1 Timothy 1:1<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0Paul,\u00a0an apostle of\u00a0Christ Jesus\u00a0according to the commandment of\u00a0God our Savior, and of\u00a0Christ Jesus,\u00a0who is\u00a0our\u00a0hope.<\/i><\/p>\n
Paul became an Apostle not because he decided to take up that trade or to get a degree in it, but because God chose Him.\u00a0\u00a0God commanded him and if we wonder if that is a violation of Paul\u2019s free will (As I once was puzzled by it) that is a good question to consider.\u00a0\u00a0After all when the Lord commands so forcefully and confronts, who can withstand the sovereign will of God? (Although in reality, we have millions of examples) Yet when we consider the Lord overwhelming Paul (Acts 9:3-5<\/b>) we must consider that God is omniscient (Psalm 44:21, 1 Kings 8:39, John 21:27<\/b>) and we are not. (Job 42:1-6<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Therefore He knows Paul\u2019s heart and will.\u00a0\u00a0Paul loved being the Lord\u2019s disciple and zealously sought to do the will of God.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord knew that he would.\u00a0\u00a0The Lord was not forcing Paul to be what he did not want to be.\u00a0\u00a0Rather the Lord fulfilled Paul\u2019s dreams by helping him change tracks.<\/p>\n
Yes, the Lord powerfully confronted him but in doing that He gifted and assisted Paul to live out what was his most fervent desire. (1 Timothy 1:12-14<\/b>) Paul was already a zealot to serve God, He was happy in his doing what he thought pleased God. (Galatians 1:13-14<\/b>) But what Paul thought was right was the opposite of what God wanted. (Acts 9:5<\/b>)\u00a0\u00a0Paul had the right heart but the wrong idea on how to please God.\u00a0\u00a0Walking the wrong path for his life, Paul had cried out to God to lead him and use him.\u00a0\u00a0So the Lord God answered his prayer.\u00a0\u00a0Paul did not have his free will violated but instead the Lord led him to his greatest desire and what Paul had willed for, had prayed for.\u00a0\u00a0On the path Paul was on he would not have achieved what he most wanted, to properly serve and honor the Lord. The Lord did not force Paul into anything but rather rescued Him.\u00a0\u00a0It is a lack of understanding to say that the Lord violated Paul\u2019s free will and forced him into service, it would be more properly said that Paul was rescued from fighting against his God. Paul\u2019s path was leading him off a cliff and the Lord stopped him from evil overtaking him and set him the correct and safe path.<\/p>\n
So we pray \u201cnot my will Lord, but yours.\u201d We pray that if we are off target that He help us, we pray for Him step in and lead us.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0From our very souls we pray \u201cLord God, keep me close to you.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0Let me not wander on a murderous path to my death, but instead keep me on the secure path of Your perfect will, where I am safe with You.\u00a0\u00a0Psalm 139:23-24<\/b>\u00a0\u201cSearch me, God, and know my heart; put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; 24\u00a0And see if there is\u00a0any\u00a0hurtful way in me, And\u00a0lead me in the\u00a0everlasting way.\u201d<\/i>\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>So Lord, please confront me when I am astray and strongly guide me to walk in Your will.\u00a0\u00a0As Paul desired, please correct me when needed and cause me to live to please you.\u00a0\u00a0There in rhapsody I will live forever with you.\u00a0\u00a0Praise the Lord!<\/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\u00a0shown you, Oh man, what\u00a0is\u00a0good; and what does the\u00a0Lord\u00a0require of you, but\u00a0to do justly, to love\u00a0mercy, and to walk humbly with your God.<\/i><\/p>\n
Numbers 6:24-26<\/b>\u00a0–\u00a0The\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.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
1 Timothy 1:1\u00a0–\u00a0Paul,\u00a0an apostle of\u00a0Christ Jesus\u00a0according to the commandment of\u00a0God our Savior, and of\u00a0Christ Jesus,\u00a0who is\u00a0our\u00a0hope. Paul became an Apostle not because he decided to take up that trade or to get a degree in it, but because God chose Him.\u00a0\u00a0God commanded him and if we wonder if that is a violation of Paul\u2019s free…<\/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":[1969,1849,100,2148,94,1874,17,2036],"class_list":["post-2902","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-devotion","tag-galatians","tag-job","tag-john","tag-kings","tag-micah","tag-numbers","tag-psalm","tag-timothy"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902","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=2902"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2903,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2902\/revisions\/2903"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2902"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2902"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.Bob4God.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2902"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}