Word for Today, Tue, 27 Mar 2001: I Want To Know Christ

#1 · March 27, 2001, 10:44 am

Quote from Forum Archives on March 27, 2001, 10:44 am
Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today, I would like to share with you a chapter from what is
possibly my favorite book of the Bible, the book of Philippians.
It is hard to have just one favorite; I have many, because the
scriptures are so alive. But if I had to survive somehow on just
one of the 66 books that comprise the Bible, this is the one that
I would pick. The second, third, and fourth chapters are
particularly awesome to me. Since I have shared the fourth
chapter so many times before, I would like to share the third
chapter with you today, and tell you what it means to me.

First of all, the apostle Paul "gets it". He realizes what an
awesome thing God has done for us to fully demonstrate His love
for us, and he realizes that Jesus Christ is the God-man --- God,
physically visiting us as a human being, letting us in on His
nature, loving us, and sacrificing His own body on our behalf.

That is why Paul exclaims in the very first verse, "Rejoice!" - a
theme he picks up over and over again throughout Philippians.

But then Paul warns us about those who might sound good, but are
full of evil intent, deception, and self interest. He goes into
quite a bit of detail to warn us what to watch out for. Read it
carefully and come to your own conclusions.

Paul then admits something else - something that I also confess
to you. He struggles with his life, but his one consuming
passion is to give up all of the old things that used to trip him
up in his own zeal. I'm that way, too. I have plenty of zeal,
but left to my own ways, my zeal is misdirected.

I can really identify with this. Knowing all of the things that
are out there, ready to mislead and deceive me, all I want to do
is to know Christ, in all his fullness, and get rid of everything
else that gets in the way.

Paul offers me a challenge in this passage, and that is to put
aside the old things and press forward. Though we have not yet
attained the final prize, our hope and our citizenship is
elsewhere. I certainly identify with that. I pray that you do,
too.

Dear Father in Heaven,

I am glad that I can rejoice in what You have done for me - I can
rejoice in You! There is nothing that is too overwhelming for
You to accomplish in my life, and I willingly yield myself to
whatever You want for me.

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. I know
that as I know Him, I, too, will face difficulties, for Jesus
certainly was a man of sorrows, very familiar with difficulties,
abuse, oppression, and all the things that make us uncomfortable.
I believe that whatever I have to face in this life is a
preparation ground for experiencing the fullness of Christ.

Though I do not seek trials and difficulties for their sake
alone, for the sake of Christ, I am willing to face whatever You
choose, in order that I may become whoever and whatever You want
me to be. I say that with fear and trembling, yet a trusting
spirit, believing whole heartedly in Your promises.

Please purge whatever is necessary from my life in order to
accomplish Your will for me today.

Please also hear my prayers and pleas for my friends on this
list, and for our communities, our leaders, our nation, and our
world. My hope is in You, that somehow, in the midst of the
turmoil around us, Your will prevails. May it be so, dear Lord,
for Your honor and praise. Amen.

bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/biblepassage=Philippians+3&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english

Philippians 3

1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for
me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard
for you.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those
mutilators of the flesh.

3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the
Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no
confidence in the flesh--

4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone
else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have
more:

5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a
Pharisee;

6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic
righteousness, faultless.

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake
of Christ.

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may
gain Christ

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in
his death,

11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already
been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of
it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.
And if on some point you think differently, that too God will
make clear to you.

16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take
note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even
with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and
their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under
his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be
like his glorious body.

The Bible Gateway

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.. All
rights reserved. Comments? Questions? Tell us what you think.
bible.gospelcom.net/bg/bgfeedback.html
Gospel Communications Network Online Christian Resources. A
Ministry of Gospel Communications, Inc.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
personal.mail.yahoo.com/?.refer=text

Posted by: masinick <masinick@...>

Dear friends,

Today, I would like to share with you a chapter from what is
possibly my favorite book of the Bible, the book of Philippians.
It is hard to have just one favorite; I have many, because the
scriptures are so alive. But if I had to survive somehow on just
one of the 66 books that comprise the Bible, this is the one that
I would pick. The second, third, and fourth chapters are
particularly awesome to me. Since I have shared the fourth
chapter so many times before, I would like to share the third
chapter with you today, and tell you what it means to me.

First of all, the apostle Paul "gets it". He realizes what an
awesome thing God has done for us to fully demonstrate His love
for us, and he realizes that Jesus Christ is the God-man --- God,
physically visiting us as a human being, letting us in on His
nature, loving us, and sacrificing His own body on our behalf.

That is why Paul exclaims in the very first verse, "Rejoice!" - a
theme he picks up over and over again throughout Philippians.

But then Paul warns us about those who might sound good, but are
full of evil intent, deception, and self interest. He goes into
quite a bit of detail to warn us what to watch out for. Read it
carefully and come to your own conclusions.

Paul then admits something else - something that I also confess
to you. He struggles with his life, but his one consuming
passion is to give up all of the old things that used to trip him
up in his own zeal. I'm that way, too. I have plenty of zeal,
but left to my own ways, my zeal is misdirected.

I can really identify with this. Knowing all of the things that
are out there, ready to mislead and deceive me, all I want to do
is to know Christ, in all his fullness, and get rid of everything
else that gets in the way.

Paul offers me a challenge in this passage, and that is to put
aside the old things and press forward. Though we have not yet
attained the final prize, our hope and our citizenship is
elsewhere. I certainly identify with that. I pray that you do,
too.

Dear Father in Heaven,

I am glad that I can rejoice in what You have done for me - I can
rejoice in You! There is nothing that is too overwhelming for
You to accomplish in my life, and I willingly yield myself to
whatever You want for me.

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. I know
that as I know Him, I, too, will face difficulties, for Jesus
certainly was a man of sorrows, very familiar with difficulties,
abuse, oppression, and all the things that make us uncomfortable.
I believe that whatever I have to face in this life is a
preparation ground for experiencing the fullness of Christ.

Though I do not seek trials and difficulties for their sake
alone, for the sake of Christ, I am willing to face whatever You
choose, in order that I may become whoever and whatever You want
me to be. I say that with fear and trembling, yet a trusting
spirit, believing whole heartedly in Your promises.

Please purge whatever is necessary from my life in order to
accomplish Your will for me today.

Please also hear my prayers and pleas for my friends on this
list, and for our communities, our leaders, our nation, and our
world. My hope is in You, that somehow, in the midst of the
turmoil around us, Your will prevails. May it be so, dear Lord,
for Your honor and praise. Amen.

bible.gospelcom.net/cgi-bin/biblepassage=Philippians+3&version=NIV&showfn=yes&showxref=yes&language=english

Philippians 3

1 Finally, my brothers, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for
me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard
for you.

2 Watch out for those dogs, those men who do evil, those
mutilators of the flesh.

3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who worship by the
Spirit of God, who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no
confidence in the flesh--

4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone
else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have
more:

5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the
tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a
Pharisee;

6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for legalistic
righteousness, faultless.

7 But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake
of Christ.

8 What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the
surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose
sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may
gain Christ

9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that
comes from the law, but that which is through faith in
Christ--the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.

10 I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and
the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in
his death,

11 and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already
been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which
Christ Jesus took hold of me.

13 Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of
it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining
toward what is ahead,

14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has
called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

15 All of us who are mature should take such a view of things.
And if on some point you think differently, that too God will
make clear to you.

16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.

17 Join with others in following my example, brothers, and take
note of those who live according to the pattern we gave you.

18 For, as I have often told you before and now say again even
with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ.

19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and
their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things.

20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a
Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,

21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under
his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be
like his glorious body.

The Bible Gateway

Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.. All
rights reserved. Comments? Questions? Tell us what you think.
bible.gospelcom.net/bg/bgfeedback.html
Gospel Communications Network Online Christian Resources. A
Ministry of Gospel Communications, Inc.

=====
--
Brian Masinick, "The Mas", mailto:masinick@yahoo.com
Home page: http://www.geocities.com/masinick/
The Rules Have Changed...Get Paid to Surf the Web!
http://www.alladvantage.com/home.asp?refid=BKU-690

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Get email at your own domain with Yahoo! Mail.
personal.mail.yahoo.com/?.refer=text