DAY 1
DAY 1: RADICAL COMMITMENT TO JESUS
One of the overriding themes of the letter that the apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian church was his radical commitment to and confidence in the person of Jesus Christ – let’s call it his magnificent obsession. Since his conversion, Paul’s whole identity and purpose was shaped by his relationship with Jesus. Throughout the letter, Paul describes himself as a ‘servant of Christ,’ who is filled with a vision for ‘the day of Christ’, and longs to be ‘with Christ’. He takes time to exalt the crucified, risen and reigning Christ, considers all his own natural advantages and achievements to be ‘loss for the sake of Christ’, and was confident only in the righteousness that comes through ‘faith in Christ’. Ultimately, he makes it his life ambition to ‘know Christ’! Yet, despite all this, he knows he still hasn’t arrived, which is why he is determined ‘to press on towards the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenwards in Christ Jesus’ Philippians 3:14. This is remarkable given that prior to Paul’s conversion, his standing before God and in his wider community was based on his personal credentials which were very impressive – his background, wealth, education and religious knowledge. However, we see that as soon as he had an encounter with the risen Jesus, he counted all of those things as irrelevant, ‘But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus… for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…’ Philippians 3:7-9a.
What an example for us to follow. Like Paul, let’s focus on who Jesus is, what He has done for us, and make Him our magnificent obsession. Let’s use these three days to set aside extra time and space to seek Christ, to worship Christ, to wait on Christ, and to ask the Spirit to give us a fresh revelation of Christ. Put simply, let’s use this time to grow in KNOWING CHRIST, to receive more of His resurrection power, so as to become more like our servant King.
QUOTABLE QUOTE
Being a Christian isn’t about knowing a set of propositions. It’s about knowing Christ and acting on His behalf in the world.
– Francis Chan, Author and Preacher
DEVOTIONAL
by Karen Smith
Prayer points
- Come before the Lord with an open heart and ask Him to reveal if there are any areas where He wants to minister His unending love and grace towards you, releasing you from any deception that His acceptance and love is based on your works.
- Take some time to celebrate the most incredible testimony of all; that you are saved by grace, and grace alone. Ask the Holy Spirit to stir from within you a fresh zeal, deep gratitude, and an overwhelming awe of King Jesus and all that He has done in your life.
- Pray over your own heart and our church family, that we would experience and know a fresh sense of a magnificent obsession with Jesus Christ - that who we are, and all we do would flow from a holy obsession with Him.
A CALL To ACTiON
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