Skip to main content

"...because Christ Jesus made me his own."

Philippians 3:12-19 "because Christ Jesus made me his own."
These words leapt off the page and into my heart this morning.

Oh, let's read them again "because Christ Jesus made me his own."  let them sink deeply into your heart, into those places of insecurity and doubt...

His work, not yours, saved you.  He chose you, you didn't choose Him.  He has everything, you have nothing.  You were an orphan and He brought you into His fold.   Christ Jesus made you His own. 

These powerful words follow Paul's account of his works and how he counts them as rubbish so that he may gain Christ and the righteousness that comes only from Christ Himself through faith in His finished work on the cross.

Who are you being today?  A weary frustrated mom; an overworked husband; an invisible teen; an overachiever seeking value; a woman who hates her reflection; a young man confident in his own ability; a hollow façade; perfect in your own eyes; righteous in you works?  No matter who you are in this moment, unless you know "Who's you are" you are lost.

Who you are "being" is not who you truly "are!"  "because Christ Jesus made you His own!"  You are HIS!  

When we, with downcast eyes, drudge through this life, we speak that our God is impotent to aid in the simplest of things.  That He cannot be trusted to bring comfort or aid.  That He has no care for His so called children.  That he is in fact like many earthly fathers. Selfish, distant, uninvolved, unloving, inconsistent, frustrated and punishing.  Do you see the picture we portray to a dying world?  "Come, join my pitiful family so that you too can live under harsh rule with no hope."  Why would they want what we portray?

Oh, oh, dear ones, we must repent!  Turn, run!  Because Christ Jesus died your death and rose to give you life and gave you His Word so that you may have life, life in abundance!  

For many years I was blind to my witness, but now I see.  "Not that I have already obtained this or am already perfect, but I press on to make it my own BECAUSE CHRIST JESUS HAS MADE ME HIS OWN(!)...But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead.  I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (!)"  Paul speak the words of my heart, or rather my heart resonates with his powerful, active words.   

Paul was so gracious to not leave us to our imagination as to how to make this change.  How to remember "Who's" we are and what that means.  God penned a prescription through Paul and it continues through chapter 4.  Loved one, this writing could be a volumes if I wrote it.  It's best you know it for yourself first hand.  Turn to Philippians and read. The book is short, but don't hurry through it.  Read one line at a time and let God speak to you.  Believe Him!

So, who ARE you today?  Will you let your life align with who God says you are?  Are you willing to believe God's Word over your own feelings and false thoughts?  I challenge you this day to live your life in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ and let your life reflect God as He really is: Loving, Merciful, Grace Full, Intimate, Selfless, Holy, Holy, Holy...   What's your answer?

Because Christ Jesus has made me His own I will/am _________________________________.
Share what you filled in.  Let us encourage one another today!

Comments

Post a Comment

Did something touch your heart? Please share about it.

Popular posts from this blog

When the pain get too big

There are times when the heartbreaks of this life collide with our weakness and the pain gets so big that even breathing is hard.  It’s like being dragged under by the surf and tumbled over and over until up is down and you’re dragged along the bottom and raw wounds meet with salted surf and the searing pain of it is only a faint echo of the pain within your soul and you gasp for breath and flail helplessly, like a rag doll, until you’re eventually released upon the shore coughing up the brine of your own tears… This is where I have been. Literally on the verge of tears at every moment.   Memories, regrets, sorrow, missing, aching, loss - churning, growing to tsunami intensity threatening to overwhelm.   Today I received a devotional from a Jewish Messianic site challenging us regarding the Sabbath.   Oh, how my soul yearned for it.   A Sabbath, a rest.   But the to-do list haunted and I headed to the shower to start the day.   All the while rest was beckoning to me…   What h

It matters not

It matters little who I am. Each one of us has a story to tell, a life filled with love, loss, heartache, joy & laughter.  I am just a busted up pitcher.  Yes, the image that came to your mind - whether one you pour iced tea from, the one with the chip on the lip so it spills as much down the outside of your glass as gets in. Or the little creamer pitcher your gramma had in her hutch, the one with the broken handle that has glue globbed on it's listing side.  Or the one that you pour oil with, the one with the faint crack you overlook because you never think to replace it while you are shopping.  Oh, or maybe it's the purple plastic juice jug that hit the heating coil in the dishwasher... melted a hole an inch from the top but you never fill it that full anyway. No matter what image came to your mind, that's me.  The true value of a pitcher is not it's appearance or even its purpose but it's what the pitcher holds that is precious.  The sole purpose of the p

Un-becoming

Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"-- for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. [Rev 19:7-8]   We’ve all been to weddings. Everything focuses around the bride. My favorite moment is to watch the groom as he catches the first glimpse of his bride, he’s overcome by her beauty – she’s prepared herself specifically and especially for this day.   Now imagine, how does the bride of Christ prepare herself to be radiant for her beloved? Righteous deeds, good works… As I pondered this passage and how it applies to this season,  I heard “Un-becoming” . I sense that this season we are in is a cleansing period, a time of preparation.   UN   becoming who we’ve become; busy, weary, anxious, overburdened, chameleon – being who others want or expect us to be. Lost, depressed, frustrated, needy.  And instead, shed the shackl

The Cost of Freedom

  Memorial Day I once thought I understood the cost of freedom. I’d heard the family stories, my momma named for her uncle shot down over France, I’d been to the parades and ceremonies, could repeat great quotes, I’d seen the movies…   But then a few years ago I walked among the names – name after name after name, reaching far, even unto the horizon;  and the faces of sons and daughters and mothers and fathers – determination in their countenance, fear in their eyes, aged beyond their years.  One caught me as I walked by, gripped my heart and dragged me up close. He stared at me, wanting me to see, wanting to be known. Though his lips unable to speak it, his lifeless eyes told of the horrors he’d seen, the death he’d lived, the life he’d taken. He was just a boy, once full of life, now, full of death. He begged “Remember me.”  And through tears I vowed I would never forget him. Him without a name, an ordinary face – just one among many…  And then I stood, in reverential silence as mirr