July 9 – According to What Is Given

“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 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 on the basis of faith.”  Philippians 3:8-9 (NIV)

The Apostle Paul's testimony in these verses holds a wonderful promise for us.  There is also an important lesson in what our daily motivation should be in our walk with Christ.   Our goal is to gain Christ and be found in Him. The righteousness we have is not earned by our effort. That which we have acquired on our own, by being good enough before God is worthless to save us.  In Paul's time obedience to the Hebrew law was still believed to be the path to a righteousness. But that kind of righteousness was temporary and ultimately would fail him.  He was a blameless law-follower but he recognized that his best effort left him short of attaining the righteousness of God.  So it is for us, and we are promised that through faith in Christ, and belief in what He accomplished for us on the cross, we are given the gift of righteousness from God our Father.  He is the only one who can make us righteous in His eyes.  Now, let's live according to it today.  

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August 7 – Recognizing Rubbish

“More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ,”  Philippians 3:8 (NASB)

Although the Apostle Paul was an accomplished man in Judaism before he met Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, his accomplishments ceased to be of any importance to him after that meeting.  In the letter to the Philippians, after reminding his friends of how much he could brag about, he tells them in this verse that there was something much more important to him now.  It was the privilege, and experience of knowing Jesus Christ, His Lord.  He said that to know Jesus, surpassed everything else in life.  You and I have this same privilege and we can know Jesus in the same way as Paul did.  We can have this same attitude and desire to gain Christ in our lives each day.  Striving to know Christ better each day – even today – can be our passion.  Our accomplishments on this earth are secondary to knowing Jesus, the Son of God and our Savior.  In fact, they are worthless when compared to our daily fellowship with Jesus. 

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