MONDAY January 15th
When I commenced these devotions looking at the life and the ministry of Paul, I said that I wasn’t sure what direction we would take, and still don’t! I am just taking each devotion and seeing where the previous one will lead me to, Paul has left us such an amazing legacy, both from his life / testimony and his letters that help to enrich our lives as we seek to follow both his example and that of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I started these devotions reminding us of how important the gospel was to Paul, and of how he not only sought to declare it but also to defend it.
In Philippians we discover that Paul also realised that as he had given himself over to fulfil what he had been commanded to do which was to be ‘a chosen instrument of mine to carry my name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel’, Acts 9:15, that he saw that whatever happened to him as he carried out the task also happened to serve the advance of the gospel.
Here is what he has said in Philippians 1:12-14 ‘I want you to know, brothers, that what has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel, so that it has become known throughout the whole imperial guard and to all the rest that my imprisonment is for Christ. And most of the brothers, having become confident in the Lord by my imprisonment, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.’
I wonder as we have surrendered our lives to the Lord Jesus do we see every situation or circumstance as an opportunity to not only reflect something of Jesus from our lives but to speak of him?
Even being found in prison didn’t stop Paul! Every circumstance was an opportunity to share the good news of the gospel to those around him, so much so that it became known to the whole imperial guard that he was suffering for the sake of Christ and for the sake of the gospel.
I think, in all honesty, for a good number of us we probably would be more guilty of shrinking back, holding back, reluctant to speak up, when the reality is that what we have come to know and to receive is exactly what this sin sick world around us needs to hear, that there is a Saviour who loves them enough to die for them, a Saviour who is ready and willing to forgive and grant pardon from sin, a Saviour who is willing to give a brand new start, a Saviour who is willing to fill the helpless and hopeless with eternal hope.
We have the message, we need as we considered a few devotions ago to cry out for the help of and the power of the Holy Spirit to empower us and to embolden us to follow the example of Paul to take hold of every opportunity to speak to others about Jesus.