Hello my lovelies and Welcome to An Inquisitive Mind – Illumination through Christ.

As mentioned in ‘Do you care enough?‘, I have recently finished reading Acts and I felt led to do a bit of a deeper dive on Paul.

To be honest with you, if you know me personally Paul is one of my favourite Bible characters as I continually admire his transformation story. This being because he is an example of how God can truly cleanse us from the inside out.

We also have access to the same opportunity – if not even more in this day and age.

Let it be evident.

With that said, as I followed along the scriptures regarding Paul’s transformation it was evident that he was bold, confident and devoted to living a life that brought Glory to God.

In Romans 14:7-8 (CEV), Paul states ‘Whether we live or die, it must be for God rather than for ourselves. Whether we live or die, it must be for the Lord. Alive or dead, we still belong to the Lord’. We can see that Paul was very clear in what he was saying as this was how he lived his life – for God alone.

This is also an encouragement for us to live in this same mindset –

‘…it must be for God’.

What would this look like?

In 1 John 4:16 (TPT), it is noted that those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them.

We must remember that we are called to love – for God is love.

As highlighted in Philippians 4:8, we are encouraged to focus on what is true, pure, right, holy and proper. This means in everything we do, in everything we say and even in the things you and I think about it is important that this brings glory to God.

This is not to say that people will not cause us harm, or trigger us but we are encouraged to love them anyways (Matthew 5:44). This being as God calls us to love, so we need not seek revenge for ourselves but we can be still and know He goes before us (Deuteronomy 31:8).

As we do so and respond in kindness where we may want to seek revenge we are representing Christ well. This being as we are demonstrating the light of Christ in our good conduct which scripture says will make others ashamed for saying and/or doing bad things towards us (1 Peter 3:16).

When I reflect on Paul and his contribution to the increase of the church I reflect on the fact that along the way he was ridiculed, mocked, beaten and threatened.

Yet – he acted in love.

Paul was someone who recognised that there was a need for him to sacrifice his pride, his resources, his plans so that others could be blessed, experience the joys of being loved by God and come to the knowledge of Him (Romans 9:3-4).

Just like Paul was following in the footsteps of Jesus, we are called to do the same and should have great concern and love for one another. This through demonstrating a heart of kindness and humility even when it feels hard to

(1 Peter 3:8-9).

A short story.

Whilst in my teens an incident had happened between my friends and I and I said to my mum ‘that’s it, I have tried and I want new friends’.

She said to me ‘ok, but there are things you may do that they may not like and they still there for you’.

My mum wasn’t wrong but neither did she judge me but that advise gave me a gentle nudge to look in the mirror. This is where, I had a big lightbulb moment which I now recognise was conviction from the Holy Spirit. This being as I was seeing things with a tunnel vision perspective thinking about how my friends had wronged me resulting in me wanting to act out towards them. Although, this isn’t something God would want us do.

I shared this to bring things into perspective with today’s message which is even if our flesh may want to overpower the Holy Spirit in us we must make an intentional decision to choose right (Romans 8:13).

We are called to remember ‘we belong to God’ and therefore everything we do ‘ It must be for God’ (Romans 14:7-8).

Reflection questions to help –

Is what I am about to do true, pure, right, holy or proper?

Would this effect someone’s belief in the love of God?

Let us pray:

Father Lord, I thank you for your unconditional love for me and giving me another chance. I pray that you will help me to honour you in my speech, actions and thoughts. Please help me to keep my mind focused on what is true, pure, right, holy and proper and as I do so let my whole life prove that I belong to you. Amen !