On the Road Home: How to Journey Safely預覽

Day 2 – From prison to heaven: an apostle feels “homesick” (Philippians 1:21-24) The gospel of Jesus Christ has an incomparable transformative capacity, since it is “the power of God unto salvation to everyone who believes,” as the apostle Paul affirms (Romans 1: 16). Obviously, he had the right to make such a claim after his experience on the road to Damascus. His personal encounter with the resurrected Christ radically changed his convictions, his world-view, and the direction of his life. Before that, he had devoted himself to persecuting relentlessly all those who dared acknowledge Jesus of Nazareth as Messiah and Lord. However, after he had come to know Jesus personally, his life philosophy could be summarised as follows: “To me, to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1: 21). He was willing to leave everything aside – family, social status, religious credentials, goods and comfort – in order to know Christ and serve him as Lord (Phil. 3: 7- 8). The new path he took at his conversion led him to experience situations of extreme hardship and pain: shipwrecks, dangers, toils and exhaustion, hunger and thirst, cold and nudity, prisons and unjustified abuse. We have quoted his epistle to the Christians in Philippi. He wrote it from jail, with all the discomforts that a Roman prison could entail. Nevertheless, this epistle radiates the joy that is the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Paul had learnt to be content in any circumstance. This is possible for every believer in Christ, because his vision of life goes beyond his earthly existence to his eternal stay in God’s presence. Physical death is only the entrance to that heavenly home. The apostle underlines the importance of this perspective when he indicates his “desire to depart and to be with Christ, which is far better” (Phil. 1: 23). Indeed, although he was prepared to comply with God’s will in whatever circumstance on earth, he yearned to be with Christ; he wanted to arrive home. What about us? How do we behold the future? Do we await “the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ?” (Titus 2: 13). Timoteo Glasscock Thanksgiving Our hearts are grateful for the radical change of direction for our lives that You gave us when we encountered You. We thank You, Lord, because through Christ we may be joyful and happy in adversity. We give You thanks for granting us to live this earthly life with the enriching vision of eternal life. Confession We confess that when adversities arrive, we do not always allow the Spirit to fill us with joy, and do not always rest assured in the power of God. We ask You to forgive us for the times that we do not await with hope the moment in which our great God will manifest Himself. Requests We ask You to give us spiritual strength in the moments of trial, when we might have to leave everything aside for Christ’s sake. We also intercede for our brothers and sisters, who are going through such situations in this moment. Grant us, O God, that we do not lose your joy, and that our hope will increase all along the journey of our life.