The Fathers Heart by Dayle Kinney

Acts 9:10-19

Continue on our journey through Acts.....

We find Ananias spending time with God, and he is spoken to in a vision. Told to go to Straight Street and inquire after Saul .

Prays that Saul’s eyes are healed and he is filled with the Holy Spirit.

Aninias has the attitude of “Here I am Lord.” He is both brave and obedient as Saul is known to be a man who persecutes Christians.

I want to examine Why Ananias responded the way he did.

Matthew 28:19-20 “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen

The Great Commission is the Why? Ananias risked his safety and was obedient to the Lord’s instruction to go to Saul.

2 Corintihians 5:18-20 “Now all things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself ,through Jesus Christ, and has given us the ministry of reconciliation, that is, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them, and has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Luke 15:11:32 is the story of the Prodigal Son where a man has two sons and one asks for his inheritance and goes off into the world and wastes all of his inheritance and becomes penniless. Whilst working feeding pigs he realises that even his Father’s servants are better off than he is and determines to go back home and ask to be a servant in his Father’s household. “But when he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion on him and ran to him and kissed him” (verse 20).

The parable of the prodigal son Jesus told to reveal to us our Heavenly Father’s love for his children/ his creation.

I am one of four children – three daughters and then one son were born in or family. My brother was the youngest and only son and my Father loved him. He was special as a son can only be to a Father and my Father was so proud of my brother Shaun. When Shaun was killed ten years ago something happened to my Dad and he never recovered from the loss of my brother. He grieved the loss of his son and it hurt him deeply.

If that is how an earthly Father with imperfections and faults loves their children, how much more does our Heavenly Father love us and when we are lost to him or push him away how much more does it hurt and grieve Him.

Our Heavenly Father wants to lavish His love and goodness upon us. Often our perspective and understanding of how our Heavenly Father feels about us is affected by negative feelings or experiences with our earthly Father. We struggle to grasp how much we are loved by God because we transfer our experience, feelings and expectations in a negative way into our relationship with God, our Heavenly Father and never comprehend His immense love and care for us.

This is the Why?

Why Ananias went to Saul

Why the Great Commission to Go into all the world.

Why put in the effort to reach out, to care, to have compassion on others around us in our world.

We have a message to announce to others. “We are ambassadors for Christ as though God were pleading t through us: we implore you on Christ behalf be reconciled to God.” 2 Corinthians 5:20

It is the Father’s heart – we know the Why. God will show us the how as we wait on Him. (God gave Ananias specific instruction...”Arise and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for one called Saul of Tarsus, for behold, he is praying....” (Acts 9:11).

This account of Ananias shows the power of connection and that we all have someone we are to be connected with! (see also the account of Acts 9:26-27 and Barnabas connection with Saul)

Being available to say “Here I am Lord”, having the Father’s heart for people can have far reaching connection...eg the young school girl who faithfully visited a dying young man called Yongi Cho to share the gospel with him....he now has the largest church in the world in South Korea.

Discussion questions

Has God ever spoken to you?
Are you confident in hearing his voice?
Has He ever told you to do something and you have or haven’t followed through? Why or why not, and what were the consequences?
Do you have someone in your life that you know God wants you to connect with, to encourage, disciple, etc? If not, why not?