Acts 2:43 "Everyone was filled with awe, and many wonders and miraculous signs were done by the apostles."
The power of the Holy Spirit. Everyone had just seen his work. Peter was a fisherman, rugged, uneducated, even at times lacking common sense. But they had just seen a radical transformation in this man. He spoke boldly, all understood this Galileen in his native tongue. He proclaimed the name of Christ clearly, his message had powerful impact, and three thousand were brought to the Lord. Awe fell upon everyone as the Holy Spirit's power was evident. Even signs and miracles were performed.
This kind of power they had not seen. The Holy Spirit so radically enabling. Not only were they devoted together and unified through the apostle's teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, and prayer, but in every person, there was an awe of God and of the power of the Holy Spirit.
As beleivers, we need an awe of God as a unifying theme. If my view of God is complacent, how can I expect to see amazing things like the signs and wonders that the apostles did? If my faith, my awe and wonder of God is cold, the results of my life will be cold as well.
Not only will the result of a unified awe of God be a body filled with faith, but it will also keep the attention focused on where it needs to be, God. He will be the focus of our worship, the aim of our lives. As a body our eyes will be fixed outward, on him. With an awe of God, we will, not become selfish creatures, because we will be constantly in worship of who he is, not who we are. An awe of God will erase the selfishness of division. An awe of God will increase our trust in him as it did for the Israelites after they saw they hand of God part the red sea and deliver them from the Egyptians. Exodus 14:31 says, "And when the Israelites saw the great power of the LORD displayed against the Egyptians, the people feared the LORD and put their trust in him and in Moses his servant.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
Acts 2:42 "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer."
Devotion. Apparently little else mattered. The body of the believers had just experienced the powerful filling of the Holy Spirit, their body had just grown by three thousand after Peter' fiery Pentecost sermon. Filled by the Holy Spirit, they devoted themselves to four things: the apostle's teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer. They were fully committed to these things as they dived whole heartedly in.
They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship. In Acts 20, Paul speaks to a crowd of believers all night long. The believers in Berea "received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11) Acts 4:32 says that, "All the believers were one in heart and mind." Such was their unity that they didn't count even their possesions as their own. Some even sold land, and brought the money to the apostles.
They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and to prayer. After Peter and John returned from a short imprisonment they meet with the believers and told them what had happenee and Acts 4:2 says that, "When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God." They praised the name of God and implored him to show his power through the apostles. It says that "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Their devotion is significant. They did not just bring in half hearted attempts at doing these things. And look at the results! A body of beleivers, eager to learn, unified to heart and mind. Praying together and seeing the Holy Spirit come boldly. Here in the IGNITE program there is constant opportunity for these things. Nearly everyday we are in class listening to the Word of a God being taught. Our class is together all the time. Communion is served occasionally. We pray before events, go on prayer walks, pray as a group at the closing of the day and pray with our teams. Yes these things surround me and often are required of me but it is up to me to do them with devotion, to go the extra mile, to put my whole heart into it. Half hearted devotion is not really even devotion at all. Half hearted attempts will not produce the fruit that we see in Acts, a unified body of beleivers being filled mightily with the Holy Spirit.
The Lord has been impressing on my heart my need to put all of my heart into whatever I do. Joel 2:12-13 says, "...'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments..." He wants ALL of my heart. He does not want just the outward motions of repentance, but a heart attitude. In application, my goal today is to apply my mind more to whatever we are doing today. I also want to intentionally seek unity by praying for each individual in my class.
Devotion. Apparently little else mattered. The body of the believers had just experienced the powerful filling of the Holy Spirit, their body had just grown by three thousand after Peter' fiery Pentecost sermon. Filled by the Holy Spirit, they devoted themselves to four things: the apostle's teaching, the fellowship, the breaking of bread, prayer. They were fully committed to these things as they dived whole heartedly in.
They devoted themselves to the apostle's teaching and to the fellowship. In Acts 20, Paul speaks to a crowd of believers all night long. The believers in Berea "received the message with great eagerness and examined the scriptures everyday to see if what Paul said was true." (Acts 17:11) Acts 4:32 says that, "All the believers were one in heart and mind." Such was their unity that they didn't count even their possesions as their own. Some even sold land, and brought the money to the apostles.
They devoted themselves to the breaking of bread and to prayer. After Peter and John returned from a short imprisonment they meet with the believers and told them what had happenee and Acts 4:2 says that, "When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God." They praised the name of God and implored him to show his power through the apostles. It says that "After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
Their devotion is significant. They did not just bring in half hearted attempts at doing these things. And look at the results! A body of beleivers, eager to learn, unified to heart and mind. Praying together and seeing the Holy Spirit come boldly. Here in the IGNITE program there is constant opportunity for these things. Nearly everyday we are in class listening to the Word of a God being taught. Our class is together all the time. Communion is served occasionally. We pray before events, go on prayer walks, pray as a group at the closing of the day and pray with our teams. Yes these things surround me and often are required of me but it is up to me to do them with devotion, to go the extra mile, to put my whole heart into it. Half hearted devotion is not really even devotion at all. Half hearted attempts will not produce the fruit that we see in Acts, a unified body of beleivers being filled mightily with the Holy Spirit.
The Lord has been impressing on my heart my need to put all of my heart into whatever I do. Joel 2:12-13 says, "...'return to me with all your heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning.' Rend your heart and not your garments..." He wants ALL of my heart. He does not want just the outward motions of repentance, but a heart attitude. In application, my goal today is to apply my mind more to whatever we are doing today. I also want to intentionally seek unity by praying for each individual in my class.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Philippians 3:12-13 "Not that I have already obtained all of this, or have already been made perfect, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining for what is ahead."
I am not a runner, so when I do run its sometimes really tempting to quit, especially while trying to go maybe a little faster or a little longer than before. I feel the pain and i look around and see the distance I have yet to cover. And I have quit before, I've decided, 'OK no more I'm walking, this isn't worth this moment's pain.' But at the end I hate myself for quitting. On the contrary, when I push myself super hard til the very end, even though I might feel like I'm about to pass out, I feel accomplished.
I love these verses because in the race of life, quitting, easing up, settling is at times a tempting option. Looking around and seeing the serious pain that it took only to make a little progress can quickly discourage. But that is because I start looking around. That is where I need to take my eyes off of the situation and the pain and on to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Is is about a matter of focus which gives me the strength to press on. 'Press on' tells me 'yeah you feel tired, you feel stuck, you feel like you cant, ok, just put one foot in front of the other, just move forward.' 'Press on' acknowledges the difficulties, but does allow just sitting in them.
"I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1) "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1:4) "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
"When Esther's words were reported back to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: 'Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to and royal position for such a time as this?'" (Esther 4:12-14)
Like Esther I have been called to such a time as this, only this time does not need me and if I choose not to grasp it, the Lord's purposes will still be accomplished but it will very much be to my loss. I want to take hold of the purpose for which Christ took hold of me. I have not yet obtained but still I must press on. How can I take hold of my purpose? For starters, it's taking hold of the day, seeking Christ, living it to its fullest and finding joy in putting all my heart in what I'm doing.
I am not a runner, so when I do run its sometimes really tempting to quit, especially while trying to go maybe a little faster or a little longer than before. I feel the pain and i look around and see the distance I have yet to cover. And I have quit before, I've decided, 'OK no more I'm walking, this isn't worth this moment's pain.' But at the end I hate myself for quitting. On the contrary, when I push myself super hard til the very end, even though I might feel like I'm about to pass out, I feel accomplished.
I love these verses because in the race of life, quitting, easing up, settling is at times a tempting option. Looking around and seeing the serious pain that it took only to make a little progress can quickly discourage. But that is because I start looking around. That is where I need to take my eyes off of the situation and the pain and on to Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Is is about a matter of focus which gives me the strength to press on. 'Press on' tells me 'yeah you feel tired, you feel stuck, you feel like you cant, ok, just put one foot in front of the other, just move forward.' 'Press on' acknowledges the difficulties, but does allow just sitting in them.
"I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me." "I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received." (Ephesians 4:1) "For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight." (Ephesians 1:4) "For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do." (Ephesians 2:10)
"When Esther's words were reported back to Mordecai, he sent back this answer: 'Do not think that because you are in the king's house you alone of all the Jews will escape. For if you remain silent at this time, relief and deliverance for the Jews will arise from another place, but you and your father's family will perish. And who knows but that you have come to and royal position for such a time as this?'" (Esther 4:12-14)
Like Esther I have been called to such a time as this, only this time does not need me and if I choose not to grasp it, the Lord's purposes will still be accomplished but it will very much be to my loss. I want to take hold of the purpose for which Christ took hold of me. I have not yet obtained but still I must press on. How can I take hold of my purpose? For starters, it's taking hold of the day, seeking Christ, living it to its fullest and finding joy in putting all my heart in what I'm doing.
Philippians 3:11 "and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
In Christ's death I see humiliation as he counted himself nothing putting himself a victim before man. Stripped of dignity. In humility not retaliating or using his power for his advantage, a plea with the Father to change his plan but a quiet submissiveness as he carried his cross up the hill to where he would be put to death. I see intense physical pain, I see him, hung up on his cross, exposed for all to see and mock. And then finally, when all this suffering had climaxed, his death. His followers looked on at what they thought was the end. There was Jesus, hung on a cross, dead and never to live again on this earth.
For three days it seemed like all was lost as he lay there lifeless in the tomb. But on the third, there was life, power, death was defeated and conquered. The war was won, the devil overcome. The death that had bewildered the disciples, leaving them discouraged was not in vain. All of the agony he had suffered and the death he suffered was worth the victory that he won in living.
The death and resurrection of Christ is a promise to me. That in dying to the flesh, I will somehow be given a live a life far greater. The death will not doubt be painful. It will require suffering and humiliaiton. It will strip of of the dignity I try to save. I will cry out to God asking him if there must not be another way, but it will require me, in submission, to pick up my cross and carry up the hill to where my flesh will be crucified, exposed in all of its ugliness for all to see. In the moment it may seem that when death comes all is lost, because this flesh, it is all I have ever known. But there is the promise of life. This death will not be in vain. And we can be assured, as the disciples were not, that the death not the miserable end, no it is only the passageway into a far greater life.
"Now if we died with Christ, we beleive that we will also live with him." (Romans 6:8) Psalm 126:5-6 encourages, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him."
I want to grasp more the promise of the life that death brings. Jesus asks me to give something up, and I hesitate, 'no I'll keep it I think.' And then he makes me miserable in that sin. He shows me how it is a lie, he exposes the prison that it is confining me in, until I finally hate it is well and want to be rid of it because I see the life that is far better outside of those bars. My flesh is like the ring that Gollum would not give up. It destroyed him and made him a miserable, selfish, ugly, pitiful, and wretched creature. The ring consumed his thoughts, it became his identity. Gollums bondage to the ring controlled his life and drove him to his downfall. Such is sin. And we have the power to be rid it and the promise of a far greater blessing.
In application I want to take to meditate and write about how personally I have gained life through death and exort myself to continue forward to remind me that it is worth it.
In Christ's death I see humiliation as he counted himself nothing putting himself a victim before man. Stripped of dignity. In humility not retaliating or using his power for his advantage, a plea with the Father to change his plan but a quiet submissiveness as he carried his cross up the hill to where he would be put to death. I see intense physical pain, I see him, hung up on his cross, exposed for all to see and mock. And then finally, when all this suffering had climaxed, his death. His followers looked on at what they thought was the end. There was Jesus, hung on a cross, dead and never to live again on this earth.
For three days it seemed like all was lost as he lay there lifeless in the tomb. But on the third, there was life, power, death was defeated and conquered. The war was won, the devil overcome. The death that had bewildered the disciples, leaving them discouraged was not in vain. All of the agony he had suffered and the death he suffered was worth the victory that he won in living.
The death and resurrection of Christ is a promise to me. That in dying to the flesh, I will somehow be given a live a life far greater. The death will not doubt be painful. It will require suffering and humiliaiton. It will strip of of the dignity I try to save. I will cry out to God asking him if there must not be another way, but it will require me, in submission, to pick up my cross and carry up the hill to where my flesh will be crucified, exposed in all of its ugliness for all to see. In the moment it may seem that when death comes all is lost, because this flesh, it is all I have ever known. But there is the promise of life. This death will not be in vain. And we can be assured, as the disciples were not, that the death not the miserable end, no it is only the passageway into a far greater life.
"Now if we died with Christ, we beleive that we will also live with him." (Romans 6:8) Psalm 126:5-6 encourages, "Those who sow in tears will reap with songs of joy. He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy carrying sheaves with him."
I want to grasp more the promise of the life that death brings. Jesus asks me to give something up, and I hesitate, 'no I'll keep it I think.' And then he makes me miserable in that sin. He shows me how it is a lie, he exposes the prison that it is confining me in, until I finally hate it is well and want to be rid of it because I see the life that is far better outside of those bars. My flesh is like the ring that Gollum would not give up. It destroyed him and made him a miserable, selfish, ugly, pitiful, and wretched creature. The ring consumed his thoughts, it became his identity. Gollums bondage to the ring controlled his life and drove him to his downfall. Such is sin. And we have the power to be rid it and the promise of a far greater blessing.
In application I want to take to meditate and write about how personally I have gained life through death and exort myself to continue forward to remind me that it is worth it.
Philippians 3:10 "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, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead."
Paul wanted to know Christ. Not just to know about him, not just of him, holding him at a distance, having only a taste of who Christ was. No, he wanted to know him, deeply and intimatly, drawing from his source of power, even relating to him in his suffering.
The power of the resurrection of Christ. In Ephesians 1 Paul said, "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know... his incomparably great power for us who beleive. That power is like the working of his mighty stength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead..." This same power that raised Christ from the dead is made available to me because of Christ. But how often my eyes are blind to this power and I leave it unused, untapped. Then quit, drained, discouraged, and defeated because I tried through my weakness to win the battle, overcome, through off the weight, myself, through my own strength which is nothing. Like the Israelites, who by trusting in the strength of God, managed to defeat the great city of Jericho, but when faced with the little city of Ai, went on their own power and suffered a miserable defeat. Oh the victory that comes in admitting inablity, surrendering to his easy yoke, and finally tapping into the power that is in Christ. This is the same power that raised him from the dead, how much will it also give us victory over death.
Sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Paul wanted to know Christ to the point that he was willing to put himself through trials in order to experience the sweet fellowship of being able to relate to Christ and his sufferings. When going through a difficult time, there are often people there who are willing to sympathize with what is happening. But that sympathy is nothing compared to having someone come alongside who has experienced the same thing because they know. They are able to relate on a deeper level because they understand, they have experienced exactly the same thing. The level of fellowship is so much deeper and so much sweeter, because each side can relate, each side knows what the other is feeling. Paul does not take any hardship into account as long as he can know Christ more. The circumstance didnt matter, only the sweet fellowship with his Savior.
Knowing Jesus is the greatest thing. What God showed me through this is that i have been searching harder after the blessings of Jesus more than the relationship with Jesus himself. I hunger for his peace and love to flow through me, I want his joy and his power and victory to overcome sin. But I have not been seeking as hard after Jesus himself. I want to know Jesus. I want to know his resurrection power and have sweet fellowship with him in suffering. I want to know Jesus personally, intimatly, trusting him, as I would trust a good friend. I love this promise, Hebrews 11:6 which says, "...anyone who comes to him must beleive that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Paul wanted to know Christ. Not just to know about him, not just of him, holding him at a distance, having only a taste of who Christ was. No, he wanted to know him, deeply and intimatly, drawing from his source of power, even relating to him in his suffering.
The power of the resurrection of Christ. In Ephesians 1 Paul said, "I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know... his incomparably great power for us who beleive. That power is like the working of his mighty stength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead..." This same power that raised Christ from the dead is made available to me because of Christ. But how often my eyes are blind to this power and I leave it unused, untapped. Then quit, drained, discouraged, and defeated because I tried through my weakness to win the battle, overcome, through off the weight, myself, through my own strength which is nothing. Like the Israelites, who by trusting in the strength of God, managed to defeat the great city of Jericho, but when faced with the little city of Ai, went on their own power and suffered a miserable defeat. Oh the victory that comes in admitting inablity, surrendering to his easy yoke, and finally tapping into the power that is in Christ. This is the same power that raised him from the dead, how much will it also give us victory over death.
Sharing in the sufferings of Christ. Paul wanted to know Christ to the point that he was willing to put himself through trials in order to experience the sweet fellowship of being able to relate to Christ and his sufferings. When going through a difficult time, there are often people there who are willing to sympathize with what is happening. But that sympathy is nothing compared to having someone come alongside who has experienced the same thing because they know. They are able to relate on a deeper level because they understand, they have experienced exactly the same thing. The level of fellowship is so much deeper and so much sweeter, because each side can relate, each side knows what the other is feeling. Paul does not take any hardship into account as long as he can know Christ more. The circumstance didnt matter, only the sweet fellowship with his Savior.
Knowing Jesus is the greatest thing. What God showed me through this is that i have been searching harder after the blessings of Jesus more than the relationship with Jesus himself. I hunger for his peace and love to flow through me, I want his joy and his power and victory to overcome sin. But I have not been seeking as hard after Jesus himself. I want to know Jesus. I want to know his resurrection power and have sweet fellowship with him in suffering. I want to know Jesus personally, intimatly, trusting him, as I would trust a good friend. I love this promise, Hebrews 11:6 which says, "...anyone who comes to him must beleive that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him."
Phillipines 3:9 "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."
Paul had plenty to boast in. He had everything as far as the righteousness of the law was concerned. He was a circumcised Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Pharisee. He had so much zeal for the law that he aided in persecuting the church. He kept the law perfectly. But he gave up all of these statuses willingly to be found in him, to claim his righteousness. He came to the place of seeing these things as nothing that he could bring before God, nothing that he could put his confidence in. And in bringing nothing, he gained everything.
As a human, I long to be of worth, to have something to offer. So, I look around me and in me for something to cling to for identity, hardly being able to fathom that God loves me enough to take from my nothingness and give me something far greater. When I look for something to credit myself with, something to put my confidence in, it is often in disbelief of his goodness and personal love. But no, my righteousness is as filthy rags. There is nothing in my flesh that God looks at with favor. Like Paul, I must come to the place of bringing nothing, counting these things as loss. It is then that he will take my broken emptiness and fill it with his righteousness.
As Jesus said to Paul, so it applies to us, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Then Paul said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (1 Corinthians 12:9-10).
God can use nothing. He made us out of nothing. When all we bring is nothing, God's power is so evidently seen and glory is brought to him because of our nothingness. It is a trade, counting all things as loss and finding his righteousness, that only is gained when in coming out of faith bringing nothing of ourselves.
Paul had plenty to boast in. He had everything as far as the righteousness of the law was concerned. He was a circumcised Hebrew of the tribe of Benjamin. He was a Pharisee. He had so much zeal for the law that he aided in persecuting the church. He kept the law perfectly. But he gave up all of these statuses willingly to be found in him, to claim his righteousness. He came to the place of seeing these things as nothing that he could bring before God, nothing that he could put his confidence in. And in bringing nothing, he gained everything.
As a human, I long to be of worth, to have something to offer. So, I look around me and in me for something to cling to for identity, hardly being able to fathom that God loves me enough to take from my nothingness and give me something far greater. When I look for something to credit myself with, something to put my confidence in, it is often in disbelief of his goodness and personal love. But no, my righteousness is as filthy rags. There is nothing in my flesh that God looks at with favor. Like Paul, I must come to the place of bringing nothing, counting these things as loss. It is then that he will take my broken emptiness and fill it with his righteousness.
As Jesus said to Paul, so it applies to us, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Then Paul said, "Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (1 Corinthians 12:9-10).
God can use nothing. He made us out of nothing. When all we bring is nothing, God's power is so evidently seen and glory is brought to him because of our nothingness. It is a trade, counting all things as loss and finding his righteousness, that only is gained when in coming out of faith bringing nothing of ourselves.
Philippians 3:8 "What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them rubbish, that i may gain Christ."
'It is worth it.' Many times before I have longed for someone to tell me that this was true, to look me in the eyes and implore me with those four words to let go and push ahead. I wanted to know if it was worth it. Because I sat there in the miry clay clinging in frustrated desperation, thinking that somehow this miserable state was better then letting go and pursuing Christ.
Here Paul is, telling me that it is worth it. In fact he says that, compared to the value of knowing Christ, everything else that I must give up has the value of rubbish. Paul's words here are not empty or hypocritical because he lost everything to gain Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul describes the trials he has been through since following Christ. He went through hard work, imprisonment, flogging, severe beating, exposure to death many times. He had been stoned, shipwrecked, and spent a night on the open sea. He was all the time moving around. He faced danger nearly everywhere he went. He faced labor, toil, and lack of sleep. He knew hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness. And then in Philippians, Paul expresses, it is worth it. It is worth taking on discomfort, pain, constant danger, no place to call home, and hunger--- to gain Christ.
Christ truly is enough. To gain Christ will be to loose everything else, but IT WILL BE WORTH IT. There is so much value in knowing Christ that i don't realize because I still see myself clinging to other things. Everything else is rubbish in comparison. And clinging to rubbish will make me feel like the rubbish itself. Is this desperate state of clinging where the freedom really is? How, as I miserably hold tightly to what I must loose, how can I think that to gain Christ instead will not be worth it. Yes it will be worth it. It is trading rubbish for the immeasurable gain of Christ.
This study has brought to mind something that I had outwardly given up to the Lord, but inwardly I stilled grasped it so in application, I want to bring that before the Lord in prayer. Also I want to make a list of things that I cling to and write next to each one, Christ is enough.
'It is worth it.' Many times before I have longed for someone to tell me that this was true, to look me in the eyes and implore me with those four words to let go and push ahead. I wanted to know if it was worth it. Because I sat there in the miry clay clinging in frustrated desperation, thinking that somehow this miserable state was better then letting go and pursuing Christ.
Here Paul is, telling me that it is worth it. In fact he says that, compared to the value of knowing Christ, everything else that I must give up has the value of rubbish. Paul's words here are not empty or hypocritical because he lost everything to gain Christ. In 2 Corinthians 11 Paul describes the trials he has been through since following Christ. He went through hard work, imprisonment, flogging, severe beating, exposure to death many times. He had been stoned, shipwrecked, and spent a night on the open sea. He was all the time moving around. He faced danger nearly everywhere he went. He faced labor, toil, and lack of sleep. He knew hunger and thirst, cold and nakedness. And then in Philippians, Paul expresses, it is worth it. It is worth taking on discomfort, pain, constant danger, no place to call home, and hunger--- to gain Christ.
Christ truly is enough. To gain Christ will be to loose everything else, but IT WILL BE WORTH IT. There is so much value in knowing Christ that i don't realize because I still see myself clinging to other things. Everything else is rubbish in comparison. And clinging to rubbish will make me feel like the rubbish itself. Is this desperate state of clinging where the freedom really is? How, as I miserably hold tightly to what I must loose, how can I think that to gain Christ instead will not be worth it. Yes it will be worth it. It is trading rubbish for the immeasurable gain of Christ.
This study has brought to mind something that I had outwardly given up to the Lord, but inwardly I stilled grasped it so in application, I want to bring that before the Lord in prayer. Also I want to make a list of things that I cling to and write next to each one, Christ is enough.
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