Philippians 3:11

Attaining to the resurrection of the dead.  Dude this verse has me man.  I at first had absolutely no clue what it was talking about, then it hit me.  The rapture.  When we are Christians we attain the rapture.  We aren’t dead in sin and we are now alive.  The ones sleeping in the ground now will be resurrected from the dead and will join Christ in the air.  For the ones ones still alive, they will meet Christ in the air after that.  The Christian is not dead, just sleeping.  This earth is merely a place of which we pass through.  We should be so stoked about the rapture though and just looking forward to every moment of it. We should be looking for the things above, we should be ready for it to come any time and any day at any second.  Christ is coming back soon, it’s a matter of when though.  So today I will look forward to Christ coming back, I will think of the things above and be rapture ready.

Philippians 3:10

The power of His resurrection.  That’s one of the many things that separates us from the beliefs of the Roman Catholic Church.  The resurrection.  How often do we just throw that to the back seat?  The fact Jesus overcame death.  We are quick to share that He died for us, but the true miracle was that He arose and overcame death.  Death can’t even trump the life of my God.  Jesus was not bound by death.  Jesus suffered for me.  He took my place on the cross and died, it truly is the most amazing thing ever, but He also came back to life.  How sad would it be if the story ended with Christ on the cross and not coming back to life?  It wouldn’t be the gospel, God would be dead.  My God is alive though, He isn’t dead.  Death can’t pin Him down.  Him rising from the dead gives power to us that we can die for Him.  If persecution comes remember that He died and was raised from the grave for you.  We are not pressed down by death, it can’t hold us down.  Life on this earth is merely a fraction of what we will experience in eternity.  If I die for Christ, no if I live for Christ and am martyred for Him, what a way to go.  Death of the physical body is just the beginning of everlasting life that I am promised by Him and how sweet is that?  So today I will remember that I am to live for Christ, I can’t expect to die for Him, if I don’t first live for Him.  I must remember that there is power in the resurrection and not just His death.  Death is just the first part, then comes life and life abundantly.

Philippians 3:9

All my life I thought myself as righteous.  In my own eyes I was a good person.  This is religion.  Religion is nothing.  Having the right relationship and making it a personal one with the Lord is what He views as good.  Keeping the law is cool and all, but the law of Grace is what abides in me.  Out of my faith in Christ works are produced, but doing works isn’t what saves me.  I can’t do enough good to cover my bad.  Also even I mess up once than I deserve Hell.  I am judged by faith and faith alone.  Thank God He took my spot on the cross for me.  I am so undeserving of His love for me yet He poured it out for me.  I am curious of why He chose the worm that I am for His usage, but He knows why and I know that I am the perfect tool for what He has for me. So for eighteen years of my life I was religious, I was under the bondage of my religion.  Christianity should be refreshing not holding me down.  Christ saved me from drowning, He didn’t hold my head under water.  Religion sucks, religion kills, religion made me miserable.  Christ saves us from religion and wants us in a relationship.  He loves us and we love Him because He loves us.  His love is unconditional, mine is completely conditional, until I rely on Him to help me not have conditions on my love.  I will wrap this up with one word, Grace.
Now to apply this grace to my life.  I love everyone on team Uganda.  Beyond that I love everyone in this ministry, but for Team Uganda, I can often put conditions on my love towards each of you.  If I am annoyed I won’t love you as much as I should.  So today I will lay down my pride, if I am annoyed I will love each of you as much as I should.  I will try to love unconditionally.

Philippians 3:8

Everything I own is garbage.  All is vanity.  Anything of this world, is as dust in the wind just blowing about.  My money, my Sandals, my clothes, my bicycles…Anything in this world.  If it’s not getting me closer to God than it’s just a waste.  Does it suck sometimes to give things up for Christ?  Yes, sometimes when you give things up it does, like no more smoking my pipe or cigars.  It’s enjoyable and relaxing, but does it bring me closer to God?  No, but does it bring others closer to Him?  Uhhhhh No.  Paul says he counts it as loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ.  Sacrificing can be tough, but when you think about the sacrifice that Christ made for me, it is easy.  Paul then goes on to say he counts it as dung, literally garbage.  The things of this world is garbage.  Solomon in Ecclesiastes counts all things of this world as garbage, he lives his life in extreme wealth, then he at the end of his life looks back and sees anything without God as garbage.  If I see this now as everything of this world as just garbage, than I will be on a solid path.  Sacrifice my worldly possessions for Christ.  Today I will think of one thing I can give away, like a pair of shoes and then on Saturday at the outreach I will throw them out. 

Romans 12:16

I can’t do this verse without looking. at the verse above.  “Rejoice with those that rejoice, and weep with those that weep.”  That is how we are of the same mind as others.  We are not to put ourselves above others.  We can not achieve unity when I am better than everyone else.  We can not achieve unity if I think of myself as higher than you.  Unity is achieved when we are equal at the cross.  This takes back to two weeks ago, mutual submission.  Through mutual submission, which is at the cross through Christ…We achieve Unity.  When we are of the same mind we achieve unity.  On a complete other note, being in the same mind we get unity.  What does it mean to be of the same mind?  In Philippians 2:5-8, 

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:  Who being in the form of God thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.”

That’s the mindset that gives unity.  When we are willing to serve and when we are willing to die for our cause.  The church can be the greatest showing of unity ever, but how often do we just argue over stupid stuff and just cause nothing but disunity?  All the time.  We need to all look at ourselves as equals at the cross and then that will cause unity.  So today, I will lay down my pride.  When I see someone screw up, instead of me thinking higher of myself, I will look at myself as lower.  Only then can I have unity.

Matthew 18:15

If someone sins against you go to them and them alone in a humble attitude.  I can’t go in an attitude of a, “Hey what’s wrong with you?” type of attitude.  I have to go in an attitude of restoring the relationship.  I have to put my self under the other too.  I as a human have this thing called pride.  Pride sucks and makes me want to be better than everyone else.  I have to go with an attitude of me being worse.  We all have sin so I have to expect others to sin too.  My life is no greater than everyone else’s so people are gonna be like me and mess up.  I can’t imagine how often I irritate others.  Christian came up to me in Xelah probably like 100 times and it was all one on one and just him telling me when I screwed up.  Which was quite often.  I am glad he came in an attitude of restoration too.  Now we are boys again, and in the midst of sin we can’t be as tight, but in the biblical attitude he came in we can be tight again.  Xelah wrecked me, Xelah showed me how much of a mess up I am, but then it also showed me how to be a biblical friend.  Now we are united once more and we are buddies again.  So today if someone irritates me I will go Ain an attitude of restoration, I will go in with an attitude of love and trying to be reunited with someone.  

Amos 3:3

Can two walk together except they be agreed?  The answer is no.  If two people are in an argument they aren’t going to try and walk with one another.  Unless they are trying to bring forth a resolution and then they wouldn’t really by arguing at that point.  When I am in an argument with someone, I am not in the best standings with them.  I can think back to times when I was in arguments with friends and we weren’t as close as we usually are.  Like my friend Brian and I were in this big argument and heated text messages were going back and forth.  We definitely weren’t the best of friends for the few days we were arguing.  The friendship was sense restored, but at that point of arguing we weren’t super close.  There has been other times too where I had other friends that I have argued with, oh like senior trip I got into a fight with my friend Colin.  We were so mad at each other and it’s still awkward between us.  The relationship has not been fully restored, two can’t walk when there is not an agreement.  So next time I have wifi I will text Colin and see what is going on with him and apologize for my end of the argument to try and restore the relationship.

2 Corinthians 13:11

When we are of one mind we have unity.  In unity comes the peace and love of God.  Only in unity we can have these.  We can not obtain Peace and love without being united with God.  Also when we are united with God, we become united with each other.  To bring unity we also have to comfort one another.  If my brother or sister is upset they need to be comforted and through this comes unity.  Just as I’m writing this IBS, I am late with it.  This was supposed to be done for yesterday, but I am a little back on homework…Anthony could obviously see I was a little stressed out and he came over to comfort me.  That is what Christians are called to do.  Anthony and I are united through him comforting me in my times of struggles.  Through this unity comes the peace and love of God.  This is an amazing thing for the body.  What other religion does something like this?  Like they see someone hurting, help them and then feel unity together.  It’s a thing of Christ, and not this world.  We aren’t called to be of this world, but to Christ.  So today I will thank Anthony for the comfort.  I will apologize for pushing him away during this process, and God will bring unity through this.

1 John 1:5-7

The age old rivalry, Light vs Darkness.  I used to be in the darkness, I used to not know the light.  When you are in a dark place, you can vaguely see the light ahead, but you don't know it.  I am a christian now though.  So I am in the light, the light of God.  If one is part of the darkness, they don’t know God.  God is perfect and can’t have any sin in Him.  So when I come to Him, I am cleansed, He doesn’t see me as what I actually am, which is dirty and rotten.  Rotten to the Core.  I like how Paul puts it in Romans 7:24-25- 

O wretched man that I am! Who shall deliver me from this body of death?  

I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord.  So then with the mind I myself serve the law of God; but with the flesh, the law of sin.

It’s that constant struggle between fighting off the darkness wit Jesus Christ, to be in perfect unity with Him inside the light.  I have to always be fighting my flesh.  My flesh is strong.  My flesh is 19 years of pure pride and sinfulness just waiting for the next temptation to come my way so I may stumble and go into the darkness, but God.  God gave me my new nature when I came to Him.  Also the Spirit dwells in me, I am in the light now and I can flee from wickedness.  I don’t have to sin.  Paul says again in Romans 6:1-2-

What shall we say then?  Shall we continue in sin that grace may abound?

God forbid! How shall we who are dead to sin, live any longer there in?

God forbid I keep sinning so grace may abound.  So today I will think of Romans 6:1-2 every time I am knowledgeably sinning.  Since I am wicked I don’t always know that I am sinning, it just naturally happens, I am not always going out of my way to do wrong, but when I do go out of my way to do wrong…I will dwell on these two verse.

Luke 17:7-10

A servant doesn’t finish his job until all the master says he is done.  After a long day of working in the field, he wouldn’t come in and complain if the master had another job for him.  No matter how much gets added on, he won’t be finished until the master says so.  In the same way, God can keep giving us more and more.  So much stuff that we can’t handle, unless we rely 100% on God.  That is the whole point too.  We have to rely on God.  I can’t do a single task on myself, I need God to help me.  I need His strength and not my own.  This is also with serving others.  Like yesterday I had K.P., but Austin told the class to call home and tell about the flights being ordered.  I could’ve done both if I was relying on Christ.  However I was relying on myself and only got K.P. done.  I messed up.  I shouldn’t have relied on my own strength, but the strength of God.  Both jobs weren’t completed so I was an unfaithful servant.  Only when the days work is done may the servant relax.  So today I won’t relax until all my work is done of me.  I will do all tasks of me and rely on the strength of God and not my own.  I will do all my serving when it’s asked and with God’s strength I will do all my tasks.

Luke 12:37-40

Being on KP this week, it really just shows this verse in a different way.  When doing the dishes you have to clean the whole plate and the whole cup and the whole fork, but you really have to scrub the inside of the cup the top of the plate and the head of the fork.  This is due to the fact it’s the dirtiest part.  The most impurities are not going to be on the bottom of the plate.  It’s going to be on the top part which was used.  The Pharisees were so outwardly clean.  They were so religious, but on the inside.  They were spiritually dead.  They had nothing.  They were. like the lepers, unclean and dying.  Religion kills, religion causes death, but a relationship in Jesus brings forth life.  Life abundantly.  Religion cleans the outside, but Christ cleans the inside.  For my entire life I was a pharisee, I was clean on the outside, I was religious, but then Christ changed me when I found out I could make it a real life relationship.  During senior year I started making my walk a relationship.  It was weak, but it was then I realized that I was just religious my entire life.  Until Ignite I was religious, Ignite has helped me start to kill the religion of Christianity.  I am starting to not be so religious, I am starting to build a relationship with the Father.  I’ve learned Grace here, which helps clean the inward man, and helps you die to yourself.  You can’t have grace and pride coinciding, pride doesn’t let you admit you screwed up, but grace knows you did and forgives you even though you don’t deserve it.  So today, I will clean my inside out by praying to God and confessing sins to Him asking Him to derive me of it.  I will ask for His help for my insides to be cleaned.

John 15:15

Jesus is talking to the apostles and calls them friends instead of servants.  He tells them a servant doesn’t know what is going on, but a friend is given the information.  They have been given the information.  Also they all serve beside Jesus.  Jesus is a servant with them, so they are all servant friends.  We are given all the information so we are friends of Jesus, we serve with Him and for Him too.  It’s a different perspective the fact that Jesus calls us friends because we are given the information in His word.  He doesn’t look down upon us.  He doesn’t tower over us, which He could do and be in the right, He is God.  No He is our friend, He is our ally.  Who do we go to in times of trouble?  Enemies or friends?  That’s right, friends.  We go to the ones who care for us, and they won’t attack us in our weakness.  We go to Jesus who wants our vulnerability.  So today if I have trouble with anything: Mentally, Physically, Spiritually, or Emotionally…I will go to a friend and pour out what is wrong to them.

John 12:26

Pretty easy right?  To serve Christ one must follow Him first.  If I want to truly serve, I must be a follower of Christ.  I mean Christ is the greatest example of a servant, like ever.  He is God, yet He came down to earth, in a super humble way, being born in a manger.  Then He lived His whole life serving people, who should be serving Him.  Then He goes and dies on a cross and raises up from the dead for them, for me and you.  That is serving.  So if I want to serve, I must take up His example.  I have to make myself lower than others.  I must crucify myself, I have to die to the flesh everyday.  Where Christ is, is where His servant is.  What Christ did, we should do too.  I mean obviously we can’t do a lot He did, but the attitudes He showed.  Love, obedience, humility… We need to show too.  This is how I can be a servant.  The verse closes with Jesus saying, “If any man serve me, him will my Father honor.”  If I do these things, and I serve Christ.  I will be honored by God.  I don’t need earthly honoring.  God the Father honors me.  Which is far superior to earthly honoring.  So today I will follow Christ’s example and serve others.  I will help with extra dishes that are just left in the sink, and if people leave cups out I will wash them.  Also I will put furniture away too.