Philippians 3:10 That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death 

2 Corinthians 4:10 Always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body.

So indeed we know we must sacrifice, count all things as loss. By counting all things loss, consider them not yours to be had, all things are Gods and if He so grants that we obtain it amen. So with that sacrifice the laying down of all things, through that we may know Him and the power of His resurrection. By that, I believe Paul is talking about a new life. Resurrection from the dead replacing that flesh with the power of the Spirit of God and by the power of the Spirit, we have the power to endure. We may know the fellowship of His sufferings , and become conformed to His death. I believe that through all of this we have true fellowship with God, in the laying down of our lives, being conformed to His death. Not being conformed to this world but truly crucifying our flesh and allowing the Spirit to lead. Allowing God's will in our lives to be our goal, and Jesus sufferings for us to be our motivation to endure, the Gasoline to our engine and the Holy Spirit the oil that allows the engine to function properly. If I had no true understanding of God and I read this verse, more then likely I'd be questioning whether or not I want to follow Christ. Even having a knowledge of Jesus, this verse makes me question whether or not I can do it. And the answer truly is no. I can't do it.. Alone. But through the power of Christ who strengthens me, I can do all things that God is calling me to do. I can know the Power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings , and I can know what it is to be conformed to His death which is crucifying the flesh.


Application: To be quite frank, I don't truly understand what it means to know the fellowship of His sufferings. So, I will meditate on this verse and ask for God to reveal what it means to know fellowship of His sufferings and ask God to show me how to apply it.

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