Good morning,
When
Paul looked back on his life, he remembered the shame he felt when he
realized how self centered and destructive he had been before he saw the
face of his wonderful Savior. He had spend years learning and growing
in his relationship with his loving Savior and had followed him through
all the pain and challenges that his Lord has planned into his life.
Now as an thankful old man he was celebrating the honor of being one of
those people who wasn’t afraid of the past, the present or the future.
Instead of being bitter in the battle he was energized by the thought of
still being a useful servant with the strength to do the work that God
would graciously give him. Instead of being fear filled, he was
thankful that Jesus had considered him trustworthy as a man and faithful
as a follower who would serve his Savior with all his heart. He was
old now, but he wasn’t weak. He was looking ahead to all the adventures
and opportunities that Jesus had planned for him.
Paul had come
to know Jesus as a generous and gracious Lord. Instead of being
distracted by all the confusion and hate around him, Paul was living his
life based on the grace of God. Fear had given way to a day by day
walk of faith that led him to one wonderful adventure after another.
God’s Holy Spirit had given him an unshakable faith in God’s plan for
his life. He knew that Jesus would keep guiding him to the people and
places that would bring eternal glory to his Father’s name and that
nothing that came with that daily plan was wasted or unimportant. Now
instead of his old hateful heart and self-centered living, he was
carried along by a heart filled with the love of God for friend and foe
alike. What Paul had discovered was that the same Holy Spirit that had
energized Jesus in his ministry here on earth was now living in him and
loving through him. The love that he felt was the love of God himself
for a lost world and for the growing family of God who still had a lot
of growing up to do. Lord, would you please open our eyes to your love
and grace so that our lives will be empowered by that same Holy Spirt
that marked Jesus and Paul and faith-filled men and woman everywhere
ever since.
1 Timothy 1:12 I thank Christ Jesus our
Lord, who has given me strength to do his work. He considered me
trustworthy and appointed me to serve him,
14 Oh, how generous and
gracious our Lord was! He filled me with the faith and love that come
from Christ Jesus.
Roy Wisner
