The Awesomeness of Paul

I really enjoy listening to Pastor Tony Evans of Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship. That man speaks the truth of the word to his congregation in such an honest, call-you-to-the-carpet kind of way that I find myself talking to the radio when he is on.

Now, normally I'm not an out loud "Amen" kind of gal, but I find myself doing lots of "Amen"ing when Dr. Evans is on the airwaves.

What I've paraphrased below (with a TON of leeway) is what I remember of Friday's radio sermon on Paul. The part I just couldn't remember verbatim was the scripture,* so I looked it up. It's all from Philippians, in case you care to read it yourself.

I loved how Dr. Evans pulled together all the different passages on Paul. I've heard them all before, but never put together as one unit:

When the Romans decided to kill Paul, and told him exactly that, his response was "For me, to live is Christ and to die is gain."

Basically, Paul said, "You want to kill me? Great! I'll go to live with my Christ."

Obviously, this tactic wasn't working so the Romans said "If you want to die, then we won't kill you. Instead, we'll let you live."

To which Paul responded "If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labor for me."

Again, Paul found the good in the decision: "Another win! Sparing my life will allow me to continue to proclaim the gospel while I wait for the time I will be called home to Heaven."

This really messed with the Romans, who decided "FINE. We'll let you live, but we are going to cause the rest of your life to be horrible by jailing and torturing you."

And Paul's response? "Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel. As a result, it has become clear throughout the whole palace guard and to everyone else that I am in chains for Christ. And because of my chains, most of the brothers and sisters have become confident in the Lord and dare all the more to proclaim the gospel without fear."

Paul was thinking: "If you have the desire to allow me to speak the truth in this circumstance so more can know my Lord, I'd be honored."

No matter what the Romans did to Paul, no matter what angle they took, no matter the consequences, Paul found a way to glorify Christ!

Death? Ha!
Life? Great!
Torture? Groovy!

WOW! I don't think I have EVER had that much hope when life seemed negative and filled with horrible possibilities. Yet, I'm reminded that life as a Christian is PROMISED to have its difficulties.

So I have just one little question for you and me to ponder:

IS TODAY THE DAY YOU GOING TO BECOME LIKE PAUL AND GLORIFY GOD THROUGH THE CIRCUMSTANCE?


"I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD; be strong and take heart and wait for the LORD." Psalm 27:13-14





*Shame on me.