In this series, we've been talking about renewal. Renewal is when we experience Jesus. It goes beyond faith, beyond head knowledge. It's experiencing who Jesus is. When we experience Jesus, it breaks the active circles in our lives. An active circle can be thought of as a confirmation bias. It's a circle when we think or feel something and then look to have those thoughts or feelings confirmed through others, the media, data, etc.. Circles of thought lead us away from God. What pierces those circles, is Jesus. We see this in the life of Saul. As we looked at Acts 9:1-27, we see Jesus come to Saul on the road to Damascus. Saul encounters Jesus, experiences the presence of Jesus, and his heart, his mind, and his life are forever changed.
Two incredibly important people in this story are Ananias and Barnabus. Ananias shows us what it looks like to be the presence of Jesus in others' lives. He treated Saul as the brother he would become, he treated him as His brother in Christ Paul, before the transition has taken place. We see Barnabus who was an advocate of Paul. Paul went to Jerusalem and tried to join the disciples but they were all afraid of him. Barnabus took Paul to the disciples, advocating for him, ending Paul's isolation.
Each of us, every day, has the opportunity to be Ananias and Barnabus to the people God has placed in our lives. It may be someone we meet at the gas station, someone we encounter while out on a walk, or someone we already know. God will speak to us, placing a person on our hearts to reach out to. Or as you're at a coffee shop, he may prompt you to ask the person in front of you how they're doing. We encourage you to take God up on that prompt. As we step into these prompts, we are changed from those who observe church to participating in church. The renewal that has taken place in our hearts continues and grows as each of us takes the role of Ananias or Barnabus for another.
POWERED BY BLUBRRY
