God appointed Paul...
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God appointed Paul. He did not take on this responsibility by himself. Because God considered Paul faithful, he gave him the strength for the job. His background sounds terrible! He had only been "faithful" in hurting and killing Christians before. But he acted in ignorance -- and unbelief. Do we have that excuse? No Christian can claim ignorance if we grew up in the faith and (or) learned it in church and Sunday school. So we had better be careful. If God can use a man like Paul was, then he can use us, so we dare not make excuses. We should rejoice that God deemed us worthy if he has called us to serve him in some way. The Bible seems to say that we all have a calling of some kind!
God can pour out his grace on us, which includes faith and love. It sounds like that is not something we drag up from inside us or work to accomplish. It is a gift of God! So if you think your faith is weak, then ask God to give you more! If you don't feel you have love in your heart, then ask God to give you love. It all comes from God!
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Our church is a hospital for sinners, not a saints club. We only become saints by giving our life to him. God is counting on us to be examples to others. When I drove my car in New York years ago, I was not a great driver, but when I wore my clerical collar I drove extra carefully in case I got picked up or others saw me driving. When someone knows you claim to be a Christian, you should act like one. Hopefully you will not wait until someone knows you are one before behaving! We should live the life of a Christian at all times -- even when no one is looking!
When I was a prison chaplain I always rejoiced when an inmate gave his life to Christ. We could all see the change in him (or her) and others were won to Christ by that good example. Some asked one fellow why he seemed to be so happy now. Then it was his opportunity to share what God had done for him.
The more I think about my own life, even though I have gone to church most of my life, I am still a sinner saved by grace. Our gratitude for what God has done should make us rejoice when he counts us worthy to serve him in any way.
God can pour out his grace on us, which includes faith and love. It sounds like that is not something we drag up from inside us or work to accomplish. It is a gift of God! So if you think your faith is weak, then ask God to give you more! If you don't feel you have love in your heart, then ask God to give you love. It all comes from God!
Jesus came into the world to save sinners. Our church is a hospital for sinners, not a saints club. We only become saints by giving our life to him. God is counting on us to be examples to others. When I drove my car in New York years ago, I was not a great driver, but when I wore my clerical collar I drove extra carefully in case I got picked up or others saw me driving. When someone knows you claim to be a Christian, you should act like one. Hopefully you will not wait until someone knows you are one before behaving! We should live the life of a Christian at all times -- even when no one is looking!
When I was a prison chaplain I always rejoiced when an inmate gave his life to Christ. We could all see the change in him (or her) and others were won to Christ by that good example. Some asked one fellow why he seemed to be so happy now. Then it was his opportunity to share what God had done for him.
The more I think about my own life, even though I have gone to church most of my life, I am still a sinner saved by grace. Our gratitude for what God has done should make us rejoice when he counts us worthy to serve him in any way.
