“Hungering in my spirit is a testimony to the reality of my faith, a witness to the fact that I belong to God. Spiritual hunger is the requirement for your growth It will spur you on to growth in discipleship. Jesus consciously sought to divide his crowd, to reduce the number to those who were “all in,” testing the perseverance and commitment of his followers.”- David Jeremiah
Paul was among the most blessed of men; he had three audiences with Christ. First, when he was accosted on the road to Damascus by the burning bright light of the vision of Christ; second, in Acts 18, 9-11 “And the Lord said to Paul one night in a vision, “Do not be afraid, but go on speaking and do not be silent, for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many in this city who are my people.” And he stayed a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them”; and third, in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 when he was caught up into the 3rd heaven “And the Lord said to Paul: one night in a vision, “But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
What boldness came from Paul’s faithfulness! Even so, Paul said, in Philippians 3 “Not that I have already attained this – that is, I have not already been perfected – but I strive to lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus also laid hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself to have attained this. Instead I am single-minded: Forgetting the things that are behind and reaching out for the things that are ahead, with this goal in mind, I strive toward the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore let those of us who are “perfect” embrace this point of view. If you think otherwise, God will reveal to you the error of your ways. Nevertheless, let us live up to the standard that we have already attained. Be imitators of me, brothers and sisters….. our citizenship is in heaven – and we also eagerly await a savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform these humble bodies of ours into the likeness of his glorious body by means of that power by which he is able to subject all things to himself.”