Today’s format will be a little different as I make a simple parallel comparison between the Apostle Paul’s experience and what is happening today.
Philippians 1:12,14-18 TPT
[12] I want you to know, dear ones, what has happened to me has not hindered, but helped my ministry of preaching the gospel, causing it to expand and spread to many people.
This is happening right here, right now, before my very eyes! The Gospel of the Kingdom is spreading. The Kingdom of Heaven on Earth here and now is expanding.
[14] And what I’m going through has actually caused many believers to become even more courageous in the Lord and to be bold and passionate to preach the Word of God, all because of my chains.
I see this in me and all around me. Persecution and martyrdom acts as an accelerant, not an extinguisher, of the fire of the Gospel!
[15] It’s true that there are some who preach Christ out of competition and controversy, for they are jealous over the way God has used me. Many others have purer motives—they preach with grace and love filling their hearts, [16] because they know I’ve been destined for the purpose of defending the revelation of God. [17] Those who preach Christ with ambition and competition are insincere—they just want to add to the hardships of my imprisonment.
Not all motives are pure. Not all lives represent the Gospel well. Some are fakes and phonies! Yet…
[18] Yet in spite of all of this I am overjoyed! For what does it matter as long as Christ is being preached? If they preach him with mixed motives or with genuine love, the message of Christ is still being preached. And I will continue to rejoice”
This needs to be my attitude. From this point on I am going to be like Paul and rejoice when the Gospel goes forth, even when it’s through a person whose life actions and attitudes contradict it.
God’s ways are many times beyond my current understanding. He sees right through me and chooses to partner with me in spreading the good news of his loving salvation anyway. Amazing Grace!
Will you join me? Let’s look past what we see with our eyes and hear with our ears to see and hear in the Spirit what the Lord is doing all around us.
Look deeper at…
…Eric’s Life Lesson # 451: Parallel Experience: Spreading the Gospel: Then and Now