Acts 9

http://www.esvbible.org/Acts+9/

Saul, who later becomes Paul and writes most of the New Testament including Corinthians that we studied earlier, walks the road to Damascus because he has permission from the chief priest to destroy the church there and arrest the believers. As he goes on his way, a blinding light hits him and knocks him to the ground asking why Saul persecuted him. Blinded by the experience, Saul asks who speaks to him, and the voice says it is Jesus. Jesus tells Saul to go into the city and wait for further instruction. Jesus will not let anyone stand against Him and try to eliminate the church. God will stop all who try. He stopped Saul in the Bible, but later stopped the Roman empire when Constantine converted to Christianity, all the way to Stalin, who tried to kill the church starting in Russia. All of these men eventually failed before their plans made it too far. After Saul arrived in Damascus, he could not see for three days and refused to eat or drink. Across town, the Lord spoke to a man named Ananias. He told the man to go across town to Judas's house where he would find Saul; Ananias was to heal Saul. Ananias did not approve of this plan. He heard about Saul and knew the things that he did to the church. He tried to explain these things to God, but of course God knew them, and Ananias's logic did not work of God. A lot of times, we try to do the same things Ananias tried. We reason with the Lord when He tells us to do things that we do not want to. We make excuses and try to show God that we are right and know what we say; however, God is really the one who knows what is right. In this instance, the Lord said that he chose Saul to spread the gospel throughout the lands. Ananias sees that God has a plan and knows best, so he goes to Judas' house to heal Paul of his blindness. Immediately, the Holy Spirit filled Saul and after his baptism, he ate and drank, so he received his strength back. He stayed in Damascus for a while, spreading the Word in synagogues. His teachings confused the people in Damascus because they knew who he was and what he had done. They did not understand that Jesus has the power to change anyone who comes to Him and will accept anyone no matter what their past. When the Jews heard Saul gained power by spreading that Jesus was the Messiah, they decided they must kill him. Saul, however, learned about their plot and escaped the city. He left for Jerusalem to join the other disciples. At first, they could not believe that Saul really believed; however, Barnabas took interest in him, and took him to the apostles. Saul began arguing with the Greek-speaking Jews, and they also planned to murder him, so the disciples sent him away. With Saul on the church's side, their was peace in the church.

Peter travelled around as a missionary. When he came to one place, he saw a man who had been paralyzed for eight years and confined to a cot. Peter told him that Jesus healed him and to pick up his cot and go. Aeneas, the formerly paralyzed man, did so. Later, all the people in the town saw that he could walk and had become a believer.

While this was happening, a disciple, Tabitha, who lived in a nearby town, grew ill and died. When the disciples heard about this, they sent men to Peter to tell him about what happened, so Peter went to where Tabitha lived and found that the people had already prepared her body for burial. Peter sent them away and prayed. When he finished, Tabitha rose and stood. She was alive. Peter, a mere man, had just brought some one back to life. The people around him were all amazed, and many of them became Christians that day.