KEY SCRIPTURE: Acts 21:13 ″. Then Paul answered, “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart?” for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus. “

In Caesarea, Paul received a second prophecy about what would happen to him if he went to Jerusalem. Agabus, a prophet, took his girdle and tied his hands and said, “The man who owed that girdle would be arrested by the Jews and handed over to the Gentiles.

All the brethren began to persuade Paul not to go. His response was our key scripture.
Acts 21:13
Then Paul answered, “What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? For I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.”
A decided mind can not be tempted. Paul was a warrior for Christ. Deep down in his heart, he was dead for Jesus. The Lord Jesus gave the following criterion for a disciple that is in Luke 14:26 “If any man come to me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be my disciple .” The Lord said that before anyone could be his disciple, he must first hate or loveless his father, mother, wife, and children, including his brothers and sisters, as well as his very life. If one does not do this, he is not yet a disciple of Jesus.

From our story, we can easily conclude that the Apostle Paul loved the Lord more than himself. We can not achieve any special feat for the master if we do not love our lives less than we love Him. Every kind of unfaithfulness or sin a sister or brother commits against the master stems from a heart that has not loved Jesus above all other things. Paul could not be persuaded to give up on going to Jerusalem. Christianity is not all about believing in Jesus, but also about suffering for him. The word “suffer” also means to allow. There are times that we have to give way to some conditions that are not so pleasant, yet it shows how much we love the master above ourselves and brings glory to his name.

CONFESSION

I am crucified with Jesus; it is Christ alive in me. I give him the first place in all I do. My joy is to make him pleased with me. I always need to hear his instructions and to do what He says.

FURTHER STUDIES

Philippians 1:29. For unto you it is given on behalf of Christ, not only to believe in him, but also to suffer for his sake;

Acts 15:26. Men that have hazarded their lives for the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.