Devotion: Giving up our lives for Jesus

Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus … (Philemon 1a).

It would be hard to overstate the impact that Paul had in the shaping of the church to reflect the bigger plan of God – the mystery of God’s intention to win every tribe and tongue by sending his Son.

How did this man, so steeped in Judaism and zealous for Israel, shift so dramatically and serve this greater purpose?

I believe the key is in this verse. Paul became a ‘prisoner of Christ Jesus’ – a true ‘bond slave’ (to use the Old Testament image).

To become a prisoner of Christ, Paul gave up all his claims to self-righteousness. He considered his deeds and accomplishments as rubbish – compared with knowing Jesus.

A prisoner of Christ approaches their decision-making in a different way. They put aside their personal feelings to ask, ‘What do you want, Lord?’

Paul is a wonderful example to us when we face various challenges.

Some might conclude that Paul was a man with a strong ‘will’ to obey – I believe his secret probably lay much deeper than that. In 2 Corinthians 12:7, Paul states, ‘In my weakness – your strength is revealed’.

Paul learned how to ‘drink in the Holy Spirit’ when faced with difficulty, and this can be our secret as well.

Lord, I thank you for the heroes of the faith who have gone before us and are now among the ‘great cloud of witnesses’ who barrack us on as we run our race. Help us, Lord, to know you are with us always, and help us run well the race set before us.

Prayer Points

We give thanks for the love and service of the mothers in our community and for those who play an important mother-like role in supporting and caring for our students

We pray for God’s love and comfort to be with those who are struggling at this time or have been affected by recent events

We pray for the Pham, Iang and Kawngno families.

Micah Award

Joshua for showing appreciation.

Juan Pablo for showing Courage