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Living Life Unstoppable: Pauls Story
Updated: Sep 19
A message on how you can be unstoppable when you focus and center your attention on God.
From Series: Life lesson learned from the Bible — Romans 16:26, Acts 28, Philippians 1:12-14, 18-21
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You cannot be stopped because God cannot be stopped.
There is nothing too difficult for God to do. What makes things hard is us. When we realize to be effective in life we need to trust God and allow Him to lead us, then we will be successful in everything that we do (Genesis 18:14, Jeremiah 32:17, and more).
In the Bible, Paul's mission and story is proof that what God wills, cannot be stopped; and although you will have challenges, you can still be successful.
Satan used the Jews and tried relentlessly to stop the Gospel from reaching the Gentiles— but failed. If you are doing what God wants, then you too cannot be stopped, and every attempt to stop you will also fail. This is your legacy, your right, and vindication from God (Isaiah 54:17).
The enemy literally tried everything to prevent Paul from fulfilling his mission and failed.
Paul said in Romans 15:20 NIV,
"It has always been my ambition to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation."
This was the desire God put in Paul’s heart, and what God put within Paul was accomplished (Acts 9:1-22).
Paul said in 2 Timothy 4:7 KJV,
"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith."
Paul finished his assignment because when God begins something in you, He will bring it to completion (Philippians 1:6).
We see from Paul's experience that when you are prevented from doing something or kept under control, you can still be effective.
And when you are deprived of freedom to do what you want, you can still bust through.
Paul was a prisoner in chains, yet he led a revival. No microphone, no status, no marketing strategy or promotion campaign, no social media, and no freedom.
He did not have fame in the church and there were many attempts to take his life (Acts 23, 26).
He had many reasons to be despondent and to no longer want to do what he was gifted to do. But instead, he healed the sick while in chains and started a revival.
He preached and healed many people all while being in bondage himself.
He set people free from oppression because he did not make it about himself, he made it about Christ.
Paul had the right perspective. He could have complained, but Paul did not allow the feeling of complaining to stop him from being productive.
Paul did not focus on being in prison or how long he was going to be there, but instead saw an opportunity for advancement. He saw how he can advance the gospel throughout the whole palace.
Paul was considered a high-ranking prisoner and certain soldiers were assigned to guard high-ranking prisoners in Rome. This gave the soldiers exposure to Paul's teachings.
Paul’s captivity gave him the chance to interact with these men and many of them received salvation and many of the soldiers became followers of Jesus.
Paul's message made it from a Roman prison to Caesars household (Philippians 1:12-14, 18-21).
This is why Paul was able to say,
"And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose" —Romans 8:28 NASB.
Can God trust you to fulfil your destiny when things do not go your way? Can God trust you to serve, minister, and obey even when you are hurt or when things go in a different direction than what you had hoped for?
Some of us have allowed 'prison' situations in our lives to stop us from reaching our goals. They have impeded our purpose and have allowed us to become ineffective.
But Paul was focused on God, and this was the catalysts for him to walk in power and authority while in a position that was designed to make him incapable and powerless.
Can God trust you to do what needs to be done despite the condition you are in or are you someone who needs things to be the way you desire it to be before you do what needs to be done? Do you fold when pressure comes, or can you show persistence in your storms?
How much worse can it have gotten for Paul than to have his hands and feet in shackles but still had the power and authority to lead many to the knowledge of who God is, to salvation, and was able to cure all the sick people on the island of Malta (Act 28: 8-9).
Prison life for Paul was stench, pain, and misery. Roman imprisonment was known for stripping their prisoners naked, flogging them, putting them through humiliation, and painful ordeals.
Unless you had someone that cared for you, your bleeding wounds were untreated. You were locked in prison cells and dungeons. You were chained on your wrist and ankles. You did not have a nice cot and blanket waiting for you, and you were not in a temperature-controlled environment.
Because of how miserable the conditions in prison were, many wanted a speedy death, while others committed suicide.
Prisoners did not have human rights. This is enough to weaken anyone emotionally and drag them into depression.
When you are talked about, not applauded, do not feel like it, when you do not have everything you need to get started, when you are dealing with depression, in your own prison mentally or physically, can God depend on you to still bring healing and hope to the world when you do not have it yourself?
Paul was able to demonstrate power and authority through his prison experience because he understood something. He understood Ephesians 1:17-23 which says:
"I pray that the Father of glory, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would impart to you the riches of the Spirit of wisdom and the Spirit of revelation to know him through your deepening intimacy with him. I pray that the light of God will illuminate the eyes of your imagination, flooding you with light, until you experience the full revelation of the hope of His calling that is, the wealth of God’s glorious inheritances that He finds in us, His holy ones!
I pray that you will continually experience the immeasurable greatness of God’s power made available to you through faith. Then your lives will be an advertisement of this immense power as it works through you! This is the mighty power that was released when God raised Christ from the dead and exalted Him to the place of highest honor and supreme authority in the heavenly realm! And now He is exalted as first above every ruler, authority, government, and realm of power in existence! He is gloriously enthroned over every name that is ever praised, not only in this age, but in the age, that is coming!
And He alone is the leader and source of everything needed in the church. God has put everything beneath the authority of Jesus Christ and has given Him the highest rank above all others. And now we, His church, are His body on the earth and that which fills him who is being filled by it!"
You spend time with someone long enough, they will start to rub off on you. God, who is mighty and powerful, is unstoppable. And when you spend time with Him you also become unstoppable.
Paul was impactful because of his close association with God. He studied God's Word diligently and prayed constantly, and this made God's desire become Paul's desire. And God's will become Paul's will.
The more of God's Word you build your life’s foundation on, the more you will become unstoppable.
This allowed Paul to do his best for God with excitement and passion to complete his work.
Paul was given wisdom, revelation, and understanding. He knew the purpose of Jesus Christ and the birthright we have. Paul knew we can master sin, illness of all kinds, threats, and death; and that we have dominion over all the trouble we are confronted with.
This knowing was needed for Paul to help himself and other people. He had a mindset that understands with Christ we are in control of situations, not the other way around.
Being in control of a situation doesn’t necessary mean you'll get out of the situation. It means you won’t allow it to get the best of you. Simply put, it won’t overcome you.
Paul spent so much time with God, that he realized how great God's power is, and how we too are given it for what we are asked to do.
“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 ESV.
Paul knew that we who have a relationship with God is seated with Christ in the heavenly realms. We are positioned in a place of authority and power, and that we are children of God causing us to receive an inheritance together with Jesus Christ.
He was sold out (Philippians 1:21). Paul was committed to God and God had his whole being, and since God had all of him, nothing was able to stop him.
Paul put himself in a position to be useable by God for anything and through everything. It made him being in chains become unimportant to him.
His earthly bondage, criticism, plots to murder him, and attempts to stop him were all useless because Paul understood he had dominion.
He understood Luke 10:19 KJV,
"Behold, I have given you authority to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall hurt you."
Paul was able to be effective and finish his assignment because God was able to trust him. He did not make it about himself or his problems.
He said, “But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God” — Acts 20:24 ESV.
All that mattered to Paul was purpose, and his passion for purpose not only gave him a life that was effective, influential, and unstoppable, it gave him a life of joy and fulfillment.
There is something similar with Paul and Jesus in that they were both focused.
Paul modeled Jesus (1 Corinthians 11:1). They both pray often. And they did not let situations, people, circumstances, finances, economical situations, or who did not like them stop them from fulfilling their purpose and destiny.
It did not matter if they got support or not. Oppositions did not scare them away, and this put them in an unstoppable position.
"What then shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us."
— Romans 8:31 (NIV)
Paul was determined that no matter what happened, he was going to continue.
He said,
"Preach the Word of God. Preach it when it is easy and people want to listen, and when it is hard and people do not want to listen. Preach it all the time." in 2 Timothy 4:2 NIV.
Jesus too was not concern about reputation. Your belief or opinion about Him did not interfere. You could not use that as a method to stop Him. Instead, Jesus lowered His status, humbled Himself, and became obedient to the will of the Father.
Philippians 2:7-9 KJV says,
"But made Himself [Jesus] of no reputation, and took upon Him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men. And being found in the fashion of a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient unto death—even the death of the cross. Therefore, God also has highly exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name."
What is stopping you today?
What word was said to you that caused you to be distraction? What was said or done to cause you to quit? What emotion is overwhelming you or is controlling you, what fears have crippled you, and what excuses are you using to not do what you are supposed to be doing?
Whose attention are you more focused on more than being contend with God’s attention? What have become your God instead of God? What has gotten in the way of you spending time with the very One who has given the gifts you are functioning in? What is stopping you from being unstoppable?
Find it and get rid of it, because nothing is worth you not fulfilling your purpose.
God designed you with the big picture in mind so that you can reach your achievements and fulfill your purpose even through challenging times, because He built you to run the race of faith. An excerpt from It’s Ok To Be Single.
Model what Paul and Jesus did so you too can say...
I have fought a good fight. I have finished the work I was to do. I have kept the faith. There is a crown which comes from being right with God. The Lord, the One Who will judge, will give it to me on that great day when He comes again. I will not be the only one to receive a crown. All those who love to think of His coming and are looking for Him will receive one also — 2 Timothy 4:6-8.
If this inspired you in any way, please remember to share it on social media below. Sharing is a free way to share the Gospel. And share it with anyone you feel needs encouragement.
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