In The Will of The Lord
Guest Post by Richard Manlove.
Acts 21 is the culmination of the disciple’s fears and the Apostle Paul’s expectations. All through the previous chapters we have Paul receiving warning after warning about his coming arrest and mistreatment. Time after time the disciples seek to dissuade Paul from continuing his journey, to cease preaching and to hide out, escape. But Paul, knowing the Lord’s will and his own mission, is resolute, steadfast in completing his life’s work and to stand firm in the will of the Lord. At last, the disciples give up and tell Paul, “The Lord’s will be done” (21:14).
Paul expected to be bound, in prison and, perhaps, die for the Lord. And, in contrast to the disciples, he looked forward to what God had in store for him, whether good or ill. Why? Paul lived to live within the will of the Lord. In Philippians 3:10, Paul gives us his reason for living, the code by which he lived: “I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.” That summed up the Lord’s will for his life. Though applications may vary, the Lord’s will is no different for your life or mine. We, each, would do well to adopt, for ourselves, Paul’s mantra for life – life here and in the hereafter.
So what your saying every one of us has reason living or for being alive?
So your saying we should be more like Paul?
The way he was with Christ?
I have a lot of respect for Paul because he wanted those things to be able to be closer with God. – Lindsey
Hi, class
Just today a nurse, a young man in his 30′s that Ihad worked with, committed suicide. I don’t know the details but I know this – he didn’t have a reason to live. Many today live to work, live to possess a thing or things, live to live through their kids or celebrities, or, one I really can’t figure out, live their lives through an avatar. All the above are bound to disappoint, be destoyed and not last after we are gone. Paul said, “For me to live is Christ.” He counted dying for Christ as a positive and something to look forward to. How different from our world today. If we live for Christ, we live to serve as He would serve. There is always someone waiting for Christ to meet his physical and spiritual need. We will always have a reason to live. Likewise, we will always have a reason to die – to be with Christ. Additionally, we might be called to die to be a witness for him. You might be interested in looking at the jesusfreaks website. Thanks for reading and writing (no arithmetic). Richard
Hey, guys
You will want to go to the jesusfreaks.net site by dc talk. – Richard