Knowing Christ

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, 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 and recognising and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One). Philippians 3:8 AMP

This year I will be 45. And 20 of those years I have known Christ Jesus as my Lord. For me, it has been 20 years of, as this scripture says, progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him. In fact, these last five years feel as though they have been a complete re-learning of who Jesus is and building a level of intimacy that I mistakenly thought I had before. A level of intimacy that is so sweet, that I am only starting to understand the intensity of God's love for us. A level of intimacy that is continually challenging the priorities in my life.

Yes, all the things I once thought were so important are gone from my life. Compared to the high privilege of knowing Christ Jesus as my Master, firsthand, everything I once thought I had going for me is insignificant - dog dung. I've dumped it all in the trash so that I could embrace Christ and be embraced by him. I didn't want some petty, inferior brand of righteousness that comes from keeping a list of rules when I could get the robust kind that comes from trusting Christ - God's righteousness. Philippians 3:8-9 The Message

By God's grace there will be at least another 45 years of life to come - all of it with Jesus as my Master. I am expectant for all that God is going to do in those 45 years, and including an increasing level of intimacy every day, as He becomes more and more a priority in my life. I am not as naive as I once was, I know there will be plenty of 'trust building' moments and seasons to come, but now I have seen what comes out of those seasons, and it is good. And let's not forget, we are not in those seasons alone.

Meanwhile, the moment we get tired in the waiting, God's Spirit is right alongside helping us along. If we don't know how or what to pray, it doesn't matter. He does our praying in and for us, making prayer out of wordless sighs, our aching groans. He knows us far better than we know ourselves, knows our pregnant condition, and keeps us present before God. That's why we can be so sure that every detail in our lives of love for God is worked into something good. Romans 8:26-28 The Message

Question for today, when you reflect back over your life and your Jesus journey, can you see times of intense learning and how God gently and graciously guided you through those times? Let's give thanks to Him that our relationship is not stagnant, but rather that it is continually growing. Let's give thanks for all He will do with us and through us in the future.

Everything comes from him;

Everything comes through him;

Everything ends up in him.

Always glory! Always praise!

Yes. Yes. Yes.

Romans 11:36 The Message