Learning From Paul

Acts This is what happened to the first Christians: They agreed they were in for good-no quitting. They agreed in prayer. They were filled with the Holy Spirit and received supernatural power. They followed a daily discipline. They couldn't keep quiet about what they knew to be true. They prayed for fearless confidence in preaching The Message. They all shared with each other. Ananias and Sapphire are proof that secrets will kill you. The followers were 'promptly obedient'. Paul and Barnabas encouraged the believers wherever they went--putting muscle and sinew into their lives, encouraging them to stick with what they had begun and not quit. Making it clear that being a follower wouldn't be easy.

Songs of praise and worship break open the prison doors. Praise and thanksgiving will set me free from any bondage in my mind, too.

Paul gave constant encouragement, lifting the believers' spirits and charging them with fresh hope. When warned of trouble in Jerusalem, Paul told the believers that the issue was not what the Jews might do to him, but rather, what the Master, Jesus, does through Paul's obedience. Awesome reminder of the importance of immediate obedience.

In reading through Acts, and all the things that happened to Paul, I am reminded again that we modern, Western Christians have a very unrealistic view of how the will of God plays out in the circumstances of our lives. Even though Jesus taught that we would have trouble, we somehow think living in God's will for us means everything just works out good. That is so wrong. Paul had joy, contentment, and great productivity for Kingdom work, but hardly anything went the way he thought it should. Let that be a reminder to me again, Lord, that Your ways are so different from mine; Your perspective full and complete, and mine limited.

Romans Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgemental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors.

Our lives get in step with God and all others by letting Him set the pace, not by proudly or anxiously trying to run the parade.

Offer yourself to sin, for instance, and it's your last free act. But offer yourselves to the ways of God, and the freedom never quits!

God's gifts and God's call are all under full warranty--never canceled, never rescinded.

So, here's want I want you to do, God helping you: Take your everyday ordinary life--your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking around life--and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for Him. Don't become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You'll be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants from you and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you, always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings out the best in you, develops well-formed maturity in you.

Love from the center of who you are--don't fake it. Be good friends who live deeply; practice playing second fiddle. Make friends with nobodies; don't be the great somebody.

A final word of counsel--Keep a sharp eye out for those who take bits and pieces of the teaching that you learned and then use them to make trouble. I want you to be smart, making sure every good thing is the real thing.

I & II Corinthians God's wisdom is something mysterious that goes deep into the interior of His purposes. You won't find it lying around on the surface. Also, see Isaiah 45:3.

Stand your ground, and don't hold back. Throw yourselves into the work of the Master, confident that nothing you do for Him is a waste of time or effort.

Enter this wide open, spacious life. (We) didn't fence you in. The smallness you feel comes from within you. Your lives aren't small, but you're living them in a small way. Open up your lives. Live openly and expansively.

Test yourselves to make sure you are solid in your faith. Don't drift along taking everything for granted. Give yourselves regular check-ups.

Galatians The person who lives in right relationship with God does it by embracing what God does for him. Doing things for God is the opposite of entering into what God does for you. Make a careful exploration of who you are, and the work you have been given & sink yourselves into it.

Ephesians Long before we first heard of Christ, and got our hopes up, He had His eye on us, had designs on us for glorious living, part of the overall purpose He is working out in everything and everyone.

Philipians My prayers and hopes have deep roots in reality. Live in such a way that you are a credit to the Message of Christ.

There's more to this life than trusting in Christ. There's also suffering for Him. And the suffering is as much a gift as the trusting.

I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward-- to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back. So let's keep focused on that goal, those of us who want everything God has for us.

Colossians Pray diligently. Stay alert, with your eyes wide open in gratitude. Radical, exuberant praise & thanksgiving!

Use your heads as you live and work among outsiders. Don't miss a trick. Make the most of every opportunity. Be gracious in your speech. The goal is to bring out the best in others in a conversation, not put them down, not cut them out.

I & II Thessalonians God hasn't invited us into a disorderly, unkempt life, but into something holy and beautiful. Look for the best in each other and always do your best to bring it out. Check out everything, and keep only what's good.

I & II Timothy Exercise daily in God--no spiritual flabbiness, please! Workouts in the gym are useful, but a disciplined life in God is far more so, making you fit both today and forever. Run hard and fast in the faith. Don't ever quit. Just keep it simple. This is the only race worth running. I've run hard right to the finish, believed all the way.

Titus God's people should be big-hearted and courteous.

Philemon I keep praying that this faith we hold in common keeps showing up in the good things we do, and that people recognize Christ in all of it.