Wed Inspiration

Morning Inspiration with Pastor Merritt

“In this connection I journeyed to Damascus with the authority and commission of the chief priests. At midday, O king, I saw on the way a light from heaven, brighter than the sun, that shone around me and those who journeyed with me. And when we had all fallen to the ground, I heard a voice saying to me in the Hebrew language, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me? It is hard for you to kick against the goads.’ And I said, ‘Who are you, Lord?’ And the Lord said, ‘I am Jesus whom you are persecuting.’” (Acts 26:12-15)

Here, all of us can relate to Paul, because we stand in the same position to him that he stood to all of the other disciples like Peter, James and John. The eleven disciples knew Jesus in the chronological sequence of His birth, life, death and resurrection. Like Paul, we encounter Jesus Christ in the logical sequence of His resurrection, death, life, and birth. From the moment Paul met Jesus Christ he looked at everything and everybody through the keyhole of the resurrection. So do we!

With one question, “Who are you Lord?” and with one answer, “I am Jesus whom you are persecuting” Paul’s religion collapsed like a house of cards. He finally realized what everybody ultimately comes to realize when you meet Jesus and that is you don’t need religion; you need redemption. You don’t need goodness; you need grace. You don’t need the law; you need the Lord. You don’t need a synagogue; you need a Savior. You don’t need a church; you need Christ. Paul’s revelation brought revolution. He has now seen a new light. He is now filled with a new love. He is now under a new Lord. Everything has changed. Everything is different. Nothing can be or ever will be the same.

Paul was a changed man, not just from the outside in, but from the inside out. It happened at a certain time and a certain place. No one just gradually becomes a follower of Jesus Christ