SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 12/17/2024 7:54 AM
My Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “Realize Your Duty”
Bible Reading & Meditation Reference: 2 Timothy
1:11-12a
Message of the verses: “11 for which I was
appointed a preacher and an apostle and a teacher. 12 For this reason I also
suffer these things,”
Now we have been writing about guarding against
being ashamed of Christ in the past SD’s and want to continue with that them as
we look at these verses. Here Paul draws
from his own life and ministry and it is known by those of us who read and
study the Word of God that Paul indeed suffered much for the cause of
Christ. I want, for a moment go back to
look at when the Lord called Paul to salvation, and also to the work that He
chose for him to do. “3 As he was
traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light
from heaven flashed around him; 4 and he
fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, "Saul, Saul, why are
you persecuting Me?" 5 And he said, "Who are You, Lord?" And He said,
"I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, 6 but get up and enter the city, and it will be
told you what you must do’” (Acts 9:3-6).
Now Paul was blinded by the light of the Lord and was led into
Damascus. We move on: “10 Now there was a disciple at Damascus
named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, "Ananias." And
he said, "Here I am, Lord." 11 And the Lord said to him,
"Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas
for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, 12 and he has seen in a
vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain
his sight." 13 But Ananias answered, "Lord, I have heard from many
about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints at Jerusalem; 14 and here
he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your
name." 15 But the Lord said to him, "Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear
My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will
show him how much he must suffer for My name’s sake’” (Acts 9:10-16). I have to say that it seems that every time
that I read those highlighted verses that I think that the reason that Paul was
told that he had to suffer for the name of the Lord was because of what he had
done to the Church of God. Now that I
think more about that I am changing my mind for that would mean that the Lord
would have to be vindictive something that I know that He is not, for He is
just. I think that perhaps in eternity
past that Paul was chosen to give out the gospel to the Gentiles and that in
doing that he would encounter sufferings for the cause of Christ. Ok I had better move on to what I am looking
at this morning.
MacArthur
writes that “Paul draws from his own life and ministry. The first of those two means is realizing one’s
duty, about which Paul had the strongest personal conviction. Using the same
words (in the Greek text) as he had in his first letter (1 Tim. 2:7), Paul
reminded Timothy, I was appointed a preacher and an apostle.” I think that this can be seen partly in the
text from Acts that I quoted above.
Now
as I look at MacArthur’s commentary I think that it best if I quote the next
paragraph. “The Greek ego (I) is in the emphatic position,
strengthening the meaning to ‘I myself.’ Was appointed refers, of course, to
Paul’s divine commission, which he dramatically received on the Damascus Road,
after which the Lord informed Ananias, a faithful disciple in Damascus, that
Paul ‘is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and
kings and sons of Israel’ (Acts. 9:15).
At least twice, Paul publicly testified to that calling, first on the
steps of the Roman army barracks before a large crowd in Jerusalem (Acts
22:3-21) and some years later before the Roman governor Festus, King Agrippa,
and his wife Bernice in Caesarea (Acts 26:2-23).”
As
I continue to look at MacArthur’s commentary I find that I am glad that I
quoted the verses from Acts chapter nine as he refers to the story that is seen
in those verses. We know that Paul’s
name was Saul and that while on his first missionary journey Luke began to
identify him as Paul. We also know that
because he was a persecutor of the Christians that he did not plan to become a
Christian, but then that was true with me also as I was planning to do some
sinful things back in January of 1974 when the Lord gave me an effectual call
that I could not say no to and that was almost 51 years ago. “Nor, after his conversion, was it his own
plan, or any other human plan, for him to be a special ambassador for Jesus
Christ. On the beach near Miletus, he
reminded the elders from Ephesus that he had received his ministry solely ‘from
the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God’ (Acts
20:24; cf. Col. 1:25). In his first
letter to the church at Corinth, he stated that truth in even stronger
terms. ‘ For if I preach the gospel, I
have nothing to boast of, he said; ‘for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if
I do not preach the gospel’ (1 Cor. 9:16),
(quoted from MacArthur’s commentary).
Spiritual meaning for my life today: I realized that my call to become a child of
God was certainly all in the plan of God, and for that I am very, very
thankful. I have been thinking back on that
day in January of 1974 when I was in Florida visiting a friend of mine in the
last few days as I used my testimony in our Sunday school class this past
Sunday. When I think about that call
that the Lord gave me, my thoughts are great gratitude to the Lord for the call
that He gave me, and also great thankfulness.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I trust that the Holy Spirit will continue to
guide me to do the things that God has planned for me to do while on this
earth, things for the cause of Christ.
12/17/2024 8:35 AM
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