SESSION NOTES:

We had a late afternoon workout due to community service in the AM. It was hot! Workouts will be back on track at the usual time starting next weekend.

Word of the Day (WOD):

Paul’s Faith

How do you respond when you find yourself dealing with a painful situation?

It could be anything, a relationship that’s not going well, a betrayal of trust, or a problem at work.

What we most often do is simply give up & walk away. We decide that we don’t have to put up with this anymore and we leave.

Who wants to stay in pain, anyway?

Well, that’s not who we are. As a follower of Jesus, quitting or giving up simply doesn’t fit who we are. We have to have the courage to keep on keeping on.

We can look to the lives of the disciples as examples of courage and endurance. In fact, no one better fits the definition of someone who never quits than the apostle Paul.

Paul is by far my favorite of Jesus’ disciples. He wrote around half the books of the New Testament. His transformation from Saul, a persecutor of Christianity to Paul, one of the greatest of Jesus’ apostles makes his story all the more incredible. If you ever want an example of God’s glory demonstrated, you need to look no further than the life of Paul.

His faith & courage in the face of suffering should be an inspiration to all of us.

In 2 Corinthians 12:24-26 Paul says, “Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked. I spent a night and a day in the open sea. In my frequent journeys, I have been in danger from rivers and from bandits, in danger from my countrymen and from the Gentiles, in danger in the city and in the country, in danger on the sea and among false brothers…”

How many of us could have survived what Paul went through and still remain faithful?

When we are tested, we give up. We walk away from our relationship, our job, our children. When life gets too difficult, we quit. And there are plenty of quitters out there. Yet quitters don’t get anywhere in life.

What happens is we walk away right before the breakthrough, right before we are rewarded by God for our perseverance. I’ve seen this in my own life.

Let’s look at what reasons Paul had to keep going. If anyone should have quit it was Paul, yet he didn’t. He never gave up no matter what he experienced. I think we can all learn something from the faith of Paul.

You see, Paul was aware of the presence of the almighty God with him.

“The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome.”” (ACTS 23:11 NIV)

We may not all have God speak directly to us, but He is with us. In fact, throughout all of Paul’s writings we are continually reminded by him that God is with us.

Now, I’d bet that if I asked you if you believe that God is with you, you’d probably say YES. However, would you claim that when times are tough? No matter what is going on, no matter how bad things are – that God is with me? Either you believe that God will do what He says, or you don’t. If you begin to question Him, you’ll begin to consider giving up.

There’s no maybe with God.

You see oftentimes we give up right before victory is around the corner, right before the chance for reconciliation, right before things take a change. As believers and this is important – as believers when we give up on a situation, we are giving up on God…

What we have to realize is that no matter how tough it gets, if we don’t give up, we will be rewarded. Think about the life of Paul, he was shipwrecked all those times, he had people trying to kill him, they did everything imaginable to try and get rid of him. Yet we find Paul in jail rejoicing in the Lord, praising God for what He’s doing in his life.

Do you know why?

Because Paul never felt that Jesus Christ was absent in any situation he was in.

This is the important point – The awareness of His presence will take you through things like nothing else can. Believe me, I’ve been through some rough times lately, and I would not have survived without God’s grace & His presence in my life.

Paul experienced God’s strength within him whenever he felt weak. And he often wrote about the strength that was in him.

“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” (Philippians 4:13 NKJV)

It was the strength of our almighty God. He was aware of God’s presence, and being aware of God’s presence he was aware of the strength that God released in Him. That’s what got him through without giving up.

No matter what you’re going through, what you’re facing, you have the strength of God within you. Because you have the Holy spirit living inside you. And He will empower you and strengthen you to do whatever He has called you to do.

God will never put you in a situation that is more than you can handle if you call on Him for the strength and not rely on your own.

In Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, he talks about putting on the full armor of God, and he says, “Take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one.” (EPH 6:16 NIV)

That’s what we should start our day with. The awareness & faith that God is with us today and we have the strength of God to face anything, everything, and anybody and everybody no matter what the situation is.

It doesn’t matter what season you are in, what you are going through, or the pain you’re experiencing, you have to know that God works everything for His good.

Paul knew this, as he wrote in his epistle to the Romans.

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” (Romans 8:28 NKJV)

We have the power of the almighty God within us, call on it. Call on it like Paul did. Be aware of His presence in your life and He can, and He will carry you through any and every situation.

You have to trust God.

He never said understand me…He said, trust me.