Shortly after Paul met Christ on the Damascus road, and was born from above, he had one goal in life -- to get to know the Lord Jesus intimately -- to know Him better every day in order to serve Him faithfully. No man was used so mightily in reaching the then-known world with the Gospel of Grace. Up to that point, Moses had been his role model, and keeping the law, his desire. He believed that Christians were heretics preaching the wrong message. After he got saved, Paul realized how wrong he was in persecuting the Christians, and he must have been amazed that the Lord would save him and give him the privilege of being the Apostle to the Gentiles. God had kept the grace message a secret up to that time, and Paul learned it in special revelations from the risen Lord.

From the beginning of time, men and women have been used in a marvelous way in reaching the lost and making a lasting impact on their generation. Were they born with special gifts or talents or was their conversion experience so tremendous that it helped them reach great heights in their ministries? The Bible clearly teaches us that we were all born with a sin nature that does not want to retain God in our knowledge (Romans 1:28), and no matter what our conversion experience may have been, that is not the reason we are successful or unsuccessful in our ministries. Matthew 5:6 says, "Blessed are they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled." Without exception, the men and women that were used mightily all had a hunger and thirst to know more about their Savior.

Our greatest need, after we have been born from above, is to have a personal knowledge of our Lord. The only accurate description of God is found in His Word. God will never force feed anyone, but is ready to feed everyone that is hungry to know Him. The more we learn about Him, the more we will trust Him and desire His will in our life. He alone knows the end from the beginning. II Timothy 2:15 says, "Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of Truth." There is no subject in the world that will be of more benefit to you in every way than the study of the Word of God.

When God created us, He could have made us robots, but instead He gave us a free will to chose to obey and love Him. He has done everything that is needed for every sinner to receive eternal life and His Son’s gift-righteousness. We are told in Acts 16:31 b, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved." But, being saved or lost is our choice. Another choice we are given is the choice to grow in Grace, or to continue being immature believers who are on our way to Heaven, but unable to cope with the problems of daily life. The men and women who were "more than conquerors" had a hunger and thirst to know Christ, and Bible study was their top priority.

Oh, the countless benefits and blessings we accrue when we chose to make knowing our Lord intimately and personally our top priority. Matthew 24:12 warns us that "... because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold." Never in history has the believer needed God’s Word as we do in these last days. He has made a perfect provision in His Word for every believer to enjoy an abundant life here on Earth in the midst of a world ruled by Satan. Since God has made a perfect provision for every believer, why are there so few believers enjoying the abundant life He has given us? The reason is that we neglect the study of His Word. Only the Word reveals the heart of God and the countless blessings we have through Christ. Ephesians 1:3 tells us, "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, Who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ." As our Pastor reminds us quite often, "Even God could not think of another blessing we do not have."

Job 5:7 says "Yet man is born unto trouble, as the sparks fly upward," and in Job 14:1, "Man that is born of a woman is of few days, and full of trouble." Because of Adam’s sin, all of us were born unto trouble, but believers have the Word of God that not only promises us an abundant life, but gives us answers to all of our problems. When we are confronted with problems, we tend to become very anxious, but God tells us in Philippians 4:6,7, "Be careful for nothing, but in everything, by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."

The more we learn about the attributes of God, His unconditional love, and the fact that He will never leave us or forsake us, the more our faith and trust in Him will grow. Psalms 119:11 says, "Thy word have I hidden in mine heart, that I might not sin against Thee." One of my favorite verses tells us "Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness in the Earth; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord." (Jeremiah 9:23, 24) Glory in knowing the Lord, dear believer, and you, too can be "more than a conqueror."