My Chains Are in Christ

The selflessness of Paul is staggering to read and so is the evidence of his identification with the cross, his personal ideology, how he viewed his life and purpose, and his complete and consistent surrender to the will of God. It stands as a staunch challenge to all in the professing world of evangelicalism. It stands as a challenge to a generation of professing Christians who understand devotion in a shallow way. Paul’s sacrificial existence makes much of modern Christianity look like a joke. Paul wrote this epistle from a Roman prison and wrote to encourage others who might have become distressed in hearing of his affliction. Paul writes to encourage others in the faith in the knowledge of the providential moving of God that works all things together for good to those who love Him. Paul encourages those he is writing to submit wholly to God also. In his affliction Paul does not seek comfort for himself, but extends it to others. Paul was removed from the typical mindset of people who face difficulty and complain and look for sympathy from others. Paul found no comfort in the temporal realm, his life was hidden in God in Whom he trusted and to Whom he absolutely submitted. May we be like Paul and not be so concerned with personal comfort, personal desires, sympathy, and our situations! We are called to live a life of selfless, self death, and complete abandonment of our carnal comforts and wants. We are called to live by faith in the sovereign, providential hand of God as He brings us each into unity and fellowship with His will. And to live as vessels in the Master’s hand. This was Paul, a partaker of the sufferings of Christ and conforming to the death of Christ. Click here to listen:My Chains Are in Christ