Good morning. Paul begins giving his testimony; how he was trained under Gamaliel (which meant he was highly trained in the law); had men and women put into prison because they followed the Way; and was going to Damascus to continue doing so. He tells about getting knocked off his feet and his encounter with Jesus; how Ananias prayed for him to receive his sight and told him to get up and be baptized, and wash away his sins, calling on His name. Paul tells about returning to Jerusalem (probably several years later); praying in the temple; and falling into a trance. Jesus told him to get out of Jerusalem because they would not accept his testimony about Him. Paul disagreed with Jesus telling about all the bad things he had done against His witnesses, thinking that that would make it OK to stay – that no one would harm him. Jesus told him to go; for I will send you far away to the Gentiles. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back. It was one thing to talk about Jesus to Jews; but it was quite another to even go near the Gentiles. The crowd was going to tear him to pieces; but the commander ordered him to be brought into the barracks and that he should be examined by scourging (similar to what Jesus went through – to gain a confession) so that he might find out the reason they were shouting against him that way. That is totally alien to our way of thinking. That is torturing someone to get them to admit to a crime that they may not even have committed. We will continue this next time. Father help today to be a fresh start for the reader. Help everything to be brand new for him/her.

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