Our Journey

Read Philippians 3:7-11 7 Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ … For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ … 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. Philippians 3:7, 9

A thousand years from today, the absolute distinguishing factor between everyone who has lived on this earth will come down to one thing: who is saved and who is not. It won’t matter what country or suburb you lived in, the car you drove, or the trajectory of your career. All that will matter is this: Do you know Jesus Christ as your Savior?

What do I base this on? We all have the same problem: We’re sinners. People deal with their sin problem in basically two ways. One is phenomenal and leads to heaven every time. The other one is tragic and never has and never will lead to heaven. Jesus called them the “narrow gate” that leads to eternal life and the “broad [gate] that leads to destruction” (Matthew 7:13 NASB).

Which road are you on? Many, including the apostle Paul in his early years, travel the broad road. They think, “Someday I’ll stand before God, and He’ll weigh the good and the bad that I’ve done and decide if I can come in.”

God will ask each of us someday why He should let us into heaven and the vast majority of the human race will be grasping for the million-dollar answer. It’ll go something like this: “I went to church. I gave money away and I was kind and loving to people.” “I was better than the average guy”

Many think they will bring these good works to God and He’ll be pleased. To that, Paul said, in effect, “I had to come to the place where those things I thought were gain, I now consider rubbish. I hate them because those are the very things that made me think I didn’t need Christ” (see Philippians 3:8).

So, what’s the right answer to God’s question, “Why should I let you into heaven?” It’s this: “You shouldn’t. But I trust Christ’s death for me.”

Either you trust in your thing, or you trust in Christ. Your eternity hangs on your answer. Ephesians 2:8-9 reveals the priceless answer: “By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” You can’t earn it. You could never deserve it. You’ll go in with Christ and through Him, or you won’t go in at all. That is the message of salvation. —James MacDonald

responding How would I answer the question, “Why should I he let into heaven?”
following Either you’re trusting in your thing, or you’re trusting in Christ.

Read Philippians 2:3-11 3 Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. 4 Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. 5 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but made Himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. 9 Therefore God has highly exalted Him and bestowed on Him the name that is above every name. Philippians 2:3-9

There is a little girl who loves to watch planes take off. From her viewpoint, planes got smaller and smaller the farther they flew away. Which explains the strange thing she asked her dad when he took her on a business trip. Soon after taking off, she asked, “Daddy, are we small yet?”

That’s a really important—and challenging—question to ask ourselves. There’s , something about us that does not like feeling small. It starts early. We never really grow out of wanting to be “so big” in other people’s eyes. It’s amazing how quickly life gets to be all about who’s got these—the nicest house, best job, coolest car, highest degree, or the biggest diamond. We’re quick to defend ourselves to keep looking good. We like to draw attention to our accomplishments and turn conversations to focus on us, and we find ourselves a little put out when we’re not noticed.

For most of us, life is about anything but making ourselves small. We’re the tall “I” in the middle of our universe. And that’s a problem.

In Philippians 2:3-11, Paul tells us to stop living to advance our own interests and to start considering others as more important than ourselves. He tells us to do nothing from “empty conceit”—which literally means the puffing up of our nothingness. I love the graphic picture in that thought. No matter how big you puff up a zero, it’s still a zero!

And then he points us to Jesus who didn’t consider His “big” standing in heaven a thing to hang on to, but rather He humbled Himself to care for our interests by becoming obedient to death on the cross. Think of that! Jesus thought of us and our needs as being more important than His own! He made Himself small so that we by His abundant mercy might become big in the riches of His grace.

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus! —Joe Stowell

responding Is there pride in my life? What does God think of proud people (1 Peter 5:5-7)? How can I humble myself? Am I willing to wait for Him to exalt me?
following Keep asking yourself the question: “Am I small yet?”

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Read Psalm 50:22-23 22 Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! 23 The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God! Psalm 50:22-23

The other day I was in the store looking at briefcases. I saw one that caught my eye and noticed that it was much less expensive than the other leather briefcases. I asked the salesman, “Why is this briefcase so much cheaper than the others?” He said, “Look at it closely. If you examine it closely, you’ll see that it’s not real leather.” I thought to myself, You really could have fooled me. It really did look like the real thing. Then he said, “The real proof is not in how it looks but in its durability”

We are too often fooled by appearances, aren’t we? I’ve met people I’ve been greatly impressed with, and thought, Boy, that’s a sharp individual, only to discover later that he wasn’t everything I thought he was. Not everyone who looks like a follower of Christ is one. Simply because a person knows the right words and has good theology doesn’t necessarily mean that he’s the genuine deal. Ultimately, only God knows who belongs to Him.

Psalm 50:22-23 underscores this principle. Here the psalmist is talking about the real deal—real people, not pretenders or perpetrators, but those who’re genuine and sincere. By implication here, a genuine commitment to Christ will show itself in your life. You can’t help it. If it is real, it’ll show up.

There’ll be a heart of gratitude. The psalmist says, “The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me.” There’s something about genuine followers of Christ. If we’re with them for any period of time, we’ll see some expression of thanksgiving, an acknowledgment of gratitude towards God.

Second, there’s a life of obedience. Notice the expression, “to one who orders his way rightly” (v.23). There is a desire to obey God. So, a heart of gratitude and obedience can be key indicators as to whether or not a person has a sincere, genuine relationship with Christ.

It’s so easy to mistake cultural Christianity for the real experience. You can know for sure that you belong to Him if you surrender your life to Him. Then He will give you those indicators: gratitude and a life of obedience.
—Crawford W. Loritts

responding How have I failed to give thanks to God? He is GOOD and He is GOD.
following There’s an old saying, “The proof is in the pudding.”

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Read John 4:7-14 7 There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” … 9 The Samaritan woman said … “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” … 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? … 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” John 4:7-14

I once saw an interesting program on TV about the quest for happiness. People on the street were asked the question, “What is happiness?” One man said, “Happiness is $100 million.” A woman said, “Happiness is more ready cash.” Others answered, “Happiness is a castle” and “Happiness is a private island.”

Then some people who had actually won the lottery were interviewed. But these winners said that money couldn’t buy them happiness. It could buy them many things, but soon the emptiness came back.

Have you ever dreamed about what it would be like to actually win the lottery, to suddenly become a millionaire? When you dream about something, the dream is usually better than the way it is in real life, as those lottery winners discovered. When your dream comes true, it’s not as exciting as you thought it would be.

Like the woman Jesus met at the well in Samaria, we are looking for someone or something to meet the deepest needs of our lives. We are on a search for fulfillment. But there is simply no person and no thing on this earth that will meet our deepest need.

You see, one of the reasons we keep coming up empty, one of the reasons these things don’t satisfy, is that we were created to know God. We were created to have a relationship with the One who made us. Therefore, all these other things are just cheap substitutes. They will never measure up. God Himself will get to the heart of your problems. God alone will fill that void in your life.Go to the source. —Greg Laurie

Lord, only You can quench my thirst for happiness and contentment. Turn me not away from You.

responding Have I believed the lie that if I made more money, had a newer house, a fitter body, I would be happy? Can I find the contentment from finding my purpose in Christ?
following There’s none on earth that will meet our deepest needs.

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Read Luke 21:25-28 25 There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth distress of nations in perplexity because of the roaring of the sea and the waves, 26 people fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world. For the powers of the heavens will be shaken. 27 And then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. 28 Now when these things begin to take place, straighten up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near. Luke 21:25-28

Earlier in Luke 21, we saw that in response to two questions Jesus’ disciples asked of Him, He provided two separate answers. The first answer (vv.8-24) contains a series of concrete predictions of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, all of which were literally fulfilled. Jesus was describing an event from which a person could flee. The answer to the second question occurs in verses 24-28. It describes an event so cataclysmic that there is no place to run.

The disciples’ second question had to do with the end of the world. In His response, Jesus describes the inescapable end of the world in language echoed in passages like Revelation 6:12. The language shifts to a clear, apocalyptic tone. Jesus is describing something truly cosmic in character. “The powers of the heavens will be shaken,” He says (v.26). It will be an unquestionable sign that He is coming in the clouds. Every eye shall see it.

The disciples ask when the “marvelous” stones of the temple will be cast down. In less than 40 years, the Romans will come and make a desolation of Jerusalem. This was information they needed to know, since at least some of them would live to see the unimaginable event. The content of Jesus’ second answer, however, is for you and me. It’s His reassuring word that there’ll be no chance of our “missing” it. His second coming will be as truly awesome as His first coming was humble and lowly. As Jesus’ prediction of the destruction of the temple was fulfilled, His second answer, clearly means that we’re living in the “last days.”

Nowadays it’s not fashionable to talk about longing for His return. But during the “Jesus Movement,” hearing William Lane speak on 2 Thessalonians, I felt for the first time in my life that it might happen at any minute.

“When He comes on that day to be glorified in His saints, and to be marveled at among all who have believed, because our testimony to you was believed” (2 Thessalonians 1:10). —Michael Card

responding Have I been living for Jesus’ return?
following Be bold in your longing for the return of your Savior, Jesus Christ!

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