Paul

2 Timothy 4:7-8 "I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith. Henceforth there is laid up for me a crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous judge, shall give me at that day: and not to me only, but unto all them also that love his appearing"

I recently finished a study in the life of Paul. I have always loved the writings of Paul, but I have learned and begun to understand some things about him that I didn't know before. Paul's life was completely changed from a man who followed the law, and persecuted Christians, to a man who knew Christ, and who loved Christ. The depth of that love is nearly indescribable. He KNEW God. He trusted Him. He trusted God's plan for his life. He spent his life pouring out to people, and took no thought for himself, always being obedient to the call of God that was on his life. He had entrusted everything to Christ..every effort, every tear, every drop of sweat, every mistake, every victory, every ability, every sermon. Paul had placed everything he had into the hands of his Savior. No matter how difficult his circumstances grew, and believe me, his circumstances were often difficult, he remained obedient till the end. As the chains gripped his hands and feet, the the stench of death was all around him, he said, "I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him" II Timothy 1:12

The book of II Timothy has become even more precious to me lately. Paul had chosen to trade his life of honor and respect for one of rejection and tribulation. Faced with humiliation, Paul proclaimed, "Yet I am not ashamed, because I know whom I have believed". Paul's sanity was protected by his certainty in his Savior. He KNEW the One in whom he believed...He knew Him with the kind of knowledge that was worth any loss.

If we are going to survive the trials and circumstances of this life, we must KNOW the One in Whom we believe. No matter what loss we may have suffered, no one can take what we know away from us..no one can take WHO we know. Paul looked at life through the window of Philippians 1:21 "For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain".

Tomorrow I will continue writing on the life of Paul. I hope you will stay with me on this one. I don't know about you, but I believe we can learn so much from the life of this man.. My desire for every one of us is that we would KNOW the ONE in Whom we have believed...that no matter what we may face in this life, our minds and our hearts would be firmly planted in Him..
My prayer for each of you today is that "He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might by His Spirit, in the inner man..that Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, and that all of you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all saints what is the breadth and length and depth and height, and to know the love of Christ, which passes knowledge, that you might be filled with all the fullness of God."