Philippians 3:10-16 (GW)
Faith Knows
10…Faith knows the power that his coming back to life gives and what it means to share his suffering. In this way I’m becoming like him in his death, 11 with the confidence that I’ll come back to life from the dead.
Faith Grows
12 It’s not that I’ve already reached the goal or have already completed the course. But I run to win that which Jesus Christ has already won for me.
Faith Goes
13 Brothers and sisters, I can’t consider myself a winner yet. This is what I do: I don’t look back, I lengthen my stride, and 14 I run straight toward the goal to win the prize that God’s heavenly call offers in Christ Jesus. 15 Whoever has a mature faith should think this way. And if you think differently, God will show you how to think. 16 However, we should be guided by what we have learned so far.
Discussion:
- What is your highlight from this passage??
- What have you learned that keeps you keeping on?
John Parker and the “Giv’m Heaven” Team! (CHT)*
“Whoever has a mature faith should think this way.” I’ve been in church all my life and heard thousands of sermons. I have come to be shocked at how 99.9% of hired Bible experts do not think and practice the way Paul did. The very thing Paul said he “would rather die” than do, all clergy do, and claim it’s godly. So I try to show them how they can imitate Paul, and they turn super sour. I realize I’m just a messenger of the truth. Jesus will follow up with them. If whenever they get over their sour pill, I’ll be available to connect.
“Intertwined” is the word I “heard” as I read your comment, Tim.
We can be so intertwined in our relationships and traditions that it becomes outrageously difficult to extricate ourselves from the twine wrapping around us. Let us, therefore, pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out* laborers into his harvest.
*Send out is ekballo in the original Greek. It is the same word used for casting out demons. Lord of the Harvest, EXTRICATE the intertwined, in Jesus’ holy name! (see also Mark 16:9,17)