Suffering: Demotion, Like Paul
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 mere rubbish, so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith, that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death; if somehow I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Not that I have already grasped it all or have already become perfect, but I press on if I may also take hold of that for which I was even taken hold of by Christ Jesus. Brothers and sisters, I do not regard myself as having taken hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
Philippians 3:8-14 (NASB)
Paul was a Pharisee of Pharisees. He was tutored under Gamaliel, Israel's most legendary teacher.
Paul (who used to be Saul) was determined to arrest the followers of Jesus. Saul was a rising star of Judaism, mistakenly believed… Christians were wrong.
Add in his legal rights as a Roman, and Paul was positioned for great power: a multi-platformed player of promise. But when he met Jesus, everything changed.
In a non-precedented turn around, Paul moved from Jerusalem's top team to 'Less than the least of all of God's people' (Ephesians 3:8).
In real-world values, Paul was demoted. He not only lost all that he’d achieved, but also became target #1 among power players he left behind:
'Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep. I have been on frequent journeys, in dangers from rivers, dangers from robbers, dangers from my countrymen, dangers from the Gentiles, dangers in the city, dangers in the wilderness, dangers on the sea, dangers among false brethren; I have been in labor and hardship, through many sleepless nights, in hunger and thirst, often without food, in cold and exposure' (2 Corinthians 11:24-27).
Actors, models, and talent for Christ:
If the King of kings stepped off Heaven’s throne to lie helplessly in a humble barn,
If our Captain became a Carpenter to reconstruct the world’s most broken people,
If the eternally reigning High Priest served here as a homeless circuit Preacher,
If the Lion of the tribe of Judah became a Lamb sacrificed on a Cross…
Then our Captain understood demotion and the BENEFITS of humility.
Because in humbling ourselves before Him, God gives us His strength, and His promotion!
Because what most people consider low, our Leader considers a launching pad. Therein, by His reverse economics, man's demotions invite God's promotions.
Suffering: Demotian, Like Paul (Part 20)
NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God! We’re ALL called to be actors (action stars) for Jesus. We’re ALL called to models of Jesus, and we ALL have gifts, talents, and callings from God– to multiply them in the world for His glory.
P.S. NO DEVOTION, PREACHER, or SERMON… can begin to replace personal time in the Bible. I wholeheartedly and clear-headedly recommend READING THE BIBLE DAILY.
WARNING: Don’t focus on favorite verses, because out of context, they’re often misinterpreted. I plead with you to READ AT LEAST 1 BIBLE CHAPTER DAILY. How long does it take? An average of 5 to 10 minutes!