Hello friends, welcome to In Bolden. I'm Chris Shatter, an ordinary Christian living with and learning about an extraordinary God. Can you believe it? We're on day 20 of 38 Days of Giving Glory to God here on the Abolden Podcast.
And today's podcast features Philippians 2, 9 through 12. Therefore, God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus, every knee should bow. In heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. And join me in this prayer today.
My Lord and Savior Jesus, there is no other above you. You are the touchstone for everything and every person in my life. Help me to place my thoughts first on you today, God. There is nothing I should chase after that is placed greater than you.
Amen. Oh, misplaced priorities. Oh, how I have had quite a few. I can easily forgive myself for the years I wasn't a Christian.
Even though even the years I was a baby Christian, I can look back upon with grace. But today, today when I put my yearnings above God, there's really no excuse. I know better, and I find myself doing it anyways. I'm getting better day by day.
As my friend Betsy calls it, I'm making imperfect progress. Philippians goes on in 3, 8. What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus, my Lord, or whose sake I have lost all things, I consider them garbage that I may gain Christ. The Apostle Paul was certainly a man on fire to give all glory and honor and praise to Jesus.
We, normal folks, can sometimes look at the very faithful and think, I have my family, you know, we're going through a lot of stuff, and that all needs my attention. Or even my job takes a lot out of me, and it's important work, so I don't have the same time as Paul to devote to my faith. We can list endless reasons why we aren't on fire for the Lord, or worse. We are just ambivalent.
But Paul was not a man with time on his hands. Although Bible scholars aren't in total agreement, some believe that at one time he was actually buried. He also had a thriving tent-making business which he took on the road during his mission trips. Whatever his full biography was, he certainly placed his everyday activities secondary to God.
I've come to finally realize that once I begun aligning my actions, yearnings, words, and more to God's priorities, life has actually gotten a lot simpler and clearer. It doesn't mean it's easier. However, knowing my highest authority as our Lord, my worries and thoughts get pulled into his ways and purpose. Friend, listen up.
If you're chasing a need or desire that places an earthly object, goal, or person above God, you are just spitting your wheels. You may get the fame or the fortune, but you won't have the fruit. God alone deserves the highest place of honor and glory in your life. He has no rival, he has no equal.
Pursue him with great passion over everything else, and you will see him at work. Have a wonderful day. I hope you enjoyed this episode of The Embolden Podcast. Be sure to follow along so you don't miss any episode, and check out my blog at Embolden.net.