Instant Christianity tends to make the faith act terminal and so smothers the desire for spiritual advance. It fails to understand the true nature of the Christian life, which is not static but dynamic and expanding. It overlooks the fact that a new Christian is a living organism as certainly as a new baby is, and must have nourishment and exercise to assure normal growth. It does not consider that the act of faith in Christ sets up a personal relationship between two intelligent moral beings, God and the reconciled man, and no single encounter between God and a creature made in His image could ever be sufficient to establish an intimate friendship between them. By trying to pack all of salvation into one experience, or two, the advocates of instant Christianity flaunt the law of development which runs through all nature. They ignore the sanctifying effects of suffering, cross carrying and practical obedience. They pass by the need for spiritual training, the necessity of forming right religious habits, and the need to wrestle against the world, the devil and the flesh. Undue preoccupation with the initial act of believing has created in some a psychology of contentment, or at least of non-expectation. To many it has imparted a mood of disappointment with the Christian faith. God seems too far away, the world is too near, and the flesh too powerful to resist. Others are glad to accept the assurance of automatic blessedness. It relieves them of the need to watch and fight and pray, and sets them free to enjoy this world while waiting for the next. Instant Christianity is twentieth century orthodoxy. I wonder whether the man who wrote Philippians 3:7-16 would recognize it as the faith for which he finally died. I am afraid he would not.

A.W. Tozer's materials are a mainstay in Evangelical churches in our day and he is one of the most quoted authors. He was a prophet in his day and his writings are even more influential in our day. One of his books: The Pursuit of God, has had over 1 million copies sold world-wide.

Morning and Evening with A.W. Tozer

Those Sanctifying Effects of Suffering

The true Christian, though he is in revolt against the world's efforts to brainwash him, is no mere rebel for rebellion's sake. He dissents from the world because he knows that it cannot make good on its promises. He has tasted the pleasures of society and he knows that they leave a bitter taste; and he has found that blessing of the Lord of which the wise man speaks, which maketh rich and addeth no sorrow with it.And the Christian is not left without a "norm" to which he seeks to become adjusted. The Lord Jesus Christ is Himself the norm, the ideally perfect model, and the worshiping soul yearns to be like Him. Indeed the whole drive behind the Christian life is this longing to be conformed to the image of Christ. The energy with which the believing man revolts against conformity to the image of unregenerate society will be in exact proportion to the intensity of his yearning to be like Christ.The classic expression of this burning desire to be Christlike is, of course, Paul's personal testimony in his letter to the Philippian Christians which begins, "But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ," and ends with the fervent declaration, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" ( Philippians 3:7-14).

Running Toward the Goal

For Reading and Meditation:      Jeremiah 9:17-24Let';s review what we have said about God's character. We began by recognizing that in today's Church we seem more interested in knowing about ourselves than in knowing God. The result of being more man-centered than God-centered is increased anxiety, depression, and a hundred other ills. Quietly we have worked through the Scriptures and have seen that the God who is "there" for us to know is the God who has revealed Himself in many different ways: as powerful, personal, plural, having holy love, a God of wrath, trustworthy, gracious, all-knowing and all-wise. It's interesting isn't it, as our passage for today shows, that when the Lord talks about Himself in the Scriptures it is usually in terms of His attributes or character traits: kindness, justice, righteousness, and so on. And there is a clear and definite purpose in this: the more we know of God the more established our lives will be here on the earth. I myself am convinced that there is nothing more important than knowing God through contemplation of Him. And it must be understood that the knowledge I am talking about is not mere intellectual knowledge. The knowledge of God that comes through contemplation of Him is the ability to see life from His perspective, through His eyes. It means to look out at life's circumstances through the lens of faith, bearing in mind God's plan, to accept that whatever is happening is allowed by God and that everything comes under His personal surveillance. That kind of God-understanding and God-awareness is our only hope for coping with twentieth-century problems.Father, I am convinced. I see that if I am to operate in a context of confidence I can only do so as I look out at life through Your eyes. Help me to do more than glance at You occasionally. Help me to gaze on You continually. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Philippians 3:1-11</li><li>Colossians 1:9-10</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Paul's desire?</li><li>What did Paul pray for the Colossians?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

" I am the Lord, who exercizes kindness, justice and righteousness on earth " (v. 24)

For Reading and Meditation:      Philippians 3:1-14We spend one more day setting the stage before lifting the curtains on this most important subject of the nature and character of God. It must not be assumed from what has been said over the past couple of days that the study of Scripture and contemplation of the principles which God has built into His Word are unimportant. They most certainly are. What I am saying is this - let us be on our guard that we do not fall into the trap of contemplating the principles which God has built into the universe more than God Himself. I have often seen students of Scripture fall into this trap when, in reading their Bible, the only things that get their attention are the principles that relate to godliness. They underline them in their Bible, mark alongside them other Scriptural references, and think that by doing this they are growing spiritually. The problem, however, is that only the principles of daily personal godliness capture their interest; their heavenly Father does not. Imagine treating a love letter that way: identifying and underlining the principles, reflecting on the profundity of some of the insights, marvelling at the clarity of the language and yet missing the main purpose of the letter - romantic passion and love. Yet this is the way some people approach the Bible. Our aim in studying the nature and character of God must be to know God better (not merely know His Word better), and we must seek to enlarge our acquaintance not simply with the characteristics of His nature, but with the living God whose characteristics they are.O God, help me never to approach the Bible content to know only the written Word. Give me a passion that never remains satisfied until, through the written Word, I discover more of the living Word. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Revelation 2:1-7</li><li>2 Corinthians 5:14</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the church in Ephesus commended for?</li><li>Why was this insufficient?</li></ul></div></div>

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection " (v. 10)

For Reading and Meditation:      Philippians 3:7-21Today we ask: What happens to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness? The answer is clear: they will be filled. Make righteousness your goal and you will be eternally satisfied. If, once again, I might venture upon a paraphrase of my own, I would put it like this: "Congratulations to those who ardently crave to become more and more like Me and to know My righteousness, for they shall find a satisfaction that will never vanish or be destroyed." May I be permitted to ask you this personal question: What are you most hungering and thirsting for? Is it health? Is it relief from pain? Is it freedom from anxiety? Is it financial security? All of these are legitimate cravings, but if your primary hunger and thirst is not to become more and more like Christ, then you will experience an inner emptiness that nothing you chase after can fill. Let me point out one more thing - something that might astonish you: to the extent that your deepest hunger and thirst is not for God, to that extent you will experience spiritual and psychological problems. If you are not hungering and thirsting after Him, you will hunger and thirst after something else. When we make it our goal to glorify God, then we will enjoy Him. We must not make it our goal to enjoy Him in order to glorify Him. Remember the goal of happiness is elusive, regardless of how well- thought-out is our strategy. But the by-product of happiness is freely available to those whose goal is to know God and be found in Him.Father, You are teaching me Your ways - written in Your Word and also in me. Help me to surrender to Your purposes so that I might be the vehicle of victory. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Psalm 38:9</li><li>Psalm 73:25</li><li>Isaiah 26:1-9</li><li>1 Peter 2:2-3</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the psalmist's confession?</li><li>What did Isaiah's desire cause him to do?</li></ul></div></div>

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection '" (v. 10) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Hebrews 6:1-12Quietly we are coming to see that it is only as we learn to dwell at God's right hand in fellowship with Christ that we can experience true happiness and joy. Despite the clear teaching of Jesus that happiness is a by-product of righteousness (becoming more and more like Christ), there are still thousands of Christians paying no more than lip service to this truth. Happiness is their goal, righteousness merely their desire. I am speaking generally when I make this next point, but sit down with any Christian who does not experience true happiness and you will find, deep within that person's heart, that they have never come to a clear understanding of this important principle uttered by Jesus: "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled." The same condition can be noted in nine out of ten people who seek help through Christian counselling. Ask them what they want to experience as they go through counselling, and they say, "I want to feel good", or "I want to feel happy." I imply no criticism or condemnation of these people, for I know that the same tendency exists in my own heart. Whenever I am struggling or hurting over some issue, my immediate desire is to get rid of the negative feelings and recover my lost happiness. But to try to find happiness is like trying to fall asleep. As long as you consciously and zealously try to grasp it, it fails to come. There is only one way: it is to do whatever you have to do in the situation to glorify Christ. Then happiness inevitably bubbles upward - as it must.Father, I am so grateful that, as my Lover and my Redeemer, You corner my soul. Don't let me wriggle and apologise and slip past You. Help me to take my medicine, however bitter to the taste of self it may be. In Jesus' Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Philippians 3:1-11</li><li>2 Corinthians 13:11</li><li>Ephesians 4:13</li><li>Colossians 1:28</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was Paul's desire?</li><li>What was Paul's goal?</li></ul></div></div>

"Therefore let us ' go on to maturity '" (v. 1) 

For Reading and Meditation:      Galatians 6:1-18Whenever I hear a person saying that all religions are the same, my mind runs immediately to the cross. If what is found here is true (and I believe it is), and represents the meaning of life, then clearly all religions are not the same. No authentic note of divine self-sacrifice comes from other faiths. The cross stands out in absolute uniqueness. As Toplady put it in his beautiful hymn: In the Cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story Gathered round its head sublime. For weeks and months after I became a Christian I wondered why anyone should preach anything except the cross. The redemptive glowing mystery of it took hold of me in the early days of my conversion, and I think I can honestly say it has never ceased to magnetize my heart. Among the ancient inscriptions and paintings on the tombs of Egyptian kings, so I am told, one finds everywhere the symbol of the key of life. Strangely enough, it is in the form of a cross. Christ's cross is the only true key to life. This and this alone unlocks the doors to some of life's greatest mysteries. Other religions try, sometimes with great sincerity, to unlock the doors to these profound mysteries, but they are unsuccessful because they do not have the right key. They do not have a cross. Father, how can I cease thanking You for the cross? For in it I find the key that unlocks the door of many a mystery, not least the mystery of Your nature - a nature shot through with eternal love. Help me see it even more clearly. In Christ's Name. Amen.<div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>Philippians 3:1-18</li><li>Colossians 2:14</li><li>Hebrews 12:2</li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What brought Paul to tears?</li><li>What has the cross abolished?</li></ul></div></div>

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ..." (v. 14) 

The doctrine of a risen Saviour is exceedingly precious. The resurrection is the corner-stone of the entire building of Christianity. It is the key-stone of the arch of our salvation. It would take a volume to set forth all the streams of living water which flow from this one sacred source, the resurrection of our dear Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; but to know that he has risen, and to have fellowship with him as such-communing with the risen Saviour by possessing a risen life-seeing him leave the tomb by leaving the tomb of worldliness ourselves, this is even still more precious. The doctrine is the basis of the experience, but as the flower is more lovely than the root, so is the experience of fellowship with the risen Saviour more lovely than the doctrine itself. I would have you believe that Christ rose from the dead so as to sing of it, and derive all the consolation which it is possible for you to extract from this well-ascertained and well-witnessed fact; but I beseech you, rest not contented even there. Though you cannot, like the disciples, see him visibly, yet I bid you aspire to see Christ Jesus by the eye of faith; and though, like Mary Magdalene, you may not "touch" him, yet may you be privileged to converse with him, and to know that he is risen, you yourselves being risen in him to newness of life. To know a crucified Saviour as having crucified all my sins, is a high degree of knowledge; but to know a risen Saviour as having justified me, and to realize that he has bestowed upon me new life, having given me to be a new creature through his own newness of life, this is a noble style of experience: short of it, none ought to rest satisfied. May you both "know him, and the power of his resurrection. " Why should souls who are quickened with Jesus, wear the grave-clothes of worldliness and unbelief? Rise, for the Lord is risen.

This timeless classic from Charles Spurgeon will help to both start and end your day with wonderful insight into God's Word.

Charles Spurgeon's Morning & Evening

"The power of his resurrection." - Philippians 3:10

Evening Devotional

I want to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. (Philippians 3:10 NIV)
Resurrection always means that we are outside 
of the world. After His resurrection the Lord Jesus never again appeared to the 
world. He never manifested Himself personally to the world after His 
resurrection. The resurrection means that He had passed, in that sense, out from 
the world and stood apart, and His power over the world was His apartness from 
it. His ability to deal with the situation is because He is no longer involved 
in the situation. Resurrection Life means that we are outside of the world 
spiritually, and in a superior position....
We have to learn how to live by the power of 
Christ's resurrection, so that the death around us is not able so to impinge 
upon us as to bring us into its grip. Resurrection union with the Lord Jesus 
means that we are not involved in the death that is all around us. We can move 
in scenes of death and not be touched by death. This is a very important lesson 
to learn, how to be in Life in the midst of death.... In the resurrection of the Lord Jesus we are delivered from the curse – that is, from the death which works vanity – and we have been brought into the place where we can go right through to the Divine end, the full realization that vanity no longer rests upon us. We are no longer held up; no longer in the position that we live and come to a point and that is the end, and we can go no further. We can go right on now! The fruit of Life can come to perfection because the power of death in the curse has been canceled in the power of His resurrection. The condemnation has been removed.

This devotional contains short daily portions from a selection of Mr. Austin-Sparks' messages. In his own words, “Perhaps this is just like a window opened into heaven. If you get the right window you can see quite a lot. You can see great things and you can see far things. But the best that I can hope is that this has just opened a window, and that as you look through it you are seeing one thing - how superior is Jesus Christ to all else, and how superior is the dispensation into which we have come, and how superior are all the resources at our disposal to all that ever was before!” Open Windows messages have been selected and compiled by Austin-Sparks.Net from the works of T. Austin-Sparks. In some cases they appear in abridged form. The introductory verse and its associated Bible version have been selected by the editor and did not always appear within the original message.

Open Windows

The Power of His Resurrection - Chapter 2

 Resurrection Power 

I also pray that you will understand the incredible greatness of God's power for us who believe Him. (Ephesians 1:19 NLT)

Let us point out that after His 
resurrection our Lord was, because of the peculiar nature of His resurrection 
state, no longer subject to natural limitations. Time and space now had no 
control of Him. This principle abides, and it applies now. When there is a 
living in the values and energy of resurrection Life we are children of eternity 
and of the universe. Prayer touches the ends of the earth, and the significance 
of our being and doing is of universal and eternal dimensions: there are no 
limitations. So then, beloved of God, the natural life is no longer a criterion; 
whether it be strong or weak matters not. Its strength does not mean 
effectiveness in spiritual things, whether that strength be intellectual, moral, 
social or physical. Its weakness does not carry a handicap. 

We are called to live and serve 
only in His Life, which is the only efficient and sure one. What is true of the 
Head must be true of the members. What is true of the Vine must be true of the 
branches. What is true of the last Adam must be true of every member of His 
race. "Planted together in the likeness of His resurrection" said the apostle 
(Romans 6:5), and he prayed that it might be more and more experiential – "that 
I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection" (Philippians 3:10). That 
should be the prayer of every true Spirit-led servant of Christ.

In The Likeness of His Resurrection

 Resurrection Living 

I want to know Christ – yes, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings, becoming like Him in His death. (Philippians 3:10 NIV)

Do recognize that the Cross is the end of the 
risen life, and not only the beginning. If you forget everything else, remember 
that. The Cross is the end of the risen life, as well as the beginning: "That I 
may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His 
sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death." People have been to me 
with Philippians 3 and have asked: "Why did Paul put death at the end? Surely it 
ought to be right the other way round – 'That I may be conformed to His death, 
and know Him in the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His 
sufferings.'" No, there is no mistake. The order is of the Holy Spirit. The 
power of His resurrection presupposes that there has been a death, but the very 
resurrection-life leads to the Cross. The Holy Spirit in the power of the risen 
life is always leading you back to the Cross, to conformity to His death. It is 
the very property of Life to rule out all that belongs to death. It is the very 
power of resurrection to bring us back to the place where death is constantly 
overcome. 

That place is none other than the Cross of our 
Lord Jesus Christ where the natural life is put aside. So Paul says: 
"...becoming conformed unto His death," which means: to have the ground of 
death continuously and progressively removed; and that, again, as we have said, 
is the fruit of living union with Him. It would be a poor look-out for you and 
for me were we to be conformed to His death in entirety apart from the power of 
resurrection in us, apart from our already knowing the Life of the Lord. Where 
would be our hope? What is it that is the power of our survival when the Cross 
is made more real in our experience? There would be no survival were it not that 
His risen Life is in us. So Paul prays: "That I may know Him, and the power of 
His resurrection..." and that means conformity to His death without utter 
destruction. The end of the risen life is the Cross. The Holy Spirit is always 
working in relation to the Cross, in order that the power of His resurrection 
may be increasingly manifested in us.

The Battle For Life - Chapter 3

 The Power Of The Risen Life 

My determined purpose is that I may know Him. (Philippians 3:10 AMP) 
 
There are few words in his writings which reveal how committed to the Lord Jesus 
this man was. The whole context is one consummate outpouring of his heart to the 
One whom he said had "apprehended" him, and he focuses all in a brief half 
sentence: "That I may know Him." The impressive thing about this expressed 
ambition is the time at which it is made. Here is a man who has had a revelation 
and knowledge of Jesus Christ greater than any other man up to that time. That 
knowledge commenced whence as he said, "it pleased God to reveal His Son in me." 
That beginning devastated him, and sent him into the desert to try to grasp its 
implications. Later he had been "caught up into the third heaven and shown 
unspeakable things, which (he said) were not lawful to be uttered." Between, 
and around those two experiences, there is evidence of an ever growing knowledge 
of Christ. Here, after all that, near the end of his life, he is crying 
passionately: "That I may know Him." 
 
The very least that we can say about this is that the Christ in view was a very 
great Christ indeed, who outstrips the greatest capacity and comprehension of 
man. This stands in such tremendous contrast to the limited Christ of our 
recognition and apprehension! How very much more there is in Christ than we have 
ever seen!

An Apostle's Supreme Ambition

 The Supreme Ambition 

I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised Him from the dead. I want to suffer with Him, sharing in His death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! 
(Philippians 3:10,11 NLT)


You never do touch the Lord Jesus in His death 
in any new measure without knowing a new measure of resurrection Life. When the 
Lord Jesus by His Spirit brings us in a further measure into the meaning of His 
death, let it be settled with us, once and for all, that that is in itself a new 
measure of resurrection Life. The two things go together, it cannot be 
otherwise. It is death unto Life. It is loss unto gain. The Life and the gain 
are of a different sort from the death and the loss. The death and the loss is 
simply all that which, sooner or later, will go in any case, and even while it 
remains is of a very doubtful value, but the Life and the gain are eternal, and 
have in them all the values of God. So Paul could, with something of joy, hail 
conformity to the death of Christ. He speaks about it in no mournful terms as 
though he were going to lose everything. There is no shadow on his face, or sob 
in his voice, when he speaks about being conformed to His death. It is the shout 
of a victor. There is something he is after.... 

He has known power, popularity, reputation, 
position, possession, and he says the knowledge of Christ Jesus is excelling all 
that. What knowledge is it? It is the particular knowledge of "Him, and the 
power of His resurrection." Why? Because of what that leads to, all the 
possibilities of that resurrection Life and power, because of its ultimate 
issue: because of the place to which it can bring him, no less a place than the 
very Throne of the Lord Himself.

The Power of His Resurrection - Chapter 7

 The Power of His Resurrection 

They took Jesus and led Him away. And He, bearing His cross, went out to a place called the Place of a Skull, which is called in Hebrew, Golgotha, where they crucified Him. § The bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the gate, bearing His reproach. § The fellowship of His sufferings. Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. § Our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.

Daily Light on the Daily Path or Daily Light is a Christian daily devotional scripture reading published by Bagster & Sons about 1875. It has been reprinted continually since then. It consists of brief groupings of scripture passages which speak to prominent Biblical themes—two themes (morning and evening) for each day of the year. It appends no commentary, but simply allows scripture to speak for itself.

Morning Daily Light

 The whole bull he shall carry outside the camp to a clean place,  where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. 

It is enough for a disciple that he be like his teacher, and a servant like his master. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him. § In the world you will have tribulation. § Because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. I looked for someone to take pity, but there was none. § At my first defense no one stood with me, but all forsook me. Foxes have holes and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head. § Here we have no continuing city, but we seek the one to come. Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 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.

 The fellowship of His sufferings. 

The fellowship of His sufferings. § Rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. § For if we died with Him, we shall also live with Him. § If children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together. God, determining to show more abundantly to the heirs of promise the immutability of His counsel, confirmed it by an oath, that by two immutable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we might have strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold of the hope set before us. § Our Lord Jesus Christ Himself, and our God and Father, who has loved us and given us everlasting consolation and good hope by grace, comfort your hearts and establish you in every good word and work.

 As the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so ourconsolation also abounds through Christ. 

<blockquote>
 Not I, but Christ" (<a id="verse_1632879559691405" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Galatians/2/20">Gal. 2:20</a>).
</blockquote>Any abiding spiritual progress must be based upon our taking sides with God against the old life. Why? "Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (<a id="verse_1632879559220675" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/7">Rom. 8:7</a>). "Enmity" knows no reconciliation; crucifixion is the only alternative! "The life of Christ is the holiness of Christ. The reason we so often fail in the pursuit of holiness is that the old life, the flesh, in its own strength seeks for holiness as a beautiful garment to wear and enter heaven with. It is the daily death to self out of which the life of Christ rises up." -A.W.T."In receiving Christ we receive the divine-human life, a life that is death to the life of fallen nature, which finds its fruit in sin and self. The tragic mistake of thousands of believers is in trying to live in two worlds at the same time - in nature and in God, in self and in Christ, in the flesh and in the Spirit, by faith and in independence, by abiding and by effort. To have life is not enough: the life of the Lord Jesus demands the death of the flesh, if that life is to be fully developed and become fruitful in us. Here is the crux of the whole matter.""That I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His suffering, being made conformable unto His death" (<a id="verse_1632879559895652" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).

A 365 day devotional that will help you in your Christian growth and walk with the Lord Jesus Christ.  This devotional is a collection of quotes from some of the best authors in the realm of Christian growth that has been organized by Miles J Stanford.  This devotional study is divided into 12 sections each containing 31 daily portions.

None but the Hungry Heart

 Spiritual Balance 

<blockquote>
That I may know Him" (<a id="verse_1632879577162940" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).
</blockquote>Immaturity is selfish; maturity is selfless. "He must increase, but I must decrease" (<a id="verse_1632879577179724" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/John/3/30">John 3:30</a>). "The question for the tried and tempted, the harassed and oppressed, is this: Which would you rather have, the power of Christ's hand in deliverance from trial, or the sympathy of His heart in the midst of trial?' The carnal mind, the unsubdued heart, the restless spirit, will, no doubt, at once exclaim, Oh! let Him only put forth His power and deliver me from this insupportable trial, this intolerable burden, this crushing difficulty. I sigh for deliverance. I only want deliverance.'"But the spiritual mind, the subdued heart, the lowly spirit, will say, and that without a single particle of reserve, Let me only enjoy the sweet company of the heart of the Lord Jesus Christ in my trial, and I ask no more. I do not want even the power of His hand to deprive me of one drop of consolation supplied by the tender love and profound sympathy of His heart. I know He can deliver me, but if He does not see fit to do so, if it does not fall in with His unsearchable counsels, and harmonize with His wise and faithful purpose concerning me so to do, I know it is only to lead me into a deeper and richer realization of His most precious sympathy.'" -C.H.M."The same faith that sees glory for us at the end of the path sees God for us all through the path. This is the secret of real strength. What unbelief does is to compare ourselves and our own strength with circumstances. What faith does is to compare God with circumstances.""For as the sufferings of Christ abound in us, so our consolation also aboundeth by Christ" (<a id="verse_1632879577690652" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/1/5">2 Cor. 1:5</a>).

 Heart Of The Matter 

<blockquote>
For we which live are always delivered unto death for Jesus' sake" (<a id="verse_1632879692348846" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/11">2 Cor. 4:11</a>).
</blockquote>The indwelling Lord Jesus is the source of our life of liberation; the Cross is the means to it. As we abide in Him and He in us, we are to reckon upon the finished work of Calvary to deal progressively with self. It is on this basis alone that the life of Jesus will be manifested in our mortal flesh (<a id="verse_1632879692289187" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/11">2 Cor. 4:11</a>)."God has taken the old creation and has condemned it in Christ, and is now working on the new creation. There is no place in the plan of God for the betterment of the old creation. He does not bring about some kind of transformation of the old man so as to produce some kind of resemblance to Christ in Christian character and conduct. There is only one place for the old creation, and that is the Cross."But it is not enough for us to say it is there crucified with Christ. Crucifixion was a lingering death, and while we stand once for all upon the fact of God, which is eternal and unchangeable, when our Lord Jesus Christ went to the Cross He took more than our sins with Him; He took our old man and dealt with the source of all our sin, and dealt with it satisfactorily. While we stand on that fact, there has to be the daily working out of the victory which Christ has won for us; there has to be the daily dying to this old self. The Holy Spirit has to work into us the death of the Lord Jesus Christ in all its wonderful power and purpose." -G.W."Being made conformable unto his death" (<a id="verse_1632879692119428" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil 3:10</a>)

 Continuous Cross 

<blockquote>
The carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (<a id="verse_1632879976470015" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/8/7">Rom. 8:7</a>).
</blockquote>The Cross is the altar upon which God sacrificed His Son. It is upon this same Cross (take up your Cross "daily"), this same altar (the place of death), that I am to be consecrated to God as "a new creation" (<a id="verse_1632879976354073" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/5/17">2 Cor. 5:17</a>). This eventuates in my intelligently yielding myself to Him as one who is "alive from the dead" (<a id="verse_1632879976989550" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/13">Rom. 6:13</a>)."God asks us to present our bodies as living sacrifices to Him (<a id="verse_1632879976151374" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/12/1">Rom. 12:1</a>). Until we have done this, there is nothing else we can do. But notice that this exhortation comes after Romans Six. There is a reason for this order - crucifixion comes before consecration. Uncrucified self refuses to be consecrated (to say nothing of God's refusing to accept it). That is why so many people with all sincerity walk down the aisles again and again, consecrating uncrucified self to God." -H.D."We must learn to know Him and to love Him. Then we will not have to struggle to move into consecration. The heart will lead into it. A lover never thinks about giving himself to a loved one. He cannot do otherwise. He loves to do it. Is there not here a key to consecration? Why do we not yield? Because we do not love. Why do we have to fight the battle and vow and groan and struggle? Because we do not know Him." -C.A.C."That I may know Him...and the fellowship of His sufferings" (<a id="verse_1632879976281115" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).

 The Cross, Then Consecration 

<blockquote>
God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord" (<a id="verse_1632879982175856" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Corinthians/1/9">1 Cor. 1:9</a>).
</blockquote>We want fellowship with the Lord Jesus in His peace and joy, and naturally fear and seek to avoid suffering. However, it is in the fellowship of His sufferings that we partake of His peace and joy."The Lord has a wonderful way of bringing us into the fellowship of His sufferings, even when everything outside looks prosperous. Sometimes the most apparently prosperous lives have the deepest sufferings at the back of them. The Lord must one way or another teach us fellowship with suffering, or we cannot be of much use. We dwell much upon the side of being filled with joy, but let us not forget there are broken hearts all round us, and if we are to be channels of divine comfort to them, we must learn something of the fellowship of His sufferings in our own experience.""We shall err if we think that life in the Sanctuary, hidden with Christ in God, means freedom from suffering, sorrow, and trial. Rather will the soul be strengthened inwardly to be trusted more and more with the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death' (<a id="verse_1632879982924724" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).""Our Father can advance His children into conformity to the image of His Son, more by suffering in one day, than in many years of ease from trial.""See how we call those who thus endured happy! You have heard how patiently Job endured and have seen how the Lord finally blessed him, because the Lord is tenderhearted and merciful" (<a id="verse_1632879982781941" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/James/5/11">James 5:11</a> Wms.).

 Deepened Channels 

<blockquote>
Oh that men would praise the Lord for His goodness, and for His wonderful works to the children of men!" (<a id="verse_1632880055997120" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Psalm/107/8">Ps. 107:8</a>).
</blockquote>Our Father gave us the hunger to be justified (<a id="verse_1632880055263447" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/John/6/44">John 6:44</a>), and He gave us the hunger to be sanctified (<a id="verse_1632880055408084" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>). This same principle applies to our service, our sharing. He never pushed us, but drew us in loving kindness - and He would treat others likewise, through us."If we are not living near the Lord Jesus and are not where we should be, we neither have an appetite for spiritual things, nor can we feed upon Him who is the living Bread. When God pours into you a hunger for your Beloved and begins to reveal your privileges in Him, rejoice with great joy and gratitude toward God. If He did not put into our hearts the longing to know Him better and to have His very best, we would be satisfied with the least we could have and be saved." -C.H.MacI."How wondrous are the working and drawings of God upon a human heart! How little do we behold Him or know that which He is doing, as day by day He works down in the depths of our beings. The most favored place a child of God can be in, is to continually feel the drawing of God urging and constraining him to a greater hunger for Him.""God never gives anything till the soul is ready to receive it. When you are ready you will long and hunger for it.""For He satisfieth the longing soul, and filleth the hungry soul with goodness" (<a id="verse_1632880055728045" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Psalm/107/9">Ps. 107:9</a>).

 His Hunger 

<blockquote>
I long to know Christ and the power which is in His resurrection" (<a id="verse_1632880161826205" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>, Wey.).
</blockquote>The difficult thing for most hungry-hearted believers is to wait in dependence upon the Lord for everything. Truth is not to be grasped, but received - received by faith, mainly through study. How true this is concerning reckoning! Many seek to reckon before they understand the scriptural facts upon which to count, and that adds up to failure. The secret is to learn the truth of our identification with the Lord Jesus so thoroughly that reckoning and its resultant growth will come as a matter of course, just as in our justification."The death of our Lord on the Cross has depths of meaning that can only be plumbed by way of discovered need, but then reveals unsearchable riches.' To the believer who still has hopes of attaining' in the Christian life, a verse such as <a id="verse_1632880161811138" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/11">Romans 6:11</a> is a rather meaningless jargon used by those who give messages on the deepening of the spiritual life.'"To the believer who has been taught by the Holy Spirit something of his own utter, inbred sinfulness, it comes as a message from God full of hope and encouragement. He grasps the rescue rope flung to him by the right hand of Omnipotence, and with humble thankfulness sets out to learn how he can reckon himself dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God in Jesus Christ our Lord. When he looks at the Cross he sees there the fact that not only did the Lord Jesus die for him, but that he himself was taken down into His death, in order that the practical reality of His resurrection life might transform him into the divine likeness." -J.C.M."For if we have been planted together in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His resurrection" (<a id="verse_1632880161959901" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/5">Rom. 6:5</a>).

 Rest And Receive 

<blockquote>
And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent" (<a id="verse_1632880222449319" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/John/17/3">John 17:3</a>).  
</blockquote>The heartbreaking knowledge of self brings a life-giving compensation, which is knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. The needs generated by the realization of the sin of self produce the necessary motivation and hunger which cause us to focus upon the Lord Jesus and become conformed to His image. "And we all, while with face unveiled we behold in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are ourselves transformed continually into the same likeness" (<a id="verse_1632880222502228" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/3/18">2 Cor. 3:18</a>, Cony.)."Many a new believer has obtained relief in his conscience from his sins, because of faith in the Blood of Jesus Christ; that is, he does not see further than Romans 3. He has faith in the work of Christ, but has not yet come in faith to Christ. He is like the woman who touched the hem of His garment, assured of His work but not yet acquainted with Himself." -J.B.S."It is one thing to believe on the Lord Jesus, to be born again, to be saved. That is a glorious thing as a beginning, but it alone will not take you right through all you have to meet; and if you are really in the Lord's hands He will see to it that by virtue of need you are drawn into knowing more and more of His Son. It is the normal course of a true, Holy Spirit-governed Christian life that, in order to get through, an increase of Christ, a growing discovery of Christ, is necessary." -T. A-S."That I may know Him" (<a id="verse_1632880222163269" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).

 Know To Grow 

<blockquote>
You were set free from the tyranny of Sin, and became the bondservants of Righteousness" (<a id="verse_1632880284827518" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/18">Rom. 6:18</a> Wey.).
</blockquote>The principle underlying resurrection life is, of all things, death. "For since we have become one with Him by sharing in His death, we shall also be one with Him by sharing in His resurrection. Surrender your very selves to God as living men who have risen from the dead" (<a id="verse_1632880284873926" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/5">Rom. 6:5</a>; <a id="verse_1632880284850360358" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/13">13</a>, Wey.). Let the facts of your position overwhelm the feelings of your condition."By exercising faith in the Word, apart from any feelings, be planted together with Him in the likeness of His death' (<a id="verse_1632880284930647" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/5">Rom. 6:5</a>). Only by thus standing in your position will you begin to experience the likeness of His resurrection.' Reckon on your life-union with Him. Reject the old life on the basis of your death in Christ on the Cross, and count yourself alive in Him until He makes experiential your resurrection position. Do not forget that you must stand firmly upon the specific truths: dead indeed unto sin - alive unto God in Christ Jesus' (<a id="verse_1632880284791854" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/11">Rom. 6:11</a>)."The sharing of His life is our blessed experience just in the measure in which we share His death. So many of us are content merely that the Cross should be the power to save us from the penalty of sin, but death was not the end of the manifestation of Christ. It was resurrection, and it is the risen life, shining forth in the believer, that alone can carry out the purpose of God in redemption. The believer, in whose daily attitude the mark of resurrection is seen, becomes what the world is looking for, a convincing witness to the power of the Living Redeemer." -G.W."That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection" (<a id="verse_1632880284898262" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).

 Old Rejected, New Accepted 

<blockquote>
That I may know Him. . . being made conformable unto His death" (<a id="verse_1632880787694217" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).
</blockquote>The life that emerges from death is administered by a loving, nail-pierced hand."As with the seed that is buried once for all, but then disintegrated through a gradual process that sets free the new life, even so does our Father deal with our old nature by delivering it to death with the Lord Jesus once for all, and then bringing about its mortifying in detail through the circumstances of daily life, until the power of the old man has lost its hold on us." -L.T."We are going to have to learn death in order to know life. Redemption must be known first, and the ultimate effect will be death to sin, to selfishness; and all this is very trying. One might be tempted to say, All this trial comes upon me because I have not been redeemed. Not so; it is just because you are redeemed. We may seek to avoid the bitter waters of Marah, but our Father will bring us to them. He intends to break down what is of the old man, and then, in His own good time, He will pour in that which sweetens all."But because God has brought me to Himself, He is putting His finger on everything that hinders complete dependence upon Him, or my soul's full enjoyment of Himself. So count it not strange, though it be a fiery trial which is to try you; for the Father will have you drink of the very thing (death) that redeemed you." -J.N.D."Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus" (<a id="verse_1632880787254922" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/2/5">Phil. 2:5</a>).

 The Hand Of Life 

<blockquote>That I may know him" (<a id="verse_1632877345858802" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).</blockquote>"The one unchanging factor on this earth is the Word of God. It is upon the written Word, and in the Living Word, that the Christian life is to be established. Yet there are Christians throughout the world who are seeking to get along on the basis of questionable blessings, and fluctuating self-centered experiences."How many rest on the initial step of the new birth, Begotten again. . . of incorruptible seed through the word of God' (<a id="verse_1632877345969086" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Peter/1/23">1 Peter 1:23</a>), and fail to press on to know Begotten. . . by the resurrection of Jesus Christ. . . unto an inheritance' (<a id="verse_1632877345540954" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Peter/1/3">1 Peter 1:3</a>)."If our hearts are really true to Him we may be assured He will lead us on in the knowledge of Himself just as fast as we are able to advance. He knows how much we can take in, and He does not fail to minister to us the very food that is suitable to our present need. We may sometimes feel inclined to be impatient with ourselves because we do not make more rapid progress, but we have to learn to trust the Lord with our spiritual matriculation."If our eyes are upon the Lord Jesus, and we follow with steadfast hearts as He leads us, we shall find that He leads us by the right way and brings us through all the exercises we need in order to form our souls in the appreciation of Himself, and of all those blessed things which are brought to pass in Him. We have to trust Him all the way through, and to learn increasingly to distrust ourselves." -W.N."The enemy will encourage you to do anything but carry out the systematic, Spirit-taught study of the Bible. He will give religious experiences, feelings and pious thoughts - all apart from God's Word. Do not be deceived. The Scriptures are our only sustenance - there are no substitutes." -J.B."Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the Lord" (<a id="verse_1632877345333692" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Hosea/6/3">Hosea 6:3</a>).

 On To Maturity 

<blockquote>That I may know Him" (<a id="verse_1632877601789673" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).    </blockquote>It takes us years of trial and error to finally realize that nothing outside the Lord Jesus Christ can fully satisfy and rejoice our hearts. Joy in Him includes the fellowship of His sufferings.' So, rejoice, inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's sufferings' (<a id="verse_1632877601746681" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/1-Peter/4/13">1 Pet. 4:13</a>)."We sometimes have the idea that if we were going on rightly, things would be much smoother here for us. Hardly. There is a discipline to correct us and a discipline to develop us. If you are in a wrong path, as you seek the Lord, you will be corrected; but on the other hand, the more you are set for Him here, the more you will find that there is nothing for you here, though at the same time you are daily finding more in Him. We which live are always delivered unto death.' The more you enjoy the Lord Jesus who has been refused here, the more you are practically severed from all here." -J.B.S."It is a solemn moment when one who has been going on for years with a flourishing profession wakes up to the fact that his heart is entirely unsatisfied. I believe we have very little idea how natural feelings may be mixed up with what we think is our spiritual joy. Many go on happily because their surroundings are happy, and they have no opposition to speak of - perhaps in a Christian family, or in a happy Christian fellowship. They are carried along by the stream of compatible things around them."But anything that outwardly contributes to our joy will sooner or later fail us. Our Father loves us too well to allow us to rest in anything or anyone short of Himself - not even Christian fellowship, or what people call the means of grace.' He wants to be so known by us that He becomes the deep eternal spring of satisfaction and joy for our hearts." -C.A.C."Give your mind to the things above" (<a id="verse_1632877601581288" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Colossians/3/2">Col. 3:2</a>).

 Solitary Source 

<blockquote>I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (<a id="verse_1632877751132340" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/14">Phil. 3:14</a>).</blockquote>We must be truth-centered if we are to be Christ-centered."With an increase of knowledge and apprehension of the truth, there is a constant sense that we are not practically up to what we have received; and hence the measure of our strength is not the enjoyment of a truth, but the extent to which we maintain what we believe in spite of every obstacle. It is the way in which we surmount the difficulties in our path, and not the enjoyment of the truth, which defines our position." -J.B.S."We will not learn truth aright excepting in the deepening knowledge of the Lord Jesus. It is the lack of this which is the cause of weakness among us: bare doctrine is not connected with Him. When the flower is separated from that which is its source, its sustenance and support, it is henceforth doomed to decay. We have that which is lovely and full of blessing in the Lord Jesus; but if we are to know it as such, to prove its truth, to enjoy it practically, it must be in taking these things as connected with Him." -W.K."The Lord Jesus Himself, and not even truth about Him, must be filling our hearts if we are to grow. This is no unnecessary admonition in a day when knowledge of the most sacred truths may be intellectually attained by so small an effort. It is a happy and necessary thing to understand the Word of God, but, with that Word treasured, the aim of the believer's affections should be, That I may know Him.' Desires after the Lord Jesus, desires to live with Him in heaven now, and to manifest Him on earth, make the growing believer separate from the world, and separate him unto the glorified Lord." -H.F.W."That I may know Him" (<a id="verse_1632877751979051" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil 3:10</a>).

 The Living Truth 

<blockquote>That I may know Him, and the power of the resurrection (<a id="verse_1632877859360320" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Philippians 3:10</a>a).</blockquote>Fellowship with the written Word is the foundation, and fellowship with the living Word is the superstructure, for spiritual growth."While Martha was cumbered about much serving, and her love, most true in its way, went forth in actively providing for the Lord's outward need, Mary, unconsciously perhaps, proved her stronger faith and deeper love by sitting at His feet and drinking in His words. The thought of Martha's heart was, What a feast I must give the Messiah, when I receive Him at my home!"Mary, on the contrary, felt that the best feast for Him, and for herself, was to receive and treasure up all she could from Him - to see, and hear, and be with Him. If we are learning thus from the Lord Jesus, we honor and please Him incomparably more than by anything we think to confer upon Him. In the long run, too, it is the listening at His feet which best fits for the most acceptable worship and service." -J.N.D."We should ever remember that Christianity is not a set of opinions, a system of dogmas, or a number of views; it is pre-eminently a living reality - a personal, practical, powerful thing, telling itself out in all the scenes and circumstances of daily life, shedding its hallowed influence over the entire character and course, and imparting its heavenly tone to every relationship which one may be called of God to fill."In a word, it is that which flows from being associated and occupied with the Lord Jesus. This is Christianity. There may be clear views, correct notions, sound principles, without any fellowship with the Lord Jesus in glory; but an orthodox creed without communion with Him will prove to be a cold and barren thing." -C.H.M."And the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death" (<a id="verse_1632877859965586" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>b).

 Personal Christianity 

<blockquote>
That I may know Him. . . being made conformable unto His death" (<a id="verse_1632878385529320" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>).
</blockquote>The wondrous depths of the finished work of the Cross will always be adequate to deal with the terrible depths of the unfinished work of the old man. As we glory in the Cross, the flesh is denied."When we have apprehended our death-position with the Lord Jesus (<a id="verse_1632878385887263" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Romans/6/6">Rom. 6:6</a>; <a id="verse_1632878385427155" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Galatians/2/20">Gal. 2:20</a>, etc.), we may have failed to see the on-going conformity to His death (<a id="verse_1632878385931386" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/4/11">2 Cor. 4:11</a>; <a id="verse_1632878385520653" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil 3:10</a>, etc.). The absence of this brings the anomaly of the Cross being preached with little or no marks of the Calvary spirit."This is the problem of teaching the identification' truths without the consequent conformity of death which brings forth life. We may rely upon the fact that we died' with the Lord Jesus, and assume that it is entirely wrought in us at once, not realizing that the fellowship of His sufferings' follows the apprehension of identification. That delivery unto death' must become deeper and deeper, until the conformity to His death' in the path of the Cross becomes a very real characteristic of the life.""We are not to think that our exalted position in the Lord Jesus, seated with Him in heavenly places, frees us from the need of further application of the Cross. We never reach a point where we can leave the Cross. We are invincible, more than conquerors through Him who loved us, only as we are brought into ever deeper conformity to the Lord Jesus' death unto sin. Otherwise the flesh reinstates itself and we once more fall prey to the old man's reign. There are always remaining, however much we have advanced, hidden strongholds of the old man which must be rendered inoperative by the finished work of the Cross." -F.J.H."Let him deny himself, and take up his Cross daily" (<a id="verse_1632878385585801" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Luke/9/23">Lk. 9:23</a>).

 Cross Continuity 

<blockquote>
My grace is sufficient for thee; for My strength is made perfect in (your) weakness" (<a id="verse_1632878405897229" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/2-Corinthians/12/9">2 Cor. 12:9</a>).
</blockquote>Our greatest liability: self-confidence. Our greatest asset: Christ-confidence. It usually takes years to discover one's misplaced confidence. The flesh will fail us every time, and under all conditions. The Lord Jesus never fails us under any conditions."When the Lord Jesus was on the Cross there were no mighty deeds to be seen, yet Calvary did more for the world than all the great deeds in Galilee. We think too much of the greatness, and too little of the death-fellowship with our Lord. The mighty deeds' may mean the greater works,' but death-fellowship means much fruit.' You might toil all your life, and only do so much, even with the wonderful deeds; but if you are willing to die with Him there will be effortless multiplication. There is no limit to the fruit that comes out of death.""An increasing number of the Lord's people are seeking to enjoy the power of the Lord Jesus' life by accepting the fact of their union in His death as expressed by Paul, That I may know Him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, becoming conformed unto His death' (<a id="verse_1632878405733035" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Philippians/3/10">Phil. 3:10</a>). We died with Him, but most of us are not being conformed to His death and hence are not like Him in life." -L.L.L."There is no escape from the Cross, if believers would know the power of His resurrection.' This crafty, defiant, defensive 'I' must be held in the place of death by the Spirit if there is to be true fruitfulness. In the measure that one dies to the old, in the same measure does one experience life in the New.""Then shall the lame man leap as an hart. . . for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert" (<a id="verse_1632878405473067" href="https://bible.knowing-jesus.com/Isaiah/35/6">Isa 35:6</a>).

 Blessed Lameness 

10 I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

I want to know<cr>1</cr> Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,<cr>2</cr> becoming like him in his death,<cr>3</cr>

Philippians 3:10

and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection<cr>1</cr> from the dead.

Philippians 3:11

 10 I want to know   Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,   becoming like him in his death,   11 and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection   from the dead.

From Wikipedia: 

The New International Version (NIV) is an English translation of the Bible first published in 1978 by Biblica (formerly the International Bible Society). The NIV was published to meet the need for a modern translation done by Bible scholars using the earliest, highest quality manuscripts available. Of equal importance was that the Bible be expressed in broadly understood modern English.

The NIV is published by Zondervan in the United States and Hodder & Stoughton in the UK. The NIV was updated in 1984 and 2011 and has become one of the most popular and best-selling modern translations.

OT: Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia; additional sources;
NT: UBS Greek New Testament; Novum Testamentum Graece; additional sources;

New International Version

 I want to know  Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,  becoming like him in his death,  and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection  from the dead.

Philippians 3:10-11

I want to know Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

 I want to know   Christ—yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings,   becoming like him in his death,   and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection   from the dead.

Bible Verse of the Day

August 27, 2018

Philippians 3:10-11 NIV

Verse by Verse Bible Study

More on the web

Group of Brands