Philippians 3:7-14 (Amplified Bible)

by Will on October 10, 2010

If any Bible translation captures the spirit of this passage the best, it has to be the Amplified version;

But whatever former things I had that might have been gains to me, I have come to consider as [one combined] loss for Christ’s sake.

Yes, furthermore, I count everything as loss compared to the possession of the priceless privilege (the overwhelming preciousness, the surpassing worth, and supreme advantage) of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord and of progressively becoming more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him [of perceiving and recognizing and understanding Him more fully and clearly]. For His sake I have lost everything and consider it all to be mere rubbish (refuse, dregs), in order that I may win (gain) Christ (the Anointed One),

And that I may [actually] be found and known as in Him, not having any [self-achieved] righteousness that can be called my own, based on my obedience to the Law’s demands (ritualistic uprightness and supposed right standing with God thus acquired), but possessing that [genuine righteousness] which comes through faith in Christ (the Anointed One), the [truly] right standing with God, which comes from God by [saving] faith.

[For my determined purpose is] that I may know Him [that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly], and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection [which it exerts over believers], and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, [in the hope]

That if possible I may attain to the [spiritual and moral] resurrection [that lifts me] out from among the dead [even while in the body]. Not that I have now attained [this ideal], or have already been made perfect, but I press on to lay hold of (grasp) and make my own, that for which Christ Jesus (the Messiah) has laid hold of me and made me His own. I do not consider, brethren, that I have captured and made it my own [yet]; but one thing I do [it is my one aspiration]: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the [supreme and heavenly] prize to which God in Christ Jesus is calling us upward.

- Philippians 3:7-14

Anytime I’m feeling a little unmotivated I get out my Amplified Bible and read through Philippians.

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Truly Desiring God

by Will on September 23, 2010

There is a story of a man who, in search of God, came to study at the feet of an old teacher. The sage brought this young man to a lake and led him out into the shoulder-deep water. Putting his hands upon his pupil’s head, he promptly pushed him under the water and continued to hold him there until the disciple, feeling he would surely drown, frantically repelled the old man’s resistance. In shock and confusion the young man resurfaced. “What is the meaning of this?” he demanded. His teacher looked him in the eyes and said, “When you desire God as you desired air, you shall find Him.” – Francis Frangipane

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In Those Days There Was No King In Israel

August 1, 2010

Judg 21:25 In those days there was no king in Israel; everyone did what was right in his own eyes. The last few chapters of Judges are pretty horiffic. From rape, to slaughtering to 600 forced marriages (to save the Benjaminites from extinction) it seems the verse which is repeated to explain such behaviour is [...]

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How Arrogant Can We Be?

July 28, 2010

I was reading the story of Samson this morning (Judges 13-16) and it initially struck me how foolish Samson was in telling Delilah the truth about his hair.  He’d already lied to her 3 times before about the secret of his strength and on each of those occasions she’d attempted to deliver him over to [...]

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