This series is dedicated to transforming your perspective on life's inevitable trials, tests and adversities. In the introduction (please click here to read it), we established that such adversities were a fact of life but we have God's assurance that everything we face will workout eventually for our own benefit. More to the point God delights in turning the table on the devil and having the last laugh.

To verify this, we have been going through the bible to highlight examples of God's people who have come through negative circumstances and in hindsight turned out to be better off (Click here to read part 7). The bible assures us that "...God treats all people alike."(Acts 10:34 CEV) and since "Jesus Christ never changes! He is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8 CEV), it is my prayer that you will take comfort from their experiences and expect the same kind of results. Maybe you might even laugh with Him in anticipation of the expected end.

Enjoy

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Here we look at a new testament example of God's grace and sense of humour in His dealings with a Jewish zealot named Saul, who was bent on crushing the early church. So driven was he that he sought permission to search beyond his own borders for Christians to commit to prison for daring to hold and proclaim their beliefs. Little did he know that God had marked Him as a vessel to bear the same message he was fighting. Then came that faithful day on the road to Damascus, when the Persecuted met His persecutor it became clear who was boss. Needless to say, by the time God was through with Saul, he was transformed to Paul, the most influential leader of the early church and the one through whom the full extent of the message of grace was revealed. As if to add a taint of irony to the story, Paul endured extreme persecution because of the message of grace and on one occasion was left for dead at the hands of his former allies. He must have been a major embarrassment to his former sponsors, making redundant the very laws he fought to uphold.

In Acts 7-28, Saul soon to be known as Paul

Set upon the saints to quash the body of Christ

Driven by a misguided zeal for the Law

Armed with warrants from the High priest

Seeking Christians both near and far

Leaving death and imprisonment in his wake

Approving of the death of Stephen, a martyr of the faith

The devil must have been proud of Saul's relentless efforts

To end the growth of the church of Christ

On the road to Damascus Saul was stopped

By the light of the One, whose body he struck

By the time God was through with him

He was Paul the Christian, filled with the Holy Spirit

Equipped with a call to dismantle the Law He once held dear

Gods most effective weapon to destroy the enemy’s deceptions

God must have had great delight in choosing a Jew of Jews

To edify the body he once attacked

A major embarrassment to the Legalistic Jews

Persecutor, turn persecuted

All for the message he once disdained

The ultimate trophy of Grace in the hands of God

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1. "I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out--plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for." (Jeremiah 29:11 MSG)

2. "Merciless people make plots against good people and snarl like animals, but the Lord laughs and knows their time is coming soon." (Psalms 37:12-13 CEV)

3. "From his throne in heaven the Lord laughs and mocks their feeble plans." (Psalms 2:4 GNB)

To be continued..

Every Blessing

Breadoflife

Click here to read part 9

To view others instalments in the series, click here