“That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death:” – Philippians 3:10(KJV)
How do you know Jesus Christ? What is your perception of Christ? What is your knowledge of his person that has influenced your attitude to life? What attracted you to Christ? It is your perception and the extent of your knowledge of him that shapes the extent of your believe and trust in him and his word. Many know him as a problem solver. These categories of Christians come to him to solve their problem. They go from one pastor to another seeking for help in the form of prayers that God will answer. Among this categories are those seeking the fruit of the womb, those unemployed seeking for job etc. There is no doubt about it, Christ is a problem solver, but the believe and knowledge of Christ by this category is to the extent of their problem been solved. They are not deeply rooted. Due to their shallow knowledge they are not very fruitful in the kingdom. “And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward”. – Isaiah 37:31(KJV). It is only when you have taken root downwards that you can bear fruits upward.
Some know Jesus as the healer, while others know him as the miracle worker. They come to him for their healing or breakthrough miracles. There is no contention that Christ is a healer and miracle worker. There are even people who contract ‘men of God’ to pray for their nefarious activities to be successful. Such activities as drug peddling, robberies, kidnapping and cover up of fraudulent activities.
In our reference scriptures Apostle Paul as knowledgeable as he is in Christ was presenting his heart deepest desire – “That I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his suffering, being made conformable unto his death”. Due to the shallow knowledge that people have about Christ as a result of their limited perception about Him, when the storm of life strike they easily fall by the wayside. They believe in Christ when the going is good but when the wilderness experience sets in they lose their faith. How many believers are ready to lay down their life for Christ as partakers of his suffering? Jesus paid the price of our sin by death at the cross, how many are ready to pay the price of living for Christ by death? (see Revelation 12:11) It is not how loud we proclaim our love for Him but how deeply committed are we ready to suffer for Him? Please answer
Prayer: Give me the strength to face life deepest crisis standing firm in Christ.
Bro. Joel Ezeugo