Philippians 3:10
“that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”
Our last time in Philippians we focused on knowing Him. Wonderful. There are three more things to know: the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings and to be conformed to His death.
It’s His will for His children to know the power of His resurrection. He gives what we need when we need it. It may be power over sin. It can be instantaneous, it may take some time or it could be a lifelong struggle. There is nothing wrong with the latter two. Sometimes it’s His will. They dip into the other categories. We’ll focus on those shortly.
He will work His power in our relationships. We may pray for a godly influence upon them. They may be a bully and God teaches us to tolerate them. We learn how to put boundaries. He does honor us in those circumstances. Psalm 23 says, “He prepareth a table for me in the presence of our enemies”. That’s His power and His influence.
Others have difficulties that we can seek to comfort or that God would intervene. We pray for them privately and with them on occasion on. What is true is that God is working in many lives and many hearts. We may say something that fits perfectly. That’s not our wisdom, but Gods. He works in parallel. Because we are submitted to Him, He may do that often through us.
We all have different giftings, so He works in and through us according to that. We can look at all God’s children and their gifts and talents and see Him working through them. Amazing.
God can do the miraculous. We should pray for that. He will do it on occasion. It may be changing a heart; it may be healing, He may work through a circumstance. He brought manna and quail to the children of Israel. That was a daily miracle.
Our egos can interfere with God’s power. 2 Corinthians 12:9 says, ‘But He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is perfected in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest on me.’ Paul received great revelations. He mentioned that God gave him a thorn in the flesh to keep him from exalting himself. He prayed for it’s removal. This verse is God’s answer. Paul became more dependent on God, thus His power increased in his life.
God will bless His children. We should never let it go to our heads. That would choke off His power if we do so. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”, (Matthew 5:3). To be poor in spirit is to know our real state; that we are nothing without Him. God’s power becomes much more abundant if we know that.
The next topic is the fellowship of His sufferings. We’ve alluded to that. Sometimes God allows difficulties in our lives. Paul’s life had more power because of his. So will ours. He also teaches dependance. It’s a beautiful thing to walk in dependance on Him. Difficulties drive us to Him.
Paul uses an interesting phrase, “the fellowship of His sufferings”. A christian is in fellowship with Jesus. We are in relationship with God. He gives us a new heart and a new spirit. Ones that relate to Him. Romans 8 says that “His Spirit bears witness with our spirits that we are children of God”. There’s a permanent connection there. Part of that fellowship is in suffering. It drives us closer to Him. Like a scared dog can’t get close enough to his master, so we cling to the Lord.
The last phrase is “being conformed to His death”. An unbeliever would not get this. Weird images would come to minds. It’s actually beautiful. Jesus died for our sins. He lived His life sacrificing His wants for the good of others. We are to do the same. The second commandment is to love others as we love ourselves. We give preference to others. We let them go first. We seek to be a blessing to them. Matthew 16:24 says, ‘Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.”‘ That is dying to self for the blessing of another.
Thank You Lord, for allowing us to know You and the power of Your resurrection, the fellowship of Your sufferings and that we could be conformed to Your death. What a blessing. Thank You Lord.