Pastor Barry's  "Chapter & Verse"  Day 135

May 15;   I Timothy 1:13;   191/260(I);   ‘No Longer the Same’

1 Timothy 1:13 even though I used to scoff at the name of Christ. I hunted down his people, harming them in every way I could. But God had mercy on me because I did it in ignorance and unbelief.      NLT

Saul the Pharisee, was a committed and dangerous enemy of Christianity.  With a zeal and determination few have, Saul relentlessly persecuted and pursued Christians.  Saul was known by the Lord before his mother’s womb and the Lord Jesus had a plan for him.  The Lord Jesus intercepted Saul on his way to Damascus, knocked him down and revealed himself to Saul.  It is amazing how quickly Saul turned around, when the Lord confronted him.  Saul asked what Jesus wanted him to do.  After a few days, Saul became the Apostle Paul and began to preach salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ.  With all of the determination Saul had used to try to destroy Christianity, Paul now used that determination to preach the Lord Jesus Christ.  Regardless of your past, whatever you thought and said about the Lord Jesus Christ, once He saves you and gets a hold of your heart, you can do great things for the kingdom of God.  Paul tells us in this verse that his zeal against Christians was based on ignorance.  The Lord knows this, surely forgives and forgets this and invites us to spend the rest of our lives telling others all about the Jesus we never knew.  All too often we have listened to what religion or people say about the Lord.  If the information we hear is not biblical, usually it will hinder you from coming to know Jesus.  Religion is a tool of the devil to keep us away from Jesus.  Religion often makes no sense and lies about the Lord.  Once you do find the truth, know that you are loved and forgiven.  Like Paul determine to tell others about Jesus.  He is too good and important to be ignorant about.