Have you encountered Jesus in your life? I sure have!
http://www.etsy.com/listing/75253041/rosary-chaplet-bookmark?ref=sc_1
It was, after all, an encounter with the risen Jesus that makes it all happen for Paul, with the Confession of St. Peter, it was not Peter, but his confession of Jesus that was the Rock, the anchor for the foundation of the Church. So it is not Paul, but Jesus who has the vision and shares that vision of what the Church and its mission might be.
The extraordinary thing that we learn about God, in Jesus, is that forgiveness and conversion are possible at all. Acts (and we must admit that Luke may exaggerate for the sake of the story) portrays Paul as the greatest enemy of the earliest followers of “The Way.” But rather than smite him, or demonize him, Jesus instead takes Paul's gifts of zeal and persuasion, and puts them to work for the Gospel.
An encounter with the risen Lord can do that for a person. There have been countless stories over the years that proclaim this basic principle. The hymn, “Amazing Grace,” sings it not only as Paul's song, but also as ours.
The first good news in this story is that God doesn't give up on Paul, nor does God give up on us. Even when we are at enmity with God, God loves us and claims us. And since God does not separate us into “good” people and “evil” people, we no longer have to do that with each other.
We need not justify our actions by pointing at others and proclaiming how bad they are, quite simply because God does not!
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Conversion happens. Turnarounds happen. But they don't happen because I make them happen in myself. They happen because I am grasped, grasped by the bottom of my seat. I am in the middle of HIS miracles, time after time after time, in an encounter with the risen Christ.
Such is the wonder of our God.
Until next Monday...spread the word
Monika
myuropeantouch.etsy.com
It was, after all, an encounter with the risen Jesus that makes it all happen for Paul, with the Confession of St. Peter, it was not Peter, but his confession of Jesus that was the Rock, the anchor for the foundation of the Church. So it is not Paul, but Jesus who has the vision and shares that vision of what the Church and its mission might be.
An encounter with the risen Lord can do that for a person. There have been countless stories over the years that proclaim this basic principle. The hymn, “Amazing Grace,” sings it not only as Paul's song, but also as ours.
The first good news in this story is that God doesn't give up on Paul, nor does God give up on us. Even when we are at enmity with God, God loves us and claims us. And since God does not separate us into “good” people and “evil” people, we no longer have to do that with each other.
We need not justify our actions by pointing at others and proclaiming how bad they are, quite simply because God does not!
Conversion happens. Turnarounds happen. But they don't happen because I make them happen in myself. They happen because I am grasped, grasped by the bottom of my seat. I am in the middle of HIS miracles, time after time after time, in an encounter with the risen Christ.
Such is the wonder of our God.
Until next Monday...spread the word
Monika
myuropeantouch.etsy.com
10:55 AM |
Category:
castteam,
Conversions,
miracles,
None Judgement,
paul,
Peter,
The Rock
|
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