Michael continues: The Apostle Paul said, the things the secular world holds dear, these things I count but dung that I may receive the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus, for He is my Lord and everything else is rubbish in comparison. The humanistic world strives for trophies, medals and awards; accolades and tokens of the world’s appreciation for excelling in the things that they value the most. To be better than the competition, to be self-assured, self-fulfilled, self-confident, self-sufficient and to be self-actualized. However, these things will come to naught. The warning is this: be careful what you strive for. The greatest disappointment in life is that after climbing the ladder of success, you finally discover that your ladder was leaning against the wrong wall though all the fallen world’s sign stated otherwise.
Paul came to this conclusion after he had prayed three times for God to remove his painful thorn in the flesh. Twice God did not answer his prayer. Thank God for unanswered prayer. Then, finally when the student is ready the teacher will come. The third time Paul prayed, God answered his prayer, but it wasn’t the answer that Paul expected. The Lord said that despite your painful thorn in the flesh: “My strength is made perfect in your weakness, my grace is sufficient for you.”
The question is, when people see you and what you do, are they witnessing the gospel of Christ and the Word of God in a true disciple? As Paul said in Philippians 1:27, only let your conversation (your exemplary behavior as a citizen) be as it becomes the gospel of Christ. The word conversation is the word for “citizenship.” Even though we hold dual citizenship as citizens of the United States and citizens of Heaven, we are Christians first and Americans second. Our first allegiance is to the kingdom of Heaven and to our Sovereign Lord, for He alone is the King of kings and Lord of lords.
This is the theme of Philippians 1:27-29, about our witness to the world as children of God and citizens of Heaven: “Only let your behavior (as citizens of heaven) be worthy of the gospel of Christ, standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel, and not frightened in anything by your opponents. This is a clear sign to them of their destruction, but of your salvation, and that from God. For it has been granted to you that for the sake of Christ you should not only believe in Him but also suffer for his sake.When people read the book of our lives, do our lives reflect the testimony of the Lord? As long as we draw breath upon this earth, then God hasn’t finished writing His Word upon the tablets of our heart. For we are His living epistles (His love letters), living testimonies of God’s mercy, love and grace known and read of all men.
Often the greatest witness is not how we handle so-called success. People will sit up and take note of how we handle adversity. The Apostle Paul’s suffering, his thorn in the flesh was his “friend.” Through the suffering, like Paul, we will come to understand what God said to Paul, “my strength is made perfect in your weakness, my grace is sufficient for you”, that despite the trials, tribulation, and suffering, we may be living epistles of his strength, mercy and love to the praise of the glory of His grace! Then, like inn the words of the classic Beatles songs, we can truly say: I get by with a little help from my friends.
Your brother in Christ, Michael
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