Today’s Scripture
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s
way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 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 3:7-11 (NLT)
Big Idea
Your attitude opens the door to total surrender to God.
Today’s Thought
Athletes know the truth of this simple statement: “Attitude is everything.”
If it’s snowing on the football field, you still go out there with a winning attitude. If you’re facing a team on the volleyball court that has won the state championship three straight years, you still go out and play hard as a team. If you’re swimming for the first time since being sidelined by an injury, you still jump into the pool and compete with excellence.
Your attitude can make the difference.
This week of devotions is built on the idea of fully surrendering our lives
to God. Paul displayed this kind of life, and you see his attitude in today’s passage from Philippians 3. He knew what mattered in life — and what didn’t matter. He discarded all the junk of this world and gave everything to God. That’s surrender, backed up by the right attitude. Being surrendered means aligning our motives, plans, goals, and resources to achieve a specific task, accomplish a certain mission, or follow a particular person — in this case, God!
Having the right attitude toward surrender means wearing the right pair of sunglasses in life. Think of it this way: If you wear a pair with “negative” lenses, you’ll see surrender as something to avoid because it’s all about self-denial and martyrdom and giving up all fun. But if you choose “positive” lenses, you’ll see that surrender is wisely recognizing that God has better plans and dreams for our lives than we do!
Sometimes we’re afraid of surrender because we think it means life will be boring. But people who are totally committed to Jesus realize heaven is real, God is in control, God is calling the shots, God is good, and God will give us His very best when we do life His way.
God will accomplish incredible things in you and through you once you choose total surrender. It’s part of God’s strategy to make us like His Son... an r12 Christian.
Prayer
God, I need Your help with my attitude at times. It’s so easy to think I’m the person that matters most in this world. Help me see things the way You see them. Help me discover more and more how much You love me and how You want the best for my life, and then help me to surrender everything to You. Amen.
I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s
way of making us right with himself depends on faith. 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 3:7-11 (NLT)
Big Idea
Your attitude opens the door to total surrender to God.
Today’s Thought
Athletes know the truth of this simple statement: “Attitude is everything.”
If it’s snowing on the football field, you still go out there with a winning attitude. If you’re facing a team on the volleyball court that has won the state championship three straight years, you still go out and play hard as a team. If you’re swimming for the first time since being sidelined by an injury, you still jump into the pool and compete with excellence.
Your attitude can make the difference.
This week of devotions is built on the idea of fully surrendering our lives
to God. Paul displayed this kind of life, and you see his attitude in today’s passage from Philippians 3. He knew what mattered in life — and what didn’t matter. He discarded all the junk of this world and gave everything to God. That’s surrender, backed up by the right attitude. Being surrendered means aligning our motives, plans, goals, and resources to achieve a specific task, accomplish a certain mission, or follow a particular person — in this case, God!
Having the right attitude toward surrender means wearing the right pair of sunglasses in life. Think of it this way: If you wear a pair with “negative” lenses, you’ll see surrender as something to avoid because it’s all about self-denial and martyrdom and giving up all fun. But if you choose “positive” lenses, you’ll see that surrender is wisely recognizing that God has better plans and dreams for our lives than we do!
Sometimes we’re afraid of surrender because we think it means life will be boring. But people who are totally committed to Jesus realize heaven is real, God is in control, God is calling the shots, God is good, and God will give us His very best when we do life His way.
God will accomplish incredible things in you and through you once you choose total surrender. It’s part of God’s strategy to make us like His Son... an r12 Christian.
Prayer
God, I need Your help with my attitude at times. It’s so easy to think I’m the person that matters most in this world. Help me see things the way You see them. Help me discover more and more how much You love me and how You want the best for my life, and then help me to surrender everything to You. Amen.
I really needed this. This was right on point with my journal :)
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