“I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.”
2 Timothy 4:7 KJV
I would've loved to watch the apostle Paul . . .
2 Timothy 4:7 KJV
I would've loved to watch the apostle Paul . . .
…who previously went by the name of Saul, as he penned the words, “I have fought the good fight. I have finished my course. I have kept the faith.” Words, which later would be included in the New Testament, thus allowing these very words to live on.
As a faithful soldier for the Lord, and with many years of service to the church now under his belt, Paul was about to die as a martyr for a faith he believed in, and for a Savior whom he loved. And die, he did! The beloved apostle paid the ultimate price for loving God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, whom much of the world still hates today. But whom I continue to love and serve.
As a Jewish scholar of the sacred texts of Moses and the prophets, Saul had an unexpected supernatural encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and his life was instantly transformed. Now known as Paul, he went on to become a powerful Holy Spirit filled preacher and evangelist, spreading the tenets of a faith he once tried to destroy.
And while my encounter was low-key when compared to Saul's, which came with a blast of brilliant light, blinding him and knocking him to the ground. I simply invited the Lord Jesus into my heart while kneeling alongside my bunk in a cold prison cell. But my “salvation experience” was just as real as Paul's was.
While today, looking back over several decades when I first put my trust in Jesus (Yeshua), and having spent years reading and studying Paul's writings and learning so much from him, I am hoping that when it's time for me to reach the finish line at the end of my life, that I too would be able to say the same. “By the grace of God, I have fought a good fight of faith. I didn't quit. And while I had my ups and downs on the journey, I stayed with the Lord Jesus until the end.”
D.B.
As a faithful soldier for the Lord, and with many years of service to the church now under his belt, Paul was about to die as a martyr for a faith he believed in, and for a Savior whom he loved. And die, he did! The beloved apostle paid the ultimate price for loving God's only begotten Son, the Lord Jesus, whom much of the world still hates today. But whom I continue to love and serve.
As a Jewish scholar of the sacred texts of Moses and the prophets, Saul had an unexpected supernatural encounter with the resurrected Jesus, and his life was instantly transformed. Now known as Paul, he went on to become a powerful Holy Spirit filled preacher and evangelist, spreading the tenets of a faith he once tried to destroy.
And while my encounter was low-key when compared to Saul's, which came with a blast of brilliant light, blinding him and knocking him to the ground. I simply invited the Lord Jesus into my heart while kneeling alongside my bunk in a cold prison cell. But my “salvation experience” was just as real as Paul's was.
While today, looking back over several decades when I first put my trust in Jesus (Yeshua), and having spent years reading and studying Paul's writings and learning so much from him, I am hoping that when it's time for me to reach the finish line at the end of my life, that I too would be able to say the same. “By the grace of God, I have fought a good fight of faith. I didn't quit. And while I had my ups and downs on the journey, I stayed with the Lord Jesus until the end.”
D.B.