Eternally Delivered
Philippians 3:20-21 For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, 21 who will transform our lowly body that it may be conformed to His glorious body, according to the working by which He is able even to subdue all things to Himself.
Do you feel trapped in your current situation? There are so many ways that you may feel trapped. I have even used that term in describing my financial state and outlook over the last couple of years. You can feel trapped in bad marriages; bad work environments; families; illness, addiction. life…….we all can have these battles. We wonder why God has placed us in these situations of life. Many times He has allowed or designed these situations to ultimately draw us closer to him. When we are struggling we most likely are looking for help, and hopefully that help is looked for in Christ. We must look past this temporal situation and look to the eternal reward.
I had a great talk with a new friend yesterday; a brother in Christ who is really seeking God right now. He opened my eyes to the needs of the community for deliverance. That statement impacted me as I thought of how so many people feel trapped; they just want a way out. Paul is speaking to that reward that we must set our eyes and heart upon; that reward of heaven that awaits us. The new bodies that are promised us. No pain, no problems; every need met for eternity. A deliverance from the pains this current life brings. Paul describes that embedded desire as a child of God; that longing for eternity from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ. This world that we live in is evil, and our desire is to be delivered from this world.
In the scriptures prior Paul is speaking of his constant desire to continue to mature, or grow closer to Christ. Philippians 3:12 Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me. Paul was in constant pursuit of God and the things of God; therefore God was changing him constantly; maturing Him. He was delivering Paul from Paul’s old self; one full of religiosity, a prideful man steep in the ways of traditions of religion. God was delivering Paul to a place that he depended on God for every need for every day. God was showing Paul that no matter where he was for his days on earth, he was to keep his eyes and heart on the place he would call home for eternity.
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