The Two Edged Sword

Philippians 3:3 says, “For we are the true circumcision, who worship in the Spirit of God and glory in Christ Jesus and put no confidence in the flesh.” (NASB)

 

This is an interesting verse but what does it mean? Okay, maybe we understand what worship means but what is it to glory in Christ and put no confidence in the flesh? Fortunately, the Apostle Paul went on to show us what he meant by these terms a little further down in the passage.

In verses 7-11 he writes: “But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them rubbish in order 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 in order that I may attain to the resurrection from the dead.”

 

So what are the signs of the “true circumcision” or in other words those who are truly God’s people? They (we) worship in the Spirit, glory in Christ, and put no confidence in the flesh.

 

And what is it to glory in Christ and to put no confidence in the flesh? It is to realize that whatever things were gain to you or me are to be counted as loss for the sake of Christ.

Through my Kitchen Window

Summer 2009 – I was not a writer or at least I had never had anything published. In fact, I had never even submitted anything before. But I was a writer at heart. I had pieces written on notebooks and stuffed in drawers in my room and desk area but I did not know anything about the publishing world.

 

I saw a small article in my newspaper about the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference which was to be held in nearby Elizabethtown in just a few weeks. I wanted to attend but felt silly because…well…I was not a writer. Nonetheless, I went just to see what it was all about.

 

At that conference in June 2009, I took a seminar on freelancing small pieces from Lettie Kirkpatrick Burress. Inspired and hopeful when I came home, I decided to try my hand at writing.

 

Today I have well over 100 published pieces including articles, short stories, devotions, and even some home schooling curriculum as well as two and soon to be three e-books selling on line as far away as Europe. And now it’s summer again; time for the Kentucky Christian Writers Conference in E-Town. This year’s conference will be held June 20-21. The key note speaker is well known author, Liz Curtis Higgs and guess who is teaching the seminar on freelancing small pieces? Me! I will teach two seminars – “Freelancing 101” and “Developing Dynamic Devotions”, as well as serve on the editors panel. I would love to have you join me. Check it out at http://www.kychristianwriters.com/