I've titled today's teaching,

When I'm Close to Jesus.

I thought this title was fitting because of what the apostle Paul reveals about himself here at the end of his letter to the Galatians.

As we're about to see Paul, and if you're anything like me, you've come to really appreciate this about the Apostle Paul,

he just really speaks right from the heart.

And in so doing, he's getting to the heart of the matter.

It's almost one of those cases where I suppose you could say he's saved the best for the last.

We don't oftentimes see that at the close of a letter. It's usually just a formality,

that closing paragraph, but not with the Apostle Paul, and certainly not by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

I know this might sound somewhat simplistic when I say it, but when you get right down to it,

it's all about Jesus. Right. And it's not only all about Jesus, it's not only all about Jesus,

it's about us walking close with Jesus.

And that's what I want to talk about today.

Certainly it could be said that being close with Jesus and walking close with Jesus

is what characterized the life of the Apostle Paul

so much so that his life was blessed beyond measure. I say measure because God's blessing on his life

wasn't measured by the world standards, using the gauge by which the world measures success, or if you prefer a blessed life.

I mean, if you really look at the Apostle Paul's life, it was a pretty rough life.

The Apostle Paul had a really hard and

difficult life, so much so that he even despaired of life. Do you remember? He came to this place

in his life as difficult as it was where he just gave into despair.

This is the Apostle Paul we're talking about.

...