Paul shares about the great light that shone around him.

Acts 22:6-11

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“Now it happened, as I journeyed and came near Damascus at about noon, suddenly a great light from heaven shone around me. And I fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to me, ‘Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?’ So I answered, ‘Who are You, Lord?’ And He said to me, ‘I am Jesus of Nazareth, whom you are persecuting.’” Acts 22:6-8

Paul was journeying to Damascus, with arrest warrants in-hand to imprison Christians. At that time is when a great light shone around Paul [and the Christians at Damascus were spared from imprisonment or worse]. Although Paul was surrounded with a great light at that time, it wasn’t until he arrived in Damascus that his eyes were opened and his sins washed away, Acts 22:12-16. This is meaningful to me because this is part of my growth in Jesus Christ.

When I was born-again in Jesus Christ in 1979 [age 20], I didn’t have a clue that some people were empowered with uncanny knowledge, heightened intuition, extraordinary skills and talents, amazing physical abilities, uncanny authority over others etc. Needless to say, I wasn’t included in today’s culture. I was probably in my late 50’s/early 60’s before I began to wake up to that, so needless to say, I have never been included in today’s culture. I am 66 1/2 years of age today. Having Jesus Christ in my life kept me on the straight path and spared me from blindly fallen deeper into the traps of today’s culture. I think it’s a horrid form of persecution for those who know everything and can do everything to take advantage of those who don’t know and can’t do.

A metaphorical great light shone around me, years later after being born-again. I would venture to say that this happens with many born-again Christians. The great light shone around me when I realized “something was rotten in Denmark”. That phrase came about in the play, “Hamlet”, referring to a ghost of a king that appeared, which isn’t part of normal life. The light that shone around me was to realize there was a whole community of people responding the same way towards me. Definitely not normal and their “king” must have been a ghost. Their responses felt hostile, cold, and unwelcoming. They wanted me to shun civil society and live the life of the stereotypical Harley Davidson motorcycle person. There was positive social reinforcement when I bought a custom Harley Davidson 883, but negative feedback when I sold the bike and ditched the lifestyle. The light shone around me that revealed how behavioral modification was being used on me to push me out of civil lifestyles and into a deviant society. I couldn’t conform to a lifestyle that was reminiscence of the lifestyle I left when I was born-again.

When the great light shone around me, I began to hear the Holy Spirit, the voice of Jesus Christ, in a much clearer way. The word of God was much more alive to me, and the prophecies of the Bible were the news headlines we read every day and happening through the atheistic culture that surrounds us every day.

Today, Paul’s born-again experience is like many people who come to God through Jesus Christ for the first time. A great light shines around them, and they realize something is “rotten in Denmark”. They know they don’t want to be part of destructive lifestyles but are not quite at the point where their eyes are open and their sin is washed away. The Holy Spirit speaks softly within their heart, soul, and mind, asking why be such a pain to someone else, why is there so much senseless hostilities, and why be involved in persecuting the good and decent people in the world. One can hear the quiet voice of Jesus asking, “…why are you persecuting Me?’” People begin being acquainted with Jesus of Nazareth, a decent man from a town where nothing good could come, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:45-46

The blinding light is enough to make a person stop the unGodliness that they are doing and to reconsider other options.

“And those who were with me indeed saw the light and were afraid, but they did not hear the voice of Him who spoke to me.” Acts 22:9

Like Paul, I knew the past acquaintances of mine saw the light and were afraid. They knowingly lived a life contrary to Christianity, but they always knew “...something was rotten in Denmark…“. They knew their cultural heritage was being destroyed by something alien and ghostly to the American culture. They embraced gun ownership and vowed to fight for their freedom. I found my freedom in Jesus Christ, not guns and physical aggression. Whereas past acquaintances did not hear the voice of our Lord Jesus Christ, I did! “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. And I give them eternal life, and they will never perish…” John 10:27-28 Jesus wants us to be sheep, His sheep, who hear His voice.

“So I said, ‘What shall I do, Lord?’ And the Lord said to me, ‘Arise and go into Damascus, and there you will be told all things which are appointed for you to do.’ And since I could not see for the glory of that light, being led by the hand of those who were with me, I came into Damascus.” Acts 22:10-11.

Like Paul, my eyes were not completely opened to Jesus Christ or to the Holy Spirit working in my life, even after being born-again. However, in obedience to Him, I continued to walk in the path where I would be explained everything that I need to do, it is all found in the word of God.

For the many people who know there is “...something rotten in Denmark…” and have seen the great light shining around them, the next step is to be obedient to the word of God. The Holy Spirit will reveal all things to you from within the Bible and from the Holy Spirit within your heart. Your eyes will be opened and your sins washed away. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” John 3:16-17

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“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,“
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.’”
“I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1