When I think of the world and places like…Uganda…Namibia…Romania…Haiti…Guatemala…India…Appalachia…Peru…the Philippines…Russia…Cuba and other places that we must travel to so we may be the hands and feet of Jesus, I shudder at their physical condition, and it seems extraordinary that one person could walk into it all and decide to tackle this thing and actually believe he/she could make a dent.
The reality is…and I’m intensely convinced of this…that the work must be He not I or it all fails. Do you know that if your life’s work is your’s it will die with you. But if it is His work it will live beyond you and continue much good. Name your profession…the above statement is true of it too.
I suppose I should clarify who He/His is above. It is clearly the Holy Spirit through which Jesus Christ sent us as He returned back to His gated community for now and is referenced in Acts 1:7-9, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” This Holy Spirit that Jesus sent…when you and I are dwelling fully in it…will experience the fruit of this Holy Spirit. This fruit is referenced in Galatians 5:22, “The fruit of the Spirit is Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Gentleness, Faithfulness and Self-Control.” It’s fair for me to write that anytime I am not living in the fruit above, I have stepped away from the presence of the Holy Spirit and begun to live in the flesh again. When I am not immersed in the nine fruit of the Spirit mentioned above, I am grabbing life from the hands of God and saying that I am greater than He is…we would never say such a thing, but actions speak louder than words.
The Apostle Paul new this best. The farmboy inside of me can’t help but teach this next paragraph in it’s truest form! Paul says in Philippians 3:8 that any gain based upon his own work failed to endorse Christ alone as the source of good. As Paul wrote this, he wrote it in a way that the translators of the Scriptures have determined too controversial to write in their new translations for fear of upsetting the BMPDs of life. Click the following link to find out what I mean by a BMPD…it’s a blog post titled, “What to do when you are getting rocked by life.”)
These politically correct translators have used the word “Rubbish/refuse” in Phillippians 3:8. But in the King James translation, it is called what it is, DUNG…but even King Jimmy’s translation was not the word The Apostle Paul literally wrote and used. He literally used the word “Skubala.” This word skubala is not used anywhere else in the entire Bible. The exact translation is not rubbish or dung or refuse…it is literally translated, “shit.” So, the following is the exact translation of what Paul literally wrote in his letter to the Church in Philippi back in the 50’s…and I don’t mean the 1950’s. Here’s the exact translation of the word Skubala…
“What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them shit, that I may gain Christ.” Philippians 3:8
I wish the translators had the guts of the Apostle Paul to say it like He said it. I think that passage would catch our attention much better and aid us in knowing what our own work…when we do it on our own power…really is. Can you imagine being in the Philippian Church when the Pastor stood to read this new and exciting letter from Paul. They must have been anticipating this letter’s arrival and when it arrived, word would have gotten out about it, and a big crowd would have gathered for Church to hear it read! I would have loved to at least been a fly on the wall when the Pastor arrived at this sentence! I wonder if there were gasps?!
Are you building your own work…Church/school/law firm/pharmacy/accounting practice/football team/garbage truck driver/plumber/mission work/etc…with your own Skubala…or is it all coming through Jesus Christ…Lord of Lord’s….King of King’s…whom someday will return to judge the living and the dead. When He returns on that day…He will not arrive in Love and gentleness…He came in love the first time some 2000 years ago. He is coming back…and after paying the huge price to earn the title, “All-Authority-One”…with His arrival the Skubala is going to hit the fan. Make sure your “work” is done through the name of Jesus Christ! Period.
Build through Jesus and Him alone. Whatever you think is yours…it’s not…it belongs to the King.
So….I must become less…He must become greater. You too.
In every detail of your life…please be sure to put this sign in the right place…..
….and NEVER forget what the Apostle Paul wrote just after calling His own works, “Skubala,”
“I can do ALL things through Christ who gives me strength!” Philippians 4:13
Bring on the world and all it’s Skubala…Jesus is in us and now we must be off to Ends of the Earth! There is a lot of work to be done!
Let’s Go!
Love ya,
Trent Renner