"Fellowship with the Saints" (Acts 9:18-19)

 

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 1/2/2018 10:07 AM

My Worship Time                                                                  Focus: Fellowship with the Saints

Bible Reading & Meditation                                                 Reference:  Acts 9:18-19

            Message of the verses:  “18 And immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight, and he got up and was baptized; 19 and he took food and was strengthened. Now for several days he was with the disciples who were at Damascus,”

            We see a miracle in verse 18 as after Ananias spoke to Saul, “immediately there fell from his eyes something like scales, and he regained his sight.”  Now in response to Ananias’s exhortation which is seen in Acts 22:16: “’Now why do you delay? Get up and be baptized, and wash away your sins, calling on His name’ Saul arose and was baptized.”  We have spoken about baptism in other SD’s and have said that once a person is born-again that they are immediately baptized by the Holy Spirit and this has already happened to Saul there on the road to Damascus, and not the outward demonstration of this what happened inward is physical baptism where a person is plunged under the water representing the death and burial of Christ, and the bringing up from the water showing the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Saul in that moment identified himself with the people that he was trying to persecute.  Those that were before his enemies have become brethren to him. 

            In verse nineteen we see that Saul does take some food in order to be strengthened and then we see Saul’s first fellowship with other believers who were in Damascus.  We see that he remained several days with the disciples in Damascus.  I have to imagine that at first, like Ananias that these disciples were afraid of meeting with Saul because of what he came there to do, but the passage states that they did meet with him.  By doing this Saul was demonstrating one sure mark of the transformed life that had happened to him as John writes about in 1 John 3:14 “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren. He who does not love abides in death.”  Psalm one tells us more about walking with the brethren as believers are those who do “not walk in the counsel of the wicked, nor stand in the path of sinners, nor sit in the seat of scoffers.”  These are the things that Saul used to do, but now “his delight is in the Law of the Lord and in His Law he meditates,” as Psalm one continues.  The point in all of this is that Saul’s life changed, which is what happens to every person who has been born from above. When a person has been born-again he does not desire to do the sinful things that he use to do, and this was the case with Saul as he came to Damascus to bring back believers to persecute them and now instead he sits down and eats with them and is fellowshipping with them. 

            One of the first things that a true believer in Jesus Christ desires to do after becoming a believer is tell others of what has happened to them, and so as we think about this we must understand that it is wonderful to have fellowship with other believers, but it is also wonderful to tell others the truth of the Gospel so that they too may become believers that you will have fellowship with.

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  I need to take advantage of having fellowship with other believers more than I do.  In the summer I play golf with other believers, but I think that it is good to make plans to fellowship with other believers during all times of the year.

My Steps of Faith for Today:  I want to pray about having a time of fellowship with other believers in a more consistent basis.

Memory verses:  Psalm 143:10 “Teach me to do Your will, For You are my God; Let Your good Spirit lead me on level ground.”  Philippians 4:8 “Finally brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if any excellence and anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “A certain weight of metal.”  My thoughts were that the things mentioned in the question were weights of money.

Today’s Bible question:  “In the parable of the sower what does the seed stand for?”

Answer in our next SD.

1/2/2018 10:51 AM