587 Consider Everything to be Loss - Philippians 3:8

Let's focus on what we can do, not on what we can't do. I want to talk about considering everything to be loss from Philippians three, verses seven and eight. Welcome back to the Follower of One podcast. I'm your host, Mike Henry Sr. Thanks for joining us. 

I recently read Craig Groeschel's book, Dangerous Prayers, and the prayer asking God to break me was a challenge for me. It still is. And I was challenged by that and praying about that and thinking about that the other day. And I was reminded about this passage in Philippians chapter three, verses seven and eight.

"But whatever things were gain to me, those things, I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things and count them, but rubbish so that I may gain Christ." 

 This is a somewhat of a complex passage. I want to focus on some words, right at the beginning of verse eight. "I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord." I don't do a good job of counting things as loss. When I sit around and think about it, I can get anxious about things. I can get a little nervous about what am I supposed to give up everything I have?

Am I supposed to move to some foreign country? What am I supposed to give up as a follower of Jesus? And I think that I want to encourage us today. There are things that I can give up to be a follower of Jesus. I give money to the church and I give time to this ministry.

I try to do things to help other people because I follow Jesus. My goal is to live my life a certain way because I follow Jesus. And each time Jesus exposes me to another idea, I hope that I will move into that idea and not tell him no. Because wherever we do draw the line that ends up being the end of our growth as a follower of Jesus Christ. 

However, I don't have to give it all away today. I'm not called to give it all away today. By all means, if the Lord is bugging you to do something, figure out a way to do it. I want to encourage all of us to follow Jesus in such a way that we do some strange things from time to time.

I believe life following Jesus is more of an adventure than any other life you could have. We listen to him, we pray to him, we read his word, and he gives us ideas of ways that we can make him visible in our world by serving the people around us. 

I believe that this verse can become a trap for us because we can't let go of everything. But I want to encourage us today. Let go of whatever it is Jesus is asking you to let go of, and don't worry about anything else. Jesus calls us to a particular place from where we are. It's part of the reason why our goal in this ministry is to help everyone move one notch closer to Jesus.

We grow into these things that Paul's talking about. Paul could count all things loss because of the life that he had lived, and the experiences that he had. We can't jump to the Paul level from where we are. We get there over time. And so I want to encourage you, listen to Jesus, do what he says day in and day out.

And over time, these things grow. I'm going to still sweat, when I pray, Lord break me. It's always going to be a challenge I believe, for me. But I believe also that the Lord Jesus understands that challenge. And so I don't want to be afraid to pray it. Lord, show us how you want us to live today. Today's the day.

It's not what I need to do 20 years from now or what I should've done five minutes ago. It's what do you want me to do today? Let's help other people move one notch closer to Jesus. That's our  full-time ministry. Thank you for being a marketplace minister. Thank you for practicing your faith. As we said, in a recent episode, let's be people who practice following Jesus every day, because that makes him visible in our world.

Please share this podcast with a friend and also join us in our online community at https://community.followerofone.org. Thank you so much for being a marketplace minister for following Jesus and for letting your faith make a difference in our world.

It all matters. Thanks.