14 Bullet Points to Live By & For

In Acts 21, Paul is kind of making the rounds as a final good-bye, knowing full well that he will be dead soon. Only inthis case Paul doesn't have an illness, he knows they are going to kill him and he has no intention of trying to avoid it because he knows it is God's will:

Act 21:10-13 And as we stayed many days, a certain prophet named Agabus came down from Judea.
11 When he had come to us, he took Paul's belt, bound his own hands and feet, and said, "Thus says the Holy Spirit, 'So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man who owns this belt, and deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles.' "
12 Now when we heard these things, both we and those from that place pleaded with him not to go up to Jerusalem.
13 Then Paul answered, "What do you mean by weeping and breaking my heart? For I am ready not only to be bound, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus."
14 So when he would not be persuaded, we ceased, saying, "The will of the Lord be done."

If you read the rest of Chapter 21 you can see the beginning of what they do to him, but Paul is allowed to speak and in Chapter 22 we get to hear what he said. But for today, I would like to revisit Chapter 20. I was thinking about that set of 20 verses last night and I revisited them today. I started a list of lessons taught to us by Paul in this little section. I would like to challange all of you to revisit these today and consider this list and ass to it the lessons The Lord has opened up to you as you read these verses again. Here's my list:

1) Serve The Lord with humility
2) Expect persecution and trials
3) Expect people to hate you
4) Teach The Gospel publically and privately
5) Teach repentance toward God and faith in The Lord Jesus
6) Press on for The Lord no matter what
7) Be joyous knowing that this life is nothing compared to the inheritance that awaits those who belong to Jesus
8) Do not turn away from opportunities to share The Word
9) Redemption for sin comes only through The Blood of Jesus Christ
10) False religions and false teachers will be rampant
11) Even those claiming to be Christians will pervert The Gospel
12) Do not covet or be greedy for things of this world
13) Work hard and provide for others
14) Be generous and content

Isn't God amazing? What is an average verse?...10 words?....In approximately 200-300 words, God through Paul gives us more than all the "self-help" books in print today. Thank You Jesus!