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Damascus Road

Father God, what I know of You will only ever be a fraction of who You are. Jesus, open my mind to see You and understand the Scriptures. Spirit, move my heart from familiar to fascinated until it is ablaze with Your unfailing love.

Read: Psalm 114:7-8

As the God story continues to unfold, I’m reflecting on an encounter experienced by a zealous Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus Road. It was a moment that radically redirected his life and the course of human history…

Read: Acts 9:1-6

“‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’...

This was the astonishing revelation Saul could not previously bring himself to acknowledge. Yahweh, Israel’s one true God, is Jesus! The further revelation for Saul was that Jesus and His Church were one. ‘I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting’ – Saul had to realise that when he persecuted followers of Jesus, he was persecuting God.”* Ouch!

Jesus experiences my attitude, words, and actions towards His Church personally. With gut-level honesty, how am I doing with Jesus’ bride, the Church?

Jesus, I’ve been hurt, and I’ve hurt others. How can I love You more, through loving Your people better?

Pause and pray

Around 365 million Christians are subject to ‘high levels of persecution and discrimination’. One in seven Christians is persecuted worldwide. **

Lord, have mercy. Strengthen my brothers and sisters in their faithful witness, remind them of Your nearness in their suffering.

Pause and pray

Only a revelation of Jesus could break through Saul’s limited and skewed understanding of God. Saul had now ‘heard the voice of a crucified God’*** and it wrecked him. He saw the blinding light of Jesus that revealed he had been blind all along.

I often think I’ve got God figured out. But my brain needs to be renewed continually, and the boxes I’ve tried to put God in need to be broken down regularly.

Jesus, I invite You to break down the boxes I’ve put You in. I want to know You as you truly are. Forgive me for where I’ve limited You, missed You, misrepresented You. I’m open to change.

Amen.

* Adam Cox and Alain Emerson, The God Story (London: SPCK, 2024), p. 185.

** ‘Religious persecution and the World Watch List 2024’, House of Commons Library

*** Willie James Jennings, Acts: Belief: A Theological Commentary on the Bible (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox Press, 2017), p. 90.