Once stretched by a new idea, a mans mind never regains its original dimensions. Oliver Wendell Holmes
The apostle Pauls mind was stretched by a new idea and could never go back to the way it was. Paul was highly educated and probably came from a family of wealth. At one time he was very much involved in the Jews suppression of the followers of Jesus Christ, even to the extent of the stoning and execution of Stephen, a Spirit filled worker for the church. When Jesus Christ came into Pauls heart and mind, his whole being was stretched and he could never be the same man that he had been before. The new idea of man being reconciled to God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was a stretch for most people in those days, and still today many find it to be a stretch. A hard heart and a closed mind wont bend or stretch for something new. In my life it was only by running in my own self-willed direction, and having head-on collisions with the wall of denial, that I was able to soften up my heart and mind. Being all spiritually bruised and tenderized, and softened up, the Holy Spirit was able to prepare the ground of my heart for seeds of love and hope that were sown by others sent my way. As the seeds of hope grew, my heart and mind stretched. Once opened to the new idea of unconditional love and forgiveness, I could never go back to the way I was. Sometimes when Im down and experiencing some self-pity, I try and crawl back into the little dark corner that once used to be my heart. But with the stretching and the new windows that Jesus built that are open to Father God, the light of Love and Forgiveness make the place different. I cannot go back, its just not the same anymore. I am grateful. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself .JRE
Paul writing to the church of the Galatians, share this with me:
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. GALATIANS 1:11-12 NKJV
The apostle Pauls mind was stretched by a new idea and could never go back to the way it was. Paul was highly educated and probably came from a family of wealth. At one time he was very much involved in the Jews suppression of the followers of Jesus Christ, even to the extent of the stoning and execution of Stephen, a Spirit filled worker for the church. When Jesus Christ came into Pauls heart and mind, his whole being was stretched and he could never be the same man that he had been before. The new idea of man being reconciled to God through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus was a stretch for most people in those days, and still today many find it to be a stretch. A hard heart and a closed mind wont bend or stretch for something new. In my life it was only by running in my own self-willed direction, and having head-on collisions with the wall of denial, that I was able to soften up my heart and mind. Being all spiritually bruised and tenderized, and softened up, the Holy Spirit was able to prepare the ground of my heart for seeds of love and hope that were sown by others sent my way. As the seeds of hope grew, my heart and mind stretched. Once opened to the new idea of unconditional love and forgiveness, I could never go back to the way I was. Sometimes when Im down and experiencing some self-pity, I try and crawl back into the little dark corner that once used to be my heart. But with the stretching and the new windows that Jesus built that are open to Father God, the light of Love and Forgiveness make the place different. I cannot go back, its just not the same anymore. I am grateful. God is doing for me what I could not do for myself .JRE
Paul writing to the church of the Galatians, share this with me:
But I make known to you, brethren, that the gospel which was preached by me is not according to man. For I neither received it from man, nor was I taught it, but it came through the revelation of Jesus Christ. GALATIANS 1:11-12 NKJV
