Resurrection Power

What do we need resurrection power for? Why
does Paul put it before 'the fellowship of His
suffering?'

Here is the whole verse:
"That I may know him and the power of his
resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings,
bing made conformable unto his death."
Phil 3:10

As I have been mulling this over, I have come
to the conclusion that we need to know the
power of his resurrection for two reasons:

1 We need power, this power, in order to live
our daily lives. It helps me to surrender to
whatever comes next--like the next moment.
Life comes at us fast.

2 I never understood why Paul did not put
resurrection power at the end of the verse.
Well, I don't think we are able to enter into
the fellowship of his suffering without first
coming into an understanding of the power
of his resurrection.

Well, dear reader, what do you think?

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Questions

I am still in Philippians 3:10 just in case you are
lost!

Paul wants to know Jesus and 'the power of his 
resurrection.' In Ephesians the first chapter, Paul
prays that God will give revelation to these
believers so that they would know--

'what is the immeasurable greatness of the 
power toward us who believe, according to 
the working of his great might, that He 
worked in Christ when He raised Him from 
the dead...'

You know what, reader? I have to sit with
this for a season and see what God shares
with me. Right now all I have are questions:

Paul suffered greatly in every way. Did he
know this power in his life? How?
Is this immeasurable power something we
need in order to live the Christian life?
Do we need resurrection power in this
country, or is it only for those who are
being persecuted?

Paul's Cry

"...that I may know Him,"

What does it mean to know the unknowable God?
But is He unknowable? Jesus is the exact image
of His Dad. The Father heart of God is expressed
through His Son. To know the Son is to know the
Father. Paul counted all his gains and came up
short. He had met Jesus and everything else fell
away. His goal in life was to gain Christ, to know
his Savior, his Lord.

Papa God--to know your Son is of top priority for
me. I want to lean on Him, lean into Him; to know
Him as you know Him. Right now in this moment
I am like Martha, busy with the details of life and
trying to gain control. Mary turned away from the
pressure of trying to make life work. She received.
You want me to lay down the control thing. I fall
before you today. I am so needy.

The Promise

Joshua is going into the Promised Land. It
is a new beginning for him. He has been
with Moses from the beginning and was
with Israel for their tour in the wilderness.
They saw God do many miracles, but they
also saw the previous generation die. There
was suffering, battles, losses and victories.
The church that was birthed 2,000 years
ago has witnessed great things, but there
have been many battles with both victories
and losses, 'through much suffering...' We
are at the end of the age and we wait for
the promise of His coming. The birth
process is never easy, but, Oh the glory
that awaits us!

'Hope deferred makes the heart sick.
But, when the desire comes,
It is a tree of life. (Pro 13:12

Be Still My Heart

I am afraid. Something triggers fear and I  know
it is happening because I disappear into the
kitchen to look for food-- food that will settle
the gnawing. If I stop, recognize what is going
on, and take up my Bible, my heart has a good
chance of becoming still. Today's reading
comes out of Joshua 1:

'I will not leave you or forsake you.' (Wow,
what a promise. Is that not enough?)
'Be strong and courageous!'
'Have I not commanded you? BE STRONG
AND COURAGEOUS.' (Twice)
'Do Not Be Afraid'
'Do Not Be Dismayed' (God is reading me!)
'for the Lord God  (two Names)
    is with you wherever you go. (I'm covered!)

Papa, You did two things today that told me
how close, how present You are to me. First,
I opened to the reading marked out for today,
which gave to me the very words I needed.
Secondly, You showed me where I had put
my journal so I could write it down, found in
such an obscure place. I have no control over
my emotional responses, or the events that
overtake me, but, You, the most wonderful,
magnificent, shining, glorious You, do!

Failure

'My flesh and my emotions fail, but
God is the strength of my heart and
my portion forever. Ps 73:26

How Papa do I plummet the depths
here in this world, this atmosphere.
How do I get from here to there where
You really are superior, supreme,
precious above all else? My head says,
'yes, go for it!' My emotions say,
'ho hum.' This is such a walk of faith,
persisting, pursuing, and partaking of
the One who persists in pursuing me.
You prepare a table before me and say,
'Come and dine.'

And Be Found in Him

Back to Philippians 3

...and be found in him, not having a 
righteousness of my own that comes from 
the law, but that which comes through 
faith in Christ, the righteousness from 
God that depends on faith.
(Phil 3:9)

Paul is clear, 'not the law, but Christ.' The law
brings death to sinful man. He doesn't need a
list of good things to do. His good deeds will
not blot out his sin nature. Only the redeeming
cross of Jesus can change our old nature, our
sin nature, into a new life filled spirit. We
experience His resurrection power the moment
we respond to His call. Jesus says, 'I have come
that you might have life, and have it more 
abundantly!' Abundant life is mine! I so often
listen to lies about myself; I believe my feelings
are the truth.

Lord, out of what do I live each day? Is it out
of oughts, do's and don'ts, or from the abundance
that is mine in Christ. My deepest desire is live my
life from your glorious indwelling.
And, Papa, I pray for my readers that they would
know who they are--in Christ!

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A Good Question

A good question was asked by a reader. 'What
does it mean that we are in Christ?' There is no
phrase that occurs with greater frequency in the
New Testament-- over 200 times. I shared some
of these quotes yesterday. Romans 6:1-11 gives
insight but I will only quote the fifth verse:

'For if we have been united with him in death, 
we shall certainly be united with him in a
resurrection like his.'

We were in Christ when he went to the cross!
When He died, we died; when He was buried,
we were buried; when He rose from the dead,
we rose also.

Our being 'in Christ' goes way back before

creation:  '...he chose us in him before the 
foundation of the world, that we should be 
holy and blameless before him.' Eph 1:4

Yesterday a group of women, who had
been pondering, mulling over, musing upon
Eph 1:4, gathered together to share their
gleanings. One excited voice said:

'Listen to this. God says that I was chosen in
him before creation to be righteous before him!'
Her eyes shown as all vestiges of guilt and
shame dropped off.

What does it mean that we are in Christ?
                EVERYTHING!

The Sum of All Things

What does it mean to be in Christ?
We are told that God has purposed to
sum up all things in Christ. (Eph 1:10)

So what or who is in Christ?
The Creation is in Christ
The Life is in Christ
The Acceptance is in Christ
The Redemption is in Christ
The Sanctification is in Christ
The Hope is in Christ
The Spiritual Blessings are in Christ
The Consolation is in Christ
The Peace is in Christ
The Effectual Prayer is in Christ
The Strength and Riches are in Christ
The Eternal Purpose is in Christ
The New Creation is in Christ
The Promises are in Christ
The NO Condemnation is in Christ
The Perseverance is in Christ
The "No Separation" is in Christ
The Perfect Man is in Christ
WE ARE COMPLETE IN CHRIST

Wow, I don't know about you, reader, but
as I wrote each sentence my spirit soared.
Which one of the above do you need
today? Take it!

He Blew It

Not having righteousness that comes from the law.

Paul does not stand before God righteous because he
was so good at keeping all 800 or so of the Jewish laws.
If I am living by the Jewish law or the Christian law it
becomes all about me. If I am living in the truth that I
am in Christ and therefore righteous, it is all about Him.
Once Paul focused daily on God's commandments.
Elated when he performed well, devastated inside when
he blew it. He had to keep raising the bar, even to the
killing of Christians, in order to be good. The law brings
us into bondage. The letter kills. Jesus said, "If the 
Son shall make you free, you shall be free indeed."

Papa--No matter what it looks like, no matter what it
feels like, I am alive to You, alive in You, alive to Life!
I am secure now and for all eternity. My emotions go
crazy at times, so easily deceived by circumstances
and my response to same. I choose to believe You
today.

Found in Him

...That I may gain Christ and be found in Him...
righteous....

Found in Him--righteous.  I cannot be righteous
if I am not IN HIM. But when I am IN HIM, I
cannot be unrighteous. My standing in Him is not
related to my behavior or the keeping of the law.

Dearest Papa, I am righteous because I am in
Christ. You do not see me through a screen,
but you see me as I really am--in Christ. I
embrace my righteousness that is apart from
anything I do for You. I also embrace my
humaness and thank You for it.

Reader, are you struggling with what it
means to be a saint, a holy one? Paul called
the Corinthian Church, 'saints.' Check it
out. I Corinthians 1:2. Pretty awesome!

True Worth

Philippians 3:8 continued.
Paul counts both losses and gains as losses
in order to gain one thing: 'The surpassing
worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.'

I looked that verse in the Amplified Bible:
'The surpassing worth and supreme 
advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my
Lord, and of progressively becoming more
deeply and intimately acquainted with 
Him, of perceiving, recognizing, and
understanding Him more fully, more 
clearly.'

ONE THING I asked of the Lord,
that will I seek after;
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the day of my life,
To gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
and to meditate in his temple.
(Ps 27:4)

These verses make my heart sing!
The Christian life is not an "ought,"
but a relationship.

That I Might Gain

For His sake I have suffered the loss of
all things and count them but rubbish in
order that I might gain Christ. 
Phil 3:8B

Have I suffered the loss of all things as
Paul penned, or only some things?

What do I consider essential to my well
being?

What does it mean--'that I may gain
Christ?' That He is foremost, essential,
foundational, to my life and my well
being. First and last? Do I believe this
with my whole heart in truth? Or, am
I a spectator of truth?

Christians in Iran risk everything dear
to them when they decide to follow
Christ Jesus. Have I counted the cost?

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The Exchange

Paul counts as loss those things he thought were gain.
He called these gains 'loss' compared to 'the surpassing 
worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.'

The exchange of dross for surpassing worth.
The exchange of the temporal for the eternal.

Those things that are gain to me do not give me life...

Papa--Such surrender is hard. I try to suck life from
what has no life at all. This house is beautiful but
gives me no life. The church is precious but only
because it contains spirit filled Believers. I feel
connected to the past here but you say, 'let the dead
bury their dead. I AM YOUR LIFE!' Ah, yes, I am
intertwined with Your incomparable eternal Son.
To know Him-- as my only source of Life.

Trees

A tree caused Adam and Eve to stumble and fall.
A Tree was the means of deliverance.
A Tree is now my source of Life.
Oh, glorious Tree!

The Lie

The snake says to Eve, '
...You shall be as gods knowing good and evil.'

'You shall be as gods,' has been passed from
Adam to all generations.

Yesterday, I shared the story of how Christ Jesus
gave up all to become a man.

The Creator empties Himself
The creature exalts himself

God becomes Man
Man becomes a god.

How very strange!

Dear God, how easy it is for man, for us,
for me, to climb up--to be the
best, the first, the only. So subtle.

From everlasting to everlasting Thou art God!

Stories from my website:
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A Different Perspective

In the last blog we saw the results of covenant
broken--death. The people broke the law that
they had promised to keep when God went
into covenant with them at Sinai. In those days
men went into covenant with each other. If one
of them broke that covenant, death resulted. So,
here we are in the middle of Numbers where
almost every chapter is a picture of failure. Man
simply could not keep his part of the covenant.
Perhaps God was unreasonable?

Philippians 2 gives another perspective.

'Christ Jesus, who though he was in the form
of God did not count equality with God a
thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by
taking the form of a servant, being born in
the likeness of men...he humbled himself by
becoming obedient to the point of death,
even death on a cross.'

God tells us that we have to be holy, or
we will die. Then God becomes man and
takes our place so that He dies and we live.
His death on the cross makes us holy.
God keeps both sides of the covenant!

Reader, this is your God!

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Jealousy; Rebellion

I am reading through the Bible chronologically this
year. Today I was in the 16th chapter of Numbers.
Korah pulled all the leadership into sin including
many from each tribe. Here are the results:

Korah, Dathan, Abiram including their families
were swallowed into the ground beneath their feet.

Fire came "out from the Lord" and the 250 men
holding censors were burned to a crisp.

Plague broke out among the people and 14,700
people died.

Jealousy and Rebellion certainly had a price!

After that awful day, Moses went into the
Tent of Meeting, the Tabernacle, and penned
the following words, Psalm 90.

"Lord, you have been our dwelling place in
          all generations.
Before the mountains were brought forth, or
          ever you had formed the earth and the
          world,
From everlasting to everlasting, 
Thou art God."

Moses goes on to describe the frailty of man;
the issues of his sin; the length of his life;
God's anger. And then,

"Teach us to number our days so that we may 
get a heart of wisdom"

"Have pity on your servants!"

"Satisfy us in the morning with your 
steadfast love..."

Please, read Numbers 16, Psalm 90, and then,
come back tomorrow
for the rest of the story...

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