{"id":1041,"date":"2024-11-07T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-11-07T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/KP2\/?p=1041"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:35:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T17:35:46","slug":"march-17-make-it-personal-part-3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/march-17-make-it-personal-part-3\/","title":{"rendered":"November 7, Make It Personal"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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For\u00a0we are the\u00a0true<\/em>\u00a0circumcision, who\u00a0worship in the Spirit of God and\u00a0glory in\u00a0Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.<\/strong> Philippians 3:3<\/p>\n\n

Paul proclaimed with personal conviction that all in his life was considered a loss compared to the gain of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:7-8). \u201cThe trophies of personal gain became for Paul relics of loss when Jesus became His Lord.\u201d[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0This testimony of loss and gain denounces any boast of personal advantages or privileges that we may be tempted to promote.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Personal gain laid aside . . .<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

Paul spoke into a culture (the city of Philippi as a Roman Colony) that relished the privileges of Rome.\u00a0\u00a0And he redirected the church in Philippi to consider no privilege except knowing Christ.\u00a0\u00a0Referencing his own privileges of Judaism that were once his boast, Paul denounced all such stated advantages, and looked solely at knowing Jesus Christ.\u00a0\u00a0This became his goal. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Captivated by Jesus . . .<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0\u00a0As the apostle taught the church to denounce personal advantages for the sake of Christ, he reminded the Philippian Christians of their\u00a0identity as the true circumcision who worship in the Spirit, who glory in Jesus Christ, and who put no confidence in the flesh<\/em>\u00a0(Philippians 3:3).\u00a0\u00a0Paul\u2019s conviction to consider all as loss for the sake of Christ was not some general expression of humility, but rather the only suitable response of a heart captivated by Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0If we are to truly desire Jesus above all things, and if we are to make \u201cno boast in the flesh\u201d, the only path to this resolve becomes a genuine heart of worship that boasts in Christ alone:\u00a0\u201cwho glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0And this boasting is the only suitable response from one who has been circumcised spiritually.\u00a0\u00a0For the apostle referenced circumcision not from a ceremonial reality of the flesh, but the spiritual reality of a life made new by Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Colossians 2:11 proclaims that, \u201cIn Christ you were also circumcised\u00a0with a circumcision not performed by human hands. Your whole self, ruled by the flesh,\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>was put off when you were circumcised by\u00a0<\/sup><\/em>Christ<\/em>.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0This is indeed a wondrous fact that Paul embraced as He declared all things forsaken for the sake of knowing Christ, who has made us brand new.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

A personal heart of worship . . .\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

\u00a0In Philippians 3:3, the Greek terminology that expresses the idea of \u201cworship\u201d (or in some translations \u201cservice\u201d) is, \u201clatreuo\u201d, which Paul used in other places to reference worship in the temple (Romans 9:4).\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0However, when Paul wrote in Romans 12:1, \u201cyour spiritual service of worship,\u201d he used a form of the same word to indicate worship that is independent of any physical temple but nonetheless engendered by the Holy Spirit.\u00a0\u00a0So, here in the context of Philippians 3, the worship expressed from one who truly desires to know Christ more is guided by God and comes from a life that is renewed and energized by the Holy Spirit. This worship is from the heart and totally unhampered by anything physical.[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0\u00a0So, as this study of Philippians 3:3 proves, worship is among other expressions very personal and directly related to the heart that is transformed by Jesus and continuously desires to know Him more.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

My response . . .\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n\n

Recommit to a daily personal and private time of worship.\u00a0\u00a0Realize the joy of placing yourself before your God who loves you and paid the ultimate price to make you His very own.\u00a0\u00a0Silence your life and center your heart on Jesus.\u00a0\u00a0Allow your love and gratefulness for His salvation to form words of adoration in your heart and on your tongue.\u00a0\u00a0And sit quietly this morning to worship Him.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

There is no greater way to know Christ more than through personal worship.\u00a0\u00a0Take the time.\u00a0\u00a0AND, BE AMAZED!\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

Blessings,<\/p>\n\n

Ken<\/h1>\n\n

\u00a0<\/h1>\n
\n

[1]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0David Garland, The Expositor\u2019s Bible Commentary (Grand Rapids: Zondervan\u2019s,\u00a0\u00a02006)\u00a0\u00a0241.<\/p>\n\n

[2]<\/sup><\/a>\u00a0William Hendriksen, The New Testament Commentary (Grand Rapids: Baker Book House, 1962), 152.\u00a0<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For\u00a0we are the\u00a0true\u00a0circumcision, who\u00a0worship in the Spirit of God and\u00a0glory in\u00a0Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh. Philippians 3:3 Paul proclaimed with personal conviction that all in his life was considered a loss compared to the gain of knowing Jesus (Philippians 3:7-8). \u201cThe trophies of personal gain became for Paul relics of loss …<\/p>\n

November 7, Make It Personal<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":1042,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1041","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-todays"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1041"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3445,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1041\/revisions\/3445"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1042"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1041"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1041"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drkenrpruitt.com\/KP2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1041"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}