Takeaway Verse: Philippians 3:14
I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
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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.
Today’s episode is called, “Wait, there’s more!”. Have you ever gotten to the end of one of your favorite TV shows and you thought, no, this can’t be the end? There’s got to be more. Well, there is so much more to this life. We’re about to dive in to the second half of Paul’s letter to the Philippians, chapter three.
Paul was in chains when he wrote these words, he was in jail writing to encourage the people who belonged to the church in Philippi, who were facing opposition from outside the church and dealing with division inside of the church. They really needed words of encouragement. They needed to know, you know what, there is more to this life. So, we’re going to dive in, but first let’s give our time to the Lord.
Oh Father, in Jesus’ name we thank You that You’re already here with us. Please feel welcome. We’re so thankful for You. Oh God, there’s so much more. Help us to focus on that today. And to remember it. Lord open our eyes and our hearts to what You want us to see and understand in Your word today in Jesus name. Amen.
Okay. We’re going to go back one verse, we covered this yesterday, it was our takeaway verse. And I want to read it again to give us a little context. It’s so important: “For God’s way of making us right with Himself depends on faith.”
Remember yesterday, we were talking about how it was Jesus who saved us, or if you haven’t yet received Christ as your Lord and Savior, it’s Jesus who saves you. We can’t do the saving. It’s all up to Him. “As a result, I can really know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I can learn what it means to suffer with Him, sharing in His death so that somehow, I can experience the resurrection from the dead. I don’t mean to say that I’ve already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ Jesus saved me for and wants me to be. No dear brothers and sisters, I am still not all I should be, but I am focusing all my energies on this one thing; forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead.”
Here’s our takeaway verse today: “I strain to reach the end of the race and receive the prize for which God, through Christ Jesus is calling us up to heaven. I hope all of you who are mature, Christians will agree on these things. If you disagree on some point, I believe God will make it plain to you, but we must be sure to obey the truth we have learned already.”
“Dear brothers and sisters, pattern your lives after mine and learn from those who follow our example. For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows, they’re really enemies of the cross of Christ. Their future is eternal destruction. Their God is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and all they think about is this life here on earth. But we are citizens of heaven where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.” This is the second time in Paul’s letter to the Philippians that he reminds you and me that we are citizens of heaven. Where the Lord Jesus Christ lives.
“And we are eagerly waiting for Him to return as our Savior. He will take these weak mortal bodies of ours and change them into glorious bodies like His own using the same mighty power that He will use to conquer everything everywhere.”
Oh, I love that, and I have chills because I believe those words that Jesus is coming back for us. And one day we will exchange these bodies for glorious bodies, like the one that Jesus has. Perhaps it’s hard for you to understand that Jesus died and rose from the dead. You’re like, how can that be? I can’t get my mind around that. I have been there, and every once in a while, that little doubt kind of creeps up in me. And I think of Thomas who Jesus invited. He said, you can touch the holes in my hands. See, I’m not a ghost, you can touch me. Jesus was real. He was a real historical figure and a real Savior. He died to save us from our sins, and He rose again, defeating death, hell and the grave. It’s an amazing story.
So perhaps if you’re not there yet ready to embrace that, perhaps you could consider the caterpillar. Just when the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly. I have those words hanging in my home because I cherish them. Think of the caterpillar, it crawls into the cocoon and emerges as a completely different picture. I believe God created the caterpillar and the butterfly to give us a glimpse into what He is doing in our human body, what He’s doing in us now and what He’s gonna do in us then. Right now, we’re in the caterpillar stage, but one day, oh, you and I are gonna be butterflies.
All right, until we meet again tomorrow in Philippians chapter four. Already, this is exciting. We’ll be covering the first half tomorrow. Until then, please remember YOU are so 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.
