January 30th, 2022 – Do Not Prove Disobedient
Experiencing God Devotional
Acts 26:19 – “And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.”
God does everything for a reason. God met Saul of Tarsus on the Damascus road for a purpose (Acts 9:1–9). Saul had planned to persecute Christians, but his encounter with Christ changed him forever. God did more in that encounter than save Saul from his sin. God began to reveal His will for Paul’s life. God’s assignment for Paul was clear: “He is a chosen vessel of Mine to bear My name before Gentiles, kings, and the children of Israel. For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake” (Acts 9:15–16).
God’s plan for Paul, revealed through a vision, involved both testifying before kings and suffering persecution. Paul was to enjoy the thrill of performing miracles, preaching to large crowds, and starting churches. But Paul was also to be stoned, shipwrecked, whipped, mocked, conspired against, and imprisoned (2 Cor. 11:23–28). Would we accept this part of his assignment as readily as the first? We never hear of Paul complaining about his commission from God. He never asked that he be given a role like Peter’s, or James’s, or John’s (Gal. 2:9–10). It was enough for Paul that he be given any task in the kingdom of God. As he neared the end of his ministry, Paul could boldly state to King Agrippa, “I was not disobedient to the heavenly vision.”
Oh, to have Paul’s tenacity and devotion to the Father’s will! What joy there is not only to begin well in our Christian faith, but also to end faithfully! It is God’s desire that each of us could say at the end of our lives, “I was not disobedient.”
Blackaby, Richard. Experiencing God Day By Day (p. 31). B&H Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.
Pastor’s Thoughts
“Paul was to enjoy the thrill of performing miracles, preaching to large crowds, and starting churches. But Paul was also to be stoned, shipwrecked, whipped, mocked, conspired against, and imprisoned (2 Cor. 11:23–28). Would we accept this part of his assignment as readily as the first?”
I have often said that God does not reveal His full will of our lives step by step because if He did then we would never take a step. We would spend our whole lives being afraid of all that would happen to us during our time of following Jesus.
We are not to make Jesus our Lord and Savior so that we can have it good on this Earth. Nor are we to make Him Lord and Savior so that we can go to Heaven.
No, we surrender to Jesus so that we can be in a right relationship with God. In other words we come to Jesus to get Jesus. He is the true gift. The rest is just benefits.
Would you have made a different decision then knowing all that you have gone through since surrendering your life to Jesus Christ? I know I wouldn’t. I am so grateful that Jesus died so that an undeserving person such as myself could be in a right relationship with the Heavenly Father.
Have a blessed Sunday everyone! Remember to not let the controllable circumstances of this world keep you from worshipping Jesus with a church family today!
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