Acts 20:22-24\u00a0<\/b>–\u00a0\u201cAnd now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,\u00a0not knowing what will happen to me there.\u00a023\u00a0I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me\u00a0that prison and hardships are facing me.\u00a024\u00a0However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;\u00a0my only aim is to finish the race\u00a0and complete the task\u00a0the Lord Jesus has given me\u2014the task of testifying to the good news of God\u2019s grace.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201c<\/span>And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,\u00a0not knowing what will happen to me there.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0It is thought by some that by Paul here saying \u201cnot knowing what will happen to me there<\/i>\u201d that he did not know that going to Jerusalem would lead to his death.\u00a0\u00a0What he is saying that he was compelled by the Spirit to go to Jerusalem. He, a man guided by the Holy Spirit, knew that He was called to go to Jerusalem and so nothing could sway him from going.\u00a0\u00a0If God said it, he did it.\u00a0\u00a0To obey God, no matter the consequence, was a simple fact that Paul lived by. Paul may not know that he will be bound and ultimately lead to his death.\u00a0\u00a0Or, he may know of his impending death but not know exactly how everything will transpire. After all, he will not die in Jerusalem, but in Rome.<\/p>\n \u201cI only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me\u00a0that prison and hardships are facing me.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0How did the Holy Spirit warn him?\u00a0\u00a0Certainly by speaking directly to him.\u00a0\u00a0But also the Spirit spoke to Paul and confirmed this message by using those with a prophetic gift (Acts 21:10-14<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0In fact when Paul was originally commissioned by Jesus he had been warned that he would suffer in the name of Jesus (Acts 9:15-16<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0Paul knew he was headed for great hardship in Jerusalem, but he also knew that the Holy Spirit had directed him to go there.\u00a0\u00a0So yes, the Spirit may send us somewhere where we will suffer for the Gospel of Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Those who love the Lord and are grateful for what Jesus has done for us are ready to suffer and even die for Christ if that is God\u2019s will (Luke 9:24<\/b>).<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, I consider my life worth nothing to me;\u00a0my only aim is to finish the race\u00a0and complete the task\u00a0the Lord Jesus has given me\u2014the task of testifying to the good news of God\u2019s grace.<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Paul\u2019s primary reason for life was to share the good news of God\u2019s grace that comes only through Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0His life meant nothing if it was not to share the Gospel as he had been called to do.\u00a0\u00a0Perhaps it helps to compare his purpose to the love of a parent for their children.\u00a0\u00a0If a child is about to be run over by a truck and the only way for the father to save the child is to run and push the child out of the way, while not having the time to also save himself, the father would do it, without thought of the sacrifice his own life.\u00a0\u00a0To a mother or father, the child\u2019s life is most important.\u00a0\u00a0That act is not a matter of duty, but is a pure reaction of love.\u00a0\u00a0Paul had been called to follow where God would lead him to share the Gospel.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If that lead to harm, or even death, Paul had already showed he was willing to risk all to share the gospel to save the lives of the unsaved.<\/p>\n Jesus said \u201cFor whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it.\u00a025\u00a0What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self?<\/i>\u201d\u00a0\u00a0(Luke 9:24-25<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Family and Friends, there is nothing on this earth worth our spiritual lives.\u00a0\u00a0Paul\u2019s physical life would be taken, but his spiritual life was being fully kept by the Lord Jesus Himself.\u00a0\u00a0Of suffering, and even death for the glory of Christ, Paul said \u201cThat is why I am suffering as I am. Yet this is no cause for shame, because I know whom I have believed, and am convinced that he is able to guard what I have entrusted to him until that day<\/i>.\u201d (2 Timothy 1:12<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0May we understand what Paul did, that this earthly life is nothing compared with walking in God\u2019s love and grace.\u00a0\u00a0This earthly life we live is the outer and lesser life.\u00a0\u00a0The greater life we have is our eternal spiritual life.\u00a0\u00a0Our earthly life is phase one.\u00a0\u00a0It is temporary and short lived.\u00a0\u00a0Our spiritual lives are phase two and are eternal.\u00a0\u00a0Phase two is what is most important. We can live for Jesus now and live forever with Him, or we can reject Jesus now and live forever without Him.\u00a0\u00a0To be with Him is to live with Him forever.\u00a0\u00a0To live without Him is to be in eternal torment.\u00a0\u00a0Really, the correct choice is obvious and the one who rejects Jesus chooses eternal torment and separation from God with no hope of redemption (after death).\u00a0\u00a0For those who know Jesus as Savior and Lord, it is our calling from Jesus to spread the Good News.\u00a0\u00a0Actually, not spreading the Gospel is selfish and even hateful.\u00a0\u00a0Let us live in love and in obedience to God and share the Gospel.\u00a0\u00a0Like Paul, it is our calling (Matthew 28:18-20<\/b>).\u00a0\u00a0And we are honored to be able to do so.\u00a0\u00a0Thank you Lord!\u00a0\u00a0Praise God!<\/p>\n Psalm 150:6<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.\u00a0 Praise the Lord!<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 7:7<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0But as for me, I watch\u00a0in hope\u00a0for the\u00a0Lord, I wait for God my Savior; my God will hear\u00a0me.\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n Micah 6:8<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0He has shown You, O man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; And what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of You but to do justly, to love mercy, And to walk humbly with Your God<\/i>.<\/p>\n Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0\u201cThe\u00a0Lord\u00a0bless you and keep you; 25\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; 26\u00a0the\u00a0Lord\u00a0turn His face\u00a0toward you and give you peace.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Acts 20:22-24\u00a0–\u00a0\u201cAnd now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem,\u00a0not knowing what will happen to me there.\u00a023\u00a0I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me\u00a0that prison and hardships are facing me.\u00a024\u00a0However, I consider my life worth nothing to me;\u00a0my only aim is to finish the race\u00a0and complete the task\u00a0the Lord…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1192],"tags":[82,106,101,94,1874,17,2036],"class_list":["post-1979","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-acts","tag-luke","tag-matthew","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1979"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1980,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1979\/revisions\/1980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1979"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1979"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1979"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}