“Resolutions to Live By” Philippians 3:6-8 (Part 1)
“Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; as touching the law, a Pharisee; ( he was in an “elite club” if you will, his ” pedigree” was the top of the top)
Concerning zeal ( for the Jewish faith) persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (He conformed himself to the law with a passion and he saw Christianity as a threat to Judaism and was determined to stop it. However, his life was radically changed – read Acts 8&9)
Concerning zeal ( for the Jewish faith) persecuting the church; touching the righteousness which is in the law, blameless (He conformed himself to the law with a passion and he saw Christianity as a threat to Judaism and was determined to stop it. However, his life was radically changed – read Acts 8&9)
But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Yea doubtless, I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
Paul was no ordinary guy. He was definitely a determined individual – goal oriented and a type A personality. He was purposeful in setting his goals and he accomplished them. He derived his importance and self esteem (prior to salvation) from meeting his goals. Such are type A personalities; I myself am a type A personality. I remember in the early days of running the business I drove my men to work, including myself. I worked along side them and every fifteen minute segments I mentally measured its production. I had so much self made stress ( one of several downfalls of this personality type) that one of my vendors, a friend, remarked that I was going to give myself a heart attack. Since he was a friend, I took his advice. Made a few adjustments, but I still measured the minutes. However the adjustments did make me alittle more human and less of a machine. And though I took his advice, I still maintained a tight hold on production and ended up firing about a third of my crew (now for the third time).
This time however it was harder on me, for I was firing people I worked side by side with. I asked The Lord if it was me, am I expecting too much? He impressed upon me that I needed to return back to the management style that He taught me as a young man; to “rule over men in the fear of the Lord ( 2 Samuel 23:3) which meant I had to trust the Lord with the business, every aspect of it. It is one thing to trust the Lord when you are managing for someone else, it requires a much deeper trust when it’s your name on the line for everything – from the quality of work to the bills you owe. I agreed with Him in my spirit and in so doing it brought me back to my roots, helping me immensely, making me human once again. Trusting Him with the business would be a process that He would test me in, but I was pointed in the right direction. What really helped was seeing His hand in the business, from the little day to day things, as well as in the big things. From helping me gain new contracts, as well as granting me the wisdom to get my “to do list” completed each day – a big deal for a type A. He was my Senior partner/ Heavenly Father and I was his son, together we would run His business in a way that honored Him and cared for people by putting out an excellent product.
Sadly, and something I had to deal with, was the pride I did derive from being able to work like a machine. To be able to discipline my actions and thoughts to accomplish all the work we did. I had 15 employees and it was just me and the men. Lisa paid the bills, but I did all the rest. That was fifteen years ago. Much has changed since then, I now have an assistant that helps me, but the biggest change has been me. I no longer live for accomplishments or efficiency, or take pride in being able to work like a machine ( I see that as stupid now, life’s too short), but I live for Christ. I still enjoy working, being disciplined and efficiently using time, that’s gjust being a good steward and being business smart, however my self- esteem does not come from work, it comes from my relationship to The Lord. I also enjoy the interaction I have with my men and have worked very hard to cultivate good relationships with them. That is what matters now and I look for opportunities for Christ to use me with my clients and vendors.
My work has become my “tent job.” Just like Paul made tents to provide for his own needs, yet through making tents he had several opportunities to share Christ and or invite his clients to the evening Bible studies he taught (Acts 18:1-4). And so is my work, and so is your work. It is where we “rub shoulders” with our co- workers and/or clients, giving opportunity for Christ to be seen in our lives. Possibly even to invite them to an evening Bible study or to church, or to share Vida4U with them. It is super important that we realize these opportunities and be looking for them. We cannot afford to be worldly minded by getting caught up in the daily hassles and issues of life. To be able to see past that, trust God with it and to comprehend what is really at stake. We are advocates or ambassadors for Christ as Paul says and every interaction is an opportunity for Christ to gain ground in the lives and souls of the people we deal with; be it our sons or daughters, husband/wife, co- workers or clients etc., we are to be a “fragrance” for Christ, 2 Corinthians 2:15
“For we are unto God a sweet savor of Christ, in them that are saved, and in them that perish:”
“But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.” We must start here, square one and grow in this truth. If we do not believe this, practice this, we are not going anywhere. We are just simply playing “Christian,” that’s all. There is no reality to our faith, no connection to Christ, or seeing the workings of the Holy Spirit in our daily lives. Our faith can be viewed as a charade and this can’t be, for the price of faith is way too costly. Our time with God is our foundation. Even group Bible studies, fellowships, and church cannot replace our personal devotions with God. They collectively work together to promote balanced growth, however it seems that when our schedules are too busy, it’s our quiet time with The Lord that gets set aside. For some reason we think our time with God is optional, it’s not. People say you can’t take the Bible literally and maybe that discourages us from reading it? I liken this statement to a parent telling their children, “I am going to teach you right from wrong so your life prospers and your happy, wise and safe…. But don’t take anything I say literately, you can pick and chose what you want to believe.” What a confusing message that would be to our children. We would never do that to our kids, nor does God do that to us – hence the need to read the scriptures. So maybe an attitude adjustment towards God’s Word needs to be made that will cause us to prioritize it. We will not grow solidly otherwise.
Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: Jesus told a couple parables in Matthew 13. It was regarding the heart attitude and mind set we need to have so as to grow strong in our faith, “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field. Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls:
Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”
( Matthew 13:44-46).
The parables begs the question, do we know who and what we have in Jesus? If not, it is no wonder that we struggle in our faith and find ourselves more devoted to materialism or our jobs etc., than to the Lord. It is no mystery that we do the things that are most important to us.
“for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,” Think on all these verses and we will comment next week on them adding clarity by going into the Greek definitions. This Vida is my personal narrative on how these verses have impacted my life. In closing, ask yourself, have you suffered loss because of your faith in Christ? We will continue our discussion in the next Vida.
Father God,
Thank you for this study. May you become our pearl of great prize, our treasure that makes us willing to sell it all to gain more of You. Reveal to us what idol or idols we have placed above You. We may not even know it, so we give you permission to reveal it to us. Help us to be of a humble enough spirit to acknowledge it, as well as have the wisdom to surrender it over to You. Magnify Yourself in us Lord. Thank you and Amen