The Word To Live By: 10-1-26
Phil Waggoner
… and put no confidence in the flesh, although I myself might have confidence even in the flesh. If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more; … that I may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. Philippians 3:4,9
The Word To Live By: This is Paul speaking – Paul, who wrote two-thirds of the New Testament and probably better than anyone, understood that everything he was able to accomplish was because of the grace and mercy of God in his life for a specific reason. Now here is what I want you to see. In verse 12, he says, “Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus.” If you will read 1 Corinthians 12, among other places in the New Testament, you will see that we are all part of the body of Christ with specific purpose. Some of us are feet that move the body of Christ, some of us are hands that serve the body of Christ, and so on. What I want you to see is there is a reason you are here and to fulfill that reason, you need to understand it’s not about what you can do - it’s about what Jesus did and living by faith in that. Paul goes on in this chapter and shows us how to “press on so that we may lay hold of that” which we were laid hold of for. That will be the subject of the next, however many days. For today, I want you to understand that you are in the body of Christ for a reason and God put you there; it has nothing to do with where you came from, or what your talents are, but everything to do with the unconditional love of God for you and the people in your world.
Read through the Bible in a year: Revelation 1; Nehemiah 1-2; Psalms 96;
Read through the New Testament and Proverbs: Proverbs 1, Luke 3:, Colossians 4,
The sum of Thy Word is Truth Psalm 119:160