『April 8, 2026; Philippians 3』のカバーアート

April 8, 2026; Philippians 3

April 8, 2026; Philippians 3

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概要

 Daily Dose of Hope April 8, 2026 Scripture: Philippians 3 Prayer: Abba Father, We come to you today, grateful for your love and care in our lives. Thank you for your presence and your peace. Help us to gather our scattered thoughts and set aside distractions so we can focus on what you have for us today. In the next few moments of silence, Lord, help me be still and know that you are God...We give you all the glory, Lord Almighty. Amen. Welcome back to the Daily Dose of Hope, the devotional and podcast that complements the New Hope daily Bible reading plan. We are currently walking through Paul's letters. Today, we read Philippians 3. We find here that Paul considers himself living in a state of in-between-ness. He is in the middle of a journey. The longing for arrival is strong, but what he has in front of him is the journey. He can only press on, stay the course, be thankful for what God has put in front of him. Up until this point, Paul had a pretty interesting journey. Remember, he started out as a zealous Jew. He talks about this earlier in the Scripture passage. He says that at the beginning of his journey, he thought of himself as righteous, as deserving, as better and more religious than others because of his background. Paul writes this in verse 4-6…If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless. Paul is almost challenging the others --- look, if this journey is all about accumulating religious merit badges, I win hands down. I was circumcised on the eighth day, I was part of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew if there ever was one. Remember, he was a Pharisee, which was one of the strictest sects of Judaism. He persecuted Christians, who he felt were breaking God's law. He held people's coats as they stoned Stephan. And at that time, he felt that these things proved his spiritual worth to God and to others. I wonder how many of us look at our Christian journey in a similar way? Even after we say yes to Jesus, even after we get involved in church and small groups and we are trying to walk with God, we have the same tendency as the apostle Paul. We try to prove our spiritual worth to others and to God. Of course, we are influenced by all the normal sources of pride that the world tells us are important, right? Money, stuff, accomplishments. I hope those things have less a hold on us but if we are real, we know this kind of stuff still seeps into our lives. But then, there is also a need to demonstrate what good Christians we are, our spiritual merit badges. I'm in three Bible studies. I took this training and then I led it. I've been on this committee four times. I've been a member of the church since I was in the womb. Pastors do this too. You know one of the very first questions that another pastor will ask you when you first meet them at some luncheon or event? So, how many people are in your congregation? As if that somehow is what defines your value. But the good news is, there is more to the story. Paul tells us that the journey is far from over. In fact, Paul has some pretty strong words about accumulating these spiritual merit badges, taking pride in how "spiritual" we are. He says, v. 7-9, But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in[a] Christ—the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. So he is saying, now that I know Jesus, I understand that all those things pale in comparison with knowing Jesus. They aren't gains, they actually are now losses. Those things I thought were so important, those things that I thought demonstrated my value, those things that I thought earned me some gold stars with God – they are nothing. Jesus is everything. But Paul goes one step further. These spiritual merit badges are not simply counted as losses now that I know Jesus, now "I consider them to be garbage." His whole life, these were things that he took huge pride in, they were what made him admired in his community. He was a real Jew if ever there was one. He was learned, he knew the law backwards and forwards. His family was adhered to tradition and they were admired and esteemed. And now, he is saying – now that I know Jesus, these things are like rubbish in comparison. He is telling the Philippians, God has brought me to a new place in ...
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