Paul: The Apostle

“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.” — Acts 20:24 ESV  

The call to follow Christ is a call to die — to die to self and the desires of the flesh, to die to the world and what the culture around you says. When you take up your own cross and follow Jesus, you are also dying to the opinions of man, and embracing the promise of persecution (2 Timothy 3:12). Just as Jesus carried the cross all the way up Calvary in the face of mockery and insults, we as His disciples are called to be on the mission and live for Him no matter what we face.
Paul exemplifies this. In his letters, you see what he faced and how he was willing to endure literally anything for the sake of Jesus and his mission (2 Timothy 2:10).

In the Book of Acts, the prophet Agabus declared that Paul would be imprisoned if he went to Jerusalem, and everyone who knew about his desire to go there were warning him not to go, he said, “I am ready not only to be imprisoned but even to die in Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus” (21:4-13). After this, everyone realized it was futile to try to talk any sense into Paul — he was getting his instructions from another world (21:14). It was Paul who said, “I have been crucified with Christ,” and, “the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world,” and “I do not account my life of any value” (Galatians 2:20; 6:14; Acts 20:24 ESV). When he told the Corinthians, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price” 1 Corinthians 6:19 ESV), no one was more qualified to make that statement. He practiced what he preached, even to the point of his own martyrdom. And the most beautiful part of it all is that when he was executed, he went directly into heaven to be received by all the Christians he had martyred before he encountered Jesus. No wonder he so cherished the gospel of the grace of God.


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This blog is an excerpt from Robert Presson’s devotional book, “People Of His Presence,” available on Amazon: Click here to purchase on Amazon.  Alternatively, the book is available for free when you give a donation of any amount to City Revival Ministries at  cityrevivalnola.com/give. Please indicate that you would like the book when you give.