The Daily Fountain Daily Devotional of the Church Of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) 21 May  2024 – TOPIC: CHRISTIAN CHARACTER!

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THE DAILY FOUNTAIN

DAILY DEVOTIONAL OF THE

CHURCH OF NIGERIA (ANGLICAN COMMUNION)

DATE: TUESDAY, MAY 21, 2024

TOPIC: CHRISTIAN CHARACTER!

READ: PHILIPPIANS 3: 1-19 (NKJV)

3:1. Finally, my brethren, rejoice in the Lord. For me to write the same things to you [is] not tedious, but for you [it is] safe.

3:2. Beware of dogs, beware of evil workers, beware of the mutilation!

3:3. For we are the circumcision, who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh,

3:4. though I also might have confidence in the flesh. If anyone else thinks he may have confidence in the flesh, I more so:

3:5. circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, [of] the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee;

3:6. concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.

3:7. But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

3:8. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ

3:9. and be found in Him, not having my own righteousness, which [is] from the law, but that which [is] through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith;

3:10. that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death,

3:11. if, by any means, I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.

3:12. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

3:13. Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing [I do,] forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

3:14. I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

3:15. Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.

3:16. Nevertheless, to [the degree] that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

3:17. Brethren, join in following my example, and note those who so walk, as you have us for a pattern.

3:18. For many walk, of whom I have told you often, and now tell you even weeping, [that they are] the enemies of the cross of Christ:

3:19. whose end [is] destruction, whose god [is their] belly, and [whose] glory [is] in their shame — who set their mind on earthly things.

THE MESSAGE:

Paul, as an Apostle of Christ, was renowned among the Jews and had all qualifications in addition to achievements to boast about but he did not do so. He explained that whatever could have been profitable for him, he had counted as loss just because of Christ Jesus. In essence, Paul was saying to us that the gains he began to receive in Christ Jesus were better than what the world offered him. From Paul’s arguments, we realise that his encounter with Jesus Christ tremendously changed his life and reasoning. No wonder the Bible says “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, and the new has come (2 Corinthians 5: 17).”

Unlike Paul, today we have people who profess to have surrendered their lives to Jesus and yet nothing has ever changed in their lives. We have also have people who pledge their total allegiance to God Almighty alone and later go back to worship mammon, forgetting that the scripture says we cannot serve two masters together (Matthew 6: 24). What are the old things of life you need to do away with? The salvation you profess does not give room for sinful living. If you truly have received the salvation of Christ, you must exhibit Christian characters which will stand you out in this perverse generation. A Christian character entails a dedicated life to Jesus Christ alone; it means a revived life that shines as light in the darkness of this world.

PRAYER: Father, help me to show forth Your glory to the world in all things through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen

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