KETCHUP AND MUSTARD SATURDAY
Catch Up and Must Do
.
On my mind this last week has been, "Patti, what's the most important thing here?" Of course, that question was certainly precipitated by our memory work for the week... that I can think of hundreds of important things to do... or that this ends my semester of overload and the piles of grading are still here for the next week.
.
God says this through Moses, in Deuteronomy 6:4-5,
"Hear, O Israel:
The LORD our God,
the LORD is one.
Love the LORD your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your strength."
.
We've talked about that this week... we've talked about it last month... I am convinced that since Jesus repeated this and called it the "greatest command" that we must do this!
.
In lieu of my thought processes this week and the title of my weekly Satuurday post, I rephrased my question to, "Patti, what is it the Bible says that I MUST DO?" Today, and over the next Saturday's I'll share with you what I found!
.
Today, I'll share what the apostle Paul says that he was told that he must do:
.
In Acts 9 Paul encountered Jesus and Paul said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said, "I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told you what you must do."
.
Then, in Acts 22:2-16, Paul tells his story and what he was told that he must do:
.
.
Then Paul said: 3 "I am a Jew, born in Tarsus of Cilicia, but brought up in this city. Under Gamaliel I was thoroughly trained in the law of our fathers and was just as zealous for God as any of you are today. 4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison, 5 as also the high priest and all the Council can testify. I even obtained letters from them to their brothers in Damascus, and went there to bring these people as prisoners to Jerusalem to be punished.
.
6 "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
6 "About noon as I came near Damascus, suddenly a bright light from heaven flashed around me. 7 I fell to the ground and heard a voice say to me, 'Saul! Saul! Why do you persecute me?'
.
8 "'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
8 "'Who are you, Lord?' I asked.
.
"'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.
"'I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting,' he replied. 9 My companions saw the light, but they did not understand the voice of him who was speaking to me.
10 "'What shall I do, Lord?' I asked.
.
"'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
"'Get up,' the Lord said, 'and go into Damascus. There you will be told all that you have been assigned to do.' 11 My companions led me by the hand into Damascus, because the brilliance of the light had blinded me.
.
12 "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. 13 He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
12 "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. 13 He stood beside me and said, 'Brother Saul, receive your sight!' And at that very moment I was able to see him.
.
14 "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. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.'
14 "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. 15 You will be his witness to all men of what you have seen and heard. 16 And now what are you waiting for? Get up, be baptized and wash your sins away, calling on His name.'
.
NOTE: The Bible is clear here, as in other scriptures, about baptism:
- You must be baptized to have your sins washed away.
- Why must you have my your sins (breaking of God's laws) washed away? Because the greatest command says to love God and God hates sin! Sin seperates us from God. He's provided a way through the symbolic act of baptism for our sins to be washed away as we go down under the water.
- Baptism is how you call on His name... not praying Jesus into your heart.
.
Loving God starts with leaving our old ways and becoming His child...
.
I am Jesus whom you are persecuting,
but get up and enter the city,
and it will be told you what you must do."
.My bottle needs to be washed clean so that I can be filled up with what I was meant to be filled up with ... the Holy Spirit of God!!! I do my part by coming JUST AS I AM and choosing to SURRENDER ALL... it's what I must do... in the surrender of baptism, Jesus washes me clean and fills me up!
.
.
.
No comments:
Post a Comment