Jun. 19, 2008
One Believers Journey: Would We Sign-Up For This Trip?
Although I no longer have time in this season of my life to do Sweet Monday, I am cleaning up my computer and found a devotional I wrote for a meeting in 2005. What an amazing example Paul is.
One Believer’s Journey – Would We Sign-Up For This Trip?
*Shortly after you become a Christian, enemies conspire to kill you. (Acts 9:23-25)
*Escape by being lowered down a wall in a basket.
*Other believers don’t trust you. (Acts 9:26-30)
*Find only one person who will stand up for you – he becomes your best friend.
*Again have enemies try to kill you. Escape again.
*Take your first missions trip. You have to strike a man blind when he attempts to use his satanic powers to oppose you. (Acts 13)
*Get run out of town several times for bolding teaching truth of God. (13 & 14)
*Get stoned within an inch of your life. (14:19-20)
*Lose your best friend over a disagreement. (15:36-41)
*Be stripped & beaten (16:22-26)
*Get thrown in jail and have your feet immobilized
*Get saved from jail by means of a violet earthquake
*Go to other towns and have to leave them due to strong, physically-dangerous opposition (Acts 17)
*Almost get arrested on charges on inciting a riot (Acts 19)
*Again have enemies plot to kill you. Hike 20-miles over rough country to avoid them. (Acts 20)
*Have someone fall asleep on you while you’re preaching. Worse, he falls out a window & dies. Bring him back to life
*Over & over again, you have to leave many dear friends that you have made, knowing that you will never see many of them again.
*Get arrested again. (Acts 21-28)
*Go through a long and tedious arraignment process with many different judges where you make your case and proclaim God’s truth and your testimony over and over again.
*Finally, you appeal to go to the highest court in the land
*In traveling to the place of your trial, you have to sail in a small 140-foot boat with 1 sail and roughly 250-270 other people; a portion of them hardened criminals.
*Before long, hurricane-forced winds hit and set your ship off course and threaten to break up your ship.
*Suffer through this for 14 days with very little food and sleep.
*Your boat finally breaks apart, but by a miracle everyone survives.
*You land on island. It’s cold and raining. You try to help gather wood to build a fire and get bitten by a poisonous viper.
*After at least 3 months, you finally set sail again.
*When you finally get to your destination you get sentenced to “2-5 years.”
*Spend them under house arrest.
*Pass the time by writing 4-5 books.
*Celebrate your release by going on another journey.
*End up leaving your winter coat and journal & letter-writing paper in one town, possibly b/c you had to leave quickly b/c your life was in danger (2 Tim 4:13)
*End up getting arrested again, and this time, instead of house arrest, you stay in a cold prison cell on death row. Write to a good friend asking him if he could please bring the coat and letter-writing materials you left behind.
*Eventually get beheaded.
So was Paul’s fate. Think he still would have gone if he knew all of this lay ahead for him, or even have become a Christian? Thank goodness God doesn’t show us our future! We might not ever want to step into it!
Paul wrote 4-5 books during his first trip to prison, when he was under house arrest. They are known as the “prison epistles,” or a good way to remember them is to think of the word “Pep-C” (like Pepsi): Phillipians, Ephesians, Philemon, and Colossians (and some scholars think that he might have also written the book of Hebrews at this time)
Rejoice (8) and Joy (9) are found a total of 17 times in those 4 books. After going thru all those trials, problems, and even being under heavy guard -- his attitude was one of joy!
Php 2:17 But even if my life is to be poured out like a drink offering to complete the sacrifice of your faithful service (that is, if I am to die for you), I will rejoice, and I want to share my joy with all of you.
Can we have joy like that on our life’s journey, no matter what struggles & difficulties we may go through?
After what Paul went through, what is our excuse?
Is it really about WHAT we face when we are on life’s journey, -- or HOW we face the things that happen to us in life?
Php 3:1 Whatever happens, dear brothers and sisters, may the Lord give you joy. I never get tired of telling you this. I am doing this for your own good.
Php 4:4 Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again – rejoice!
Col 1:11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with his glorious power so that you will have all the patience and endurance you need. May you be filled with joy
Know what your hope is in. Life is hard. But that doesn’t mean through it all, you can’t have joy. Just know what your joy is in, like Paul did. If you are a Christian, you have to remember that the Lord CAN give you joy. Pray for it. Then, with Jesus, you can face anything.
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I have been the bride to the most gracious, sweetest man in the world for the last 11 years. What I love most about him is that he is always striving to be a better husband, father, and child of God.
