June 13

1 Kings 11:1-12:19, Acts 9:1-25, Psalm 131:1-3, Proverbs 17:4-5 

Pray: Pray for those who are against you. Life is full of people who are filled with animosity and yet, we are called to pray for them. Pray for an intervention in their lives so that they can experience the free gift of grace and love given by Christ.

Read: Saul was one bad dude. Acts tells us that he “was uttering threats with every breath and was eager to kill the Lord’s followers.” Whoa! He even goes to the High Priest for permission to annihilate the followers of Christ in other towns. Saul was a traveling goon squad. And then the miraculous happens. Saul “meets” the Lord Himself. In the verses to follow we see a change in the very nature of this man and we see the beginning of a new life that is lived for Christ. 

Edify: Have you ever been blinded with rage? You know… so angry that you can’t see straight. I have… and honestly I look back on those times and wonder why. Saul has become so anti-Christian that he was willing to kill them to prove his point. AND he got the permission from the High Priest to do it! But it was when the light of God blinded him that he had an epiphany that changed him forever. He experienced a love and forgiveness that he knew that he didn’t deserve. Saul repented and turned from his evil ways and began to be a mouthpiece for the very man that he was persecuting just hours before. Talk about life change. We are that way sometimes as well. If we aren’t careful we can be like Saul, spewing venom to anyone who will listen. It’s not until we encounter Christ and feel His love shed abroad on our hearts that we become a mouthpiece of Christ. Where are you today? Are you a Saul or are you a Paul?

Practice: Offer forgiveness. It is likely that you have been harboring some feelings of ill will toward someone in your life. Someone in your family, someone at work… Those feelings are holding you captive and are slowly eating away at you from the inside like a cancer. Free yourself from this bondage and offer forgiveness and grace so that you can move on to the blessings that God has in store for you.