Confirmation

September 16, 2026 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

We meet a godly man named Ananias only once in Acts 9, but his story is reiterated again on two other occasions. But of even greater importance is the role Ananias plays in the life of a key figure in church history. 

Ananias provides important details in the story of Saul’s conversion. Without these details that Luke records for us, skeptics could easily chalk up Saul’s experience to a hallucination or even madness, as Governor Festus claimed in Acts 26:24. 

(Check out all of the Scriptures telling this story by clicking here.)

I shared a post a couple of years ago about how all of the different individuals who experienced Saul’s encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus helped confirm the historicity of the account. But what about the confirmation that Saul would need to keep doing what Jesus had commissioned him to do?

I think Saul—who would later change his name to Paul—was grateful that he had this confirmation. Especially as he faced numerous difficulties—like imprisonment, being stoned and whipped by the Jewish leadership, shipwreck, hunger and exposure, and more. It would have bolstered his faith to know that he wasn’t alone in hearing God’s directive for his life, but that Ananias had also confirmed that message to him. 

Has this kind of confirmation ever happened to you?

I know I have experienced numerous times where I have felt the Holy Spirit was prompting me to say something, make a certain decision, or undertake a challenging task. Perhaps these thoughts came to me while I was studying my Bible or praying. Then a friend, with whom I hadn’t shared any details, approached me with a question or a statement that confirmed what God had already been speaking to my heart.

I am so thankful that God has graciously confirmed His directives to me. He always speaks in a way that is affirming, especially when others come along with a confirming word. 

This is one of the reasons why I am a huge proponent of journaling. It has been so powerful and beneficial for me to write down things that the Holy Spirit speaks to me while I am prayerfully reading my Bible. Sometimes it is almost immediately and at other times it is a long delay until there is a confirming word. With my journal, I can go back to see if the word my friend is sharing with me truly confirms what God had already spoken to my heart. 

We see these kinds of confirmation throughout the entire Bible, and I know from personal experience that God continues to speak this way. When He speaks a word to your heart, He will also confirm it through His Word or through a God-fearing friend. 

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The Above-And-Beyond Disciple

November 19, 2024 — Craig T. Owens

Listen to the podcast of this post by clicking on the player below, and you can also subscribe on Apple, Spotify, or Audible. 

It is nearly impossible to overstate how fearful Christians in the first century were of the Jewish zealot named Saul of Tarsus. Saul called himself “extremely zealous for the traditions of my fathers” (Galatians 1:14) as he sought to seek out and destroy all who were followers of The Way. 

(Check out all of the verses in this post by clicking here.)

Not only was he personally bent on his ruthless mission, but he had the full sanctioning of the Sanhedrin (Acts 8:3, 9:1-2). This was the religious body that had successfully goaded Pontius Pilate into crucifying Jesus. 

So you can imagine the apprehension in Ananias’ heart when Jesus calls him to visit with Saul after he had encountered Jesus for himself. Ananias said, “I’ve heard all about this man and the harm he has done. And I also know he has come to my city with the authority to drag Christians off to prison” (Acts 9:13-14). 

Ananias’ interaction with Jesus seems to me to echo the prayer that Jesus prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is as if Ananias is praying, “Is there another way? But not my will but Yours be done, Lord” (see Luke 22:42). 

Ananias is called a disciple of Jesus (Acts 9:10), and Paul even refers to him later as “a devout observer of the law and highly respected by all the Jews” (22:12). In other words, Ananias is an early church leader. What he does or doesn’t do here will set the pace for other Christians. 

So I love the fact that Ananias didn’t just begrudgingly do only what Jesus instructed him, but he said and did only what Christ’s love could empower him to say and do. 

Jesus told Ananias to lay his hands on Saul and pray for the restoration of his sight (9:12). Ananias did more. He laid his hands on him in such a loving way (9:17), that Luke uses the same word as when Jesus laid His hands on people for their healing (c.f. Luke 13:13). Ananias even called him “brother Saul” (9:17). 

Jesus told Ananias to simply pray for Saul’s physical healing, but Ananias did more: he prayed for Saul to be baptized in the Holy Spirit as well (9:17, 22:13). 

Jesus told Ananias what His plan was for Saul’s ministry, but He didn’t tell Ananias that he had to repeat that to Saul. Ananias did more: He reaffirmed to Saul what Jesus had already said to him and encouraged him to get up, be baptized, and began to do what Jesus had told him to do (9:15-16, 22:14-16). 

When Ananias called Saul “brother,” he used the term that fellow Christians used for each other (Philippians 4:1; Hebrews 2:11; 1 John 3:14). That means that Ananias is the first one to recognize the genuine conversion of Saul the persecutor to Paul the Christian. 

When the love of Jesus is in us, we will not be looking for ways to begrudgingly obey what Jesus tells us, but we cannot wait to lavishly do more loving things out of the overflow of Christ’s love in us. What a fantastic example Ananias has give all of us who call ourselves Christians! 

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