Ananias of Damascus and Saul and the Lord Jesus Christ

 

Praise be the the Lord Jesus Christ who through his Prophet Ananias restored the sight of Saint Paul!

Now, Paul before he could become a saint and believer in Jesus Christ was also called Saul. And this Saul was one of the most dangerous persecutors of Christians especially those in Jerusalem and also played part in the murder of the first martyr Stephen. So much was the persecution that the Lord Jesus as mentioned in the Book of Acts of the Apostles Chapter 9 decided to intervene personally on behalf of the Church.

Saul was not just admonished by Jesus Christ but also lost his sight due to the glory of Christ that came as light from Heaven. Then when Saul decided to walk the humble path upon hearing the voice of Jesus, he was told go to Damascus.

 

The Lord Jesus then worked out healing in Saul through Ananias as per the below verses in the Book of Acts:

¹⁰ And there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias. And the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Behold, I am here, Lord.” ¹¹ Then the Lord said to him, “Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight. And look in the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus. For behold, he prays.” ¹² “And in a vision, he has seen a man named Ananias coming in and putting his hands on him, so that he might receive his sight.” ¹³ Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man; how much evil he has done to your saints at Jerusalem. ¹⁴ “Moreover, here he has the authority of the chief priests to bind all that call on Your Name.” ¹⁵ Then the Lord said to him, “Go. For he is a vessel chosen by Me to bear My Name before the Gentiles, and Kings, and the children of Israel.¹⁶ “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My Name’s sake.”

¹⁷ Then Ananias went, and entered that house, and put his hands on him, and said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, Who appeared to you on the way as you came, has sent me, so that you might receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Ghost.”¹⁸ And immediately something like ‘scales’ fell from his eyes. And suddenly he received sight, and arose, and was baptized, ¹⁹ and received food and was strengthened. So, Saul was with the Damascus disciples for some days.

 

A few lessons to learn from this:

1. The Lord Jesus will bless those who follow his Word even those who are the worst of sinners that repent.
2. Like Saul be ready to obey the Lord Jesus to move up to your higher calling in God.
3. Like Ananias keep yourself ready in all prayer, so that when the time comes then you’re able to do great healings and good works towards those whom the Lord leads you to bring salvation and deliverance in their lives.
4. If you have any doubts towards doing any good deed be humble enough to ask the Lord for his good counsel instead of rejecting doing good altogether.
5. The Holy Spirit will work through you if surrender to Will of God.

Make the most of your time because the days are evil

O fellow believers in Jesus take heed; Make the most of your time because the days are evil.

 

Now before you think this is about earthly and worldly progress, try to understand the context of this Bible verse. Let’s go ahead:

• This verse obviously doesn’t speak about how much money you make but yes it doesn’t tell you to be careless.
• This verse is not about how much productive you can be but yes it doesn’t tell you to be lazy.
• This verse is not about how much friends you make but yes it doesn’t tell you to make enemies of those who are good.

What this verse really means should be take context of the Gospel. A few key points:

Avoiding sin is still a major command of the Gospel. Those who think otherwise will totally miss out on being imitators of Christ and lose their inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God.

Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. ² And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. ³ But fornication and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is fitting among saints. ⁴ Let there be no filthiness, nor silly talk, nor levity, which are not fitting; but instead let there be thanksgiving. ⁵ Be sure of this, that no fornicator or impure man, or one who is covetous (that is, an idolater), has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God. (Ephesians 5:1-5)

Don’t be deceived by those who claim that once you have accepted the Gospel, you can turn your back on it without the consequences that follow.

⁶ Let no one deceive you with empty words, for it is because of these things that the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. (Ephesians 5:6)

Don’t walk in fellowship with those who disobey the Living God, because now that you are of the light in the Lord and must learn to do what is pleasing to God.

 ⁷ Therefore do not associate with them, ⁸ for once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light ⁹ (for the fruit of light is found in all that is good and right and true), ¹⁰ and try to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. (Ephesians 5:6)

Expose the works of darkness but don’t take part in yourself, because these works are vile and wicked. And do remember that the light of God will expose these things

¹¹ Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them. ¹² For it is a shame even to speak of the things that they do in secret; ¹³ but when anything is exposed by the light it becomes visible, for anything that becomes visible is light. ¹⁴ Therefore it is said,

“Awake, O sleeper, and arise from the dead,
and Christ shall give you light.” (Ephesians 5:11-14)

Make the most of your time because the days are evil. You know the world around you is living in sin and getting more evil. Therefore, do no be drunk nor foolish. But instead understand God’s will and be filled the Holy Spirit. Do not be ashamed of voicing your faith in front of fellow believers, and most importantly praise Jesus Christ and the Lord our God with all your heart.

¹⁵ Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, ¹⁶ making the most of the time, because the days are evil. ¹⁷ Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. ¹⁸ And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery; but be filled with the Spirit, ¹⁹ addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, ²⁰ always and for everything giving thanks in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father. (Ephesians 5:15-20)

Christ be with you as you make the most of your time because the days are evil!

 

Christians are not called to be solo players

Christians are not called to be solo players. This means that a Christian can’t just accept Jesus and then choose not to pray nor interact along with other Christians. Not every Christian may be as talented as you nor they may be as wise as you. However this is not a reason to avoid caring for each other.

The following scripture tells us how being more than a single person can help tackle tough situations much more better:

Two people are better off than one, for they can help each other succeed. If one person falls, the other can reach out and help. But someone who falls alone is in real trouble. Likewise, two people lying close together can keep each other warm. But how can one be warm alone? A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12)

There are Christians who avoid church services at the local church due to the abundance of hypocrites they encounter. This is not a good situation to be in but you can’t just give up on your gathering in the church just because of that. For example, if you say that you won’t board a train unless you have all the “hypocrites” removed would the train driver even agree to you? However, I do agree that if you don’t need to partake of their sins. So if you go to church and realize that certain church members are into drugs, then pray in church, listen to the preacher but don’t waste time with those drug addicts. If they approach you just remind them that God desires holiness in his children so they need to focus on God rather than any worldly thing. Don’t get into a debate but be firm that you won’t sin even if they have many reasons to do so.

It’s not going to be possible that you make friends with each and everyone at church. This could be because of differences in culture, languages, political ideologies, money etc. In certain circles of Christianity speaking to a person of the opposite sex is frowned upon very often, so if you are in this type of place better that you don’t push too hard though you may have noticed a lot of freedom of speech in other churches. Here you can at most say ‘bless you sister’ or ‘bless you brother’ which should be fine enough.

To avoid being a loner at church, try to identify like-minded Christians who agree with you on most doctrinal points of the Bible. You can then reach out to them and find if you are going to be friends. This way you can have common ground to pray on. Also ensure that the other person and yourself are a team for the glory of God and not for mutual benefits. The main focus must be the Lord Jesus and the preaching of the Gospel. Apart from this provided that whatever you do always is in line with the wisdom of the Gospel, you can help each other.

With this being said, you must remember the words of Jesus on what to do if another believer sins against you:

“If another believer sins against you, go privately and point out the offense. If the other person listens and confesses it, you have won that person back. But if you are unsuccessful, take one or two others with you and go back again, so that everything you say may be confirmed by two or three witnesses. If the person still refuses to listen, take your case to the church. Then if he or she won’t accept the church’s decision, treat that person as a pagan or a corrupt tax collector. (Matthew 18:15-17)

Also keep in mind what Jesus said next in the same chapter (Matthew 18)

“Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” (Matthew 18:19-20)

This means that you can also pray to the Lord for any of your petitions together with another Christian who agrees to it in prayer. Also this means that when people come in the name of Jesus he is there with them, not in the physical sense but surely in spirit.

Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another. Proverbs 27:17

You can learn a lot from other faithful believers of Christ. I myself was good in preaching publicly but not in singing. So then Christian youth group I was part of, kept on encouraging me to sing with them. Sometimes they sang with me even if I went off tune. Then in due course of time I was able to sing all praise and worship hymns in public, be it at church or seminars etc. I had my doubts on praying for physical healing of people of other religions but when I noticed my friends praying for them, I too started praying in faith.

Like always, it’s great to hear from missionaries of their experiences in hostile areas, especially how they managed to preach and yet survived. This can dramatically increase your faith and courage in the Lord. Your faith can also increase when you hear people speak how they left a life of lust and realize the importance of trusting in Christ instead. You then become aware of the traps that these people fell into, so that you don’t fall prey to sin.

Many of these benefits won’t come to you if you are only a solo player. You need to pray to the Lord Jesus for wisdom on this and then reach out to other Christians to team up with. Do this for the glory of God.

 

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