Christ Church Daily Devotion June 8 2024

Saul, who was persecuting the Lord's disciples, had an encounter with Jesus on his way to Damascus. He was struck by a bright light and heard Jesus speaking to him. Saul was blinded for three days and had to confront his wrong beliefs. The story teaches the importance of being open to learning from others and letting the Holy Spirit guide us. A suggested prayer is included at the end. Welcome to Christchurch's Daily Devotion for June 8, 2024. Today, we will be reading from Acts, chapter 9, verses 1 through 9. Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus so that if he found any there who belonged to the way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem. As he neared Damascus on his journey, suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him. He fell to the ground and heard a voice say to him, Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me? Who are you, Lord? Saul asked. I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting, he replied. Now get up and go into the city, and you will be told what you must do. The men traveling with Saul stood there speechless. They heard the sound and did not see anyone. Saul got up from the ground, and when he opened his eyes, he could see nothing. So they led him by the hand into Damascus. For three days he was blind and did not eat or drink anything. The story has long had an impact on my spiritual journey and walk with God. Saul was so sure that he was doing God's will, yet Luke wrote about him, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord's disciples. I have not taken note of that phrase before, but it is as if he was saying Saul was breathing hate, and yet he was confident that he was doing God's will. He was adamant that these people who belonged to the way needed to be destroyed. Then he heard the voice, a voice he thought he knew, but still had to ask, Who are you, Lord? I can only imagine what those next three days were like for him. He had to wrestle with the fact that he had been so wrong. He had to come to terms with admitting that he had actually been working against God's will. Each of us have our beliefs, our interpretation of Scripture, our understanding of God's will. It is important to know what those are and be able to share them with others as we try to lead people to Christ. Even as we engage with other Christians who differ with us in our thinking, we should state what we think with confidence, but always with an attitude of, I could be wrong, and with an openness to listen and learn from others. I believe that is vital as we seek to let the Holy Spirit guide all of us to be the people of Christ. Your personal worship option today, Daniel Iverson wrote this chorus prayer in 1926. Let it be your prayer today. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me. Melt me, mold me, fill me, use me. Spirit of the living God, fall afresh on me.