From Persecutor To Saved To Miracle Worker
We see one of the greatest, if not the greatest, transformations in human history. Saul, who would be called Paul, was introduced to our world as a murderer of believers. Saul would actually track down believers, as we learned in Romans 7 to bring them back to Jerusalem. On his way to Damascus Paul was, literally, stopped in his tracks by Jesus Christ, filled with the Holy Spirit and saved from the sins of his past. Saul, who became Paul, was slaughtering people that were spreading the Gospel and Jesus decided that Paul would be the best choice for carrying the message forward. As if being saved wasn’t enough, which would be a lifetime for most people, Jesus is not done with Paul.
The thing is…do we, you and me, have this same connection with the Holy Spirit? I’mm not interested in effecting someone sight negatively, but it would a blessing to help improve someone’s sight. While this is not the case in the incident below, Paul is demonstrating a deep connection with the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ. We can have this same connection if we choose.
Acts 13 NKJV
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4 So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went down to Seleucia, and from there they sailed to Cyprus.
5 And when they arrived in Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews. They also had John as their assistant.
6 Now when they had gone through the island to Paphos, they found a certain sorcerer, a false prophet, a Jew whose name was Bar-Jesus,
7 who was with the proconsul, Sergius Paulus, an intelligent man. This man called for Barnabas and Saul and sought to hear the word of God.
8 But Elymas the sorcerer (for so his name is translated) withstood them, seeking to turn the proconsul away from the faith.
9 Then Saul, who also is called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked intently at him
10 and said, “O full of all deceit and all fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not cease perverting the straight ways of the Lord?
11 And now, indeed, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you shall be blind, not seeing the sun for a time.” And immediately a dark mist fell on him, and he went around seeking someone to lead him by the hand.
12 Then the proconsul believed, when he saw what had been done, being astonished at the teaching of the Lord.
