This WILL mean...

I want to know that I can change. I spent time with a friend this morning. We talked about the gift of being aware that God IS changing us. We are different than we were two years ago and God actually lets you see that transformation is happening. That is so kind to me. He lets us be aware of the change happening.

Paul in the Bible was first named Saul before God changed his name. We are told that Saul's life was focussed on persecuting Christ followers and then literally in a flashing moment God invaded Saul's life and he became Paul, a man that began living his life desperate for God. I was thinking this week about how this man who used to hunt and persecute followers of Jesus was rescued by God, changed to be hungry for Jesus, and was carried along by the Holy Spirit to write 13 of the 27 books of the New Testament of the Bible...almost half of the New Testament of the Bible. I noticed as I pondered Paul's life this week that I was telling God, "Me too! Use me! Carry me along Holy Spirit and write through me. Speak through me. Plant your Word in me mighty Jesus!"

In the Bible book of Philippians, one of the 13 books of the New Testament that Paul wrote, chapter 1 and verse 22 there is this really strong thought. Paul is writing a letter to a gathered group of Christ followers in the city of Philippi. Catch this...he's writing a letter to these folks and the Holy Spirit is carrying him along as he writes to them and then we have it preserved for our reading and instruction these hundreds of years later. This is pretty cool and pretty humbling when you stop to think about it. Now we'll pop in on what Paul is writing to these folks who live at Philippi. He is telling them things like how he wants to live a life that is not ashamed of following Jesus and that he needs courage to follow Him. He then tells them that he is aware that whether he is alive or dead that he gets Jesus. Jesus has seized control of his life while he is alive on the earth. He is aware that Jesus' power is transforming the way that he is living his life. He is convinced of it. And he also tells them that if he were to die that he gets Jesus too! He is gaining Jesus while he is living and he gains Jesus when he dies too. Either way, it's all Jesus and that's what he wants. When's the last time you got a letter with these topics?

Then in verse 22 he writes this captivating thought. "If I am to go on living in the body, this WILL MEAN FRUITFUL LABOR FOR ME." Whoa now Paulie. Ease it back a bit. You are sounding a bit arrogant my boy. This WILL MEAN fruitful labor for you? How can you really know that? And I sense that Paul is saying with his life....."I am saying that as I am carried along by the Holy Spirit, my flesh is being put to death in me by the power of God and my confidence in Jesus. As a result, His power is increasing in me because JESUS IS LIVING IN ME!" And I think that Paul likes it. He wants it. He is not primarily full of himself. He's full of Jesus. Really. This is not sinful arrogance. This is godly confidence. I want it.

My heart is stirred as I am taught by the Spirit through Paul's life. Is this my/our mindset as we are living our life today?Because of the transforming presence of Jesus Christ in my life, my life WILL HAVE impact in the midst of those that have been given to me and to whom I am being given. Not because I'm "making it happen" but because this is what Jesus is doing in and through me today. This isn't promoting arrogance. The fact that the power of God would be dynamically pulsating in my life is one of the most humbling things to ever happen to me. I want the power of God to impact you today as I am living my life around you, even through these words. Not cocky, buy hungry. Really hungry for the power and presence of God to run to and fro in our midst. I want this with you today. I want this with Him today.

Is this our view of God and each other today? God, thank you for letting us see that you are changing us.

Hungry for you Jesus. Carry us along Holy Spirit. Pulse in us Father God.

This WILL MEAN fruitful labor because of the power of God alive in you and me.

There's more.