June 30 – The Means of Attainment

“But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ.” -  Philippians 3:7 (NASB)

"…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.” – Philippians 3:10-11 (NASB)

These two passages bracket a list of many blessings which are ours by promise if we pass on the trusting of our own self-effort to be good enough. Paul, declares these after listing his good behavior as a student and follower of Jewish Law. In that respect he had done everything necessary and was highly regarded.  However, all his Jewish religious credentials that he thought were in his profit column, were actually worthless and damning. Instead, he put them in his loss column when he saw the glories of Christ. In Philippians 3:8-11 Paul described the promises and benefits that accrued to his profit column when he came to Christ. Importantly, in verse 8 Paul doubles down on how he despised what he once held dear. Paul now calls all his accomplishments that he worked so hard for to be “rubbish.” The Greek word refers to garbage or waste, and can even be translated “dung” or “manure.” Christian believers, we are found “in Christ.” Our union with Christ is a promise and possible only because God has imputed (credited) Christ’s perfect pure righteousness to us so that it is now reckoned by God as our own.

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April 6 – It Comes To Pass

“In his days Hiel the Bethelite built Jericho; he laid its foundations with the loss of Abiram his firstborn, and set up its gates with the loss of his youngest son Segub, according to the word of the Lord, which He spoke by Joshua the son of Nun.”  - 1 Kings 16:34 (NASB)

We know God fulfills his word because He promises to do so.  Most days we consider promises of blessings from God.  Sometimes these promises call for a certain preparation on our behalf.  Today’s promise is of a different kind.  When God says that something will be or will come to pass, it will.  Jericho, was the first city in Israel’s Promised Land to be destroyed by the hand of God. God declared all was to be destroyed (except the treasures which were kept for God and Rahab’s family). Nothing else was to be spared or taken as booty. The re-fortification of Jericho was forbidden by God, who had supernaturally destroyed it so God then put a curse on the city through Joshua’s prediction.  Whoever was to rebuild Jericho would lose their first born son at the beginning and the last born son at the finish.  The eldest and the youngest sons of Hiel, a man living during the time of the wicked King Ahab, died just as God promised when he rebuilt Jericho. Today’s verse gives us the fulfillment of that promise.  What God promises, comes to pass.

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August 7 – Greater Value

“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)

Before the Apostle Paul became a follower of Jesus Christ, he was an accomplished and respected man.  He was successfully attaining top marks and best practices in his religious education and practice.  As a fierce defender of the Jewish Law, he was on his way to becoming a significant man of influence.  With his help and reputation, the religious leaders of his time were going to stamp our the new cult of Christ followers.  But then God invaded his life and Paul met Jesus Christ while he was on the road to Damascus.  Everything in his life from before, all the accomplishments of his life became insignificant and of no value.  Tossing his resume aside as worthless garbage, Paul lost it all because he knew the promises that came from knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord.  These are our promises too.    There is a much greater value in knowing Christ Jesus our Lord than in having a superb curriculum vitae. That was the value of gaining Christ as Savior.  This is true for us also, nothing has greater value than being in Christ Jesus.

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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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August 4 – Delivered

“He sent from on high, He took me;  He drew me out of many waters.” Psalm 18:16 (NASB)

Two days ago we read a portion of Psalm 18 describing David's experience with God. Today we look at verse from the same psalm in which David draws a picture of how God helped him.  It is a picture of our Almighty God in heaven getting involved in the life of His servant David.  David found himself in some serious problems of survival.  But God was aware of David's situation and He reached down to delivered him out of the circumstances which were sinking David.   We too find situations in our lives that feel like a flood and we feel like we are in way over our heads.  The promise we have from God is this, although He has the whole universe to take care of, He is ready to intervene and take care of us when we need it.  What sorrow, what stresses, what uncertainty are we facing today?  What is generating a sense of loss or lost in our lives?  God is right here and ready to take us out of it and deliver us from our fears.  Trust Him because He never fails – David knew that and we can know it as well.  

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July 29 – Near Your Crushed Spirit

“The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” Psalm 34:18 (ESV)

Our Lord God in heaven has so many ways to show His concern for His children.  In today's verse from a psalm by King David we find a reminder of God's involvement in our lives.  These words tell us of how close our Lord is to us and aware of our circumstances – even when we are in a difficult and dark time.  Even though He is in control of all the universe which He has created, He knows what is going on in each of our individual lives. He know when our heart is breaking and even knows this about every one's heart.  He knows our disappointment and our sorrows.  He knows when we are suffering anxiety, depression, sorrow, and loss.  He knows when each of us has a special need of His help and He is right there with us when we need Him – even when we might not feel like He is near, He is near.  So my friend, when things look dark around us lets remember that God knows and He is right here with us.  Let's open our heats and let Him do for us what He promises to do for our crushed spirit.

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