Takeaway Verse: Philippians 3:9
I trust Christ to save me. For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends.
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Transcription:
Purposely. Your life. God’s purpose. Listen at onpurposely.com.
Welcome to The Bible For Busy People. I’m Erica Parkerson. This is the place where we meet up to read half a chapter of God’s word together and remember how loved we are. Jesus extends an amazing invitation to us in the Bible. He says, come to me and I will give you rest. This is us RSVPing, “Yes” to that invitation. So, take a deep breath and let’s get started.
Erica Parkerson: Today’s episode is called, There is only One perfect person Who ever lived! (And it was not me and it was not you!). My mother-in-law always used to say that, and I think about it so often. We’re about to dive into Philippians chapter three.
Philippians is a letter written by the apostle Paul. When he was in jail, he was imprisoned for his faith, and yet he was writing to encourage the church in Philippi to keep on keeping on. To keep on shining their lights so that other people would come to know the Lord Jesus. And boy, oh boy. We’re gonna learn some more today from Paul, but first would you join me in a word of prayer before we dive into Philippians chapter three.
Father, we come to you in the name of Jesus, and we ask you to open our eyes and our hearts to what you want us to see and understand in your word, right this moment, in Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen.
All right, here we go. Philippians chapter three: Whatever happens dear brothers and sisters, writes paul, may the Lord give you joy. I never get tired of telling you this. I am doing this for your own good. Watch out for those dogs. Those wicked me in their evil deeds. Those mutilators who say you must be circumcised to be saved. For we who worship God in the spirit are the only ones who are truly circumcised. We put no confidence in human effort. Instead, we boast about what Christ Jesus has done for us. Yet, I could have confidence in myself if anyone could. If others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more, for I was circumcised when I was eight days old, having been born into a pure-blooded Jewish family, that is a branch of the tribe of Benjamin. So, I am a real Jew if there ever was one. What’s more, I was a member of the Pharisees who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law. And zealous? Yes. In fact, I harshly persecuted the church, and I obeyed the Jewish law so carefully that I was never accused of any fault. And by the way, quick note here, when Paul says he persecuted the church, he was. He was going around arresting Christians as a Jewish man thinking he was doing God’s work, until Jesus met him on the road to Damascus and everything changed. Jesus can change your life. He changed Paul’s life. He changed mine. Paul goes on. I once thought all these things were so very important, but now I consider them worthless. Worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes. Everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing. Christ Jesus, my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, garbage, so that I may have Christ and become one with him. Mm. I no longer count on my own goodness or my ability to obey God’s law. Here comes our key verse, our takeaway verse, but I trust Christ to save me, for God’s way of making us right with himself, depends on faith.
It’s all about what Jesus did for us. You and I are never gonna be perfect. We come to him, and we ask him to forgive us of our sins. To cleanse us from all unrighteousness. And it is he who does that. We can’t clean up our own sins and clean up our own lives. We can’t change our own lives only he can do that.
There was a story I heard tell in just the past few months about a man who landed a plane who had never flown a plane. The pilot went unconscious during the flight. And so, he went into the cockpit and was instructed by air traffic control on the ground, step by step. The air traffic control people told this man who had never flown a plane, how to land a plane, and the man did it safely. Now have this guy not been in touch with air traffic control, he wouldn’t have been able to land the plane. He understood and received the advice. Took it and followed it.
And he saved all of those lives on the plane, including his own. It’s the same way with Jesus. Yes, we might be living our lives, but it’s Jesus who saves us. He’s the air traffic control. We’re the guy that’s never flown or landed a plane. It’s Jesus who flies the plane and lands the plane of salvation. If you have never given your heart to Jesus, if you have never asked him to come in and cleanse you from all of your sins and give you a new start, you can do that right now.
It’s a very simple prayer. You just say, father, I come to you in the name of Jesus. Forgive me of my sins and make me clean. And please give me a new life. I believe that you died for me. That you were raised for me. And I trust you with my life. I give it to you now in Jesus’ name. Amen. It is that simple. God is so real. He loves you so very much. Until we meet again tomorrow in the second half of Philippians, chapter three, please know you are loved.
Thank you so much for listening to The Bible For Busy People. If you need prayer or you’re ready to go a little deeper in your faith, we’ve posted some resources for you in our show notes. We’d love for you to share this podcast with a friend and leave us a review. It helps us reach even more people with the hope of Jesus. This podcast is part of Purposely, a podcast network designed with practical podcast, to help you find and live in God’s purpose for your life. Find more podcasts that will recharge you at onpurposely.com.
