3/14/17 - Tuesday - IBS - Philippians 3:9 -  and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith—

Julie:

My righteousness is found in my faith not the law.  That is what I am getting out of this verse right now.  Yesterday in my persnal devo God spoke this to me in Numbers 19.  I learned about a sin offering and what it was used for.  A whole young cow would be burned in the sight of the priest until it was simply ashes.  Then those ashes would be poured into water.  This water was kept for people who came in contact with a dead body.  If they touched a dead body, then they would have this water sprinkled on them and they would be considered unclean for seven days.  The law said that to be righteous again, aftering touching a dead body, they would have to go through these rituals and sacrifices.  It was such an eye opener to me, because I was that person who not just touched but held a dead body five months ago.  And I had never felt closer to God.  I did not feel the guilt or shame of what I was doing.  I didn't feel like I had to do a bunch of nonsense to become clean in God's eyes again.  I felt clean as I held him.  I felt peace.  I felt righteous in the eyes of God.  And that is because of the faith I have in Jesus Christ being my Sacrifice.  He sacrificed himself so I could touch something dead and mourn without guilt.  And he is my Savior because I felt peace. This is an applicable way I have found my righteousness in faith and not the law.

Monday March 13, 2017 Philippians 8:8 - Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ.

Nick:

This was one of the key verses when I first got saved. It encouraged me to let go of everything I was or had so that I could gain more of Christ. Paul counted any title he may have had, any position, anything attained, as loss. Sounds like Jesus earlier in Chapter 2 verse 6-7, "who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God, a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant.” This has been something that has been coming up in my life recently. I have been given a destination and a position in which I am being raised up for. I have recently also found out from the Lord some of my giftings that I will be applying once I have taken the position. What God is teaching me is even though I am called to theses things from him, they are not something that am to hold on to. They are not my identity. They are not some level of christian that I have now attained. Its not something I have earned because of me service to God. It is so easy for me to become prideful and become confident in the flesh. Paul says earlier in the chapter that if there is anyone who should be confident in the flesh, it should be him because of his background. Paul Counts them as garbage, worthless. Jesus did the same when he came to earth. My righteousness or identity isn’t in titles or positions, its in Christ and what he did for me. Its in the love of God. Its in the faith that God has given me in himself. Its knowing, trusting, and depending on who he is and what he did. It isn’t the things he calls me to or the roles and circumstances in which he puts me in. It isn’t the things in which were predestined for me. I didn’t save myself and I haven’t gotten myself here, God did. 

Julie:

In this section, Paul is having to get on the same level as the Philippians to get them to understand.  Paul is not an arrogant guy, but he knows the Philippians will not listen to him unless he talks like them.  They are like children who think they know and have everything.  It's the same way I talk to Trent when I want to make a point.  I cannot talk like an adult because he is not one.  I have to talk in terms that he will understand.  So these Philippians think they are set because they have all of this knowledge and status.  And Paul tells them that not only did he once have have the same thing, but he was greater.  They may be circumcised, but Paul was circumcised more.  He was a Hebrew and a Pharisee.  He truly knew the law and abide by it.  He persecuted those who followed Jesus because it did not fall in line with the law.  I can only imagine that right now the Philippians are thinking something along the lines of "Wow, this man Paul is the real deal.  Look at all that he is and what he has done.  Obviously he isn't an idiot.  Maybe we should listen to what he says and take his advice.".  Now that Paul has hooked them, he begins to reel them in.  He goes on to tell them that all of his fame and accomplishments, he counts as loss for the sake of Christ.  I'm sure the Philippians are scratching their head thinking "You are willing to totaly give up your life and your status and your control to follow a man?".  I believe that's why he starts v8 with "Indeed".  Paul counted everything as loss.  Everything truly is a lot.  But in the same breath, it is so freeing once it is let go of.  Especially, when we let go because we know that simply knowing Jesus Christ is worth more than anything that this world has to offer.  Paul actually said that it was a "surpassing worth".  So him being a Pharisee (being with the "in" crowd of religion), being a Hebrew (higher social class), and knowledge he had from both was so far less important to him than Jesus that it was surpassing in worth.  I want to feel the same way for Jesus.  I want just knowing Christ to be worth more than what I own, or my family, or my status, or my money.  My true identity is being the daughter of Jesus.  And praise God that Paul, this man who seems to have no problems with letting go of the world, says that he "suffered the loss of all things".  He is assuring us that it will be hard, but putting Christ on the throne of my heart is not the hard part.  It's when I have to remove my idols and count them as nothing.  But in doing that, God does not forsake me.  I believe that I will actually draw closer to Him.  I should know that I will not be left alone with Jesus on the throne of my heart.  And I believe that in doing that, I will gain Christ.  

3/9/17 - Thursday - IBS - Matthew 18:15 - If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother.

Julie:

If a brother or sister who walks with Christ wrongs me, I am obligated to address it with them, because I want to see them flourish in Christ.  They may not be aware of their exposed area that is hindering their growth.  And what kind of sister would I be to not want my fellow brother or sister to grow in Christ?  I know I want to flourish in Christ, so if I have a spot in me that is keeping me from growing, I would expect my fellow brothers or sisters to point it out so that I can pray about how to remove that from my life.  The enemy came to steal, kill, and destory, so when we choose not to confront a fellow member of Christ about their sin, then we are allowing the enemy to steal our fellowship, kill the good fruits growing with the sin, and destroy our confidence in God to redeem and restore.  I know I want to continue to grow in God as long as I am living on this earth, so if you brother or sister sees a flaw in my walk with Christ, I would hope they would bring that to the light.  And I would hope that I had a mature enough heart to recieve it as corrective criticism and not let it become something wicked.  I do not want the help to fester in my heart as someone out to get me.  That just means that there is still pride in me that is hurt.  But if I am really dead and now live in Christ then who am I to worry what counsel another Godly brother or sister has to share?  It's all for the growth of our love for God and each other !

3/8/17 - Wednesday - IBS - 2 Corinthians 13:11 - Finally, brothers, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you. 

Julie:

Paul is concluding his letter with five commands. Rejoice.  Restoration.  Comfort.  Agree.  Peace.  As he says in the verse before, these are commands given for building up and not tearing down.  Jesus walked with these traits.  And since Jesus is our cornerstone, these traits should be a part of our foundation.  If our foundation is not built on these traits, then whatever we build will have to be to torn down because it cannot withstand the weight the world puts on us.  These five commands are the materials that make up that cornerstone to keep us from being shaken.  And crazy enough, all five of these commands are not for our own building up but the building up of others.  Rejoice with others.  Restore others.  Comfort others.  Agree with others.  Be at peace with others.  So as we keep the foundation of our cornerstone as Christ-like, then we help others lay their foundation as a Christ-like one.  When two people come together that are both built on Jesus' solid foundation then they are stable enough to be in unity.  When a congregation comes together on the same foundation then there is unity and fellowship and there you see the body of Christ.  I know that I cannot take it upon myself to build someone up because they have the free will to listen or not, but what I can do is be a strong tower unto the Lord and let that be an example for anyone.  

3/7/17 - Tuesday - IBS - Romans 12:16 -  Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly.  Never be wise in your own sight.

Julie:

I believe that this passage is portraying that when the proud and low love each other, there is unity. The sound is harmonic.  The chemistry is beautiful.  Just like a magnet, the two opposites attract bringing together something that cannot be broken (without extreme effort).  When the proud and the low can come together there is a common ground.  There and only there is where Jesus dwells.  Jesus does not live above with the proud.  He actually opposes the proud.  He does not dwell with low, or else he would not try to pick them up. He is close to the brokenhearted but not to dwell with them.  God designed man to live in harmony amongst each other, which requires us to lay our pride and things that puff us up aside.  It also requires us to lay our mourning and poorness aside.  But to where do we lay it aside.... at the foot of the cross!

3/6/17 - Monday - IBS - 1 John 1:5-7 - 5 This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.

Julie:

The message that we have heard from Jesus is that He is the truth, the life, and the way.  We are to walk in that Way.  And when we do, we find ourselves walking in light.  "You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill that cannot be hidden."  God's word says it.  "You" being the body of Christ is a light in the darkness.  But how can this be for me, when I know that I still have sin in me?  I know that there are still dark parts of me.  If there were not, then I would be perfect.  I would be Jesus!  But I'm not.  I'm still a sinner.  We are all sinner because we have Adam and Eve's blood in us.  So this can't be something that John forgot or overlooked when he wrote this.  So what does he mean? The point of this section is not to evaluate where we are as far as darkness or light, but what kind of action we are taking in our walk.  Remember, we are sheep of God's.  We are  spiritually stupid.  We do not know how to do anything without our Shepherd.  If I am a lost sheep in the dark forrest and my Shepherd gives me direction to get back to Him, which is a field of light, and I choose to go further into the forrest, then I am "walking in darkness".  I am a sheep who is alone and choosing to not walk in fellowship.  And as I venture further into the darkness, the dirtier I get.  If we do choose to listen to our Shepherd's direction and follow it, then we are "walking in light".  So, even though we are still in the dark forrest, we are still in fellowship because we are walking in the light of our Shepherd who guides us.  And what does He do when we finally step out of that forrest?  He cleans us.  I once thought of myself as a smart sheep who could find my own way out of darkness.  I was stubborn, hard-hearted, and stiff-necked.  I was deliberately walking in darkness. But God has let me wonder to the point of exhaustion.  The darkness gets so dark that I am asleep and obliveous to where I am.  Only the revelation that happens when God's light shines in and pierces the darkness can awaken me.  His light shows me the truth, the life, and the way and as I walk in that light I know I am cleansed dispite the darkness that I am walking through.

Friday March 3, 2017 Luke 12:37-40 Blessed are those servants whom the master finds awake when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will dress himself for service and have them recline at table, and he will come and serve them. If he comes in the second watch, or the third,  and finds them awake, blessed are those servants! But know this, that if the master of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming, he would not have left his house to be broken into. You also must be ready, for the son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect.

Nick:

Faithfulness and stewardship. Will I be looking for Jesus’ when he returns. Will I still be seeking him and his kingdom when he comes. Hopefully I won’t be like the servant in verse 45 who says, “My master is delayed in coming, and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk.” I don’t want to take my hands off the plow I don’t want to turn back. He has brought me so far I don’t think I could ever turn back. But the spirit is willing but the body is weak. Thats why I have to keep my lamps burning even when they seem to be out of oil. I want to be faithful with what he has given me. I want to be faithful with season in my life. I want to take full advantage of this time alone with the Lord. But not only growth with the Lord but with my family. What ever God is calling me into, we come as a package. Its would be “our” ministry not mine. So I want to be faithful and a also a good steward of the blessings and possessions he has given me. I have to constantly be aware of this perspective that everything I have in my life has been given to me from God. Nothing is mine and when I disregard these things, I’m not being a faithful steward of Gods blessings. This opportunity is a gift and so were the finances that got us here.