Knowing Christ

3:10 that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings

What does it mean to know Christ? Does it mean to have a close, personal, intimate relationship with Him, to talk to Him like a friend every day? Yes it does. But it means more much than that. It also means to willingly walk in His footsteps through the valley of humiliation, pain and death - in confidence that He walks with us and that this is the path to His resurrection power. It means accepting the suffering that God ordains in your life - in faith that it is good, in faith that the peaceful endurance of it will reveal the power of God. It means experiencing the same kind of suffering that Christ experienced - voluntary suffering, self-denying suffering, suffering for the sake of others, suffering for the honor of God - and knowing that Christ is right there with you in your suffering, identifying with you and taking Your suffering personally as if it was His own. It means being willing to die to yourself in trust that it will make you come to life because of Christ. It means being glad to pour out your life for others in hopes that it will bring them to life. It means learning to boast in your weaknesses so that the power of Christ may dwell in you (2Cor.12:9). It means learning to see the deaths of daily existence as life-giving because of the resurrection power of God.

We think of knowing Christ as merely having frequent and friendly communication with Him. But the one who really knows Christ, according to what Paul says, is happy to die everyday like He died, willing to take up His cross daily as He did, in confidence that this is the key to power and joy and resurrection life. This is what it means to know Christ. It means to know "the power of His resurrection" and "the fellowship of His sufferings."

O dear Father, forgive me for not believing Your promises. Forgive me for believing that I have to take care of myself. Forgive me for trying to save my life instead of losing it for the sake of Christ. Help me to lose my life in trust that you will save it. Help me to really believe You. Help me to base my life on Your promises. Help me to accept Your will for my life and firmly believe that even the hard parts are redemptive. Help me to come to know Christ and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings.