WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 12
Scripture: Philippians 3:7-9

Who is Jesus to us in this New Testament? Philippians 3:7-9 says, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 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 in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;…” in Philippians 3, Jesus says that the number one spendable commodity you and I have are all the areas of loss that He has lead us into. The money system in the earth is like what loss is to the monetary system of heaven. The magnitude of loss that you and I experience in yielding to the will of God is a spendable commodity in heaven. Verse 8 makes it very clear, “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…” I suffered all this loss that I may gain… Philippians 3 is basically, “I suffered all this loss that I may gain… “ Do we understand that God leads us into loss in order that we may gain? We can spend our whole life and never gain unless God interrupts us with loss. It is the interrupting of our life with loss that causes or leads us to ultimately gain all that He has for us. The degree to which we let God interrupt our life with loss dictates how far we can go with gain in Him. Is that Who Jesus is to us? Are we trying to find a less costly way to gain? Are we trying to get it instead, by faith? Do we totally rely on the principle of confessing something in faith until it becomes ours? Faith works, but does not substitute for loss. Speaking our faith alone does not substitute for the growth, wisdom and strength of character that comes through loss. Losing something valuable and something important is much more difficult and more costly. Let us look inward – are we trying to gain in some way other than what God has ordained? In Philippians, He ordained a spendable commodity in eternity as loss. The degree to which you and I are willing to suffer loss with honor, wisdom and faithfulness dictates how far we can go with gain in Christ. Is this Who Jesus is to us? Paul suffered the loss of all things. Can we?