<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="php+3:7-21">Philippians 3:7-21</span></span></p><p>Today we ask: What happens to those who hunger and thirst after righteousness? The answer is clear: they will be filled. Make righteousness your goal and you will be eternally satisfied. If, once again, I might venture upon a paraphrase of my own, I would put it like this: "Congratulations to those who ardently crave to become more and more like Me and to know My righteousness, for they shall find a satisfaction that will never vanish or be destroyed." May I be permitted to ask you this personal question: What are you most hungering and thirsting for? Is it health? Is it relief from pain? Is it freedom from anxiety? Is it financial security? All of these are legitimate cravings, but if your primary hunger and thirst is not to become more and more like Christ, then you will experience an inner emptiness that nothing you chase after can fill. Let me point out one more thing - something that might astonish you: to the extent that your deepest hunger and thirst is not for God, to that extent you will experience spiritual and psychological problems. If you are not hungering and thirsting after Him, you will hunger and thirst after something else. When we make it our goal to glorify God, then we will enjoy Him. We must not make it our goal to enjoy Him in order to glorify Him. Remember the goal of happiness is elusive, regardless of how well- thought-out is our strategy. But the by-product of happiness is freely available to those whose goal is to know God and be found in Him.</p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, You are teaching me Your ways - written in Your Word and also in me. Help me to surrender to Your purposes so that I might be the vehicle of victory. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+38:9">Psalm 38:9</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="ps+73:25">Psalm 73:25</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="isa+26:1-9">Isaiah 26:1-9</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="1pe+2:2-3">1 Peter 2:2-3</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What was the psalmist's confession?</li><li>What did Isaiah's desire cause him to do?</li></ul></div></div>

Let a little light into your soul every day with this wonderful devotional from English pastor Selwyn Hughes.

Every Day Light with Selwyn Hughes

"I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection '" (v. 10) 

<p><span class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold">For Reading and Meditation:</span><br><span class="italic">     <span class="scriptRef" ref="ga+6:1-18">Galatians 6:1-18</span></span></p><p>Whenever I hear a person saying that all religions are the same, my mind runs immediately to the cross. If what is found here is true (and I believe it is), and represents the meaning of life, then clearly all religions are not the same. No authentic note of divine self-sacrifice comes from other faiths. The cross stands out in absolute uniqueness. As Toplady put it in his beautiful hymn: In the Cross of Christ I glory, Towering o'er the wrecks of time, All the light of sacred story Gathered round its head sublime. For weeks and months after I became a Christian I wondered why anyone should preach anything except the cross. The redemptive glowing mystery of it took hold of me in the early days of my conversion, and I think I can honestly say it has never ceased to magnetize my heart. Among the ancient inscriptions and paintings on the tombs of Egyptian kings, so I am told, one finds everywhere the symbol of the key of life. Strangely enough, it is in the form of a cross. Christ's cross is the only true key to life. This and this alone unlocks the doors to some of life's greatest mysteries. Other religions try, sometimes with great sincerity, to unlock the doors to these profound mysteries, but they are unsuccessful because they do not have the right key. They do not have a cross. </p><p class="center-it italic bold mlr40 mtb20">Father, how can I cease thanking You for the cross? For in it I find the key that unlocks the door of many a mystery, not least the mystery of Your nature - a nature shot through with eternal love. Help me see it even more clearly. In Christ's Name. Amen.</p><div class="tl-lightgrey mt20 pt20 flexbox-row-wrap jc-around"><div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">AdditionalVerses</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="php+3:1-18">Philippians 3:1-18</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="col+2:14">Colossians 2:14</span></li><li><span class="scriptRef" ref="heb+12:2">Hebrews 12:2</span></li></ul></div>

<div><div class="fs-17 fg-mustard bold center-it">Questions to Consider</div><ul style="margin-top:0px"><li>What brought Paul to tears?</li><li>What has the cross abolished?</li></ul></div></div>

"May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ ..." (v. 14) 

<p>The cross of Christ is the Christian's glory, and few things would give him more pain, than to be considered its enemy.</p><p>It embraces the whole doctrine of salvation by grace, and is viewed by the Christian as the foundation of his hope, and the object of his faith; as the end of the law, and the antidote of misery; as the centre of truth, and subject of the church's song; as mercy's sceptre, and the Saviour's throne; as the mirror, in which Jehovah displays all the perfections of His nature; and the key that opens the gates of the celestial paradise; as the glory of eternal wisdom, and the mystery of incarnate love; as the destruction of death, and the gate to everlasting life; as the object of the angels' wonder, and the cause of the devil's everlasting confusion.</p><p>Beloved, let us fix our eyes and hearts upon this glorious, this surprising object; and never, never let us, by our conduct or conversation, bring a disgrace upon it; but let us endeavour to advance its triumphs, spread its glories, and bring sinners to admire, love, and trust in it. "God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of my Lord Jesus Christ; by which the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world."</p><p class="mlr40 italic">Oh, may my single aim be now,<br> To live on Him that died,<br> And nought on earth desire to know<br> But Jesus crucified.</p>

Written by James Smith for his own flock around 1840, but such was the demand that by 1846 over thirty thousand copies where in circulation.

The Believer's Daily Remembrancer

They are the enemies of the cross of Christ. - Philippians 3:18

<p>King Jehoshaphat had joined wicked King Ahab in war against the Syrians. It was an unholy alliance that almost cost his life. The Syrians mistook Jehoshaphat for Ahab and were about to kill him when they realized their mistake. Although Jehoshaphat escaped death, he didn't escape a stinging rebuke from the prophet Jehu. God is angry when His people love those who hate Him and cooperate with the ungodly.</p><p>Where could such a thing happen today? It could happen when professed evangelical Christians join with avowed liberals in great religious crusades. These liberals deny the great fundamental doctrines of the Christian faith. They seek to undermine the authority of the Scriptures with their doubts and denials. Although posing as Christians, they are actually enemies of the Cross of Christ. Their god is their belly. Their glory is in their shame. They mind earthly things (see <span class="scriptRef" ref="php+3:18-19">Philippians 3:18-19</span>). The cause of Christ cannot possibly benefit from their patronage. It can only suffer.</p><p>As the ecumenical movement gains momentum, Bible-believing Christians will face increasing pressure to close ranks with every ungodly element in Christendom. If they refuse, they will be ridiculed and denounced, and their liberties will be curtailed. Yet faithfulness to Christ will require them to walk a path of separation.</p><p>One of the unkindest cuts of all comes when real Christians are contemptuous of their brothers who refuse to work with the ungodly. It is not unknown for Christian leaders to speak with appreciation of the modernists while assailing the fundamentalists. They fawn over liberal scholarship, quote liberal writers approvingly and show a lovely tolerance of liberal heresies. But they have nothing but scornful epithets for their fundamentalist brothers who seek to maintain clear-cut lines of demarcation between the righteous and the ungodly.</p><p>To court the favor of God's enemies or seek their help is a policy of treachery. Loyalty to Christ demands that we stand with His uncompromising followers against the foe. </p><p> </p>

With reverence, humor and skill, William MacDonald wove a daily devotional tapestry that challenges the reader to think deeply and Biblically, and apply God's Word to their lives.

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

"Shouldest those help the ungodly, and love them that hate the Lord? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord." (2 Chronicles 19:2)

<p> <sup class="verse-number">18</sup> (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:</p><p> <sup class="verse-number">19</sup> Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)</p>

(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:

Philippians 3:18

Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

Philippians 3:19

 (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: Whose end is destruction, whose God is their belly, and whose glory is in their shame, who mind earthly things.)

In 1604, King James I of England authorized that a new translation of the Bible into English be started. It was finished in 1611, just 85 years after the first translation of the New Testament into English appeared (Tyndale, 1526). The Authorized Version, or King James Version, quickly became the standard for English-speaking Protestants. Its flowing language and prose rhythm has had a profound influence on the literature of the past 400 years. The King James Version present on the Bible Gateway matches the 1987 printing. The KJV is public domain in the United States.

OT: Masoretic Text, some LXX and Vulgate influence.
NT: Textus Receptus, similar to the Byzantine text-type; some readings derived from the Vulgate.
Apocrypha: Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate.

Philippians 3:18-19 KJV

Philippians 3:18-19 KJV

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