Thank You, LORD, for Your faithfulness in helping us through another week! And a wonderful Friday morning to you, my friend!Read Philippians 3:1 – 14.
As we continue to press further on in Philippians 3, we encounter several amazing Spirit-breathed declarations that every Believer needs to appreciate.
In vv 9, Paul reinforces the point made in yesterday’s study – that is, our own righteous acts cannot save us. It is only through our faith in Christ Jesus that we are made righteous before God.
In a remarkable vv 10, the Spirit reveals to us several keys to a more intimate relationship with Our Lord Jesus:
– knowing the power of His resurrection
– knowing the fellowship of His sufferings
– being conformed to His death
There are not many best-selling books written about how to be more closely conformed to Our Savior in these ways. The book “Walking With Jesus Through His Sufferings” probably wouldn’t fly off the shelves; but, as Followers of Christ, we are instructed to know Him in every context, and to (vv 12) “press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.”. Here is Scriptural truth: when we are persecuted, when we face difficulties, when we are rebuffed, when we are shunned, when we are hated because of His Name – we are joining Him in the fellowship of His sufferings and therefore becoming more like Him.
Finally, let us consider the important guidance given to each of us in vv 13-14 “but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”. I have a close friend, who, in his younger days to earn extra money, climbed radio towers. His task was to replace the warning lights placed on the towers to keep aircraft away from these tall structures. These were not the little towers – no, these were the really tall towers, several hundred feet high. My friend told me that the focused climb up the tower was never scary; the fear and the distraction came when he actually reached the pinnacle and could look beyond the height of the tower and see both out and down. So it is with our walk with the Lord. If we press forward, stay focused upward, keep our eyes fixed on Him, we will never fear, and never fail.My brother, in these days where distractions abound, where bad news surrounds us and is delivered around the clock, let us always “press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”. Amen!
