If you were to write down the story of your life then it would be a huge blessing to others to see how God came to you even before you knew Him; He purposed a pathway for your life; He transformed who you and He poured grace into your heart so that you could love people. That’s what He did and what He continually does for you. This is your testimony and it is marvellous. He did this for Apostle Paul also:-
“But when God, who set me apart from my mother’s womb and called me by his grace, was pleased 16 to reveal his Son in me so that I might preach him among the Gentiles, my immediate response was not to consult any human being. ” (Galatians 1 v 15-16)
God had called him before Paul had achieved anything.
It wasn’t because someone else had pleased God in such a way that He looked at Paul and said I will call him. It wasn’t because Paul had pleased God in such a way because before we are born God knows what He is going to do with us. We know that we haven’t done anything to achieve such grace. In our mother’s womb God knew what our path in life would be. He calls each and every one of us before we have accomplished anything. He does it because of His own pleasure. Before we become a Christian our vocabulary is all about ‘me’ and ‘what I have done’ and then when we come into the revelation of who Christ is then we speak differently. We speak of who He is and what He has done.
God had separated him before Paul became a ‘separated one’ (a Pharisee).
Paul saw that he had been set apart at the beginning of his life, a long time before he joined the set-apart purist group of Pharisees. These are 2 important words (one word in the Greek) as they described who the Pharisees were. They were set apart to God. They felt good about themselves because they had proof they were different to the most. He didn’t take into his body anything that was impure or unclean. He didn’t drink or eat the wrong things. He had evidence of being pure. But the moment he met Christ he knew he wasn’t. He wasn’t really separated to God. He had to meet Christ for that to happen. On looking back he realised the importance of the word for set-apart. It wasn’t anything he could do but it was what Christ did for him.
God did a work in Paul as opposed to all the outward works of Paul’s life.
It is subtle but powerful. God did a work in and not to. People are impacted not because of what you do but who they see in you. Jesus!
God had called Paul to preach to the Gentiles before he began hating them.
In Paul’s day it was a fact that the Jews hated the Gentiles. That was part of the culture. Paul hated the Gentiles all his life and YET God had called Paul to reach out to those he hated. You too come out of a world of all kinds of prejudice. You love people now that you would never have thought you would. How and why?
It is all because He called you. Before you knew anything He called you. Before you did anything He called you. You are called here right now. That call is powerful. Today we go and walk out in that calling. Amen!
Missions Paul 