-4- The Life of the Apostle Paul- Will A Vacation Fix It?- February 17, 2019

Trinity Missionary Church Podcast

As we head into the fourth week in our study of the life of the Apostle Paul, it has been well established that Saul of Tarsus was not a friend of the early Church. But, when God gets ahold of someone's life, everything changes. Early Church father, St. Augustine said of the transformation of the Apostle Paul, "It is a picture of a violent capture of a rebel heart." True life transformation happens from the inside-out, and is far more than just cosmetic. Anybody can "look the part" of a follower of Christ, but true transformation changes the entire person. After Ananias laid hands on Saul of Tarsus and the Holy Spirit entered Paul, what happened next? It is easy to think that the Apostle Paul simply went out to the Synagogue and began preaching, but he was not ready for such a task. Would Paul become one of the greatest apologists of history? Yes, but he first needed to spend time with God being mentored, taught and transformed. In Galatians 1:15-17, Paul writes of his time in the desert of Arabia being discipled by God. So often we try to lead, minister, work, parent and live "on fumes with our tank on empty." We stay so busy, we don't have time for "the desert." We don't take time to just be in God's presence and get to know Him through the Scriptures. The quiet times in our lives can be the most deafening, and we are not sure what to do with the silence and solitude. Are you running on fumes today? Do you need the desert? If that is the case, you need to go deeper into God's Word. It is because of Paul's desert experience with God he was able to write these words found in Philippians 3:7-9, "7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith." Stop living on fumes today, and allow God to fill you, even if He takes you to the desert!