Phillippians 3:8

Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

My hard work to obey the ten commandments, rubbish. My constant attendance to church, rubbish. Writing bible studies on facebook, rubbish. Humbling myself, admitting my weakness and allowing Christ to be glorified through me, priceless.

Jesus, I really missed you. I missed the nights we spent together talking about my problems. I miss asking you for guidance. I miss being in constant prayer because Satan is always there to snatch me up. I miss that. You probably do to.

What was pushing me away? What hindered me from obeying the truth that is in Christ Jesus? Right now, I believe it was that PC game that I got addicted to. I was consumed by it, it didn’t start that way, it was a very slow fade. But Jesus, you are so faithful. You stirred inside of me and gave me a hatred for the things of this world. You are the the one who purchased my life and at that moment expended grace onto me that a holy passion might arise and destroy any desire to play that game any longer. You are the one to blame for the change in my heart!

I count all these works as rubbish that I might know Christ and have His perfect perspective given to me! That I may see things the way You see things Jesus! I love you so much, and I thank you for your incredible love for me!

I have taken steps back that I never thought I would take. I have gone against the bible and against Christ. I have repented. I learn and move on.

Philippians 3:14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus

Phil

Lord, You have shown me that pursuing You and seeking You with my whole heart brings joy and peace!

Psalms 128:1-3
1 Blessed is every one who fears the LORD,
Who walks in His ways.

2 When you eat the labor of your hands,
You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.
3 Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
In the very heart of your house,
Your children like olive plants
All around your table.

Reading the word takes a lot of self-discipline and hard work. Pursuing Christ is the last thing that Satan wants me to do! If Satan hates me so much that he is constantly waiting to destroy me, then anything that gives this promise, “You shall be happy, and it shall be well with you.”, should be a priority of his to remove from my life! The only thing on this earth that can offer such a promise is fearing the Lord and walking according to His statues! The only way to find how to fear the Lord is to know Him more! The bible tells us of how great and how awesome the Lord is. It tells us what He loves and what He hates. It tells us how much He loves us and that He wants to be our righteousness. It gives us great encouragement in times of need and picks us up when we have fallen down.

Jesus, Your word is so amazing! You have loved me more then I can imagine! You are so awesome!

Lord Jesus, this is an hard lesson to learn. The only way for me to understand this is to let down my guard and notice that Satan will not miss a moment in giving me lustful dreams, lustful thoughts, and lustful attitudes. A simple thought that is unchecked in a dream can turn into an action. If pride, not just lust, stops me from accessing Christ, then I won’t be able to effectively battle that situation!

Last night, the night that I just came from an awesome retreat, I was instantly attacked by by Satan in an elaborate way. It started off with me forgetting my keys, this wasn’t that bad until neither one of my parents could bring over the second par of keys. I came home annoyed and disregarded anything of Christ. I didn’t even bother to summarize the weekend and all the the Lord had shown me. Jesus had shown me so much, and I didn’t even write it down! I was too consumed in my anger and pride. I didn’t pursue any lustful desires; I just went to bed.

Romans 6:12-13

12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body, that you should obey it in its lusts. 13 And do not present your members as instruments of unrighteousness to sin, but present yourselves to God as being alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God.

It commands me not to let sin reign and by going to sleep before addressing my pride, I was going against this commandment! I was obstructing Christ from my sleep. If that was the case, my dreams would be slaves of Satan. My own pride and frustration hours and hours before caused me to block out Jesus and fall in a very awful lustful way.

My heart, as Mr Murry pointed out, can be blocked from having communication with Christ. Blockage can be caused by many different sinful weapons of the enemy! Jesus can be pushed out just as easily with lust as envy or anything like that! More then conquerors allows me block the sin before it rests in my heart. Thanks to the blood of Jesus Christ!

Matthew 11:28-29
Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls

Jesus! I am heavy laden! I am confused and burdened. I know that is now what a victorious Christian should say, so I am coming to you for the rest that You promised in this verse! I am coming to You to carry Your burden instead of mine! It is Your gentleness, Oh Lord, that leads me to You! It is Your lowliness and humility, my Savior, that makes me thirsty for more of You!

You are beautiful beyond description, majesty enthroned above! I do truly stand on the beauty that is displayed in so many different areas of my life!

As my battle with lust rages on, I am humbled by the power alloted to me by my creator! Day in and day out, the enemy feeds lies into my head in an attempt to deceive and entice me! If it were not for the wisdom and grace of Jesus Christ I would be lost without any hope of freedom! Because of the blood of Jesus, I can now see through the lies. The darkness is revealed by the beautiful light Jesus radiates and I am able to walk in complete light! I love you Lord more then anything that I can ever imagine! I know my walk with You is getting closer, and the fleshy fill is starting to starve because I am starting to rely on You for everything! I can’t imagine the life I would have if it wasn’t for You, Jesus!

The flesh is still trying to eat. It is never hungry and feeds on the sinful desires of people! I know now that I am beginning to hand over the lustful thoughts to Christ, the flesh looks for other ways to feed itself! If there is anything in my life that I haven’t given to Christ, the flesh will find it and feed on it.

But because I am a child of the most high God, I am able to have victory in this situation. Actually, not only victory but more then a victory! I can conquer through the love of Jesus!

The Lord really amazes me sometimes. He can do a good work in me, change years of philosophy and mold who I am today in a very short period of time. While some grand lessons like “There is always victory in Jesus” will need more then a lifetime to be fully understood, small parts of God’s victory can be experienced and comprehended everyday. This is what this post is about, a victory I found in submitting to Jesus.

A few years back, probably when I was 15-16, I made a pact with myself that I would never befriend any girl unless I purposefully intended to marry them, this was because I wanted to be sexually pure. But I took it to the extreme. I wouldn’t even talk to girl – at all. I would go out of my way to make fun of girls that started getting “close” to me. When I say close, I mean, they started carrying conversations with me; something very minuscule. I would expend a lot of effort to make their time with my very annoying and frustrating. Needless to say, it worked like a charm.

But as I attempted to mature into adulthood, my father pointed out to me my little pact (he noticed me treating girls poorly) and told me it was wrong and that I shouldn’t be downgrading girls like that. I took what he said to heart, and tried to remove the childish, sarcastic humor that insulted multiple girls in the past. Seeing as I was so used to doing it, and I slightly enjoyed it at times, it was hard to fully get rid of the insulting. But after many attempts at keeping my mouth shut and many apologies thrown around, I saw an improvement in myself. A little side note is that I wasn’t really asking God to help me in this area, as I still didn’t think it was “okay” to have a female friend.

As you can imagine, the nicer I was to girls, the nicer they were to me. This meant that, at some points, an entire conversation could be had without an insult (shocking!). This naturally made it easier to hang out with me (shocking again!). This brought up an obvious problem. I couldn’t not maintain my pact and be nice to women – I couldn’t. Therefore, I had to go to a higher power, someone who was all-knowing and all-powerful – I was done trying to figure this out on my own.

I sat down at my desk opened my bible and said, “Lord, I’m not leaving until I have an answer.” His faithfulness is like nothing else. This is what the Lord showed me.

The lie: A Christian man can not be a friend with a girl without going too far. Because of lust, the friendship has to be dating or non-existent.

Truth:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (New King James Version)

13 No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.

The Lord had to show me that I can have friendships with girls if the Lord is with me. His faithfulness assures me that grace will always be there and that I will NEVER be tempted beyond what I am able. Never. What I found out was my “purity-pact” wasn’t out of faith in Jesus, but fear of Satan. I was afraid that I would stumble and fail – so my response was that I just left the whole battle. But that isn’t a victorious life at all. We are more then conquerors! I am MORE then able to act in complete purity if the grace of God is there and I hold onto his commandments.

So, that leaves the question on how I should treat any women that I have not married. Answer: As my sister.

1 Timothy 5:2 (New King James Version)

2 older women as mothers, younger women as sisters, with all purity.

The Lord made it very clear. If I wouldn’t perform this action (kissing? hmm) on my sister, then I shouldn’t be doing it to a girl outside the family. If I hold everything I do to the light of the Lord’s commandments and statutes, the Lord will light my path. He will make everything black and white.

Phil

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Every day the Lord is showing me how amazing He really is! Ever faithful, ever loving, ever generous with grace and mercy!

My daily prayer is that He would reveal Himself to me each day and He has never disappointed. I am changing. I am not the same I was yesterday because Jesus is working in my life in unique ways daily!

Ephesians 3:17-19

17 that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith; that you, being rooted and grounded in love, 18 may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— 19 to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

The beauty of our relationship is that He is leading me in the ways of love and in turn I lead others to Christ! I follow Christ and allow Him to work through me as I point people to the perfect leader! That is why my sins can’t bring me down. I was told to follow Christ, not be Christ! I will never be perfect on this earth and I will always stray away from the path of righteousness, but Christ knew that!

Without the leadership of Christ, I would never be who I am today. I would be looking for others to follow, people who find “pleasure” in the things of this world. I would appear to have independence but I would only be leading the greatest deceiver of them all. Thank you Jesus for saving me and being the greatest leader possible!

So, I ask you Lord, humble me. Then lead me in the ways of righteousness, purity, and peace! Show me that You’re always there, show me that I can rely on You with everything. Help my unbelief! Lead me in the way of joyfulness. Lead me so that I can mount on the wings of eagles! I ask You this, my Lord!

You’re plan is wonderfully brilliant! I am excited about what You’re going to teach me tomorrow!

Phil

Lesson 1

• I am wonderfully, fearfully and beautifully created by the designer of the Universe
• I am a very good adopted prince

Verse:

Psalm 139:14
14 I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
Marvelous are Your works,
And that my soul knows very well.

Lesson 2

• He forgives sins in the past, present and future

Verse:

1 John 1:9
9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

Lesson 3

• We don’t align out desires with Christ’s, we accept His dynamic God-give desires.
• Conquering is removing the bad. More then conquering is replacing with things of Christ.

Verse:

Romans 8:37
37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

Lesson 4

• We can not abide in the world and receive desires from Christ.
• Just as a branch can’t live of the vine, so we can’t live without abiding in Christ

Verse:

John 15:5
5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing.

Lesson 5

• Jesus commanded us to “Be holy, for I am holy” – He would not have commanded that if it were impossible!
• Have faith that He will be your righteousness and holiness will come!

Verse:

1 Peter 1:15-16
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Lesson 6

• Do not be afraid of the sin nor pray out of fear, but believe and trust the power of Christ
• Fear can remove freedom!

Verse:

James 1:5-7
5 If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. 6 But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.

Lesson 7

• Jesus commanded us to “Be holy, for I am holy” – He would not have commanded that if it were impossible!
• Have faith that He will be your righteousness and holiness will come!

Verse:

1 Peter 1:15-16
15 but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, 16 because it is written, “Be holy, for I am holy.”

Lesson 8

• It’s a constant battle, but with Jesus’ help, constant victory!

Verse:

1 Peter 5:8
8 Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.

Lesson 9

• Constant battle calls for additional encouragement from Christian friends and exposing your sin.
• Bringing your sin to the light causes humility and with humility comes strength from Christ

Verse:

I John 1:7
7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ, his Son, cleanses us from all sin.

Lesson 10

• Bible studies, prayer and worship encourage us and are vital.
• With that said, God is the builder of faith, not us nor what we do.
• Out act of doing those things doesn’t cause faith to grow nor is it a holiness “pill”, the Lord uses them to grow faith in us

Verse:

Hebrews 12:2
2 looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Lesson 11

• Even in your most spiritual high moments, confession of sins is very important in maintain purity!
• Humility is a constant working, and Christian encouragement can’t be removed from daily life

Verse:

Hebrews 3:13
13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

Lesson 12

• I we are in Christ we don’t desire immorality. The temptation comes from Satan using a God-given gifts and twisting it.
• Example of pornography: We shouldn’t be ashamed of our desire to view women – that is a desire from Christ, perfected in the boundaries of marriage! What is bad is letting Satan twist that desire into sinful lust!

Verse:

2 Timothy 2:22
22 Flee also youthful lusts; but pursue righteousness, faith, love, peace with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. .

There is such beauty in surrendering. Such liberation in laying down of one’s desires, thoughts, plans and passions. It didn’t make sense to me at first. The idea of carrying a burden of Christ’s or being chained as a slave to Christ to find freedom doesn’t make sense. For someone to believe that to be true, it would mean that the whole world’s concept of fun is shallow and meaningless. How could it make sense? A Christian is admitting to slavery yet claiming liberty?

When I try an analyze this situation with human reasoning or human rational, I come up empty for arguments for Christ. I imagine myself in a jail cell, wishing so much to be able to participate in the things of the world, but held back by the bars of Christianity. But the God of the universe didn’t create humans to be locked up in small cells, He called them for so much more!

When I take God’s word for what it is, adding nothing to it myself, my outlook changes completely. The cell scenario becomes switched, and I seem myself abiding in a jail courtyard trying to find peace and joy. All the while Jesus is pleading with me to come out of the confinement and pursue a life with Him! I see the entire world with colors, instead of the black and white jail. I see never ending mountain ranges covered with snow all on the outside of the jail courtyard. Then my logic comes around. Would it make sense for me to figure out the mysterious ways of a God who created the universe? Wouldn’t it be logical to assume that I can’t understand heavenly things and that my human knowledge is limited? If I am going to believe in a God who is all powerful, then I can’t expect to understand the ways of God. I cant humanly comprehend a supernatural being.

How boring would the life of Christ be if I was able to see it all in a glance? I can’t treat the Lord’s statues as just another human contraption to find happiness; I can’t treat it like anything man made! He is God and His thoughts are Godly. He is God and His plans are Godly. He is God and His statues are Godly. He is God. If I am going to reject the boringness of man, I have to be able to find something that is above anything man could ever imagine. I found that in Christ.

When I humble myself before the Lord, and bring to light the sins of my past, I find freedom. I find liberation in the forgiveness that Christ offers me. I no longer view pornography to satisfy my lusts for sex. I no longer view silly movies and pointless shows to quench my desires for entertainment! I am free! I can do what I desire to do! Only when I humble myself before the Lord, do I notice the bondage that sin and world-chasing brings. But so many times freedom’s worst enemy, pride, messes things up.

I know I have sinned. I know I am forgiven and loved by Christ. I also know that if this sin remains in the dark, it will lead up to something terrible. That is why I must confess my sins to God first and a Godly friend second. That is why I must bring all my sin to the light. Dragging out the deepest darkest secrets and bearing them at the feet of a friend. That is humility. That is saying, “Lord, I know that I have sinned and I know that You have a life waiting for me that is beyond my imagination, so I am going to lay down my pride and lay hold to Your promise.”

I count my pride a loss for the sake of the knowledge of Jesus Christ. For when I lay down my life, Jesus lifts me up to heights I have never known! So I look forward to tomorrow, when I will lay down my life for the promise of something better. I will walk out of the jail courtyard in faith knowing that what you have in store for me is humanly uncomprehending.

I love my Jesus more then anything else on this earth,

Phil

Hebrews 3:12-13

12 Beware, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief in departing from the living God; 13 but exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.

What is it that is so important about the exhortation of another brother? Why is it that comforting and encouraging your close friends can keep them from allowing sin into their life?

Before understanding this bible verse, I thought that to conquer sin Jesus has to personally give you the grace or the grace might come from faith alone. I didn’t thing that more then those two options were needed. Therefore, I would isolate myself from getting close or sharing anything that was going on in my life. I wouldn’t confess any of my sins nor would I encourage anyone from turning away from their sins.

Proverbs 18

1 A man who isolates himself seeks his own desire;
He rages against all wise judgment.

But there is a third element that Jesus uses to provide grace for us in a time of need and that is close friends. The encouragement or scolding of a friend can cause repentance that will lead to liberty from sin. The accountability that is found in humbling oneself to a friend can set a man free! The Lord will use that humility to strengthen us! For when we expose our weakness, all that is left is the beauty of His strength. Then Jesus is glorified through the magnified forgiveness displayed in the humble life. Jesus is amazing!

Until the whole world hears,

Phil

There is a battle between light and darkness, good and evil, the spirit and the flesh. This battle will never end until Christ comes again to take His children home. I don’t want to fight this battle. I don’t deal with unrighteousness or have sin reign in my body. I thank God for loving me so much that He gave His life for the removal of sin. But the story doesn’t end there! We can be free from the bondage of sin! Free from the deceit that Satan uses to break at our weakest points.

When Christ rose from the dead on the 3rd day, He gave us victory! All my victory is through the loving power of Jesus’ resurrection! Blessed be His name now and forever!

Satan doesn’t want me to dwell on this, and he is so good at stopping me from pursing Christ. But the Lord is more powerful. Satan uses everything in the pointless world to try and distract me from the beauty of a God-filled life! I can’t even focus for 2 minutes without my mind wandering of to something totally off topic!

2 Timothy 2:15-16

15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. 16 But shun profane and idle babblings, for they will increase to more ungodliness.

I must be diligent to present my life as a living and approved vessel to the God of the universe! I can’t do that without the help and grace of Jesus Christ. But I must be focused on Jesus and who He was! I must mimic His relationship with His father! I must copy how He said everything He said was from my Father and everything He did was out of obedience to Jesus. My life MUST be focused on the beauty of Jesus Christ, my Lord. I must shun the evil found in idle babblings and profanity. I must focus on the holiness of Christ.

But just like every other aspect of my life, the grace of God is the cornerstone to my efforts. Therefore, I ask you right now Lord, to give me focus. A holy, dynamic focus that can only explained in heaven. Forgive me when I take my eyes of the goal, and direct them to the pointlessness of this life. I thank You for you unbelievable faithfulness to my life! I love You Lord.

I will not be ashamed because it is not I who lives but Christ who lives within me. I will press forward in anticipation that His plans are so much larger then mine. I will run this race with endurance because His mercy keeps me running fast enough and His grace keeps me from running too fast! I am grateful.

I know Jesus is alive, because He is everything I am. Denying God would be denying myself.

Until the whole world hears,

Phil