Thinking Differently

I was reading this morning in Philippians 3 -

Of Paul talking bout all of the things he has attained, experience, had credentials in – and that he counted it all rubbish for the sake of Christ   - That he could be found in Him – Not righteous for what he had done – but Righteous that comes from God – and is by faith.

Faith. I know he is talking about the law here – and the extent that people will do –speak-change to prove their righteousness. But – this is my life today:

I am planning my homeschool journey for the year for fourth and 7th grades. The largest shift in my thinking came last night – where I am thinking of switching the entire way we learn math. Changing curriculum entirely. Slipping out from the norm of the other families I know.  I have been praying for a change to our math rut. And I feel that I found it last night.

Then I kept reading in Philippians – through to verse 15. And for some reason – A God Thing of Course – I picked up the NIV version to skim this morning – and their version states a familiar to me verse in a different way -

All of us who are mature should take such a view of things. And if on  some point you think differently, that too God will make clear to you.

Those of us who are mature  - God will make it clear to us.

It hit me like a ton of bricks this morning. Remembering Philippians as my favorite book as a teen – that this Word. This Text. Is a Living Breathing Word. John 1 tells us that Christ is the Word made flesh. His Word is Truth.

And in the quiet of my morning – wedged between scrubbing comet on my stove top reflectors and taking a shower – I sit. With Christ in my very hands. And I hear.

That no matter what we have done in the past – how we have done it – what tools we have used – what groups we have joined 

We are pressing forward. Toward to the Goal of the Prize. Christ. Pressing Hold for that which Christ Took Hold of me.

Forgetting what is behind – and straining forward.

So what if “everyone” else is using abc curriculum? So what if what we have done before has given us a form of stature /credential among men.

For a moment there – last night – in my weakness – alone in my planning room – I almost tossed the idea of a new –different way in Math. Even though it felt like it was a “God Thing”.

And this morning – Christ Himself in the pages of His Word – crawls right up in my lap – or I in his – and shows me.

We who are mature – need only to look to  to God – For a grand view – for a clear view –

I’m rambling trying to put into words what I heard this morning. The words for me -

but I feel – the words for other homeschool moms this August as we plan our curriculum and clean our classrooms – checking the Blog Hops and Hip Moms and Not Back to School hops – checking to see if we are on track  - checking others text – pictures – ideas – to see if we are right.

Make sure we stop to ask Christ – to make our path clear – as we follow the examples of the mature ones.  Fear Not.  :)

Here is Philippians 3

¹ When I think of all this, I, Paul, a prisoner of Christ Jesus for the benefit of you Gentiles^[a] . . . ²assuming, by the way, that you know God gave me the special responsibility of extending his grace to you Gentiles. ³ As I briefly wrote earlier, God himself revealed his mysterious plan to me. ⁴ As you read what I have written, you will understand my insight into this plan regarding Christ. ⁵ God did not reveal it to previous generations, but now by his Spirit he has revealed it to his holy apostles and prophets.

⁶ And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus.^{[b] 7} By God’s grace and mighty power, I have been given the privilege of serving him by spreading this Good News.

⁸ Though I am the least deserving of all God’s people, he graciously gave me the privilege of telling the Gentiles about the endless treasures available to them in Christ. ⁹ I was chosen to explain to everyone^[c]this mysterious plan that God, the Creator of all things, had kept secret from the beginning.

¹⁰ God’s purpose in all this was to use the church to display his wisdom in its rich variety to all the unseen rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. ¹¹ This was his eternal plan, which he carried out through Christ Jesus our Lord.

¹² Because of Christ and our faith in him,^[d] we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence. ¹³So please don’t lose heart because of my trials here. I am suffering for you, so you should feel honored.

Paul’s Prayer for Spiritual Growth

¹⁴ When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father,^{[e] 15} the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth.^{[f] 16} I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. ¹⁷ Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. ¹⁸ And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. ¹⁹ May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. ²¹ Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.