Happy Mondays with Paul!

Good Morning Ladybugs! I hope you are having a Happy Monday! Let's get started...

Philippians 3:2-11

Watch out for those dogs, those me who do evil,those mutilators of the flesh. For it is we who are the circumcision,we who worship by the Spirit of God,who glory in Christ Jesus, and who put no confidence in the flesh-though I myself have reasons for such confidence. If anyone else thinks he has reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: Circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews;in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church;as for legalistic righteousness,faultless.But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Crhist. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I amy gain Christ and be found in him, not having a reighteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ- the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.

Reflection:
If you could summarize your life in a few short lines and thoughts, what are some of the words that you would use?

Assuming that some of your answers reveal a few mistakes and regrets, how do you "wish" your life could be summarized? What's missing that you'd like to see added to the list?

Saul himself was a Pharisee and probably returned from Jerusalem to Tarsus to serve as a teacher of the law.(Beth Moore) "I believe that Saul probably had to said to Jerusalem as a young adolescent with a pure heart; but somewhere along the way negative influences outweighed the positive, and his purity began to erode." The law became his god. That's what happens when you take the love out of obedience. The result is law. Without loves for God and His Word, we're just trying to be good. Nothing will wear us out faster...
Have you been there ladies? Trying to obey God and serve Him before we've come to love Him can be exhausting!!
To seperate ourselves from others we often put up what is called "Identity Bounderies", these are walls we put up to seperate "Our Group" from other groups. Gangs wear certain colors to show who is in and who is out. Churches and denominations develop distinctive teachings to accomplish the same goal. The first-century Jews became so obsessed with identity bounderies that they forgot about loving God.
Paul was absolutely miserable..wanna know how I know this? In Philippians 3:6, he said his zeal was so great that he persecuted the church,and that his legalistic righteousness was "blameless".
We cannot even begin to imagine what Saul's life was like as he sought to live by the letter of the law because we do not have a jewish background. His daily rituals determined the first words out of his mouth in the morning, the way he took off his nightclothes and put on his dayclothes and how he sprinkled his hands before breakfast. He carefully avoided eating or drinking quickly and never ate while standing.He pronounced several benedictions throughout his day, they were filled with rituals and at night he took off his shoes and garments in the prescribed order. He avoided certain sleep positions and chose others. For the sake of his heart and liver, he probably attempted to begin the night on his left side and end the night on his right. These daily rituals paled in comparison to all the laws regarding the Sabbath. Restrictions existed for almost everything. For example, prior to the Sabbath a Pharisee cut his fingernails and toenails not in consecutive order but alternately. He then burned the nails. He avoided spitting in a place where the wind could scatter the saliva so he would not break laws concerning sowing on the Sabbath.
Saul was strangled by the letter of the law. He tried desperately to keep all the outward acts of obedience while his heart slowly eroded. Saul gradually became the model for Isaiah 29:13: "These people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service, yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-mades rules learned by rote.

Let's pray:
Our Heavenly Father, forgive us Lord when we begin to act like modern day Pharisees. Lay conviction on us everytime we stray from the law of love You have written on our hearts. Give us hearts of devotion for You Father and not heads full of "RELIGION." Help us Lord to witness to others Your love and grace, and not display a religion of rules and regulations. We love You Lord. In Your Precious Name we pray. Amen

Praying for you all today and always!

In Him I Remain,
Shana