AUGUST 3

OUR PERSONAL PROMISES

    “ I will strengthen thee.”

    Isaiah 41:10

CHARLES SPURGEON:

When called to serve or to suffer, we take stock of our strength, and we find it to be less than we thought and less than we need. But let not our heart sink within us while we have such a word as this to fall back upon, for it guarantees us all that we can possibly need. God has strength omnipotent; that strength He can communicate to us; and His promise is that He will do so. He will be the food of our souls and the health of our hearts; and thus He will give us strength. There is no telling how much power God can put into a person. When divine strength comes, human weakness is no more a hindrance.

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This month we will continue the book, “Whatever Happens – How to Stand Firm in Your Faith When the World is Falling Apart.”  By a contemporary author of many best-selling Christian books, Robert J. Morgan.  He took care of his wife when she had MS, until she went home to her Savior.  “He knows of which he speaks.”  I pray that this book blesses you.

THROUGH THE FELLOWSHIP WITH HIS SUFFERING

But Paul wasn’t finished.  He wanted to know the power of Jesus’ resurrection, but there was more.  In verse 10, he continued:  “I want to know…His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death.”  We come to know Christ more deeply through fellowship with his suffering and death.  As we faithfully serve Him, we may encounter opposition, hostility, and persecution.  That enables us to experience a bit of what Christ experienced, and it causes us to trust Him more than ever.

It’s strange how the world hates Christianity.  I listened to a fascinating interview Shane Morris conducted with Christian thinker Frederica Matthews-Green.  As a young adult, Frederica was part of the counterculture, a feminist hippie, but something bothered her.  She realized in college that she had contempt for Christians but not for the adherents of other religions.  She admired Hinduism.  She admired aspects of all the other religions.  But she realized she hated Christians to the point of wanting to embarrass or humiliate them.  She began to wonder where that was coming from.  That nagging question began to convict her, and over time it led her to investigate Christianity and to become a deeply devoted follower of Christ.

Jesus said, “If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own.  As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world.  That is why the world hates you.”  (John 15:19).

I WANT TO KNOW CHRIST THROUGHOUT ETERNITY

We want to come to know Christ; we grow to know Him better; and then we want to continue to grow in our knowledge of Him throughout eternity.  Notice what Paul said next: 

“I want to know Christ….and so, somehow attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

This word “somehow” doesn’t imply doubt, but wonder.  Paul wasn’t saying, “Somehow I hope I’ll be resurrected.”  He was saying, ”I am amazed by the thought that Almighty God in His triumphant power will somehow bring all the molecules of my decayed body together at His return, and I’ll be resurrected.”

That’s when we’ll continue getting to know Christ.

In His great and final prayer in John 17, Jesus prayed:  “Father, I want those You have given Me to be with Me where I am and see My glory.”  In other words, the Lord Jesus wants us to be with Him forever, beholding Him with growing awe and wonder.  Revelation 22:4 says we will see His face.

We will have a literal infinity of time to walk with Him, to talk with Him, to be with Him, and to fellowship with Him.  There will be billions of people in heaven, but because of the nature of everlasting life, we will have endless opportunities to spend time with him.  We’ll get to know Him better and better……….

Read again Paul’s words in Philippians 3:10a in the Amplified Bible Classic Edition:

 “[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],….”

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