Paul was a well-studied, elite Jew. He had been known for killing non-Jews before he met Jesus. God gave him the task of taking the truth of Jesus to non-Jews.

Galatians 2:

⁶ And the leaders of the church had nothing to add to what I was preaching. (By the way, their reputation as great leaders made no difference to me, for God has no favorites.) ⁷ Instead, they saw that God had given me the responsibility of preaching the gospel to the Gentiles, just as he had given Peter the responsibility of preaching to the Jews. ⁸ For the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles.

⁹ In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews. ¹⁰ Their only suggestion was that we keep on helping the poor, which I have always been eager to do.

Since My faith is in God, I receive the same blessing that God placed on Abraham’s life long ago. As Christians, we continue telling others about the love of God and how Jesus saves and we receive the blessing that God gave Abraham.

Those blessings involve~

Populating the earth

Being leaders

Prospering

Galatians 3:

⁶ In the same way, “Abraham believed God, and God counted him as righteous because of his faith.” ⁷ The real children of Abraham, then, are those who put their faith in God.

⁸ What’s more, the Scriptures looked forward to this time when God would make the Gentiles right in his sight because of their faith. God proclaimed this good news to Abraham long ago when he said, “All nations will be blessed through you.” ⁹ So all who put their faith in Christ share the same blessing Abraham received because of his faith.

According to Galatians 1:18 after Paul became a Christian it was three years before he spent a good amount of time with Peter. Peter was a leader among the disciples. Jesus had talked to Peter and said, ‘Upon this rock I will build my church.’

Galatians 1:

¹¹ Dear brothers and sisters, I want you to understand that the gospel message I preach is not based on mere human reasoning. ¹² I received my message from no human source, and no one taught me. Instead, I received it by direct revelation from Jesus Christ.

¹³ You know what I was like when I followed the Jewish religion—how I violently persecuted God’s church. I did my best to destroy it. ¹⁴ I was far ahead of my fellow Jews in my zeal for the traditions of my ancestors.

¹⁵ But even before I was born, God chose me and called me by his marvelous grace. Then it pleased him¹⁶ to reveal his Son to me so that I would proclaim the Good News about Jesus to the Gentiles.

When this happened, I did not rush out to consult with any human being. ¹⁷ Nor did I go up to Jerusalem to consult with those who were apostles before I was. Instead, I went away into Arabia, and later I returned to the city of Damascus.

¹⁸ Then three years later I went to Jerusalem to get to know Peter, and I stayed with him for fifteen days. ¹⁹ The only other apostle I met at that time was James, the Lord’s brother. ²⁰ I declare before God that what I am writing to you is not a lie.

²¹ After that visit I went north into the provinces of Syria and Cilicia. ²² And still the churches in Christ that are in Judea didn’t know me personally. ²³ All they knew was that people were saying, “The one who used to persecute us is now preaching the very faith he tried to destroy!” ²⁴ And they praised God because of me.

Israel had many sins. The Assyrians came against them in war. But God vowed He would destroy The Assyrians.

Here’s  something I don’t understand. Churches say cling to God’s promises. Speak them everyday over you and your family’s lives. I only want to help my kids so I do this and did while they were growing up.

In reality God said a lot of things in the pages of the Bible. He promised positive sounding truth and negative sounding truth. As Americans, we have access to much excess. We tend to lean toward life as being easy. So we really like God’s promises that sound like we’re gonna be ‘on easy street’. It would be a very interesting study if someone read through the Bible and found all the negative sounding promises in the Old and New Testament. God wants us to know Him more intimately and if we were able to compare the different kinds of promises in the Bible I’m sure the study would reveal much.

So, what should be done with promises God spoke that don’t sound fun? Here’s a passage from Isaiah where God straight out said a vow that He would destroy Assyria, who came against Israel. God also said He had a plan to raise His hand of judgment upon all nations.

Isaiah 14:

²⁴ The Lord of Heaven’s Armies has sworn this oath:

Isaiah prophesied of the power of Jesus.

Isaiah 11:

Out of the stump of David’s family will grow a shoot—
    yes, a new Branch bearing fruit from the old root.
² And the Spirit of the Lord will rest on him—
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
³ He will delight in obeying the Lord.
    He will not judge by appearance
    nor make a decision based on hearsay.
⁴ He will give justice to the poor
    and make fair decisions for the exploited.
The earth will shake at the force of his word,
    and one breath from his mouth will destroy the wicked.
⁵ He will wear righteousness like a belt
    and truth like an undergarment.

Paul had a weakness he didn’t like in his life. The Bible doesn’t say what it was. Paul called it a thorn in the flesh. God used that weakness or flaw in Paul’s life to glorify His name.

2 Corinthians 12:

⁵ That experience is worth boasting about, but I’m not going to do it. I will boast only about my weaknesses. ⁶ If I wanted to boast, I would be no fool in doing so, because I would be telling the truth. But I won’t do it, because I don’t want anyone to give me credit beyond what they can see in my life or hear in my message, ⁷ even though I have received such wonderful revelations from God. So to keep me from becoming proud, I was given a thorn in my flesh, a messenger from Satan to torment me and keep me from becoming proud.

⁸ Three different times I begged the Lord to take it away. ⁹ Each time he said, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness.” So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me. ¹⁰ That’s why I take pleasure in my weaknesses, and in the insults, hardships, persecutions, and troubles that I suffer for Christ. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

Isaiah saw how awesome and powerful God was in a vision. He saw that God should be greatly honored. Then God asked, “Who will be my messenger to the people?” Isaiah promptly said, “I will go!”

Isaiah 6:

6 It was in the year King Uzziah died that I saw the Lord. He was sitting on a lofty throne, and the train of his robe filled the Temple. ² Attending him were mighty seraphim, each having six wings. With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they flew. ³ They were calling out to each other,

⁴ Their voices shook the Temple to its foundations, and the entire building was filled with smoke.

⁵ Then I said, “It’s all over! I am doomed, for I am a sinful man. I have filthy lips, and I live among a people with filthy lips. Yet I have seen the King, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies.”

⁶ Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a burning coal he had taken from the altar with a pair of tongs. ⁷ He touched my lips with it and said, “See, this coal has touched your lips. Now your guilt is removed, and your sins are forgiven.”

⁸ Then I heard the Lord asking, “Whom should I send as a messenger to this people? Who will go for us?”

I said, “Here I am. Send me.”

Everybody sins. Even those who have lived a respectable, faithful life for God. All sin distances us from God because He is without sin. He is holy. But Jesus took care of this major problem for every human when He lived out a sinless life and then shed His sinless blood when He gave Himself and chose to die on the cross. He overcame sin and the eternal punishment of sin in Hell when He came back to life from the grave. So just look to Him with your sin issues.

Psalm 53:

I am a promise clinger. I read God’s Word and when promises come up I cry from my heart to God that they would showered upon my family. Isaiah is my favorite Old Testament book. I just started reading it today. I’m seeking the awesome promises found in Isaiah. I already two that really stand out.

Dont trust fallible humans.

God promises to not disappoint.

When I have done wrong I go to God. I acknowledge my wrong to Him and to myself (so I can overcome it). And then in a microsecond, a miracle happens and my soul is healed from the sin that distanced me from God.

Psalm 51: