If is comes from God, you will not be able to destroy them; you may even find yourselves fighting against God.
Have you ever found yourself fighting against God?
I must admit I have. It is not a comfortable position to find yourself. Praying and wanting something that God does not want me to have.
Gamaliel new this. He is pictured at the above photo instructing Saint Paul. Saint Paul and I both had to learn this the hard way. Saint Paul on the road to Damascus and me years ago wanting to succeed in a business that failed.
So the Apostles were flogged and rejoiced that they were worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of His name…. they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus. The Apostles were not fighting against God . They were fighting with Him. They had confidence.
What motivated the Apostles?
The name of Jesus is what motivated them. Before the Resurrection they were fed by loaves and fishes, but after the Resurrection by the Body and Blood of Christ.
If we have Jesus always before us we will always succeed even in obvious failure. I was fired one time in my life. The supervisor who initiated the dismissal just did not like me. Ended up I started another job with more money and I had a career that I was successful. Not everyone is going to like you. Despite your best efforts you may fail at things you try to do.
Even in failure we will always win because we always have Jesus before us. There is a talking point in the Catholic Renewal weekend called a Cursillo. It says, ” Alone I am overwhelmed and alone, but with Jesus I am an overwhelming majority.”
Phillippians 2:9 For this reason also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name. With the name of Jesus we are an overwhelming majority. Together we will always succeed.
God love you always
Bob Burford
Above picture :“Paul learning from Gamaliel” by Lawrence OP is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
