Daily Bread - 05/29/07
Acts 21:13 - Then Paul replied why are you making me cry and breaking my heart for I am not only ready to be bound but also to die in Jerusalem which I do eagerly for the name of the Lord Jesus.
Paul's dedication to reaching the lost could not have been expressed in a greater way than what was said by him in this verse. Paul did not feel this way out of a sense of legal obligation as though it was his religious duty, but out of the love of God that had taken over his soul for the lost. Even though his countrymen had persecuted him and created many difficult and harsh situations for him, he was still ready to go to Jerusalem and die if there was a chance of reaching them for the Kingdom (2 Corinthians 11:24; John 14:6; Acts 14:12; John 3). Paul knew that if Israel would once again enjoy the blessings of the Kingdom of God that they could not refuse to accept the long awaited Messiah (Romans 10:1; Romans 3:22-23). He also was burdened with the reality that without Christ Jesus they would be eternally damned and because the same love that God had for them was in him he was willing to lay down his life for them (Mark 16:16; 1 John 2:23; John 15:23; John 3:36; 6:53).
The whole meaning of Paul's life was to testify of Jesus Christ (Acts 20:24; Philippians 1:21). When we find the meaning and purpose of our life in Christ Jesus then it does not matter what things befall us, our hearts are fixed. In Christ Jesus we do not drift along being turned by the opinions of others and opposing circumstance. Our course is set with certainty and our plans thoroughly mapped out by God when we give ourselves over to living by the word of God. Even the prophecies that anointed men and woman give and the fears of dear friends cannot change the direction of one who has embraced the heavenly vision and found with certainty their place to labor in the Kingdom (Acts 20:23; 21:10-12). We can be certain that if we seek the Kingdom of God first then we will always find ourselves in the center of God's will for our lives (Matthew 6:33).
Be blessed!
Pastor Mark Spitsbergen
abidingplace.org
About Me
- Carol L
- San Diego area, California, United States
- I started this blog back in 2005, but in 2006 began dedicating it solely for the purpose of posting email messages called, Daily Bread, sent out Monday through Saturday by my pastor, Mark Spitsbergen. These daily emails contain fresh revelation that Mark gets from the Word of God by the Holy Spirit for that day for the church that God has called him to pastor, Abiding Place. 1 Peter 4:11 says, "If any man speak let him speak as the oracles of God; if any man minister let him do it as of the ability which God gives that God in all things may be glorified through Jesus Christ to whom be praise and dominion forever and ever. Amen." Jesus Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, (John 14:6), and He says, "The words that I speak to you are Spirit, and they are Life." (John 6:63). For the Word of God is quick (alive), and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12).
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