Philippians 3:8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ

This just came to me. I thought I knew what to think, but He changed my mind. Praise God.

How many of us have had the best brisket ever? That is kind of subjective isn’t it. I lived in Texas for over 40 years and I had some rather special cooks which were very pleasing.

I grew up in Maine. My diet was venison, trout, salmon, haddock, lobster and clams and it was all so good that I had a difficult time knowing what was best.  Then I moved to Texas with all that brisket and let me tell you tasting the real thing made me forget about everything else.

That is a little like being born again. Once you have the real deal, you forget about everything else.

Now I live in Louisiana and the brisket here just doesn’t measure up to the real thing.

Matthew 24:23 Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is the Christ!’ or ‘There he is!’ do not believe it.

Just like brisket there are many “christs” being served up but there is only the real deal, the One, the Only, the Bread of Life. 

What are we serving to the hungry?

Ecclesiastes 9:7 

Enjoy Life with the One You Love

Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.

Serve the One you love.

Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things?

What are the constituent contents of “all things”? Is there a list of what we should expect to get by grace or do we make up our own list?

Matthew 7:11 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!

My personal history says I didn’t know what is good for me.

Ephesians 4:8 Therefore it says, “When he ascended on high he led a host of captives, and he gave gifts to men.”

What was the intent of those gracious gifts?

“And he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ, until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes.”

The intent is to give every gift of service to fulfill the will of the Father though His Son, Jesus Christ. We get all things needed to equip us for the ministry. It is the vanity of vanities to think we get everything we want.

What do I need to serve His will for me? Oops, I already have it or I would still be in training as one who is unfit to serve.

Deuteronomy 10:12 “And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul,”

To know what is required of us is a progressive movement, from reverence, to obedience, to love, to serve. We don’t get to serve without experiencing love.

When we are born again we may have gratitude for the grace but that does not mean we know how to appreciate it to the point that we are ready to serve Him.

We cannot serve God without knowing what He is asking of us. “Everything” gets in the way of that knowledge. See Philippians 3:8