Can God Really Change Anyone?
Is there someone in your life you've quietly given up on? Maybe it's someone who walked away from faith, or someone who seems openly hostile to it. In Acts 9, Jesus stops the most unlikely person imaginable, a man actively hunting down Christians, and changes his life forever. If He could reach Saul of Tarsus, don't underestimate Jesus' power to change a life, including yours and the life of someone you love.
The Road to Damascus
Saul was a vile man hunting down the church when he was confronted by Jesus Himself. Acts 9:3-6 says, "Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.'"
Notice how Jesus calls his name twice: "Saul, Saul." We see this in other places in Scripture: Abraham, Abraham; Simon, Simon; Martha, Martha. The commentator John Gill said the name is doubled to show both vehemence and affection, intensity and tenderness. A double call means the speaker intends both to rebuke the person and to win them back.
When You Attack His Bride, You Attack Him
Saul was hunting down followers of Jesus, and Jesus said, "You are persecuting Me." When you mess with someone's wife, you're messing with him. When you mess with the bride of Christ, you mess with the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. As R.C. Sproul put it, Jesus so closely identifies Himself with His church that attacks against the people of God are, in fact, attacks against Jesus.
Then Saul responds, "Who are you, Lord?" Here's a man terrorizing believers, stopped by a bright light that takes away his sight. He recognizes a person of authority and calls Him Lord, but he doesn't know who He is. Now he's on the ground, unable to see, in a posture of humility and dependence. For anyone to move into the kingdom of heaven, it begins with an admission: I am lost, and I don't know the Lord.
Three Things Jesus Does When He Calls You
When the Lord calls you to Himself, three things take place.
1. He Confronts Your Sin
"You are persecuting Me." Saul was convicted of his sin and his separation from God. His entire worldview was that he was his own savior through keeping the law. Later, as the apostle Paul, he looked back on that life in Philippians 3:4-7: "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."
His worldview of being his own savior turned out to be empty. He no longer wanted "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law" (Philippians 3:9). We all have the same problem: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), words written by this very same man. The worldview that says, "I'm good enough, I can perform, I'm the captain of my own ship," leaves us empty.
2. He Doesn't Shame You
Jesus doesn't shame Saul, and He won't shame you either. If He's calling you out of darkness into light, He calls you, but He doesn't shame you. If anyone deserved shame, it was Saul: a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a zealot who persecuted the church. If behavior modification were the goal, this would have been the place for shame.
Moms and dads, behavior modification isn't the goal of parenting. I recently talked with a mom whose goal was simply changing her child's behavior, and I told her she had to think bigger and show the way of Jesus. Yes, there are consequences. But shame is a tool of Satan, and it's a way to beat somebody down. Don't shame your kids.
I once had to stop a dad in his tracks. He was speaking badly about his son to me, right in front of his son. I pulled him aside and said, "Don't speak of your disappointment in him to other people in front of him. If you want to hold him down and keep him down, keep doing that. It's like an undertow pulling him out to sea." If behavior modification is the goal, shame becomes the tool. That's not the way of Jesus.
The way of Jesus says, "I wish you hadn't made that mistake. There are consequences. But I love you, and I'm disciplining you because I love you." Students, when your parents discipline you, it isn't to make you miserable. It's because they love you, the same way the Lord disciplines those He loves, "as a father the son in whom he delights" (Proverbs 3:12). Discipline, but show grace: "I still love you. You'll always be my son or my daughter."
Paul later wrote about people still living the way he once lived: "For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things" (Philippians 3:18-19). That was who he had been, until he encountered amazing grace.
3. He Calls You to a New Purpose
Jesus confronts Saul's sin and doesn't shame him, and then He immediately gives him another way: "But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do" (Acts 9:6).
When you come to Jesus, He calls you out of darkness into light, away from a life of ruin and destruction and into a life of peace, joy, goodness, faithfulness, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit. He called Saul away from being his own savior and said, "I've got something different and far better."
Isn't that remarkable? This man who hated Christ and actively hunted the church left everything to have Christ. "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). All that performance, all that climbing to the top, he walked away from because Jesus is far better.
Don't Underestimate His Power to Change Your Life
Maybe you're thinking, "You don't know what I've done. I'm not worthy." I don't have to know. I'm telling you what I've seen. Many people who were lost are now found. They were blind, and now they see. Jesus loves you too much to leave you in your sin. He doesn't shame you; He invites you into another way.
Don't Give Up on Someone You Love
And don't underestimate His power to change the life of someone you love. Some of you have stopped praying for someone. You've given up on them. It's easier to give up than to labor in prayer, so you've just stopped. I'm trying to strike a little flint and reignite a fire for the people you've stopped praying for.
Look at Ananias, because he represents us in this story. Acts 9:10-14 says, "Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he said, 'Here I am, Lord.' And the Lord said to him, 'Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.' But Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.'"
Ananias is basically saying, "You've got the wrong guy. I'm just telling You what I see, and what I see is that this man is evil." That's a mirror for us. We give up praying for people because, like Ananias, we're keeping score.
The Father Who Kept Watching
It's like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son: "You're throwing a party for him after what he did?" But the father went outside every day, looking down the road: "Is my boy coming home today? I miss him. I love him. He took all my money and treated me like I was dead to him, but I can't wait to hug him, to put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and a robe around him. He's always been my son."
That's the heart of your Father. But we quit. We stop praying, we stop asking, we stop believing, and we're not prepared when they come home. No one is too far gone for God. Keep praying, keep watching the road, and don't underestimate what Jesus can do.
This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise Bellaire campus on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Check out the full message below!
The Road to Damascus
Saul was a vile man hunting down the church when he was confronted by Jesus Himself. Acts 9:3-6 says, "Now as he went on his way, he approached Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven shone around him. And falling to the ground, he heard a voice saying to him, 'Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?' And he said, 'Who are you, Lord?' And He said, 'I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting. But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do.'"
Notice how Jesus calls his name twice: "Saul, Saul." We see this in other places in Scripture: Abraham, Abraham; Simon, Simon; Martha, Martha. The commentator John Gill said the name is doubled to show both vehemence and affection, intensity and tenderness. A double call means the speaker intends both to rebuke the person and to win them back.
When You Attack His Bride, You Attack Him
Saul was hunting down followers of Jesus, and Jesus said, "You are persecuting Me." When you mess with someone's wife, you're messing with him. When you mess with the bride of Christ, you mess with the Bridegroom, the Lord Jesus Christ. As R.C. Sproul put it, Jesus so closely identifies Himself with His church that attacks against the people of God are, in fact, attacks against Jesus.
Then Saul responds, "Who are you, Lord?" Here's a man terrorizing believers, stopped by a bright light that takes away his sight. He recognizes a person of authority and calls Him Lord, but he doesn't know who He is. Now he's on the ground, unable to see, in a posture of humility and dependence. For anyone to move into the kingdom of heaven, it begins with an admission: I am lost, and I don't know the Lord.
Three Things Jesus Does When He Calls You
When the Lord calls you to Himself, three things take place.
1. He Confronts Your Sin
"You are persecuting Me." Saul was convicted of his sin and his separation from God. His entire worldview was that he was his own savior through keeping the law. Later, as the apostle Paul, he looked back on that life in Philippians 3:4-7: "If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ."
His worldview of being his own savior turned out to be empty. He no longer wanted "a righteousness of my own that comes from the law" (Philippians 3:9). We all have the same problem: "all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23), words written by this very same man. The worldview that says, "I'm good enough, I can perform, I'm the captain of my own ship," leaves us empty.
2. He Doesn't Shame You
Jesus doesn't shame Saul, and He won't shame you either. If He's calling you out of darkness into light, He calls you, but He doesn't shame you. If anyone deserved shame, it was Saul: a Hebrew of Hebrews, a Pharisee of Pharisees, a zealot who persecuted the church. If behavior modification were the goal, this would have been the place for shame.
Moms and dads, behavior modification isn't the goal of parenting. I recently talked with a mom whose goal was simply changing her child's behavior, and I told her she had to think bigger and show the way of Jesus. Yes, there are consequences. But shame is a tool of Satan, and it's a way to beat somebody down. Don't shame your kids.
I once had to stop a dad in his tracks. He was speaking badly about his son to me, right in front of his son. I pulled him aside and said, "Don't speak of your disappointment in him to other people in front of him. If you want to hold him down and keep him down, keep doing that. It's like an undertow pulling him out to sea." If behavior modification is the goal, shame becomes the tool. That's not the way of Jesus.
The way of Jesus says, "I wish you hadn't made that mistake. There are consequences. But I love you, and I'm disciplining you because I love you." Students, when your parents discipline you, it isn't to make you miserable. It's because they love you, the same way the Lord disciplines those He loves, "as a father the son in whom he delights" (Proverbs 3:12). Discipline, but show grace: "I still love you. You'll always be my son or my daughter."
Paul later wrote about people still living the way he once lived: "For many, of whom I have often told you and now tell you even with tears, walk as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their end is destruction, their god is their belly, and they glory in their shame, with minds set on earthly things" (Philippians 3:18-19). That was who he had been, until he encountered amazing grace.
3. He Calls You to a New Purpose
Jesus confronts Saul's sin and doesn't shame him, and then He immediately gives him another way: "But rise and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do" (Acts 9:6).
When you come to Jesus, He calls you out of darkness into light, away from a life of ruin and destruction and into a life of peace, joy, goodness, faithfulness, and the rest of the fruit of the Spirit. He called Saul away from being his own savior and said, "I've got something different and far better."
Isn't that remarkable? This man who hated Christ and actively hunted the church left everything to have Christ. "Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For His sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ" (Philippians 3:8). All that performance, all that climbing to the top, he walked away from because Jesus is far better.
Don't Underestimate His Power to Change Your Life
Maybe you're thinking, "You don't know what I've done. I'm not worthy." I don't have to know. I'm telling you what I've seen. Many people who were lost are now found. They were blind, and now they see. Jesus loves you too much to leave you in your sin. He doesn't shame you; He invites you into another way.
Don't Give Up on Someone You Love
And don't underestimate His power to change the life of someone you love. Some of you have stopped praying for someone. You've given up on them. It's easier to give up than to labor in prayer, so you've just stopped. I'm trying to strike a little flint and reignite a fire for the people you've stopped praying for.
Look at Ananias, because he represents us in this story. Acts 9:10-14 says, "Now there was a disciple at Damascus named Ananias. The Lord said to him in a vision, 'Ananias.' And he said, 'Here I am, Lord.' And the Lord said to him, 'Rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul, for behold, he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him so that he might regain his sight.' But Ananias answered, 'Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much evil he has done to Your saints at Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.'"
Ananias is basically saying, "You've got the wrong guy. I'm just telling You what I see, and what I see is that this man is evil." That's a mirror for us. We give up praying for people because, like Ananias, we're keeping score.
The Father Who Kept Watching
It's like the older brother in the story of the prodigal son: "You're throwing a party for him after what he did?" But the father went outside every day, looking down the road: "Is my boy coming home today? I miss him. I love him. He took all my money and treated me like I was dead to him, but I can't wait to hug him, to put a ring on his finger, shoes on his feet, and a robe around him. He's always been my son."
That's the heart of your Father. But we quit. We stop praying, we stop asking, we stop believing, and we're not prepared when they come home. No one is too far gone for God. Keep praying, keep watching the road, and don't underestimate what Jesus can do.
This blog is based on the message shared by Senior Pastor Dr. Roger Patterson at our CityRise Bellaire campus on Sunday, Oct. 25, 2026. Check out the full message below!
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40 Days of Faith: Day 1A Note from Pastor Roger40 Days of Faith: Day 2Three Ways Satan Tries to Attack You40 Days of Faith: Day 340 Days of Faith: Day 440 Days of Faith: Day 5Because You Give: Year in ReviewFaith That Offers Its Best: Lessons From Cain and Abel40 Days of Faith: Day 640 Days of Faith: Day 740 Days of Faith: Day 8God-Sized DreamsA Note from Pastor Roger40 Days of Faith: Day 940 Days of Faith: Day 1040 Days of Faith: Day 11Because You Give: Christmas Eve Recap40 Days of Faith: Day 12Walking With God: The Life and Legacy of Enoch40 Days of Faith: Day 13Pathways Create: West U Baptist Children's RenovationPathways Create: Missouri City Parking LotPathways Create: CityRise BellairePathways Create: West U Baptist PlaygroundsPathways Create: West U Baptist GalleryPathways Create: Missouri City Building RenovationPathways Create: West U Baptist SanctuaryPathways Create: West U Baptist Choir SuitePathways Create: West U Baptist Teaching TheaterPathways Create: West U Baptist Fowler ChapelPathways Create: West U Baptist Access Ramp and Front PlaygroundPathways Extend: Neighbors & NationsPathways Honor: Centennial Gift40 Days of Faith: Day 14Firstfruits GivingHow to Walk in Faith40 Days of Faith: Day 15Standing on Their ShouldersA Note from Pastor RogerPaying it Forward40 Days of Faith: Day 1640 Days of Faith: Day 1740 Days of Faith: Day 18Because You Give: Discipleship UThe Heart Behind GivingCommunity and GenerosityTest Me in ThisMultiplying GenerosityInvesting in What is Next40 Days of Faith: Day 19The Power of a Meal40 Days of Faith: Day 2040 Days of Faith: Day 21A Note from Pastor RogerHow to Have Faith That is Certain40 Days of Faith: Day 2240 Days of Faith: Day 23January 25 Services: Online Only & Pathways Kicks Off40 Days of Faith: Day 24How to Watch CityRise Online This MorningBecause You Give: Kids Ministry40 Days of Faith: Day 25The Pathway of Legacy40 Days of Faith: Day 2640 Days of Faith: Day 2740 Days of Faith: Day 28A Note from Pastor Roger40 Days of Faith: Day 2940 Days of Faith: Day 3040 Days of Faith: Day 31
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40 Days of Faith: Day 3240 Days of Faith: Day 33The Pathway of Planning40 Days of Faith: Day 3440 Days of Faith: Day 35The Right Way to PlanA Note from Pastor Roger40 Days of Faith: Day 3640 Days of Faith: Day 3740 Days of Faith: Day 38Because You Give: Kenya Mission Trip40 Days of Faith: Day 3940 Days of Faith: Day 40A Note from Pastor RogerHow to Move From Planning to ActionBecause You Give: Student MinistryThe Pathway of Authentic LeadershipA Note from Pastor RogerBecause You Give: Women's RetreatThe Pathway of Joyful WorshipHow to Be Guided by GodA Note from Pastor Roger
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