Good morning, all!
Father, our prayer today is to know You more, see You more and to follow You more. By Your word we know You never leave us, You never forsake us and You never stop loving us. Speak Lord for we are listening, we look to heavens from where our help comes from and we know You are faithful, Amen.
Philippians 3
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
What I used to consider as a winning in life, I now realize it’s a LOSS unless I have Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things [but] loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them [but] dung, that I may win Christ,
YES, everything is worthless unless I fully know Christ MY Lord, I have suffered the LOSS of everything and don’t care because I dare NOT trade them for MY relationship w/Christ.
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
And let me find my life in Him and not my own reason and logic which comes from the law, BUT that which based on believing in Christ and the righteousness of God by believing.
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
This is how we KNOW Christ, the POWER of conquering sin and sharing the same experience of His suffering and share in His death.
Bottom line
Paul addresses the question to the church, do you know Jesus? Which is to say, there is a surface awareness or a certain depth to be found and how deep that relationship becomes depends on YOU. Notice how this passage begins, whatever we think we have or don’t have it really doesn’t matter if you can’t hear the voice of Jesus speak to you today. You want truth, when you have Christ, you have EVERYTHING. And the truth is we all have Him, Christ dwells inside all of humanity whether we ask Him to or not.
[Col 3:11 KJV] Where there is neither Greek nor Jew, circumcision nor uncircumcision, Barbarian, Scythian, bond [nor] free: but Christ [is] all, and in all. Christ LIVES in the Jew…believer…the Greek…heathen…the circumcised…those w/faith…the uncircumcision…those without faith…the barbarian…the uneducated…the Scythian…the educated…Christ is ALL…our everything and in ALL. So, what’s the difference? The difference my friend is whether you leave Him sleeping inside of you or wake Him up because you can’t live without Him.
[Eph 5:14 NIV] This is why itis said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine in you. More truth, living without Christ you’re dead. How do we wake Him? You get up in the morning and you ask Him to help you get through the day, you ask Him to guide your every step, you ask Him to fill Your mouth with every word you speak and when you face any one of life’s many storms YOU wake Him and ask Him to save you.
[Luk 8:24 AMP] They came to Jesus and woke Him, saying, “Master, Master, we are about to die!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging, violent waves, and they ceased, and it became calm [a perfect peacefulness]. Have you ever faced a storm in your life so bad you wanted to die? Then you have you have experienced the fellowship of His suffering; it’s called FELLOWSHIP not stranger…TRUE relationship. I believe God sends these storms in our life so that we will SEEK Christ otherwise I might never really know Him and if I don’t know Him, I’ll never truly understand the power of His love and His resurrection. You and I should experience the POWER of His resurrection…NEW life which means each and everyday part of the OLD me dies but there is a NEW part being revealed in me and Christ will shine in me. I can’t KNOW Him until I have a personal experience in my life that starts to make an end of me and reveal the Christ in me which is my life. Church, God has a plan for your life, His plan is only for your good but part of God’s plan will make an END of the old you so He can reveal the NEW you, the TRUE you. Would you count ALL things a loss for a life with Christ?
[Jer 29:11 KJV] For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end. Riddle me this, if God’ s plan for us has an expected END then doesn’t something inside of US have to end? And if there’s end then shouldn’t there be a NEW beginning? His plans can never be evil, and it will only produce the riches of heaven which will never rust or run out so why trade it for the world? They say anything gotten easy is gotten is easy for a reason, and maybe it’s NOT really worth having after all. So, what if knowing Him has everything to do with the storms we face, or the things we suffered or the things we died to…might that be considered winning Christ? Find your new beginning, it starts with waking up your savior so you can shine.
Point to Ponder
What are you willing to lose? [Mat 16:25 NIV] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. Nothing more to add…
Let’s all know Him more every day, In Him Phil
Faith – Family – Friends
