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Have you ever felt so compelled about a vision from the Lord that it seemed like a memory? It appeared as real to you as the past, but it really had not happened yet! What if you were so convinced about the outcome of that vision that nothing could shake you from pressing towards the destination? And even if you knew the journey would be fraught with persecution, difficulties, roadblocks, and unimaginable complications, would you stay the course—knowing the destination was a guarantee?
If we trace Paul’s journey the entire way, from when he first appeared as Saul at Stephen’s execution to his arrival in Rome, that is precisely what we will discover. We will review every trial and persecution, hear about each false accusation, and expose every false witness against him. We will explore how Paul defended himself and the outcome of each legal battle, and then he will arrive in Rome. And along the way, he had such compelling visions, and they drove him forward—powerful visions plus his unquenchable desire to please the Lord.
Prior to his first encounter with Y’shua on the Road to Damascus, Paul was the Church’s most evil nemesis. And spanning from shortly after that encounter, to his arrival in Rome, Paul understood from prophecy that he would now be the one to face tribulations and persecution. “For I will show him how many things he must suffer for My name’s sake.” Paul was not privy to the magnitude of the coming trials, nor the messy complicated details, but it did not take long for his persecution to begin. Shortly after his conversion, he finds himself on the other side of the “gavel.” The ups and downs are extreme. Maybe it’s happened to you before, the experience of both applause and retribution, celebration and suffering. Can you imagine the successive occurrence of these polar opposite encounters? One moment you are being extolled, the next you are literally being stoned to within an inch of your life. When you examine these events closely, it’s easy to understand why, in those who are willing to endure perseverance in the midst of persecution, it is such an admirable quality.
Nevertheless Paul pressed on. Even when his best friends tried to protect him, to hold him back, he was clear about his destination and nothing was going to dissuade him. “Now I go bound in the spirit to Jerusalem, not knowing the specific things that will happen to me there. What I do know is that the Holy Spirit has shown me that in every city chains and tribulations await. But, knowing these things in advance does not even tempt me to change course; I do not consider my life dear to myself. In my mind, I already died with Christ on that cross and I’ve already been resurrected as a new man, and no threat of suffering even comes close in comparison to the appreciation and gratitude I have for that experience. So, if persecution or even torture and death are the cost, I am thrilled God would count me worthy of such things. I am going to finish this race with joy, the ministry which I’ve been assigned from the Lord Y’shua, to testify to the gospel of God’s grace.”
The Lord informed Paul that the persecution he had and will face is all by grand design. The ultimate destination is for him to bring his testimony to Rome! “Be of good cheer, Paul; for as you have testified for Me in Jerusalem, so you must also bear witness at Rome.” Paul is going to Rome; it’s his destiny no matter what level of persecution it takes along the way and no matter what horrible persecution awaits. To Rome or Bust! “Or bust” means you will do or say anything to get where you are going or to achieve what you are called to achieve. Do you have the same convictions for where the Lord is leading you?
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