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If anyone else has reason to be confident in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, a member of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew born of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:4b-14)
May this be a tremendous Tuesday for you, dear Friend! If ever you needed a good conversation starter, here it is: I Belong to Jesus! Say that and just go with the flow of what may come next! As we pray this morning, I invite you to keep Mrs. Norma Vera in your prayers. Norma is the widow of one of my childhood pastors, The Rev. Brigido Vera. He came to Kingsville straight from Cuba. He was a wonderful man, great preacher and pastor, devoted father and Christian servant. He died some years ago and now Norma has been in and out of the hospitals in Dallas. Also, Kenny & Peggy Wheeler, Wendy Allen's brother and sister-in-law, lost all their belongings to floods in Iowa. Pray also for Mr. Travis Rummage, who injured his hand at work and may lose his thumb. Prayers for these dear friends and their families. Pray for one another, pray for yourselves.
The noted Swiss theologian, author, scholar, and professor, Karl Barth, was once asked what he had learned from years of dedicated Christian scholarship and countless tomes on the faith. He paused only for a minute and said, "Jesus love me. This I know; for the Bible tells me so." Bam! There it is. The gospel in song, the summary of a lifetime's work, including a 13 volume of Christian Dogmatics. Paul, in the above passage, in his own way, sums up his life. He had quite the life before and after his encounter with Christ Jesus; circumcised on the 8th day, a member of the people of Israel, from the tribe of Benjamin, "a Hebrew born of Hebrews; a Pharisee (noted scholars in the Law), a zealous persecutor of the church, and Christian believer. His summary could be the title of today's devotional (and your conversation starter for today), I belong to Jesus. New Mexico's own songwriter, Mr. Fernando Ortega wrote a summary of his faith in a song that Nellie and I both love very much, "Give Me Jesus*," where he writes, "You can have this all this world, but give me Jesus." Paul's life led him to realize that even with all the titles he could have hoped to have, nothing but nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus as his Lord and Savior. And while he had breath, he preached Jesus; when it came time to die, he longed to be with Jesus.
What thing or person do you press on toward? Have you forgotten all that lies behind your life, and press towards to what lies ahead? We all should. Like Paul, we should be driven towards "the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus." The realization may have not yet come to you, but the car or truck you drive, the home in which you live, the food you eat, may not be what you really want, but in the grand scale of all things, nothing nor no one compares to the treasure that is yours in Christ Jesus. If you have Jesus you really can't have much more; He's Lord, Savior, King; in Whom you have your future securely tied up.
PRAYER: Heavenly Father, in Christ Jesus I have all that I need. Forgive me those things I have longed for more or for better. Grant me the faith of those whom were mentioned today that we too, may join in and say, all things considered, this much I know; I belong to Jesus. May it be so; in His name we pray, amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord! Remember to share with someone your conversation starter: I belong to Jesus!
Love to you all,
Eradio Valverde
*To hear this beautiful song click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qjTxnYiTAa8
