Every person wants to fulfill their destiny … to do what we were created to do. Every serious follower of Christ has this DNA implanted in their soul. Something (or Someone) calls us to this, and it’s a glorious calling.
But there is an ironic component that must be embraced to reach this goal: suffering. We don’t like this word, but to Paul it was glorious for he had accepted the truth that suffering was the high path to greater effectiveness and greater reward. Paul gives us an important theology for suffering in 2 Timothy 1-2 as he mentions it four times in two chapters to young Timothy.
In scientific equations there are certain elements that cause certain reactions. If those elements are not present, you do not have what you intended. For instance, if you take hydrogen out the equation of H2O, you will not have water, one of the most essential combination of elements in the universe.
FAITH
... is the essential element for the believer. And faith, in itself, has several parts ...
All of us appreciate a good accounting system, even if we are not the ones administering it. You are grateful when you go to a store, that they will only charge you what is advertised. In business, you want to know how things will be recorded and have a clear understanding of what will be done, particularly when it’s your money that is involved.
God has an accounting system and Paul, when finally enlightened, realized that it was completely opposite of what he had operated under for years.
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ. (Ephesians 1:3)
Do you realize what God has done for you in Christ? Notice the three uses of "bless" in the verse above. Paul blesses God because he has blessed us with every spiritual blessing.
Your conscience is your "self-knower." It is that intangible part of you that helps you know where you are spiritually, both before God and others.
If we violate what is right, our conscience tells us. As a believer, this is the Holy Spirit’s work in us called “conviction.” This is a wonderful provision by God, unless we have so violated over the years that our conscience is "seared" i.e., it has become hardened and scarred and unable to function properly.
What is the truly Christian life? What is the experience of the Christ follower? And what is their purpose?
As Paul is giving the account of his conversion before an angry crowd in Jerusalem, he relates what Ananias told him at his conversion. It describes what Paul was to experience. Notice, that all of these things are not merely intellectual, but practical and experiential.
