What Adds up to Christ/ Gaining Christ; Sunday Schhol Lesson; Philippians 3:7-11

Looking forward to the lesson on Sunday from Philippians 3:7-ll, today let's look at the verse 7:

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

The great apostle tells us of his great love for Jesus Christ, it was an awesome love. I dare say that for us "To Value Something, We Must Know the Value of It". In this passage Paul is telling us that he actually had much in his life that he considered to be of great value. He valued his religious upbringing; it was something that he was very proud to share with any listener.

He had the choicest linage that a Jewish boy could have, he was of the tribe of Benjamin, he was circumcised on the 8th day, he could even brag about being a Pharisee. He lived a life that would be pleasing to mankind, he was so proud of his flesh and his fleshly heritage. As he grew up, did he ever ponder, was this enough, he knew that this all pleased man, but did it please God?

He even persecuted the church; he killed Christians and allowed their persecution, and hoped for their extinction from society. He so valued all of this until he encountered the Lord Jesus Christ as he journeyed down the Damascus road. The day he met this man called Jesus something strange happened in his life, his values changed. The things that he considered to be of great value were no longer counted as anything but useless.

In the past he counted upon those things to get him to heaven, but now he totally turned away form these things, he considered them to be nothing but great loss. He realized the value of the valuable, he now compared these things to a different standard and these things failed to hold any value when standing next to the valuable.

1. The Humble Realization of This Man—His Loss
2. The Holy Righteousness of the Master—His Lord
3. The High Regards of This Message—His Lesson

Cantrell's Jewels for the Journey.

Pigpen Psychology



Luk 15:17—And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!

The prodigal son had wandered afar from home, he was in a strange land, he was in a strange place, he was doing a strange task. As he looked around he wondered how his life had came to this, he could smell the stench from the pigpen, he was famished, literally pressed to consider eating with the pigs.

As he looked around, all of his friends had left when his money was gone, those that had housed him had forsaken him, the night life had ended a long time ago. As he looked down he saw his bare feet, he saw that his clothes were full of holes, he saw the pigs, and the pigs reminded him of how low his life had sunk.

In the midst of this horrible, odorous, foul pigpen something wonderful happened, something that his father could not do for him, something that his mother's tears could not do for him. In the muck and the mire of that pigpen, the prodigal came to himself, he had a jarring experience, his mind was jolted, his memory was jolted, and his mandate to move was jolted.

Often times a father's prayer for his son to return home, gets answered in the pigpen, the pigpen can do what nothing else can do
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The pigpen counseled this boy, it stirred his mind, it stroked his memory, he realized where he was, and he remembered where he used to be. The pigpen was the best psychology session that this young man would ever have, the fathers prayers were about to be answered, the boy was about to be heading home.

Often times we want God to bring our loved ones home safely, we want the prodigal to return but we ask God to take it easy on them, my friend often they need the pigpen, often they need the psychology that only a pigpen can offer them.

1. The Pigpen Loudly Called the Prodigal
2. The Pigpen Literally Captured the Prodigal
3. The Pigpen Lovingly Counseled the Prodigal
4. The Pigpen Legitimately Changed the Prodigal

The pigpen is often neglected in our prayers, but the pigpen is often needful in our progress, that is the progress of a prodigal. As we journey through life, we may drift to the pigpen, we may see our friends drift to the pigpen, always keep in mind, the pigpen done more for this prodigal than even his fathers love could do for him.

Cantrell's Jewels for the Journey.

Bound by Bitterness

Getting ready today for our Men's Bible Study tonight where the men of our Church and Community are trying to learn how to deal with our Anger Issues, yes EVEN GOOD MEN GET ANGRY.

In our Noonday and Evening Bible Studies, we are studying the Book of Hebrews. I have anchored down in Chapter 11 and probably won't come up for five or six months as we will do character studies about each hero of faith but in prayerful anticipation, I saw a verse in Hebrews 12:15 that I will use for tonight's discussion with the men:

Hebrews 12:14 (Phillips NT) 14 Let it be your ambition to live at peace with all men and to achieve holiness "without which no man shall see the Lord". Be careful that none of you fails to respond to the grace which God gives, for if he does there can very easily spring up in him a bitter spirit which is not only bad in itself but can also poison the lives of many others.

The passage warns of us of a very grievous sin that gets a free pass, this sin will ruin a person. The root of bitterness often goes unnoticed, it rarely gets any attention, it is rarely discussed, but it is like a deadly virus that is silently killing its victims. As we discuss this mighty sin, some may ask is this is so, why is this sin so great?

The sin of bitterness is hidden beneath the surface, it is covered up, it cannot be seen in a literal sense. The problem with bitterness is that it has to have a reason; the bitter person has to have something to be bitter at. Often the object of this bitterness has no idea that the bitter person has so much venom toward them. The bitter pill is difficult to digest; it literally destroys the body that is trying to digest its poison.

The strange thing about bitterness is that when it is planted in a life, after it has been watered, when the bitter heart has become fertile ground, other roots spring up. The good thing about a root is that it can be removed while it is in the beginning stages of growth, a small sapling can be pulled up with ease, but as it takes hold the longer it's roots take hold, the greater difficulty we have in plucking it up.

The other roots that grow along with bitterness are easy to identify, hatred, anger, malice, backbiting, division, jealousy, envy, unhappiness, the list could go on I suppose. I wonder if you have let this bitter root into your life, has it entrenched itself within your heart? If it is there how well are you hiding it, are you doing good at disguising it?

The real problem with bitterness is how it swells up at times in our life; it literally can affect our health. It will take a person to the grave; it can bring forth the deepest form of depression. As you look over your life, is the bitterness worth the pain, are you not tired of carrying this heavy burden around?

I have found that some people are bitter with God, their spouse, their child, their job, a promotion, a promise, a pain, and sometimes the church, what is your object of bitterness? As we wrestle with this green eyed monster of bitterness a decision must be made, will you let it flourish or will you cut it off, pluck it up by the roots?

Your Bitterness must be Admitted and Faced. Quit Hiding, Quit Justifying, Quit Lying, Tell the truth, look your self in the mirror and look at the beast within you.

Your Bitterness must be Abandoned and Forsaken. When we look in the mirror, we fix whatever is wrong. No one sees something that is wrong with your appearance and does not try to fix it.

I am writing my list of things for tonight;s meeting. Maybe you need to write the things that have developed a bitter spirit in you and fix it

I am trying to find my "THERE"

1Ki 17:4—And it shall be, [that] thou shalt drink of the brook; and I have commanded the ravens to feed thee there.

1Ki 17:9—Arise, get thee to Zarephath, which [belongeth] to Zidon, and dwell there: behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.

1Ki 17:10—So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman [was] there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.

In this passage and these verses we find a word that could be overlooked and ignored were it not the nudging of the Spirit. The Spirit often times sets off a spiritual alarm, stop, look, be careful, you are about to overlook something needful. The little word that I want to focus on is "there".

In this passage it is used no less than four times, the ravens will feed you there, arise and go to Zarapheth and dwell there, a widow will sustain you there, the widow was found "there". I can imagine that you are asking what the importance of this little word, there?

The Lord commanded the prophet to go to the brook, there is where he would be taken care of by the Lord, when the brook dried up the Lord commanded the prophet to move yet again, when he moved over there, there is where the Lord would continue sustaining his prophet. As he arose and went and got to Zarapheth, he found the widow woman there, there was where he found the abiding presence and abundant blessings of his God.

As we go from day to day, we must always find out where our there is, we must realize that often our "there" is subject to change!!! It may be here today, somewhere else next year, another place in the future. The most important place that you and I need to be is the place that God has chosen as our "there".

There Is Where He Abides Personally
There Is Where He Provides Powerfully
There Is Where He Confides Privately
There Is Where He Presides Pointedly

Lord please guide me to where my there is

Cantrell's Jewels for the Journey.