Today's Passage - Acts 22:12-21

Acts 22:12-21   "A man named Ananias came to see me. He was a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews living there. 13He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.  "Then he said: 'The God of our fathers has chosen you to know his will and to see the Righteous One and to hear words from his mouth.  You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard.  And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on his name"...   There are two people in this passage - Ananias and Saul.  Ananias was a man obedient to the Lord.  When the Lord asked him to look for Saul, lay hand on him and turn his heart around, it was a difficult thing for Ananias.  Before Paul accepted the Lord, his name was Saul, and he used to go to Damascus in order to persecute Christians.  Ananias was afraid, but he still obeyed God's will; he found Paul and prayed for him.  We saw a great example of obedience in Ananias.   Paul, on the other, was one who knew how to humble himself before God.  God taught Paul the lesson of humbleness on the way to Damascus.  By our standard, Paul was a great apostle, so shouldn't his prayer always be answered and wouldn't he always hear God's voice when he sought Him?  When God's light shined on him on the way to Damascus, Paul asked two questions: First, "Lord, who are you," and the second one, "Lord, what should I do?"  Lord only answered the first question, and to the second question the Lord only answered: "Once you reached Damascus, someone will tell you."  God, then, sent Ananias, a rather unknown small-time believer, to reveal His will to Paul.  It must have been a humbling experience for Paul, because God revealed His will to Paul only through other brothers and sisters.   God can humble us through people around us, so that we know we need other brothers and sisters, and we need to live in the body of Christ.  May the Spirit of God guide us to learn from one another so that we may grow together in the church of Christ.   Pray with Pastor Tong   Lord, I thank you because you've placed many Ananias around us, so that we may understand how to work with one another in the body of Christ.  Give us the spirit of humbleness so that we may complete your will in our lives.  I pray in the victorious name of Jesus, amen!    Shekinah Glory - ROLCC Building Expansion Project - Follow the project on Facebook ! Help us to reach our Phase I Target, and witness how God expands His Kingdom on earth!  Click here to donate online.