Tag: apostle paul

Galatians 2:11-14

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            “When Peter came to Antioch, I told him face to face that he was wrong… I corrected Peter in front of everyone.”  The Apostle Paul confronted the Apostle Peter on a matter of hypocrisy.  This was not just any run-of-the-mill hypocrisy.  What Peter was doing was totally out of sync with the gospel that they both proclaimed:  that forgiveness of sins in Jesus Christ is for all people, Jew and Gentile, whom both together make up Christ’s Church.  Out of fear of his fellow Jews, Peter began withdrawing from his Gentile brothers in Christ.  That stinking fear will get us every time.  At the heart of every hypocrite is a spirit of fear that keeps him/her in bondage to the wishes of others.
 
            Whereas Peter was deepening into the world of learned helplessness and terminal niceness, Paul chose to operate in the world of seeing all things through the lenses of the gospel and confronting that which had nothing to do with it.  Please note that Paul rebuked Peter, and not every single person who came along who didn’t agree with him.  They were both part of the apostles’ fraternity, and each had both a right and responsibility to confront and rebuke when needed within that fellowship.
 
            I live in Mid-West America.  We, like Peter, suffer from the malady of sometimes being too nice for our own good.  If we aren’t careful, we can be pleasant and affable to people to their face, but then turn around and speak ugly words and do our own thing behind someone’s back.  Our hypocrisy is born of the fear that we might hurt someone’s feelings.  But we need to grab ahold of the fact that our hypocrisy hurts God’s feelings, and he will call us to account for our fearful ways.  God does not want us hiding our true feelings, but bringing them into the light of the gospel so that the church can be built up and thrive in grace.
 

 

            Holy God, you desire grace and truth in all relationships.  Help me to speak with boldness, in a spirit of mercy and integrity, so that there will be growth and spiritual fruit in all of my relationships through Jesus Christ my Lord.  Amen.

Acts 26:19-29

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            Paul was quite the guy.  He was a zealous missionary to Gentiles, indefatigable, and an intense type-A kind of dude.  But it wasn’t those characteristics that Paul was looking for others to see in him.  Paul simply wanted others to see Christ in him.  Having been arrested for preaching the gospel, Paul found himself before King Agrippa making a strong apologetic for Christian faith.  The DTR talk is one worth examining and emulating.  Agrippa’s response to Paul was, “In such a short time do you think you can talk me into being a Christian?”  Paul answered, “Whether it takes a short time or a long time, I wish you and everyone else who hears me today would become just like me!”
 
            I wonder how many of us could confidently say the same thing as Paul.  Are we the kind of Christians that we would want others to emulate?  Has our faith journey led us to the place of being a solid model of what a follower of Christ should look like?  Do we expect others to change while avoiding change ourselves?  Do we deeply desire and work toward others coming to know Jesus?  What is on your wish list?
 
·         I wish every non-Christian in my community would come to know Jesus as the gracious Savior and risen Lord of their lives.
·         I wish every single member of my church would spend all their relational and emotional capital in this life leading others to Jesus Christ.
·         I wish every person I encounter would have the merciful privilege of knowing Christ like I have been privileged to know Him.
·         I wish all my parishioners would become just like me, except, of course, for my self-made chains.
·         I wish every person on planet earth would become a Christian.
 

 

Risen and ascended Lord, you are the king of all creation.  May your rule and reign take over my life to such a degree that everything that comes out of my mouth, and every action I take would be worthy of emulation in your way of love.  Amen.

Philippians 1:12-18

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year CLeave a comment
            It was President Ronald Reagan who said, “There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don’t care who gets the credit.”  The ability to have a disinterest in attention and freedom from selfishness comes from a place of humility and strength – the strength to know oneself well and be secure in that knowledge, as well as the humility to care more about the cause than self.
 
            The Apostle Paul had so learned humility from his Lord, and was so thoroughly convinced of the gospel’s centrality that he did not care who got the credit when it came to proclaiming Jesus.  “Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will….  The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment.  What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice.”
 
            The burning, driving, constant, and passionate pursuit of Paul was the advance of the gospel.  He wanted the entire world to know Jesus Christ crucified, risen from death, ascended and coming again.  And Paul would do anything and drain himself of every drop of self-centeredness in order to champion that great cause of seeing people repent and believe the gospel.
 
            Is your heart enamored with Jesus?  Is it hot with the desire to see the gospel of grace transform the world?  Do you lay awake at night wondering how to introduce Jesus to others?  Is the great cause of your life to find ways of meeting the world’s deep need with the deep love of Christ?  Attention and recognition are overrated.  Instead, give up your life and you will find it.
 

 

            Gracious God, thank you for the example of your servant Paul.  I rejoice in what you did in and through his life.  I am available for your purposes.  Use me in the advance of your gospel of grace so that I might more fully participate in your grand forgiveness mission.  Amen.

Acts 20:17-38

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year BLeave a comment
            Apparently, real men do cry.  When the manly Apostle Paul was headed for Jerusalem, he stopped in Ephesus on his way.  Paul preached for hours to the church he had established there, and everyone understood this just might the last time they all saw each other.  Paul remembered that he had served the Lord among them and admonished each person “with tears” (vv. 19, 31).  Paul departed from Ephesus for the last time and “there was much weeping on the part of all” (v. 37).
 
            Paul did not shrink from declaring all the will of God to the church.  Neither did he hold back the tears and was not afraid to allow his emotions to be an integral part of his ministry.  One of the unfortunate philosophical hangovers from the Enlightenment project of sheer intellectual rationalism is that over the past several centuries we in the West have tended to view ourselves as brains on a stick.  The thinking goes that if we clearly and objectively educate people, providing them the correct information, they will have everything they need and do the right thing.  Try telling that to Paul.
 
            Christianity that does not include the vital element of the emotions is a truncated spirituality that desperately needs some tears in order to connect with Jesus Christ.  So, let’s all have a good cry today.  Weep over the lost persons who are in need of salvation; shed some tears about believers who are not growing in their faith; bawl and let our eyes be red in missing those friends and mentors who have moved on and/or passed away; and, cry over a broken world that has not experienced the grace of God.  Indeed, slow down enough to feel the pain and find the mercy of God.
            Gracious God, you have created us all in your image.  Help me so to connect with your emotional self that I will not be stifled in my faith, but will go on to maturity in Christ with your whole church.  Amen.