| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Savor the time” Our Bible verse for today: “(For my determined purpose is) that I may know Him – that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding (the wonders of His person) more strongly and more clearly. And that I may in that same way come to know the power out-flowing from His resurrection (the power it exerts over believers); and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed (in spirit into His likeness even) in His death.” Philippians 3:10 (Amplified Bible) Our thought for today: “Picture this being true of you” What we’ve just read in Philippians 3:10 (above) was the Apostle Paul’s personal mission statement for his life. This is what he was all about. It’s what got him out of bed in the morning, and it’s what kept him going through the day. This was his inspiration, his motivation, and his determination. I like the way Pastor Chuck Swindoll dissected this verse in his book “Intimacy with God”. He encourages us to take that passage, get alone in a quiet place, and slowly turn the key words and phrases over in our mind: “That I may know Him … progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him … perceiving … recognizing … understanding … continually being transformed …” That’s what Paul wanted in his own life and it’s also what we should want in ours. Nothing should be more important for the Christian than to know Christ, progressively becoming more intimately acquainted with Him, being more spiritually perceptive, recognizing and understanding the ways of God, and continually being transformed more and more into His image. But that takes time – set aside and protected time – time that belongs only to you and God. It takes effort – applied effort – in deep-dive Bible study, in prayer, sitting quietly and patiently before God, and it takes time spent in worship (both personal and corporate). But we’ll only do that, we’ll only commit the time and make the effort, if that kind of relationship with God is important enough to us. And that brings us back to Paul’s mission statement in Philippians 3:10, and to Chuck Swindoll’s dissection of it. If you do what Chuck suggested, get alone in a quiet place, slowly turn the key words and phrases over in your mind, make it a matter of prayer as you ask God to create this desire in your heart – if you do that, then Paul’s desire for his life will start to become your desire for your life. This is important. For the child of God there should be nothing more important than to know God in this way. I encourage you to try the exercise Pastor Chuck suggested. Spend some quiet time with Philippians 3:10. Think deeply about it. Picture it being true of you. God Bless, Pastor Jim |
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