Painful Reminders

0:00You're listening to the Experiencing God Day-by-day podcast brought to you by Black Living Ministries International. October 1st, Painful Reminders, Acts 14, verse 19. Then some Jews came from Antioch and Iconium, and when they had went over the crowds and stoned Paul, they dragged him out of the city, thinking he was dead. God has many ways to deter us from sin. One is to provide reminders for us so that we never take disobedience to him lightly. Before his conversion, Paul assumed that he was righteous before God. In reality, Paul was so disoriented to God that he arrested and executed Christians in order to please him. Paul was so blinded to God's will that when he watched Stephen being brutally murdered for his faith, Paul's heart was hardened, and he became even more determined to imprison

1:05other Christians. It is significant that there are two occurrences of stoning mentioned in the New Testament. Stevens and Paul's. Was it coincidence that God allowed Paul to be stoned in the same manner as Stephen had been? God had certainly forgiven Paul for his involvement in Stephen's death. But God also left him with a reminder of what his arrogance had led him to do. If pride could blind Paul to God once, pride could do it again. Perhaps Paul's thorn in the flesh was a direct result of this stoning. It may have served as a visible reminder to Paul and to others of the terrible consequences of sin. God is absolutely just. He loves, and he forgives, but he does not compromise his righteousness. God deals with us uniquely. He draws upon our experiences to teach us about himself. God will forgive us of our sin, but he may provide stark reminders of the ugliness of sin.

2:05Let us thank God that he loves us enough to remind us of the destructive consequences of sin in our lives. This podcast is based on the book Experiencing God Day by Day by Henry and Richard Blackbeard, published by B&H Publishing Group, Music by Mark Brown.