Tuesday, May 2, 2017

Apostle Paul: “I’m not perfect” by Stephen M. Miller with Stephen M. Miller from The Bible blog of award-winning bestselling Christian author, Stephen M. Miller. for Tuesday, 2 May 2017

Apostle Paul: “I’m not perfect” by Stephen M. Miller with Stephen M. Miller from The Bible blog of award-winning bestselling
Christian author, Stephen M. Miller. for Tuesday, 2 May 2017

"Apostle Paul: 'I’m not perfect'” by Stephen M. Miller
IMPERFECT PAUL. "I’m not perfect yet. I haven’t reached that goal. But I’m running hard for the prize at the end of the race. One day I’ll make that prize my own because Jesus Christ made me his own." Painting by El Greco, Wikimedia, Google Art Project.
I’M REWRITING THE BIBLE into my own words. It’s a Bible study project I’ve been working on. It’s not a formal Bible translation any more than the Message is. It’s a paraphrase into the kind of casual English I use when talking or writing.
I’m posting the work online as the Casual English Bible. At the moment, I’m working on maps for Galatians, a book I hope to post in the next week or so.
This is the best Bible study method I’ve come across so far because it forces me to make the Bible personal. I have to understand it well enough to put it into my own words. And when the writer doesn’t make sense—it happens—I have to fight toward the elusive goal of solving the mystery. I can’t usually do that. But there’s value in the quest.
So far, Paul’s letter to the church in Philippi, Greece is one of my favorites from his work.
See what you think.
Dear Philippian believers,
“I’m not perfect yet. I haven’t reached that goal. But I’m running hard for the prize at the end of the race. One day I’ll make that prize my own because Jesus Christ made me his own.
Dear family, I know I haven’t made it my own yet. But I know this, too. Forgetting the past and leaving all the baggage behind me, leaning forward I reach out for what lies ahead.
I’m pushing on toward that goal—upward toward the prize for which God calls us, because of Jesus the Messiah.
Those of us who are spiritual grownups should agree with what I’ve said. If you think differently, God will clear it up for you.
Either way, let’s hang onto the spiritual progress we’ve made by living it.
Dear family, learn from what you’ve seen in me. Follow my example and the example of others like me.
I’ve told you many times about people who live in such a way that it’s clear they are enemies of the Messiah who died on the cross. Well I’m telling you again, this time with tears.
There’s no prize at the end of the road for them. There’s destruction. It’s because their gut is their god, and they brag about what should shame them. All they think about is the here and now, in this earthly life.
But we are citizens of heaven. Our Savior is there, the Lord Jesus Christ. We eagerly wait for him to come.
When Jesus comes, he will change our frail bodies into glorious bodies like his. He’ll do it with the same power that gives him authority over everyone and everything that has ever existed.”[Phillippians 3:12-21, Casual English Bible]
Casual English Bible
$1 leader’s guide & atlas for Philippians
Bible Gateway
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