A man after God's heart - Ruminating in the Word of God

The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing,
majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of
him and what came to my mind and heart in Philippians 1:18,

"What does it matter? The important thing is that in every way,
whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of
this I rejoice."

As Paul considered the fact that there were some who preached the
gospel message from dishonorable motives, such as envy, rivalry,
selfish ambition and insincerity, as opposed to others who preached
the gospel from such honorable motives as goodwill and love, he
rejoiced either way. While the former did their preaching in an
attempt to stir up trouble for Paul, he rejoiced in it anyway.

The reason Paul rejoiced at the preaching of the gospel regardless of
the motive, even bad motives, was that in any event, the gospel was
advancing. Paul was so committed, not to his own welfare, not to his
own personal satisfaction and pride, but to the gospel enterprise. It
simply didn't make any difference to him what the motives were. He
rejoiced in the message going out. I suspect there may be few who
today who might rejoice at evangelism taking place at the expense of
their own good name or whatever the trouble intended for Paul may have
been.

It is apparent that Paul found his enthusiasm in his work for the
kingdom of God in adopting God's agenda as opposed to his own. I
suspect Paul was not one who took pride in being a best-selling author
of religious material. I suspect Paul didn't take pride in
establishing a huge congregation in a magnificent building that bore
the name of his own ministry. It mattered not that others may have
been causing him personal trouble as long as God's agenda of advancing
the kingdom of God was being furthered.

Paul was interested in the things of God alone. Recognizing the chief
purpose of the age in which we live is to build up God's kingdom,
things that may distract ministers of the gospel today held little
interest for him. He adopted the Lord's agenda, he sought the purposes
of the Lord, he was on the Lord's side. In his selfless abandonment
for God's kingdom it turned out he became a "best-selling author"
having written half the books of our New Testament. In his selfless
abandonment for God's kingdom he planted the church among Gentiles
such that his impact western civilization cannot be overstated.

Why was Paul this way? Was he just born a wonderful man after God's
heart? In 1 Timothy 1:13 he tells he was once a blasphemer, a
persecutor and a violent man. No, Paul wasn't born a godly man. God
made him that way. I wonder what he could do with me?

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com