Philippians 3:10 NIV says, “I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death.”
I was crabbing this morning! CRABBING! I did not want to go to the gym. At all. Nothing about running on a treadmill seemed like a good idea. ‘The things I do for love’ I thought to myself. Ugh. 2 miles in 23:39 and hating EVERY minute of it.
And then I came home, read Phil 3 as I was getting ready to take a bath. I taped it up in the bathroom so that I could read it, you don’t need to tell me that I need to find a quiet place for some alone time with God, I get that, however, sometimes I just have to do what works for me, and today that was it, I have committed to reading the book of Philippians this month, 4 times, not just reading but studying it. Along with Proverbs, and memorization. My heart is committed to it.
I have read Phil 3 quite a few times, more than 10 less than 100, that’s the most I can narrow it down to, and actually Phil 3:13-14 are some of my favorite verses. But today as I was reading, I read Phil 3:10. And instantly thought about my running. And said to myself ‘really Margie, running for water, is a privilege not a suffering, how many people would love to have the ability to run’. Oh boy. God working on my heart. Quit being a negative Nelly.
You see, although, I truly believe that running on a treadmill is way easier than running outside, at least it is for me, I am building my endurance, I am pushing myself, I am being reminded of what it feels like to push myself, so that when I get to be outside, I will appreciate it, I will be in shape (as long as I get my eating under control), and I will not only run for Love, I will love it.
And truth be told, I’m scared about this marathon. I’m scared about letting people down, I’m scared about not hitting my goal, I’m scared about not finishing. But God has called me to do this, and He says He will be with me til the end of the age!
Phil 1:20 I eagerly expect and hope that I will in no way be ashamed, but will have sufficient courage so that now as always Christ will be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. (memorization verse this week)
Phil 3
No Confidence in the Flesh
1 Further, my brothers and sisters, rejoice in the Lord! It is no trouble for me to write the same things to you again, and it is a safeguard for you. 2 Watch out for those dogs, those evildoers, those mutilators of the flesh. 3 For it is we who are the circumcision, we who serve God by his Spirit, who boast in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh— 4 though I myself have reasons for such confidence.
If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless.
7 But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. 8 What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. 10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.
12 Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.
Following Paul’s Example
15 All of us, then, who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you. 16 Only let us live up to what we have already attained.
17 Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. 18 For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. 19 Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. 20 But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.
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