadn't eaten or drinking anything for three days now. You think you would be hungry after three days? That's right. He was strengthened.
Then Saul spent days, some days, with the disciples at Damascus. Immediately he preached the Christ. in the synagogues, that He is the Son of God. Then all who heard were amazed and said, Is this not He who destroyed those who called on this name in Jerusalem, and has come here for that purpose, so that He might bring them bound to the chief priests?"
You know what Saul had been doing? Saul had been arresting, I'm gonna arrest you. Give me your hands. I'm going to arrest you and I'm going to take you to Jerusalem with me because you follow Jesus. And now what was Saul doing? Yeah, he was putting them in jail, but you know what he's doing now? He's telling them about Jesus. Yeah. Saul, who once hated Jesus, now was telling people about Jesus. Yeah, but Saul increased all the more in strength. Can you show me your muscles? Increased all the more in strength. Right, he became strong in the Lord.
And he confounded the Jews who dwelt in Damascus, proving that Jesus is the Christ. Yeah, Jesus was the King. Jesus was the Messiah. Jesus was the Son of God. Yeah, the one who had persecuted the church, persecuted Jesus. Now he was telling people about Jesus. This is a good story. It sure is a great story. Do you think that you could follow Jesus? Uh-huh.
Do you think you can be a strong woman of God? Yes, you can be a strong woman of God. We know people like that, don't we? Strong women of God, like your mommy. Like so many of the ladies at church. Well Isn't it remarkable? That we're talking to our friends now, isn't it remarkable? That God can save sinners like Saul He can take out the hardest of hearts and give them a heart of flesh Do you know people in your life that you think there's no way God could ever save this person Maybe we should pray for him Maybe we should pray for those who we think have no chance, who are the enemies of God. Maybe they'll come to Him.
Let's pray that now. Father, we pray. Let's go ahead and pray. Lord, we pray for those who now seem to be Your enemies. We pray for those who are persecuting Your people and are trying to stop Your gospel. Lord, we pray that You would Work by the power of your Holy Spirit to throw them upon the ground, to cast out their hearts of stone, and to let them love you. Lord, we pray that they would no longer persecute your people, but that they might turn and know your ways. We pray for those who are being persecuted.
We think of those in jail, even today. Lord, we pray that you would give them strength to show the love of God and to tell even their captors, their torturers, about the love that's found in Jesus Christ. It's in His name we pray. Amen. May the Lord comfort you today, knowing that the Prince of Peace still lives. and that He is saving sinners and calling them saints, even today. We'll see you tomorrow. You want to say bye? Bye!