Today’s Devotion
Topic: Be Spent For The Lord!
Text: Romans 15:18, 20a, 23-24a
18 I will not venture to speak of anything except what Christ has accomplished through me in leading the Gentiles to obey God by what I have said and done— 20a It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known.
23 But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions, and since I have been longing for many years to see you, 24a I plan to do so when i go to Spain.. Amen
Paul had a personal ambition to preach Jesus wherever Christ was not known. So from Jerusalem through Illyricum (Romans 15: 19) he preached until there was no more work in those regions, then he set his eyes on Rome and Spain (Europe).
His labor for the Lord made him go through a great deal of tribulation anyway. Nonetheless he never gave up, for to him, nothing should separate us from the love of Christ- not trouble or hardship or persecution or famine.
He narrated to the Corinthians that he has “been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.”
He said “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea.
He continued ” I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers.”
He goes on “I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches” (2 Corinthians 11: 23-28)
Beloved what is our desire and ambition for the course of Christ? When we sing “take my life and let it be” do we actually mean it? Do we actually give him our all, or keep a part for our personal pride and dignity? Will you be spent for the sake of the Gospel? Meditate on this!
As you assess your personal commitment to the great commission: how far you are willing to go and how much of yourself are you willing to offer? Remember the words of Jesus in Matthew 16: 25: “whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life FOR ME will find it.” Begin to pray now!
Allow the words of this song motivate your desire to let Christ known everywhere you go. https://youtu.be/uP0V2VUddB0
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