MONDAY, January 25 The Conversion of Saint Paul

Acts 26:9-21. Get up and stand on your feet; for I have appeared to you... to appoint you to serve and testify.

Saul was so convinced that he knew it all, that he had it right, that he was doing God's work. And then the risen Lord knocked him on his butt and straightened him out and gave him a new name and a new calling in life.

Sometimes the only way the risen Lord can get through to me is to knock me on my butt. (Or, as I prefer to think of it, as a baseball fan, he whups me one upside the head with a baseball bat.) I can be so stubborn, so certain, so arrogant that I know what is right, what I am to do.

But that doesn't make me right every time. That doesn't mean I know even half of what I think I know--which is about the time the risen Lord Jesus comes along with that baseball bat of his, and finally I am able to hear my new name and see my new calling, and go off again, to serve and to testify.

Generally, one smack upside the head works, for awhile, until I get too arrogant again.

Humility rests upon the disclosure of the consummate wonder of God, upon finding that only God counts, that all our own self-originated intentions are works of straw.

--Thomas R. Kelly

PRAY for the Diocese of Antsiranana (Indian Ocean)

Ps 67; Galatians 1:11-24; Matthew 10:16-22

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Baseball Bat

Jan 25, 2010 at 9:52 am

Written by Joanne,

Can you give me an example of what the "baseball bat" that God uses is for you- do you fail or find opposition etc. In other words how do you know you are wrong or in the wrong.

Priest, retired, Diocese of Olympia USA: The Rev'd Canon

Jan 25, 2010 at 2:05 pm

Written by TIMOTHY M NAKAYAMA,

On the one hand we are in God's "tribe", but we belong to "One Community" throughout the whole wide world. We call it "One Family", and because "God so loved the WORLD", and God gave us Jesus, the only-begotten Son of God, whoever believes in Him would not perish, but have everlasting life!

Lay Reader, Diocese of Brandon, Canada

Jan 25, 2010 at 2:51 pm

Written by Helen Nethery,

I think the means God uses to get our attention are different for each of us because of the timing & circumstances in our lives. For me they are nudges -God saying, "Stop. Don't do this." or "That's not where I want you to go." We need to say "Thank You, Lord" for each of our nudges. They are gifts of God's grace & guidance through His Son Jesus Christ, by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Dear writer of Foward DBD for January,

Jan 25, 2010 at 10:18 pm

Written by Lois, from Canada,

Thank you so much for your meditations for January. Your passionate faith and love in the face of the odds you describe in Sudan are awesome and inspiring. You encourage me to believe that our Lord can do the impossible. I have starred so many of the entries! Since it was mentioned that you are destined for Haiti, I inquired, and am glad to hear that you are very much in the land of the living. As you work to meet this new challenge, may your faith continue to be sustained as it already has been. God bless you and the love of Jesus strengthen you.

stuffy old woman

Jan 26, 2010 at 12:00 am

Written by Kathleen Thompson,

I truly hate to be a fuddy-duddy, but I find phrases such as "knocked him on his butt" a bit too down-and-dirty-redneck for me. I know someone will argue that Jesus WAS down and dirty, with the least of these. He was. But to me, there is still a requisite for reverence, and "knocked him on his butt" doesn't make it for me. I KNOW, at 62 I am old. But I'm a product of the 60's and I like to think I see Christ in the faces of all. And yet, I simply don't appreciate the Forward Day by Day feeling the necessity to move toward the Lowest Common Denominator. OK, folks, bring on the attacks!

also from Canada

Jan 26, 2010 at 1:59 am

Written by Dana,

I find His guidance at times in nudges, too. Sometimes toward something, sometimes away. Through experience, discernment and careful listening, I've learned to hear and trust them. I love God and reverence is certainly part of what I feel for Him. No attack here, but I'm comfortable with describing a direct encounter with our Lord as something that would knock him on his butt. I'm more comfortable with thinking of it as awe-inspiring and humbling, but I think the effect is the same. Either way, Saul's attention was arrested, he listened, and followed where the Lord lead him. And for that I'm thankful. I wish the same for all of us.

Author and missionary

Jan 26, 2010 at 8:38 pm

Written by Lauren Stanley,

Please know that I meant no disrespect in describing what happened, but Saul was knocked to the ground and it was a life-changing experience, and the term I used was to express the shock of Jesus' intervention in Saul's life.

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